First Day Home - and Other China Tales....

A tale of two brothers…
Our flight finally arrived in Providence after a 3 hour delay at about 3 a.m.   Auntie Anita picked us up at the airport and we phoned ahead to my Mom’s house to wake the welcoming committee.   
When we walked in, there was a great amount of curiosity and Ben and Evan gave each other a hug.  They had “met” via Skype, and Evan seemed very happy to finally see another child.  They quickly started to show each other toys and play together while the adults chatted. 
I thought we might eventually get back to bed, but the sun gradually rose and the boys were too busy playing to care about missed sleep.  I tried to consume enough coffee to shock my body into staying awake to supervise and referee if necessary.
Overall, things went pretty well.  Evan can be willful, and I was worried he would come in and run right over Ben.  I also feared for my mother’s old dog, Sophie.  In both cases, Evan surprised me by being very sweet to Ben and he loves Sophie!    Ben seemed to have more trouble adjusting than I anticipated.  His anxiety grew threw the day and he was a little unsure of how the new arrival affects his position in the family.  I tried to reassure him, but I think overall he was just over-tired.   
In the late afternoon, we took the boys to Davenports for early dinner with Aunt Anita.   They both passed out at the table (see picture!) and my mother worried someone would wonder what we were dosing their milks with , LOL.   Evan and I slept some more in the evening and then we all went to bed. 
We are now starting our second day together.  Evan woke up quite early and hungry since he slept through most meals yesterday.  He was very eager to wake up Ben, but I held him off until 8 a.m. since I knew Ben needed sleep.  The boys are watching Scooby Doo together and having breakfast.  Ben seems happier today and I think he will start to enjoy having a companion more today.     


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Other China stories….
There are many things we have experienced on this trip that I elected to not include in our daily blog.  However, I feel compelled to write about them so as not to forget in the future, and also to “flesh out” the impression of China for anyone who is following our journey. 

I have become convinced that the reason the Chinese people live a long time is not because of their excellent diet which is rich in fruits and vegetables - but because they must have developed iron-clad immune systems from a lifetime of living in visible air pollution in crowded conditions.  Americans and Chinese do not share a common understanding of personal space or cleanliness.   As I was raised in a germo-phobic household, this leaves you with the constant feeling of recoiling.  In Beijing, we had a taxi driver who cleared his throat and spit out the window every time the traffic slowed. Anita and I shuddered and giggled behind our recently bought paper fans in the back seat.  Another spitting note – Anita was in the gym upstairs in the Holiday Inn in Zhengzhou on a treadmill.  A man on another treadmill loudly cleared his throat and then SPIT ON THE FLOOR.  I mean, what the hell?????  LMAO!!  

And the Turkish-style potties – which for those of you that are uninitiated means a literal hole in the floor with two porcelain foot plates on either side.  Now, these are always quite filthy and no one seems to be able to aim their stream right 100% of the time – so you can imagine the smell!  Now, picture the logistics of pulling your drawers down low enough to not soil yourself and somehow not letting them touch the nastiness at your feet….. uggggghhhhh!  Anita and I have decided to stick close to the hotel and our Western potty, thankyouverymuch.

On to other topics…
The traffic is insane here.  Granted, Beijing and Zhengzhou are large cities.  The main roads are 3-4 lanes going in each direction.  This does not include the traffic that is allowed to DRIVE ON THE SIDEWALK, lol. (in Zhengzhou) Yep.  There is a steady stream of motor scooters and bicyclists down the sidewalk all day long.  If you are walking, you must walk far to the side.  Amazingly, no one seems to crash.  As a foreign pedestrian, it feels constantly precarious to me, but the Chinese understand it and go about their business.  I know I could never drive here.

The countryside –
Anita and I had the unique experience of taking a train from Beijing to Guangzhou.  Outside of the large cities, China has miles and miles of open field, dirt fields, and brick and stone structures in varying stages of decay.  We saw whole clusters of buildings that had either fallen down or been partially deconstructed.  I wondered if these were remnants of the earthquakes.  Other places just had piles of stone bricks randomly interspersed on sidewalks and in between buildings.  Despite the conditions, it was apparent that people lived in many of these places. 

Poverty –
 China boasts some modern cities where wealth is apparent  and the architecture is some of the  most creative I have ever seen.  However, many in China are quite poor.  China does not provide much in the way of social services and so the poor resort to begging and scavenging.   In the train station in Zhengzhou, Anita and I watched as an elderly man made his way through a crowded line waiting at one of the train gates.  He didn’t walk or hold up a sign.  This old man crawled, on his hands and knees on the filthy floor, with no shirt on and prostrated himself, forehead to the floor, hands and arms outstretched, grunting – he was perhaps a deaf/mute – he seemed to have no speech -  in front of groups of travelers who threw money on the floor in front of him or simply chose to ignore him.  I will live with that image for the rest of my life. 

There are orphanages in every city in China.  I asked my guide if Evan’s orphanage was the only one near Zhengzhou.  She said, “No, there are 18 cities in Henan province, so 18 orphanages.”  I know there are 170 children at Evan’s orphanage.  If there are that many in each city, that comes to more than 3,000 children in orphanages in the Henan province alone.  Yet it takes 2 – 5 years to navigate the adoption process.  Evan came with a photo album of his friends in the orphanage.  Many children there are special needs.  What will happen to them when they age-out and are sent forth in the world?? What would have happened to Ben and Evan?    I shudder to think. 

News…
Stories in the China Daily newspaper:  (you won’t find this at home!)
6 died in an accident when a motorized tricycle carrying 7 passengers collided with a truck at 3:40 a.m.
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Beijing train stations to offer spare “loaner” slippers (flip flops, basically) to women who lose their slippers in the busy train carriages. 
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Speaking of trains … Several passengers got angry when a train experienced delays due to rain and the train employees refused to open the train windows.  It was so hot men were taking their shirts off and children were vomiting.  They beat the train conductor, who decided to endure the beating without calling the police because he understood why the passengers were angry.
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According to new provincial regulation to ensure public safety, bus drivers in Henan province who are in a bad mood can enjoy special leave.  The provincial government has granted a “sentimental vacation” for drivers in a bad mood because they will not concentrate on their driving.
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173 sheep died when lightning hit in a mountainous region.  The 18 year old shepherd explained, “My father was away tending the horses. The storm was very bad.  I was afraid and hid in my yurt.  There was a flash of light and I heard the sheep scream.  Then they were silent. I came out and they were all dead.”
His father lamented that he left his son to watch the sheep, but admitted there was not much that could have been done to save them.  “When I arrived there was the smell of burning meat.  We took the skins and buried the sheep.” 
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There were so many moments on this trip that made us laugh or shake our heads – what an experience.  Like the U.S., there are places in China that are lovely to visit, and places that are not.  China has thousands of years of history.  A word that you will see often in China is “Harmony.”   The people value harmony in themselves to maintain health, in their families, and as citizens of their country.  More than one person asked why the United States politicians wanted to promote China as a threat/and or competition.  They don’t see things from that perspective at all.  One gentleman in Hong Kong observed that China helps Americans to have a better quality of life by providing affordable goods.  It is true, if everything was manufactured by American workers earning our wages, many of us would not be able to afford to buy the material comforts we have become accustomed to.   It was interesting to read foreign newspapers and discuss world events with people who have a completely different perspective.  Americans would benefit from making this a regular habit.   I do have to say, there is no place like “home,”  and I am very happy be back!