April 12th

This morning most of our group visited Forbidden City and Tiannanmen Square. We decided to skip the tour and catch up with the group for a Hutong Tour. A good decision on our part because I think Naomi is starting to feel the effects of no schedule and is needing to get back home. She has had a few more than normal “moments” today, and while it’s not over the top I can see that she’s maxed out. On top of that, while we were waiting for the group at the North gate of Forbidden City lots of Chinese people came up to her and were poking and prodding. Since we were waiting, there was not much opportunity to escape it despite my trying to protect her in my arms. Naomi just pushes their hands away and yells NO at them. Not pretty but I can’t blame her as I wouldn’t want a million strangers patting me and wanting to give me a hug if I was her. I felt badly for her, not only is our family conspicuous in Canada but we stand out even more in China. We still strongly feel that bringing her was the best thing for our family as she’s connected with Lilah with few issues and she’s loved many things about her homeland. I just think it’s time for us to go home.

The Hutong tour was fabulous and a must see. I think it should be on every adoption journey, but there are so many things to do here and to try to do them all would require more time. As it was, everyone else in our group felt this was a really long day. First we hopped in our rickshaws and headed to a local home for a delicious lunch. The food was good and we all, including Naomi ate piles of it. The 2 hosting women carried our babies around and entertained them while we ate. Naomi surprised us and didn’t want the ladies to hold Lilah. She kept asking for Daddy to take Lilah back, which we took as a sign that she figures that Lilah is hers. At this rate, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about Lilah’s boyfriends later in life!

We then headed back out to walk to a local kindergarten school for children aged 2 – 6yrs. The four older girls were in their glory seeing the kids and their play equipment as you can tell by the photos below. They visited the students in class and while they do not share the same language, all the girls seemed to “fit in”.

Next stop was an older area where we stopped in on a woman for Jasmine tea and cookies. We also learned from our guide about the Hutong, how old it is, who used to live there and what life is like. Very interesting.

Our last stop on the tour was a street filled with stores. There was art, jade, tea, clothing, porcelain and many other items for sale. We only had 20 minutes, but could have spent hours exploring.

As we reached the end of the tour, I was starting to feel a little weary. It seemed everytime our feet hit the ground through the Hutong Tour, the hawkers were there to peddle their watches, Beijing 2008 hats, fans, calligraphy brushes, balls, etc. By the end of the tour, I was feeling like Naomi must have felt at Forbidden City and just wanted to be left alone. I left with a greater sense of understanding.

We arrived back at the hotel with only an hour to get ready for our Peking Duck dinner. We checked in on our family who had been with a specialist today regarding their baby. They will have to wait another week in China for the results of a test. I would be falling to pieces in their situation, but through their agony they remain hopeful that things will be in their favor and they will be able to take their daughter home. We all feel for them and hope you will keep them in your prayers too.

Our Peking Duck dinner was not done at a traditional Peking Duck hall. Instead our guide Lily, took us to a restaurant that had a show of some of the Minority dancers. Both Naomi and Lilah were fascinated by the music, dancing and costumes. Papa Tom was selected from the audience to join one of the dancers on the stage, and he was a great sport about it. During the dance, Naomi decided she didn’t want Papa to have all the fun and hopped off her chair to join him. We had a great time teasing him afterwords. Even Cheryl got in on the action and then a whole lot of our group was up there. When it was all done, Naomi looked at me and said, “more princesses please”. As far as I’m concerned, I have the two best princesses in the world on my lap!

Tomorrow is our last full day in China. We’re heading back to the Yashow market to get some last minute shopping done while my dad and some of the others go to the Temple of Heaven. Now that I’m half packed, I know what I have room left for. After Yashow, Joel and the girls will head back to the hotel and I’m off to find the shoe place near the Beijing Zoo. I feel like I’m nearing the end of a marathon now and the finish line will be the escalator in Toronto!