Day 3 - Gotcha Day

Day 3 - Gotcha Day
After another killer breakfast, we met in the lobby with everyone else - 21 adults total, to take a bus to the airport to fly to Nanchang. The flight was uneventful, although the seats were randomly assigned so that we didn’t get to sit together. So I read “The Lost City of Z,” which Andrea thankfully got me since all I brought to read was “Ulysses”.
Landing at Nanchang, a doctor wearing a respiratory mask watched us to deplane, looking for signs of sickness. We stopped at the restroom, where the urinals brought the stark reality of new China to life – the urinal brand was “American Standard.”
After negotiating customs, Evelyn and Karen met us for our bus ride to the hotel, Jin Feng. We noticed on the way that traffic was reminiscent of Kazakhstan, but more congested. Buses, cars, bicycles, motorcycles and mopeds largely ignored traffic lights and lane markings and pretty much used their horns to notify other drivers of their intentions. Beep, and they’d start merging into the lane next to them. We saw three accidents on the way to the hotel, although since traffic moves so slowly, people generally don’t get hurt, even the one involving the moped and van.
After arriving, we all met together at 3:30, and the babies were to arrive at 5:00. Of course they arrived while we were still in the meeting, about 4:15, so we scrambled to get our cameras ready. The babies were to come in one at a time, in a certain order. While they pretty much came in one at a time, there was no order. Xiu Xiu arrived and went to Andrea without even crying. With all the excitement going on, she seemed overwhelmed. Several other babies were screaming loudly, but Xiu Xiu held it together until we got back to our room. She took to Andrea, and would even laugh at me, but wouldn’t let me hold her. She would make this face my puckering her lips and blowing out her nose, laughing. We’d do it to her, and she’d do it right back.
After a bottle that evening, and Papa John’s pizza (ultra thin crust), she fell asleep between us on our king bed a little after 9. She woke about midnight, laughing and smiling, and went back to sleep after a bottle. Her bottles are a mixture of formula and rice cereal, so pretty thick. All in all it really couldn’t have gone any better. Another in our party, we found out the next day, got only an hour and a half of sleep. Clara seems engaged and generally happy. She’s eating well for us already, which helps (since if she wasn’t, she probably wouldn’t be sleeping either).