Friday, March 23, 2007

Hudson’s Passport, Packing, Changsha Streets

The morning began later than usual since we didn’t have any appointments. Hudson really slept in today at almost 12 hours of sleep. We had a long breakfast and decided to take a walk through the streets of Changsha to the convenience store called Wacko Market.

The traffic just amazes me. They do have stop lights but nobody uses their turning lights. They just honk their horn and expect that the people, bikes and any thing else that is in front of them, gets out of the way. No double decker buses but lots of regular city buses, lots of bikes and motor cycles, and many carts. We saw veggies, different kinds of fruit, nuts, and other foods being sold on the street. Shoe shining is very big on the streets. Motor cycles and bikes drive on the sidewalk areas so you have to be so careful not to get hit while walking on the sidewalk. Every age, size and styles are seen. You wonder if some people have jobs. They stand around and talk, play Chinese Chess and enjoy the socialization. Those that are working, really work. We saw the trash man pulling a huge pile of trash. You can see it in the pictures. It’s amazing how many boxes you can stack on the back of your bike. My favorite thing is the billboards…everywhere. The models are normally Caucasian people. I cannot find a doll in all of China that is a Chinese looking doll. Every doll has big blue eyes.

Around 4:30, one parent went to a meeting with Daphne to get the passport and to check to make sure everything was ok. Hudson has a passport! He is coming home!

After returning back to the room, we started packing..ugh. We took a break for dinner in the hotel’s Garden Restaurant. We chose not to order the buffet but thought we would entertain you with the display on the buffet. The Garden Restaurant has western style food. Interesting enough, the food on the buffet was nothing that I had ever seen in the US…..or at least that looked exactly like what we have seen in the US. See the pictures and you will understand what I’m talking about. Alexis, Hudson and I chose regular noodles with a cream sauce on them with regular broccoli. Joel on the other hand, chose some interesting things for dinner.

After dinner, Joel has the big idea that we should walk to McDonald’s for an ice-cream. Thinking that it is nearby, I agree. Well, we walked for several blocks and I was dressed in shorts. Are we crazy? Everybody was dressed in winter coats and hundreds of people were on the streets of Changsha at 9PM at night….probably the same people that were on the streets selling things in the day time. When we finally made it to McDonald’s, I felt like a celebrity. There were about 50 people in McDonald’s and every eye was on us but no smiles. I’m thinking they were confused that we had an adorable Chinese baby boy in our arms. OR maybe they just thought Alexis’s pretty blond hair was interesting. Either way, I felt very different. The ice-cream was delicious, though…and it only cost 50 cents. .

Well, I have shared our day in detail all except the amazing details of Hudson. The baby we met that did not smile for 56 hours on Monday and Tuesday, has decided to laugh all day long. Our travel mates Bethany and Andy’s little girl, Delaney is so sweet with Hudson. He loves her and laughed out loud all day. You couldn’t look at him unless he was smiling. This is the baby that the nannies said he is very serious. I think he realizes that he is loved and we are not going anywhere without him. Today at dinner, watching him eat, I realized how totally in love we are with this little guy whom we just met 5 days ago. He has the cutest little face and perfect little body. He is too cute. I have a treat for you all in the photos. I have lots of smiles for you today to see in the pictures….lots of laughs and smiles……and all kinds of different expressions. Last night at dinner, we started teaching Hudson sign language and how to sign “more please’ and “all done” instead of the normal baby grunting that babies do. On his own this morning, he signed “more please” and expected his second teething cookie. Alexis thought it was so cute so she continued to give him his wish and he almost ate the whole box. Too cute.

I just know that God has something very special in store for this little guy. If we had not said “boy or gladly except a girl if a boy is not available”, Hudson would still be in the orphanage we just visited. How different his life is already in just five days. How different and blessed our lives are already to have him in our lives.

We leave tomorrow around noon. It’s a sad but exciting day as we leave his birth province. We hope to come back in several years and show him where he was born and where he lived the first year of his life. For now, we hope we took enough pictures of his birth city and have enough stories to share as we know someday he will ask questions. Enjoy the pictures!

Click here to see the pictures