7/28/2013

The merging of two rivers....


Wow, just wow!  We landed in Hefei City, the capital of Anhui province yesterday at 11:20am.  As we were landing, we noticed that on the outskirts of town near the airport the land is lush and green, with lots of ponds and seems like farming area. We weren't sure what to expect of Hefei.

The new airport was big, yet not heavily populated at all.  We grabbed our bags and met Jane and Erin.
There are 6 adoptive families in Hefei this week (2 of which i have connected with on FB, one which we happened to meet at our same hotel in Beijing, and another who we met on the flight here yesterday)  Jane handed us off to her assistant, Erin, a young guide from Hefei who is engaged and to be married in October.  Super precious girl and we loved her instantly.  She and the driver took us to our hotel and on the way, we learned more about the city.

The word "he" means merge and the word "fei" means river.  So we learned that the name of the city means "the merging of two rivers"  Here is where the east river meets the south river. We were all kinds of excited about this symbolism of our daughters city.  So cool.

As we drove, we noticed that this is actually a pretty big city! Gone was the lush green farm land and I have never seen so many apartments so close together and so many floors high all in one place..  everywhere you drive there are just TONS of high rise apartments.

We checked into our hotel, the Hilton Hefei and we are so happy with our room!! In China, they do not like to put more than 2 people and an infant at most into the hotel rooms.  So we had to book a suite on the executive floor.  The price was not that bad and well worth it for where we ended up!  We have 2 rooms, a big master bath and a powder room, a mini kitchen area, two desk areas.  We also have access to the executive lounge which will be great for us if Lucy needs to stick close to the room as her little world is about to change.   They have 3 free receptions daily which include breakfast, afternoon tea and sandwiches, and evening all sorts of food asian and american, with desserts and drinks.

Wal Mart is right across the street.  There are 3 jam packed floors where you can "shop more save more" here in Hefei and they are connected by a conveyer belt that carries you and your cart up to each floor.  Its a riot as they have Great Value brand dried fish, or squid, or noodles in place of pretzels and goldfish ;)
One thing they DO have is oreos.. in all kinds of fun flavors and yet we bought the infamous "green tea ice cream"flavor along with some mini oreos we can take today as a treat for Lucy.

We had another unfortunate mandarin experience as we were trying to find a bathroom for Zoe.  I should have remembered from my experience everywhere else thus far, that the toilet is always on the outside of wherever you are and that is for a very good reason :) I was saying the word in mandarin for Toilet but with my dialect it was just not cutting it.  We found some girls from the University who were there marketing for Lux and tried everything to communicate toilet, even pretending to pull our pants down and squat and to no avail. Yes, there were many onlookers and already a crowd just following us because Zoe and her blonde hair are very very popular here.  With the help of Google translate we finally got our point across and the girl accompanied us out to the toilet and helped us the entire time.  She actually spoke fairly good English but she understood the English word Restroom.  Not bathroom. Not Toilet.  Not charades of pulling down pants and squatting all the way to the floor.  No.  The key word would have been Restroom. lol

Zoe was so tired after this (she woke up at 2am for the day) that we had to put her in a cart and push her around the store.  She quickly fell asleep so where we were done shopping, sean had to carry her back across the street (motorcycles, taxis, cars everywhere, total madness and pedestrians literally just walk into same part of the street with all that) to the hotel.

We made it to our room and started the process of unpacking our stuff and getting ready for Lucy.  While we were gone, the hotel had delivered a large crib with soft bedding!
We have it all set up for her and even if she decides not to sleep in it, she will see that we have prepared a place for her!

At our guides recommendation we have packed a backpack with small toys and snacks and a cup of water.  This is the craziest feeling.  In  6 hours...two more rivers will merge here in Hefei when we (finally!) meet our daughter for the very first time!







6 comments:

  1. Oh Laura! I am so excited with anticipation of your union with Miss Lucy. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. God bless you and your family as you bring this precious baby girl into your fold. Can't wait to meet Lucy.

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  2. LOVE !!! LOVE AND LOVE!!!! did I mention I love this...heheheh hugs !!!!!
    Tammy

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  3. So very excited for you all. What an amazing journey of love for Miss Lucy. She is such a blessed little girl and you are a blessed family. Praying for sweet sleep, smooth transitions, and a blending of the two "rivers" into one.
    Susan

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  4. precious times ahead! so excited for all of you. I think the next post will require kleenex. blessings!

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  5. Hair standing up on my arms... Hurry ! More :)

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  6. So happy. ..so thrilled for you...happy tears are flowing...love you!

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