Unexpected Tour of Hohhut

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Friday started out as a great day.  The sun was shinning, breakfast was delicious and we were able to relax because our flight to Guangzhou didn't leave until 4:10pm.  Our guide and driver picked us up to exchange some more money and take us to the airport.  We arrived at the airport over two hours before our flight.  Since our guide struggles with her English it was a little frustrating checking onto our flight.  We finally worked through the kinks and made it through security.  After eating some snacks we decided to check on the status of our flight which turned out to be a good idea because our flight had been canceled. 

In Hohhut very few people speak English and unfortunately we only speak a little mandarin.  We arrived at our gate to find all of the passengers arguing with the airline employees and Brian was able to find one person who could speak some English.  He informed us that the mechanic would arrive at 7pm to fix the plane and in the meantime all of the passengers would be taken by bus to a hotel to rest.  Neither of us wanted to go because we thought we would have to spend the night and we needed to be Guangzhou. We decided that we better go because we didn't want to be stuck in an airport with two children.  We had no way to contact our guide in Hohhut or the guide who would be waiting for us in Guangzhou.  We were both getting concerned because we didn't speak their language and they didn't speak ours and this whole time we had been spoiled with guides that helped us navigate our way through China. 

While waiting for our bus we were sitting next to some ladies who were starring at Daniel.  Since very few foreigners let alone foreigners with Chinese Children visit this area we were getting used to the attention.  Daniel on the other hand was not used to it nor did he like the attention.  He became mad and tried to hide behind our stroller.  I tried to explain to him that they were being friendly and it was ok to say hello.  He didn't care for my advice and yelled at them.  Fortunately, they thought it was cute.  Evan on the other hand loved the attention and waved to everyone he met.

The bus arrived and everyone rushed to get on.  We sat in the very back of the bus with our stuff in one seat and a boy on each of our laps.  The bus pulled away from the airport as we wondered where we were going as we passed many hotels and continued to travel into Hohhut.  We kept driving and driving.  About 45 minutes into this ride the bus stopped at a hotel and people started to get off then they got back on.  A man from the airline made an announcement that we didn't understand and the bus pulled away.  The bus pulled onto a narrow street in a residential part of Hohhut. It was around 5 pm and the streets were packed with people.  The bus moved slowly along the streets and we were able to wave hello to people.  A couple of the kids were very excited to see me as I waved to them.  As the bus moved down the street it began to stall.  The air was turned off and people opened windows.  When we arrived at a major intersection the bus
tried to turn left.  In China, the traffic is crazy.  There are traffic signals but they are not always followed.  As the bus tried to turn, it stalled.  Another bus driver got frustrated with our driver and moved his bus inches from the side of our bus and laid on the horn.  People on the right side of our bus did the same thing.  Finally our bus started to move but another bus was coming at us from the other direction.  People on our bus were standing up to watch.  Brian was relieved that the people were just as concerned as we were, I on the other hand was worried because these people live everyday with this wild traffic and if this is bothering them, then it must be bad.  Luckily we made it but a few minutes later the bus came to a quick halt as a car pulled in front of us.  We continued drive and I started to recognize that we were taking the same path to the airport that we had just taken only a couple hours before.  Brian yelled from
the back of the bus to the airline employee up front to ask if we were heading back to the airport.  He confirmed that we were. We were so relieved!

About an hour later our plane took off.  Evan did not like flying at all.  He cried and screamed a lot.  There was nothing I could do for him, he only wanted Brian.  A woman gave Evan some kind of dried fruit snack and that quieted him down for a little bit.  He cried off and on the entire trip.  At one point Brian had to go to the bathroom so he left Evan with me.  Evan threw the biggest tantrum yet.  It was awful and I could do nothing right.  A couple of women behind us tried to help and it didn't work.  I stood him up to look back at them and he reached his arms out to them.  One of the women took him and immediately he stopped crying.  I felt horrible and started crying.  Daniel asked me where his brother was and I couldn't respond because I was sobbing so hard that I couldn't talk.  Daniel started crying and saying "Mama, where's my brother, I want my brother back".  Brian returned from the bathroom and took Evan back and saw that I
was crying.  He tried to console me but there was nothing he could say or do to help me.  I think that it was a lot of pent up frustration mixed with exhaustion and I just let it all out.  I know that it will take time for Evan to love and trust me but that rejection was so painful. With Daniel's adoption, it didn't bother me at all but with Evan's it has been a lot harder for me.  I know it will get better soon.

We arrived in Guangzhou around 10pm and it was a relief to be somewhere familiar.