Running with the bulls!

Ok, not really, but I had a great time thinking so. I went out for a run this morning. I’ve been looking forward to this – to be able to run around and see a lot of the area around Guangzhou. So I went running through some of the back streets across the river from our hotel. There is just street upon street of shops with all sort of things – chickens (ever here of bird flu, people), pigs, goats, and yes, dogs. All the livestock is sold whole and is hanging from racks. If I have the guts I’ll take some pictures for you… it’s pretty cool.

Anyway, as I’m running through the streets there are plenty of areas where it gets pretty crowded – bikes, motorcycles, people, cars – all weaving around in these narrow streets. Many times I just launched off the sidewalk and ran in the street, dodging cars and everything. Sometimes I’d outpace them and weave around them, sometimes they’d outpace me or come up behind me. I was jamming Dave Matthews and Beck on the iPod and (at least in my mind) was running with the bulls. It was fun, and pretty normal behavior for here, but exhilarating for me. I get plenty of looks in general just because I’m a white hairy guy with a green t-shirt and shorts running with headphones on… not really blending in.

Amanda, Megan, and I all went to the wholesale children’s clothing stores today and did some shopping, which was fun. Sara went for a walk around the island, and we did some paperwork. We also met the other family from Hope for Children and had dinner with them. They are from L.A. and adopted a 16 month old girl. She was on the same waiting child list Carli was on and has a club foot. She is a beautiful girl with a very friendly face and gentle smile and seems to already be at home with her new mom and dad.

The older girls all went to pick out some fabric and me and the two young ones went down to the Swan Room (a play room) for some play time. They had a blast in there, both running around and playing with everything and everyone. However, the girls really haven’t had a bonding moment, yet, until this evening. We gave them another bath and let them play together in the bath for a while. They finally had a bonding moment. Jenna started being a bit goofy and blowing bubbles and making Carli laugh. Getting attention like that of course always encourages Jenna, and so she kept doing it and they were laughing together. Then they both started making noises and doing funny things, playing and laughing together. They’ve liked each other and done a few small things together, but this was the first genuine Carli and Jenna bonding moment they’ve had and Amanda and I were excited to see it.

Carli continues to have problems going down for bed or naps. It is pretty weird because the first several days she went down without a problem, in fact almost eagerly. Now she will cry for a half hour until she falls asleep. We comfort her and let her know we’re here, but we can’t pick her up or else she’ll never fall asleep. I think it is part of the testing and transition, but we are timing it each night hoping for some sign of improvement. Today’s afternoon nap was 25 minutes, and we’re at 25 minutes now, so it looks like we aren’t going the right direction. In general she’s not responding well to situations she doesn’t like, which is tough, but understandable given the life changes she’s going through (we think starting a new job or moving is tough!). Today when we went to get her visa picture, we walked into the shop and she saw the camera and stool and immediately started pitching a fit… she DID NOT want her picture taken. Jophy, our guide, was there talking to her and trying to help her but she wanted nothing to do with it. So, her visa picture is one of her crying… at least she was looking at the camera.

Well, I was hoping she’d be asleep my the time I finished this… no such luck. Stay tuned for the next update of the Carli Crying Countdown.