Thursday: The theory of (not so special) relativity…and some other news.

I & I (B) were discussing Mr. Einstein’s work earlier today. Well, that’s not entirely true. Rather, we were alluding to it. He said time seems to be passing more slowly here in Guangzhou than in Beijing; I thought just the opposite. When I asked him why, he said that in Beijing we had more appointments to keep and more scheduled activities. Here in Guangzhou our time has been largely unstructured. I told him that I had noticed the same circumstances, but felt that as a consequence our time in Guangzhou tended to blur together and was indistinct. From my perspective this made Guangzhou time move more quickly than Beijing time. From this, I conclude that he was moving at nearly the speed of light while in Beijing, while I have been moving at nearly that speed while in Guangzhou. Yet, we have always been in close proximity to one another throughout our trip. Consequently, there must be some sort of folding or contortion of space-time that puts portions of both Guangzhou and Beijing both very near one another and very far. Otherwise we’d have been separated by millions of miles by now. (I’m sure my friend Dave will come up with a better explanation for all this. Maybe it’s just something we ate. And now we digress…)

Today was mostly a day of waiting. After breakfast, E was not feeling especially well (having slept poorly) and decided on a nap. I, Ca & I (B) took the opportunity to go visit the other big park near the hotel. While looking out the window at breakfast, I said he thought it was probably 60°F outside mostly because it was so overcast. I reminded him that we were still in Guangzhou (despite his traveling at nearly the speed of light) and that it was probably 80°F even without the sunshine. Turns out we both underestimated the temperature. By 11 when we started our walk it was already 88°F and climbing with humidity above 70%. Quite lovely. :-(

The park was gorgeous. Very well-maintained, while also feeling very natural. Tons of ground cover of many varieties everywhere you look. Paths were narrower and the park was tree-covered throughout so shady and close feeling. We saw a lady doing tai chi, people of all ages playing a version of hacky-sack with something resembling a shuttlecock, five women practicing a traditional dance, and several old men writing poetry in water on the sidewalks - a sort of temporary graffiti. We visited the Five Rams Sculpture and set off to see the Water Tower, but only made it as far as the Ancient Guangzhou City Wall before we collectively tuckered out and went back to see Mama. By that time, all 3 of us were dripping in sweat. Despite the weather, it was a delightful excursion. Ca wanted me to carry her for a good portion of the walk. She has learned to use the phrase “Please bàba/māma bǎo wǒ” (Please Daddy/Mama, hold me) when she wants to be picked up. We both work hard to respond with an enthusiastic “yes” every time. She’s a quick learner. 

The poets/calligraphers and their work

Chinese is such a beautiful language!

The "Famous Five Rams Sculpture"

It's really big - see the kids in the front?

Oh, THERE they are!

This afternoon we tried to go to the pool, but there was a thunderstorm. So we went to Starbucks instead. We had delayed the pool trip for about an hour and a half in order to do some packing so Ca’s patience had worn thin. At Starbucks, she did a poor job sharing the food and drink and was generally hard to get along with. So we went for a walk in the hotel’s courtyard. By this time the rain had let up. We played with bubbles and balloons and explored the courtyard’s fountains, pools and waterfall. 

Looking at the waterfall, E was thinking about God’s goodness and creativity. He invented waterfalls. The geology required for a waterfall to form, as we understand it, has something to do with differing densities of rock in close proximity to one another…kind of complicated. And yet, there have got to be millions of waterfalls all over the world, of many different kinds. God invented waterfalls, and made each one uniquely beautiful. And the same God who made waterfalls made adoption. And has brought our family to this place, to this adoption of this little girl. We can trust His power and sovereignty. Thank you, God, for this good, hard thing.

Enjoying the garden

This waterfall is man-made, and it's STILL beautiful!

Eventually, the pool reopened and we spent about an hour there together. Our time in the pool is generally a very positive time. We have realized that because we understand approximately a toddler’s vocabulary in Chinese, Ca only can be understood by us at a toddler’s level without outside help. As such, she is occasionally reduced to toddler-like communication: whining and pointing. It helps to remember that this is not all that she’s capable of, and it will not be this way forever.

Midway through our pool time, E went to the lobby to meet with our guide, and receive Ca’s visa - the reason we came to Guangzhou and spent our second week in China. Ca is ready to go to the US! 

It's Official! E added the plumeria for an artistic touch.

After showers, we headed out to “the noodle place” - our favorite restaurant here. The food is fantastic and costs a fraction the price of everywhere else we’ve seen. We have eaten there every night except one and haven’t found a single item we dislike. We returned home (to the hotel room) and attempted to get Ca to bed. She really didn’t want to go to bed and resisted especially when Daddy said he was going to work on the computer while she slept. After much back and forth we decided the best (or maybe, only) way forward was for everyone to go to bed at the same time. So, we turned out the lights and all went to bed until Ca was asleep. This is a frustrating thing for the other three of us. We feel more than a little trapped and don’t know how to do this any better, especially since we don’t have the language to persuade or convince our little girl that this is the way it works with people of different ages. When we arrive home, we’ll need to find a way to navigate this…not sure how right now.

Tomorrow we head to Hong Kong via train. Friday we depart for the US via plane (of course!). It should be interesting… If you think to do so, please pray for our travels. We need to be fever free in order to travel into Hong Kong. (It’s part of China, but is governed largely independently so lots of rules are different there.) Nobody’s got a fever at the moment so we’ll probably be fine, but one never knows. For example, a family of 4 was here to pick up their new son. His passport was being held in his home province at the police station for processing. During a fire drill someone accidentally operated a pull station that released toxic gases into the building (we presume this chemical was some sort of extinguishing agent). The building needed to remain evacuated for 72 hours which of course delayed the passport’s arrive in Guangzhou. Dad & new son had to extend their stay an extra four days and bade farewell to the rest of the family who departed for home yesterday. In adoption, anything can happen. That’s part of the fun! Keep an open mind and do your best to enjoy the ride!

We would love to have you meet us at our hometown airport Saturday night if you live nearby. You can get the lowdown here. A little disclaimer here. We will do our best to provide updates here on our travel progress if we’re able.

To end our post...a bonus silly picture!