CHINA: Stay-in day

We had a hard night last night so we decided to just stay in all day today and rest.  Yun Mei gets these allergic reaction itchiness attacks about several times a day that make it hard for her to sleep or function. She completely freaks out. Mostly on her back and neck and shoulders, but she itches everywhere. We’ve tried Lavendar oil, cortisone cream, “Stop Itch” bug bite itch reliever, lotions, and children’s Benedryl (not all at the same time).  Nothing seems to help much.  However, we’re realizing now that her itchiness episodes are often triggered by not getting her way or being separated from Mama (like in the crib).  So, perhaps it’s a psychological response to the stresses she’s been experiencing.  We’ll see.  Tonight she sleeps in the bed with us.

MeiMei loves baths and chocolate.  She especially loves having flowers and clippies and fancy things in her hair.  She especially loves playing silly with Mama.  She loves watermelon, her Chinese yogurt-milk drink and Nanchang fried noodles with bak choy. She will try just about any food, but if she doesn’t like it she will hold her mouth open and expects Mama to pull it out for her.  She does NOT like to be told no, or to be apart from Mama.  At this point she doesn’t like to be away from “home” (our hotel room) very much. She gets anxiety if we even go near the door.



The orphanage seems to have taken good care of her little body.  Her teeth seem to be in good shape and she knows how to brush them.  She is potty-trained and doesn’t seem to have any issues using the toilet (even though she’s used to the traditional “squatty-potties” and we've had to teach her how to use a Western toilet).  She knows that she should wash her hands after going to the bathroom and does a thorough job of it.  In fact, she's obsessed with washing her hands and washes them over and over all day. She is chubby and doesn't seem at all malnourished.  She loves physical affection (from Mommy--not Daddy) and knows how to give and receive good hugs.  She seems to have been well loved over there.  For all of that we are eternally thankful to those good people who do so much with so little.

A "squatty potty"!

Today I took a few hours while the Mama and the Baobao (baby) were resting and went out to explore some of Nanchang. The city has 5 million people so it’s larger than the entire San Fransisco metro area, but according to our guide it’s only a “medium-size city in China.”  But what a place!  It’s so completely different from anywhere else I’ve ever been.  Busy, vibrant, dirty, gray, and… odiferous.  I wandered around through some of the canyons of communist-era apartment complexes with a jungle of electrical wires and laundry hanging everywhere and explored some of the ubiquitous one-room shops that line the streets everywhere.  They seem to be organized into districts: one street will have almost nothing but high-end clothing and shoes, another section had fresh produce stalls, another absolutely stunning jade and wood carvings and paintings, another had spices and herbs (very fragrant), another had small engine repair supplies, and still another had nothing but different grades of netting materials.  Everywhere people looked at me just a little funny (I saw not another white face the whole time I was out) but nobody really stared or made much of a deal out of it.  I was surprised by how many people can speak at least a little English.  The 40-something lady at the checkout in the tiny grocery store I went to gave me the total price in nearly accent-free English, for example.  Others were obviously really nervous that I would start talking to them in English and would expect them to reply.

Some random pictures from the streets in Nanchang

 

Everyone dresses in dark clothing with lots of layers.  Almost everywhere is cold.  All the smaller shops and most of the apartments are unheated.  People just wear their coats and layers all day, inside and out.  All the men are smoking all the time.  Every place is saturated with acrid Chinese cigarette smoke.

From our hotel window.  Nanchang on a very clear day.  The rain stopped!

Our hotel is situated on the river at the edge of the older part of town.  Across the river are dozens of new, tall buildings with coordinated light strips all down the front. It’s mesmerizing to watch these bright colored lines climb up to the top of each tower in unison and then change colors from white to blue to green to purple.