Trains & Automobiles: Zhumadian Style

On Wednesday, we woke up early to take a train ride to the town where Seraphina's orphanage was located in order to apply for a passport. We hadn't done this in the past so this was a new adventure for the Smiths.

Sera's orphanage is in Suiping, south of Zhengzhou where we have been staying this week. Zhumadian is a bit further south, but being the hub city, it was the location of the government offices. (On a side note, we were told Sera spent some time in Kaifeng for some speech therapy. The significance here is that Leah is from Kaifeng.)

We took a subway from the Hilton to the train station and then boarded the train for an hour ride. Sera did great the entire time, enjoying some chips and "browsing" the magazine in the seat pocket. Apparently she has watched adults read magazines so for her this involves methodically turning to each page continuously (never stopping to actually look at any content) until she reaches the end and then putting the magazine away. Speed reader.

Our guide, Rita (in picture above in red coat) was rushing us from vehicle to vehicle which was somewhat stressful combined with a child who wanted to walk but couldn't because of the speed expected of us. However, the hustle and bustle was necessary since we were constantly stopped by police to check passports. Whatever conference is coming next week to Zhengzhou has everyone on high alert. Apparently Americans adopting Chinese kids fits every profile in the book.

Leah's first breakdown of the day was when we tried to climb into a taxi to get from the train station in Zhumadian to the passport office. Angela climbed in first while I held Na. She broke into tears and started yapping. When I finally got in to the taxi myself, Rita said Na wanted Angela and was scared of me. Strange, as she plays with me all the time in the hotel room, with or without Angela in sight. Personally I think Na wants the three of us to be around at all times. While she manages with just one of us, whenever there is a perception that one of us is "leaving", she gets visibly upset. This makes it interesting when one of us has to use the bathroom.

At the passport office, we met up with Na's caregivers (in black and gray coats above). They are the ones that brought her to the Hilton on Monday and were needed to sign the paperwork making the transfer complete. One of the ladies gave Sera a bag with some of her clothes as well as a doll which was a going away present. Sera did great with the short reunion and gave each of them a hug when they parted ways.

Last stop before the return trip was a trip to the orphanage where two of the other children in our adoption group were from. To get there, we had to take a minivan through town. I wish I could have gotten video of the drive as no words can do justice to how the Chinese drive. Lines are wasted on these people. We wove between lanes often and many times would straddle two lanes if the driver was unsure which gave the best advantage. At stop lights, he would pull up on the right of another driver already in the shoulder, then rev the engine just before the light changed and merge into the shoulder before merging back in to an actual lane. And merging consisted of a flick of the turn signal before moving to left or right -- no need to use the mirrors -- bigger vehicle (or bigger balls) usually gained the pole position. To get to orphanage we had to take a few side streets, these were unpaved with manhole covers sticking no less than 8 inches above the ground (or sometimes 8 inches underground). The minivan would weave between obstacles as necessary, sometimes playing chicken with oncoming traffic. If two vehicles got too close, a simple "beep-beep" would be made simultaneous to a quick tap in the brakes. At one point I thought we were driving through a war zone as we had to navigate huge piles of rubble as if on some giant moto-cross track. At one point we were driving on a wide sidewalk; another we were driving through a mud puddle so wide I was convinced I would be pushing before we made it across. I have been to most every big city in America and not one comes remotely close to how the Chinese drive.

Once at the orphanage, we had about 15 minutes to take a quick tour. This was apparently one of the better funded institutions in China and it makes me wonder about the others. The hall ways were cold and had that institutional smell of ammonia mixed with urine. The rooms were nice enough with fairly new cribs and a small area with rubber mats, a wall mirror and a TV. A few toys were scattered about. Not much to see aside from the pictures lining the walls of the children who had been adopted and were in photos with their forever families.

The return trip was more of the same with a stop at a police station to sign one other document. The second hand cigarette smoke in the tiny building was so bad, I opted to step back outside to inhale the polluted air instead.

Another week in China still? God bless us.