10.03.06
Some of you have asked exactly where Mary's orphanage is and where we'll pick her up. I guess I will start with the end and then circle back to the beginning of our journey. Yuanjiang, pictured in the poster, is in Hunan (highlighted on the map). That is where Mary is right now. There is a 12-hour time difference between Charlotte and, well, all of China.
When the time comes to go get her, we will not likely be permitted to see her orphanage or travel to Yuanjiang at all. The plan, right now, calls for us to begin the trip in Beijing, filling out more paperwork and actually doing some sightseeing (maybe having some suits made and doing lots of shopping). After several days, we will go to Guangzhou, in Southeast China, where there is a US Consulate. It is there, after a few more days of paperwork, that we will meet and officially become Mary's parents. It will all 'go down' in the White Swan hotel and is very well-orchestrated. We will stay for a few days there, with Mary, before traveling home - either direct from Guangzhou, or back through Beijing. Our total trip to China should take about two weeks. The flights from Chicago to Beijing, traveling over the North Pole, are the shortest and take about 17 hours.
At that point, how difficult an adjustment she has is anyone's guess. We have heard horrific tales of seemingly endless night terrors and rejection, but some families talk of very smooth transitions. We'll just have to wait and see.
She doesn't look like trouble, but neither did I at that age.
Next up: The beginning.
posted by Michael Fresina @ 5:28 AM
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