Let's see... I'll start where I left off with our visit to the grasslands. To our delight, it WAS a little cooler than the city of Hohhot, but still not cold enough for jackets for us. Andrew had to be dressed in three layers, still, to be warm enough and to meet the approval of all onlookers. :) Our journey to the grasslands was amazing. Hohhot is surrounded on three sides by mountains, and our travel to the grasslands took us into those mountains! We went round and round and round,spiraling through the mountains until we finally (after about two hours) reached the area called the Grasslands. Apparently, people from all over China travel to reach this destination. It was very interesting. The people who live there live in yurts, little huts that can be easily moved, so all around there were villages of these little huts, making up a town of sorts.
The first thing we did at the grasslands was eat in an enormous, circular meeting house. When we sat down, Aggie, our guide, explained to us that we were to be the honored guests. We're still not exactly sure why we were honored--whether it was because we adopted, we came from out of the country, or because our guide paid extra money for us-- but nevertheless, it was quite an experience to be the distinguished guests! She explained that when we were honored, we would be presented with special blue scarfs and a little bowl full of a drink. We were instructed by our guide to take the bowl in our left hand and then dip our ring finger into the bowl once and flick the liquid upward toward the sky, dip it a second time and flick it to the earth, and dip it a third time and flick it forward. We can't remember what it symbolized or signified, but it was a ritual that was always done by the guests of honor. Then, we were to drink the entire bowl straight up. What our guide did not tell us was that it was 30 proof alchohol that we would be drinking! Most people who know me know that I don't typically drink, except for maybe a glass of wine on a special occasion, so I took one quick drink from the bowl,and I'm sure made a face that was not appropriate for an honored guest to make! lol I didn't drink the full liquid, because the first big drink was enough to make my throat feel like it was on fire! Ha ha! Howie was next, and he DID drink the whole bowl out of respect, although he, too, was surprised.
Here is a picture of the beautiful ceiling of the building that we were in--
After lunch, our guide told us that we could walk around for a few minutes and then head a certain direction to watch the horse race and the wrestling. The horse race consisted of about ten horses that raced two laps together, and the wrestling consisted of several matches of people dressed in fancy clothing wrestling in the dirt. It was interesting to watch but very difficult to get pictures of due to the large crowd of people who were gathered to watch the events.
After that, we went to a herdsman's house. Aggie told us that this herdsman actually lived in a house that had heat, whereas the little huts around it had NO heat, even in the -30 C cold winters! Brrrr!!! The herdsman was a very hospitable man who led us to a room outside the kitchen that also served as the home's sleeping quarters for the family. We sat on the same floor where they slept, and he gave us a variety of treats to sample, including some flavored cheese (cheese is very different in Inner Mongolia with lots of different flavors and a more hard, dry cheese than what we have here). Andrew really enjoyed the experience and seemed at ease while we were there. We were proud that he only pulled out one pillow and didn't even try to unfold the blankets that were behind us. :) Outside the herdsman's house, around the little huts, we saw a lot of chickens wandering around. Some were close to Andrew's size, so he kept a close eye on them. We also saw a few puppies in a cage, and Andrew looked at them thoughtfully as well, because he had probably never seen dogs before.
After all this, we made our journey home, which was a little faster because we were able to take tunnels that went right through some of the mountains! I think Howie took pictures of this as well. I'll post them later when his phone starts to cooperate with the computer.
That night, as Andrew slept soundly, Howie and I packed up most of our belongings in preparation for our flight the next morning. It was a good thing we did that, because the morning was busy with showers, breakfast, and then last-minute small things to pack before we quickly hurried off to the Hohhot airport. There, we unloaded most of the things from the van, although we thought we had unloaded all of it. We hurried into the airport where our guide helped us navigate the process of checking our luggage and getting our tickets, and then we just had about half an hour to wait before we boarded our flight to Guangzhou.
We waited a long time at the terminal before the plane finally started down the runway, so at one point, Andrew was getting restless, and I said, "You just want to go, go, go, don't you? From then on, he has said, "Go, go, go!" when he wants to get moving somehwere. :) The flight took three hours, and these flights to Guangzhou are notorious for causing some trauma to adopted kids who have never flown before. Also, the older ones are aware that they are leaving their hometown, and this causes some additional trauma for them. Andrew did not act scared during the flight, but he was very bored and, thus, extremely restless. We tried to entertain him with toys as much as we could, but he's a big believer in throwing everything, which is not exactly appropriate while on an airplane. :) Fortunately, he fell asleep for about an hour in Howie's arms.
We arrived in Guangzhou, met up with a guide, Lily, and travelled to our hotel. Shortly after that, we went to dinner at Food Street, one of our favorite restaurants in the hotel, and then came back to the room where we began to unpack some things... and realized that the video camera bag, which contained the video camera and several chargers, was nowhere to be found! Howie had to call Judy, the international adoption coordinator for our agency in China, and he said that the bag was either left at our hotel, in the van that we travelled in to the airport, or at security at the airport. She contacted Aggie who went to work on our behalf. She probably spent the better part of her night looking for our bag when she could have been enjoying a night off, but her motto is, "Have no fear! Aggie is here!" and she lived up to that. She checked the hotel and it was not there. She was planning on going to the airport to check the security cameras, too, when she learned that our black video bag had been left in the black van! So... as soon as she found it, she went to the post office and mailed that and the hot pot spices that she had given to us after visiting the Hot Pot restuarant, since they were confiscated by security at the airport. She told us to place them in our checked luggage when we go to travel to Beijing (our next plane ride).
This morning, we filled out more paperwork and then visited the medical facility for required physical exams for adoption purposes. Andrew passed with flying colors, and the doctor even asked Judy, our guide, if he was listed as having a special need on his documents. She said that, yes, his special need was listed as developmental delay, so the doctor wrote the same thing on the medical report, even though, as he said, he saw no evidence of a delay in our son. :) So far, we have not seen any surprise special needs either, which we were fully expecting to have seen by now. Aside from a cold and cough, he seems to be a very healthy little guy!
After the medical visit, we ate lunch at a famous Muslim noodle restaurant that is just down the street from our hotel. It was hot in the restaurant that was not air conditioned in the 90 degree heat! Howie and our guide loved their spicy meal, and my "mild" noodle meal was way too spicy for me, so I shared in Andrew's very mild but large serving of dumplings. :)
After that, we returned to our room and played for a little bit with Andrew, and we finally were able to get his formula container opened by a nice gentleman at one of the hotel restuarants. Andrew was thankful for that. He drank the entire bottle of formula, which was good because he was refusing to drink very much water earlier.
Well, we now have 5% remaining on the tablet. Tomorrow, we'll go to Shamian Island to visit and eat at Lucy's, an American restaurant (yay! I miss American food!)
Goodnight, everyone! See you tomorrow!
Blessings,
Jennifer
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