I want to take this moment to thank my friends, the makers of amoxicillin, for allowing me to be adventurous with my Chinese food intake without getting sick.  Before we left for China I started to get a sinus infection.  The doc gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.  I’m 7 days into our trip and I’ve been trying everything that sounds odd or looks cool.  Is it possible that an antibiotic could be a twice a day vitamin when traveling in China?

So, here are a few more foods that I have tried.  In the past few days I have enjoyed pickled duck eggs, baby pig (spread out on a platter head and all), lotus root, jellyfish and a deep fried rice krispy treat made out of corn.  And there’s one more that actually did freak me out a little.  At lunch the director of an orphanage ordered the food for us.  I looked over her shoulder just as she ordered a seafood platter.  In English below the platter it read “Whale.”

Now, I’m all for adventure, but I really don’t want to eat an endangered species.  That’s where I draw the line.  The interpreter assured me that it wasn’t really whale.  So, I ate it.  I guess it was a mystery seafood platter.

Here are some new interesting food pictures:   

deep fried rice crispy treat thing made of corn

Jellyfish slides on the way down and it actually tastes good. I'm a fan of the Jellyfish!

Mountain of brine shrimp in the grocery store

How many frogs does your stew recipe call for?

squidalicious

3 days and counting.  . . Maya still refuses to do anything without her red boots.  The bathtub and swimming pool are the only two areas that the boots have come off.  She sleeps in them and cries over them if they are gone for a moment.  Mom packed other pretty shoes.  Maya has no interest.  She’s serious about her red shoes.

So. . . we thought we would let our friends play along.  Place your bet as to how many days the red boots remain on Maya’s feet.  The first person to predict the correct amount of days wins a souvenir from China.  By the way, these shoes are twice as big as her feet.  She has room to grow for the next two years!

On a serious note, Jana Troutman Miller, a hospital chaplain and friend of mine shared some insights that I thought were interesting. . .

“I can’t remember the exact school of psychology that this is from, I think it is Self Psychology, anyway the theory is that when children are born they have no feelings of being an individual apart from their mother. So if the mother is not present, then to them a part of them is missing. They do not feel whole. And at times even if a mother is there children can grab on to things that they can transfer their feelings of wholeness too. Like a security blanket. For some children they associate the blanket with their mother which is associated with who they are. So if the blanket is taken away from them, then a part of themselves is taken away too.

I wonder if that is what is happening with Maya’s red boots. To someone who hasn’t had much stability she probably was able to associate stability and a feeling of self hood with the boots and so clings to them as a part of her self. It will be interesting to see that as her association and trust grows with you two (and I’m guessing especially Cathy) how her relationship with her boots will change.”

Today I met Maya’s foster parents.  They have loved on Maya for over a year.  I asked them about the boots.  Through a translator I was told, “she wears the boots because she believes that as long as she wears them they will take her back home.”

Maya is an intelligent girl with highly defined opinions about shoes.  I say we let her walk a few more miles in shoes that help her hold on to a sense of home and self-worth.    

How many days will it take before Maya is willing to wear different shoes?

On our second day with Maya we met with the Chinese Registrar.  He is an important man.  We paid him $355 US in cash.  Then with a shake of my hand and a presentation of formal documents, he declared that Maya is legally ours. 

Shake a hand!  Deliver an envelope of cash!  That’s all?  Isn’t there more?  Come on people.  Drag it out.  Deliver a speech.  Make me raise a hand and recite a pledge.  Just do something.  I want more than a handshake and cash transaction.  Make me repeat after you in Chinese. . .

“I, Shane Taylor, do solemnly swear to love Maya Li.  I will provide for her physical and emotional needs.  I will give her the promise of a good education.  On this day I promise to never ever abandon her.  I will cherish her all the days of my life.”

Nope. . . the gift of a child came easy.  Cathy and I have been waiting for 3 years for this official declaration.  Yeah there was tons of paperwork.  And yet, the certified transaction went by so quick that all I got was a blurry picture.  In a flash, the decisive action of the Chinese government made Maya a child of the Taylors. 

That is the way all great gifts come.  You don’t earn them.  You don’t receive them because you jump through enough hoops.  Great gifts are simply received. They are not based on merit, test scores or perfect behavior that proves our worth.

The Bible informs me of another child that was given. . . One that came as the Son of a King.  He gave his life so that I can be adopted.  I didn’t study enough.  I didn’t obey enough.  I simply received the joy inflicting news that a Father wanted me.  I’m not an orphan.  And neither is Maya. 

What good is it to live as an orphan when there’s a Father that wants us home? 

