TuzigootJournal: Dec. 11 "Gotcha Day"

"Gotcha Day" went very well. Cold day, light drizzle. Took a 20-min. bus ride to government building arriving about 10:00am. The ten families in our group all gather in a waiting room. Then, names are called one by one and they bring the girls out to their parents. Lots of emotion, as you might imagine. Quite a thrill for all involved.

I was running Jeff's video camera, so don't have snapshot right at handoff, but here's one of the first pictures -- Malia and mama, Valerie. The little girls were all bundled up in snowsuits and winter hats, so you can't see much of Malia. (It is quite chilly here, just above freezing. The little girls had been brought from their orphanage, about 4 hours away, last night, I believe. Their nannies did not come with them, so that kept that possible element of trauma out of the exchange. I'm just playing amateur child psychologist -- don't pay me any attention.)

Malia is very cute and was quiet, alert, and interested in surroundings throughout the whole process. Just as perfect as a grandchild is supposed to be.

Back to the

hotel for family bonding. Here's Malia and proud papa, Jeff. She was laughing and gurgling, playing with toys, and seems quite content. For more pix, click on Jeff and Valerie's blog.

In early afternoon I went with our hosts and designated family members on a short walk to a grocery store to pick up some supplies. Something useful I could do. (There's one other set of grandparents and one accompanying grandmother in our group. Also some families with older siblings along. One Georgia family, husband and wife are both dentists, has three daughters, ages 11 to 15, or so, along, so now they have four daughters.) Malia refused bottle that J&V brought, so one thing I got was a Chinese baby bottle -- I guess there's a difference?

Oh, in contrast to our transfer experience, one person in the grocery store group mentioned talking to another couple in our hotel, working with a different adoption agency, who had gone to pick up their child and she wasn't there. Hope that gets resolved quickly and satisfactorily.

Just to back up a bit, our trip from Hong Kong Sunday pm went pretty well. It's interesting, though, that going from Hong Kong to "Old China" requires getting your passport stamped and going through Customs. Somehow, we didn't get all the blank forms passed out on the plane, so in the Changsha airport we kept encountering checkpoints staffed by men in army-looking uniforms who would turn us back to get the form we needed. Eventually, we and our luggage made it through.

On the bus our CCAI hostess, Ellen, extended nice welcoming comments saying how happy she was that these girls will have the chance to be raised by two loving parents in a great new environment and how happy these little girls are going to make their new families.

Trip in to town was interesting trafficwise. All sorts of bicycles and motorbikes configured to haul huge bundles and cargo on the back. Even a few hand-pulled carts. All competing with buses and cars for turn lanes, merging, and intersections. After Hong Kong, it was interesting to see the single-family dwellings, too.

Changsha is the capital of the Hunan Province. Its population is about 5 million. We'll do some touring and exploring this