Dateline: Lakeview Hotel, Hongdu Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, 16 Aug
2004
Quick email to announce that I'll be sending some photos along in subsequent emails (probably in pairs): the usual stuff plus some pictures of Vonne Mei. I've shot about 425 photos so far on the camer, backing them up on the laptop and my memory stick.
Still a bit in the stupid department. Don't know if it's lingering jet-lag or the digestive troubles or the allergies, but this is the second time I've had to write this letter, because I inadvertenty erased or screwed up the transmission of the first.
Anyway, after our nice quiet night with Vonne Mei, it's been a quiet day today. Only appointment is with Notary of Nanchang, a little town with a population of . . . oh. . . say . . . 4 to 5 million. We pay $500 USD for Vonne Mei's passport and submit our official adoption application today. As always, a small but nice gift for the official hosting us.
Other than the free buffet breakfast, where Vonne Mei ate just about everything she could get her hands on (including drinking OJ out of a glass, which is pretty good for a 9-month-old still pretty much living out of a bottle), we only took one outing this morning before the 2pm notary appointment. That was a short walk around the neighborhood with Vonne Mei in the stroller. People very friendly and admiring of Vonne Mei, but even more so the stroller/car seat combo.
Vonne Mei's only issue seems to be the heat rash, which flared during our time outside, but then cleared up immediately upon reentry. Easily in the high 90s here with at least 100% humidity. Real SE Asia weather, and they say Guangzhou is much hotter. We keep track by checking the giant 30-story building across the river which features a neon thermometer running from the first floor up to about the 25th--really an amazing site at night. We're on the sixteenth floor, so a great view of the river which defines the city (known as the Gun River, I believe). It was so hot and humid outside that my camera and camcorder fogged up for a long time before I could use them, such was the change from the air conditioning.
Hotel is very nice and reasonable in prices. Room service just fine, and the room came with a nice crib. After we do the Notary ceremony today, we all go to Walmart for supplies. Since we brought plenty of stuff, our needs will be relatively few. For the most part, we're sharing our stuff with others, baby laxatives being a biggie.
I'm on the Cipro now due to digestive troubles that are annoying but not bad. Still feel fine and eating and hydrating well. Doing it just as a precaution against any downturn, at Vonne's request. Other than that, we're doing fine.
The town of Yongfeng, where Vonne Mei was born and received into the orphannage (although she stayed with a foster family her entire life) is a city of 400,000. Whether or not her parents came from the city is hard to tell. There is a university there, so that's one possibility. Vonne is pushing for a trip to the orphannage and seems to be lining one up with David, our Great Wall of China Ageny guide and the local rep Kitty. It'll be a three-hour drive on highway for the most part, then a gravel road for 60 km. Vonne Mei came with some clothes and a note, so we're hoping to learn a bit more without pushing the issue too much. Vonne is also arranging our group to buy an air conditioner for the orphannage, which we'll pick up and deliver when we arrive.
That is all I can think of. My brain is slowly coming into better focus, but I do feel a bit out of it and hopefully the Cipro will correct that. Vonne was worried about how pale I was getting yesterday, and she said I look much better today after a couple of pills, so I cross my fingers.
Learned how to count to ten using one hand (the Chinese way) and this is proving very useful in conversation.
Hmm.
When the non-sequiters start flowing, time to sign off.
Expect the photos in subsequent emails. My webmaster will be posting on my site as well.
Tom (for Vonne and Vonne Mei)
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