Adventures with the Cranky Brothers

Thursday, May 27, 2010
Yesterday the boys were cranky and threw many tantrums.  Evan is very good at this as he flings his head around like it's a weapon.  He kicks, stomps his feet and screams.  I try to console him and he wiggles out of my arm like a worm or a snake.  Daniel was not much better as he continuously disobeyed any instructions that we gave him.  It was exhausting and we are all ready to come home.  Today they are both much better and so is Mama.  I felt like "psycho mom" was going to make an appearance but fortunately the crisis was averted.
I rode to the American Consulate on the hotel shuttle bus.  My guide had given me a piece of paper with "American Consulate" written in Chinese on it to show the driver.  When I approached my bus, I saw two men standing by it that looked like they were dressed as pilots.  I approached them with my paper and they said "yes" so I got onto the bus.  About 5 minutes later the driver got in the bus and we were on our way.  15 minutes into the drive I realized that our driver was not either of the men that I spoke to prior to our departure.  My inward panic began to overtake me.  The traffic was tough so I didn't want to distract the driver while he was driving.  I was hoping we would stop at a light or stop due to a traffic jam but nothing.  More time went by and I had to tell myself that it would be alright.  Finally we came to a stop so I was able to approach the driver.  He read my letter and said "yes, yes" so I relaxed again. 
When we pulled up to the Consulate, I wasn't sure that was it because there were no flags or signs.  Another passenger heard where I was going and told me I should get off the bus and gave me directions into the building.  Once inside I had to go through security to get a form notarized.  While waiting for my guide I saw a man that looked like he was from Oklahoma or some other "cowboy" state.  He had a black cowboy hat, tank top, red converse shoes and a scruffy beard.  He had a country accent and looked very much out of place in China.  I couldn't take my eyes off of him as he used not one but two fingers to pick his nose and rub it onto his pants.  I thought to myself "I hope he is not an American that is so embarrassing".  Then I remembered that I was at the US consulate so of course he is American.
I took a taxi back to our hotel and was so happy to see my boys until I heard crying coming from our room as I walked down the hallway.  Evan was extremely unhappy about something and Daniel was whining about something else.  We had to wait in our room until our guide finished with our documents at the Consulate.  Evan finally fell asleep so that left the three of us to watch an old movie on HBO.  Daniel had one problem after another and wouldn't take a nap, wouldn't watch one of his movies or be quiet.  It was pretty frustrating because it could have been a relaxing time for all but it wasn't.
We got the call we were waiting for and we left our hotel room to eat lunch.  Our hotel is great but the rooms are small.  It is even smaller with all of our stuff cluttering up the place.  I am trying to keep it contained but it takes on a life of its own.  We ate lunch at a Subway, did some shopping and then went back to the swimming pool.  There were a few other families there and it was a lot of fun for all of us.  Daniel had two swimming mishaps that were pretty scary.  He was using an inner tube and it turned him over, forcing him under water.  I caught him but he was scared from the incident.  A while later he wanted to go to the big pool.  The pool has a ledge to sit on and I told Daniel to stay there while I got myself wet.  I moved about 5 feet from him and he jumped off of the ledge.   The water was deep so I had a hard time reaching him quickly and he went under water.  He tried to move his head upward, but it didn't work.  I
was able to reach him and we got out of the pool.  He cried and said "I love you, you saved me".  I told him that he should have stayed on the ledge and that is why he needs to follow our directions.  All that day it had been a struggle to get him to listen and do what we asked him to do.  He sat on my lap for a long time before trying the kiddy pool again.
We took a taxi to a restaurant that had been recommended to us by a friend and our guide for dinner.  It was a huge restaurant and they guided us to go to the second level.  Once we got there we were seated and presented with another beautiful picture menu.  Unfortunately, this time I could not find one thing that looked good to us.  The items were expensive as well as exotic.  I notice a card written in Chinese and realized that it was another menu.  Only one person could understand a little bit of English and she was not able to help us with translating the menu.  I started looking around the restaurant and saw some dishes on other customer's tables that looked good.  I had the waitress follow me around as I pointed to what I wanted to order.  We did receive one dish that we did not order, at least we didn't intend to order, and it was pretty good.   Daniel played with the Chopsticks by hitting the plates and cups as if they were
drums.  Evan cried and threw a tantrum every five minutes.  I took the chopsticks away from Daniel many times and even put him into time out.  It was so frustrating and I wanted to scream.  We got our bill and paid as quickly as possible to leave as fast as we could.  We decided that we really need a guide to help us when we attend different restaurants and maybe a babysitter too. 
After dinner we walked home and stopped in shops along the way.  One woman asked us "why are you so far away"?  I guess she knew where the adoptive families hang out.  Walking the streets was exhilarating.  We don't live in a big city not have we ever lived in a big city and we both enjoyed meeting all of the people and seeing how they live.  The Chinese people are friendly and I will miss them when we leave tomorrow.