August 19, 2005

One of the most helpless feelings in the world is trying to console an inconsolable child. Hannah's tantrums have gotten a bit more severe lately, and today's was the worst we’ve seen so far. The day began easily enough, but after breakfast and while waiting for the bus to take us to the airport Hannah just could not get happy. The bus ride to the airport distracted her enough that she didn't cry much, but while we were getting checked through security and heading to the gate something set her off and she was screaming at the top of her lungs by the time we reached the seating area. Since the whole area was tiled and covered in marble her screams could be heard echoing around the terminal. A few people came to try to calm her, but nothing seemed to help. Jophy even took Hannah from Victoria for a while to give her a break, but this time even she was having no success in calming her down. We've noticed that she responds to Chinese being spoken to her in most cases but this time was an exception.

The gate call was sounded and we had to board the plane with a very unhappy child. Jophy tried to get the crew to allow her to sit with Hannah and Victoria in the front section by the bulkhead, but they wouldn't allow it. Instead, were able to stay there for a few minutes and then they had to move to the galley area at the rear of the plane. Jophy commandeered a row of seats at the back, raised the armrests and made a couch for Hannah to lie on, then just sat with her and let her cry, holding her so she wouldn’t fall. During this whole time on the plane she didn’t want anything to do with Victoria or me, so we just had to sit back and pray that something would calm her down. Thankfully by the time we were airborne and on our way to Guangzhou she had cried herself out and was napping fitfully. The hour long flight went by without further event, and we were able to deplane and collect our luggage while Hannah worked on draining a bottle.

We met a representative from the White Swan after claiming the checked luggage and then followed her to the parking area. All the bags were loaded into the front of the bus while we found seats behind them. The trip to the hotel was short, and we were told to just take our bags with important documents and computers with us. The rest of our bags were to be brought to our rooms later. Jophy asked us for our passports and went to the check in counter to get our rooms arranged. It took a few minutes to get everything sorted out - Jophy had to ask me for our itinerary from Lotus Travel to show the people at the counter that we were expected to stay at the hotel. Whatever happened, Jophy managed to clear up the problem and get us moving to our rooms.

A few notes about the White Swan: It is heavily staffed and most of the employees speak English. Any of the people on staff will do whatever they can to assist a guest, regardless of what they need. The hotel is also swarming with families who have just adopted Chinese children and children from other countries as well. Most all of those families staying here are on the last legs of their trip so they are all very excited about going home soon. The area surrounding the White Swan is covered with shops of all descriptions which cater to (or prey upon) the adoptive families. Lucy's Bar specializes in western food, and many of the families, including us, go there shortly after arrival to taste some familiar food again. Quite a few of the shops offer laundry services, stroller loans or rentals, children's clothing, toys and souvenirs. Shamian Island, where the White Swan is located, has an economy that is definitely driven by tourist dollars.

We unpacked our bags once they arrived at our room, then headed downstairs to exchange some money and get some dinner. The currency exchange still feels odd to me, because the exchange rate is just over 12 cents to the yuan. When converting 100 dollars in U.S. currency, you get handed around 800 yuan in local currency. Not only does it feel weird to carry around that many bills in hundreds, but when we can eat at Lucy's for about 120 yuan it becomes evident that a dollar can buy quite a lot here. We stopped at Lucy's and got a cheese quesadilla for the girls, a grilled cheese sandwich for Victoria and fettuccine alfredo for me. It was all wonderful, and Hannah showed us that she prefers grilled cheese over quesadillas. We then headed over to Jennifer's Place to borrow a stroller and get Hannah a dress and some squeaky shoes. These shoes with squeakers in the soles are common around here, and are supposed to encourage children to walk because they squeak with each step the child takes. Hannah is still getting used to them. She would still rather be carried than walk, even though we know that she can walk. .

We returned to the room to find the bed turned down. We started getting everyone ready for bed and then Hannah had another fit. If possible, this one was worse than the one at the airport. It didn't help that it was now after 8:00 p.m. and we knew that people would be in their rooms and trying to get some rest. We got Abigail in bed and she laid there covering her ears and saying that it was too loud to sleep. She eventually fell asleep with her hands over her ears. Since Hannah won't let me carry her, Victoria tried walking the halls with her. After walking around she would calm down a bit, but after Victoria returned to the room Hannah would start up again. We tried a warm bath which helped until we got her out, we tried warm bottles which she acted like she wanted but then refused. By around midnight we were out of ideas. Hannah would only fall asleep for a few minutes before starting to cry again. We finally decided to take her to the hotel infirmary on the third floor to see if the doctor on staff could find anything wrong with her. We were somewhat relieved to hear that she had a small ear infection in each ear, which explained a lot of her behavior. The doctor wrote a prescription for antibiotic drops and glucose solution and had her assistant fill it in the other room. The cost for this midnight service was 100 yuan, or around twelve U.S. dollars.

As soon as we got back to the room we mixed up some of the glucose solution which Hannah greedily sucked down. All of the crying caused her to sweat a lot, increasing her dehydration from not taking bottles or any other liquids. While she was taking the solution we managed to get the drops in her ears and we were surprised that she didn't mind the drops at all. Once she finished the bottle she allowed Victoria to hold her for a little bit and comfort her before putting her in the crib. She didn't fall asleep immediately, but she did go to sleep shortly after being placed in the crib. She cried some, but not the ear-piercing screams she was doing earlier. We could tell that she was exhausted and it wasn't long before she was asleep. It didn't take long for us to collapse as well. This was the longest day and night of the entire trip. We can only hope and pray that the medicine will do its work quickly.