melange

the last few days have passed in a blur due to a non sleeping baby. no real nap or true sleep for about 48 hours. its been brutal and i hope will not be a sign of things to come. teeth are coming, its hot, and hazel seems to be grieving heavily. i’d love to say that i have some funny, profound or interesting thoughts for tonight, but truthfully i am just glad that for the moment she is sleeping soundly. so i thought i’d make this a melange of the swirling thoughts.

music- in taxis and cars this trip has been dominated by pop- namely the song,” i saw you and her walking in the rain”, now one of my new favorites that will always bring a smile to my face. interspersed with someone singing classic madonna in a chinese accent- think “like a wirgin”. in hotels we have been treated to the theme from chariots of fire, the titanic and many old frank sinatra tunes in true tin like elevator fashion. in our room, thanks to aunty b we have pink martini, some reggae, some weird french stuff and a variety of new hip tunes that i have never heard, but have enjoyed.

food- some incredible seafood in fujian, which britta describes better than i.i will say that our places of dining were very interesting. from banquet room shared with the male members of a conference, to the spitting on the floor place, to a tiny shack on a dirt road with wild dogs nearby on the way to the airport, to the 5 star buffet at the white swan.

accommodations- our first hotel was a chinese 3 star place, that was pale institutional green, had beds as hard as the floor and we dubbed “the prison”. a 4 star hotel in xiamen- very nice, not too fancy great swimming pool. a 4 star in fuzhou- fancy lobby, decent rooms, hard beds requiring many pillows ( princess and the pea style) but no pool. a 5 star in guangzhou where in a desperate move after the day from hell i upgraded us to a suite which overlooks the pearl river , has 2 bathrooms and a great pool. i feel like a decadent american but its been worth it to have room to hang out in this heat.

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as i mentioned hazel has had a rough few days which have been hard on all of us. thank god for britta! she has been a trooper and a lifesaver through this journey. on a positive note, hazel has passed her medical exam and seems to be enjoying the pool. i took her to the 6 banyon temple to be blessed, which was a very important moment. i love the solemnity of the monks chanting with ancient words and sprinkling holy water on the baby.

as we left at the kuan yin statue, i lit some incense for her, and for the rest of our special babies.