It's Official!

Well, not the most eventful day of our lives, but important in at least one respect: our adoption of Guo Sha (Annie...aka Sha Sha) is official and legal in the eyes of The People’s Republic of China. At about 9:15 this morning, our group of three families was driven back to the building in which we received Sha Sha the day before to fill out our formal adoption documents in the presence of government officials, sign them, fingerprint them, and take an oral oath that we would love and take care of our daughters and not ever abuse them. The directors of the girls’ orphanages were there too to congratulate us, exchange gifts, and, of course, to receive our massive payments. This was a quick ceremony after which we jumped back on our minibus and drove to yet another government office to fill out further paperwork and take more oaths. This took a little longer and the wait was exacerbated by what was obviously a ruptured sewer line somewhere in the building (I thought Annie was just “moving product”).

This done, we all headed back to the hotel and arrived by about noon. Annie (we still haven’t referred to her as “Annie” though…it’s only been Sha Sha since that’s what she was called at her orphanage…she responds to this name and, apparently, it’s a very popular nickname for girls in China) was exhausted so we put her down on our bed and she crashed within a minute or two. This is why suites are needed: Sha Sha could sleep in our room and Colleen and I could go out into the living room and watch BBC World News, eat, nap, chat, whatever, without disturbing our little bunny.

We were ready for lunch, so Colleen went downstairs and down the block to a row of restaurants to get some take out. She came back about 20 minutes later with delicious dumplings, very spicy pickled cucumbers, noodles in broth, barbequed sliced pork, and sautéed bok choy. There was enough food here for 4 people and we ate like kings with chopsticks on our coffee table while watching the news and looking in periodically on Sha Sha.

Sha Sha woke up at about 2:00 and we gave her a quick lunch of formula, noodles and a cookie and then headed out to People’s Park for a leisurely stroll in the warm sun. The sky was cloudless and blue and we did almost a complete lap around the park in about an hour. Sha Sha had never been in a stroller before so it took some getting used to for her. Turns out I had to do the pushing while Colleen walked alongside and held her hand for security. After 30 minutes or so, she must have decided that this was a nice way to get around because she let go of Colleen’s hand and slumped down for a relaxing ride.

We were expected back in the hotel lobby by 4:00 to meet our group and guide for an errand running outing, so we headed back. The group decided, though, that errands were not needed, and so we headed BACK to the park for another walk around as a group. This was okay since the park is so big and beautiful, the day was so nice, and we so sincerely enjoy the company of our group. Already, we’ve formed some great friendships, which did not turn out to be the case with our last group in ’03 (they were great people, but we haven’t stayed in touch with any of them). After about 30 minutes, Roy and Kelly Howell headed back to the hotel, which left us with Nat and Kathy Olivieri from Long Island. Instinctively, Nat and I got out ahead and chatted while Colleen and Kathy dropped behind and chatted…both girls slept the whole time. I truly enjoy Nat’s company. We cracked each other up, like the same music, and seem to share similar opinions on “things.” We all killed about an hour like this and then decided to head back to the hotel around 6:00. We made a quick stop at the grocery store across the street for drinks and munchies and then headed back.

The 3 of us rested for about an hour and headed down to dinner at 7:00. Colleen had Hawaiian pizza, I had spaghetti Bolognese, and Sha Sha had chicken congee, bread, lots of my noodles, and a warm bottle of formula to wash it all down. She may be stoic and fragile so far, but the girl can eat and sleep with the best of them. Reminds me of my friend Brad back home.

At 8:00, one adult member of each family in our group had to show up at our guide’s room to take a phone call from the director of Spence Chapin’s China program in NYC, just to see how things are going and answer a few questions. Since Sha Sha still insists on being with Colleen, those 2 stayed in our room and I went down to take the call. That went fine and after leaving the room and I ran into 2 new friends in the hallway, Terry and Brian (from Boston and Mobile, Alabama respectively) and we got to chatting about everything under the sun right there in the hallway. What a hysterical hour that was! We covered sports, politics, kids, religion, wives, you name it…and all while the beer was flowing (especially in Terry’s direction!). Brian and I decided that we definitely needed to go hunting together, and I have an invite to his place in Mobile to do so. I plan to take him up on this. Terry decided I needed to learn how to fish, so we may get around to that some day. By the way, I never knew a tuna could get to be 1,000 pounds. This was a fun time in the hallway, and just what the guys needed. The funny part is that we were all from different adoption groups! There’s just a certain camaraderie here that makes making friends really easy.

Finally, Brian’s wife stuck her head into the hallway and gave him the old “you’ve played with your friends long enough and it’s time to come home” look, so the party ended there. Terry and I went to our rooms prepared to resume our fatherly duties. Colleen’s first words to me when I walked in were “you were talking to your friends, weren’t you?” She smiled as she asked this, and I was reminded of two of the many reasons I love her so much: first, because she knows me so well and knew exactly why didn’t come right back to the room; secondly, because she knows I love chatting and yucking it up with the guys and doesn’t mind giving me the time and space to do so, even when she would have been perfectly justified in asking me to come right back to the room. I’m damn glad and lucky she’s my wife.

Sha Sha was already asleep on our bed in her little pink jammies. I gave her a couple of kisses on her warm head and Colleen brought her out to her crib in the other room. Another day was over, and we’re one day closer to being able to fly home and get our “real” lives started. We miss everyone at home very much, even though we’re having a good time here. There really is no place like home, especially when you’re on the other side of the planet for 17 days, one of your daughters is 9,000 miles away, and you’ve got a new family to introduce to each other. Soon enough…