Cami Mei's Journey

This is an excerpt from a forum post from one of our families currently in China. I am reposting it because it gives a vivid look into what life is like over there, and the level of awareness (or lack of in sme cases) regarding international adoption in the Chinese culture. Sherri has excellent visuals!

Wherever we were, a crowd gathered. We must be very interesting to look at. I don't know what it is. Often people see the baby and then look at Mark or I (whoever is holding her) and then they look around to see where the Asian parent is. When they don't see one, their confusion is obvious. Adoption is WAY down on the list of possibilities. I think it's so odd that the Chinese people do not immediately understand that we are here adopting. And it's even more strange that they do not seem to know much about adoption or have any idea of the number of orphans in their country or where they all might be or come from. They are puzzled, and they remain puzzled even if we try to explain.

A conversation today went: Asian woman: You have baby.
Me: Yes, I do (beaming)
Asian woman: Is she a Chinese baby?
Me: Yes
Asian: Where she come from
Me: Jiangxi Provience
Asian: Oh....spicy baby
Me: (laughter)
Asian: Why you have Chinese baby?
Me: I adopted her
Asian: From where?
Me: Here in China, We've had her only one week
Asian: Okay, see you later.

or, the other way the story goes is an older woman might strike up a conversation and end up saying, "My daughter has a baby girl. Do you want her too"?

Anyway, our understanding of the adoption process and more importantly, of the needs of these children is much greater than the people living right among them.

China is a hard place. People work very hard. They hold themselves to very high standards no matter what job they do. There is a woman in the hotel who meets us everytime we get off on our floor and says, "Fifteenth Floor please". And when she sees us coming she runs to push the elevator door open button so that maybe we don't even have to wait for the elevator. That's just one example. It seems like people here are thankful to have work and they take pride in whatever their job is.

The poverty surrounds everything. The difference between the rich and poor is like day and night. Today we saw alot of the wealthy Chinese out shopping or having a family day. We went into a department store with many different designer brands. It had 8 floors. We only saw a couple floors. But they were beautiful. The first floor was only makeup from every Paris and New York designer you can imagine. All the decor and displays are gorgeous.

However, just getting through the crowds is pretty hard. Probably harder because I was carrying a 25 pound baby and trying to keep a group of 6 together. The rhythm of this culture is so fast paced. I can't begin to describe the mass of people that are everywhere we turn. The shopping trip was exhausting for me and I was glad we only planned to be out half the day. Then on the way back our taxi driver about ran over a man with only one leg pulling a suitcase across a busy street. Life doesn't get much harder than that! Life just seems hard here and if you have a strike against you, a handicap, or a low start in life, as in an orphanage..... you just don't have a chance at all. I'm ashamed to admit that I feel worn out and I'm in a beautiful
5 star hotel. I think tomorrow we might have a free day and not plan a big outing.

There are two more things we want to do....visit a temple and also visit a museum that has items that are specialties of all the different provinces. This trip has gone by so quickly. I can't believe we'll be home by the end of the week. We are so thankful to everyone who helped us along the way to Cami. And we will be forever thankful for the blessing she is already in our life.

Look at the new photos today (Folder August 19) to see how she has charmed her tough big brother!!! LOL! I love it! More to come. Sherri