Official Papers

Maya's Visa Application Official

We had a great first day with Maya.  Here is a quick rundown on the day…After Skyping with the boys back home and both sets of grandparents, we could tell Maya was ready for a nap.  She actually slept on me for 3 whole hours!  Then, we thought it would be a good time for a bath.  She loved the bath and got excited right away when she saw the water running.  Maya loved scooping the water up and pouring it out with her stacking cups. 

Since we had her clothes off we wanted to see what she actually weighed (18 lbs, her paperwork said she weighed 22 lbs).  Once we got her into some fresh clothes she chowed down on some mandarin oranges.  She loved stabbing them with a little spork and feeding herself – she kept wanting more and more.  We played for a while in our room and even with some of the other families in our travel group. 

Maya loves her stuffed animals; she seems to always have one under her arm tightly.  One of the best parts of the day was when Shane left to take care of some paperwork and Maya blew him a kiss goodbye!  Then, later in the evening we hit a restaurant in the hotel for some dinner.  She loved to eat sugar snap peas, rice, noodles and marshmallows on a stick. 

Early in the day Maya didn’t say much, but by the evening time she has starting talking a bit.  Get this – Maya is even potty trained!  All we have to do is put her on the potty and make a certain sound for her and she goes – is she amazing, or what?  Stay tuned for what happens tomorrow…

3 Hour Nap With Mom

Tub Time With Dad

Wanting More Oranges

Weighing in at 18 lbs.

First Smile

As you can imagine, today has been an amazing day!  When we met Maya this morning, she came to us with 4 layers of clothing on (two of them were snowsuits).  It is in the 70s here in Zhengzhou, but the Chinese people feel that keeping their babies layered with tons of clothing is a must. 

When we arrived back at our hotel room with Maya, we wanted to remove a few layers of her clothes (of course I wanted to dress her in the beautiful clothes we brought for her immediately!), but didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable since she is used to her layered clothes.  It seemed that as we slowly removed her layers of clothing one at a time throughout the day a little more of her personality was revealed to us.  However, there was one layer that she was not ready to give up today under any circumstances – her Red Boots! 

I tried to switch out her oversized, heavy shoes for some comfy & cute slippers I brought for her but she was not interested a bit!  Each time we tried to get close to them or try to take them off she would move her feet away and grunt in a displeased fashion.  Even after her bath (I sort of hid them in the bathroom) but she searched high and low for them and eventually brought them to me and it was very clear to me (even though she said it in Chinese) that she wanted them back on NOW! 

So, I have decided that I will let Maya keep her red boots on as long as she likes, as they comfort and remind her of the only life she knows while she transitions into our family.  It is no secret to us that our little Maya is grieving her caretakers and the life that was familiar to her.  It is my hope and prayer that as the next few days and months come to pass that Maya will come to love and accept us as her forever family.

She even sleeps with her red boots on. Note that she is keeping her favorite things close.

Cathy and I can hardly wait.  We have toured Beijing.  We have climbed the Great Wall.  We have eaten strange foods (o.k. most of the strange foods were for me).  And yet, we didn’t fly for 14 ½ hours to sightsee and experience the taste of Sichuan or Cantonese cuisine.  We have come to China to bring Maya home. 

What will that moment be like to meet your daughter for the first time?  Will she like us?  Cathy wonders if Maya will like me more than her.  Do Chinese babies like darker hair?  She probably hasn’t seen to many blondes.

I can’t wait to hold her in my arms.  The bellboy brought a crib to our hotel room today.  Maya will soon be in our care.  We have heard that the first few days for an adoptive child can be rough.  To Maya we probably look weird, sound weird and smell weird.  We are preparing ourselves for whatever Maya feels.  Grumpy, sad, happy or ready to cuddle, Maya will be our joy. 

He Li Chun - Maya's Chinese Name

At Beijing’s night market vendor’s hollered, “Buy one centipede, get 2^nd one for free!”  You could get just about anything cooked on a stick.  I saw shark on a stick, starfish on a stick, larva on sticks, sheep liver, cow stomach, sea urchins, sea snakes, scorpions, cicadas, sea cucumbers, beetles, squid and dog.  And I’m not talking Oscar Mayer hot dogs. . . we are talking about the wag your tail and bark at a cat variety.

After we walked around the market we found a restaurant that was just as wild.  You know you are in for an interesting dining experience when the Chinese people around you are taking photos of their food.  On the menu was donkey, soft back turtle and a pig parts platter (looked like rectum and intestines to me).

Cathy ordered the fried rice and wontons.  Me. . . I’m a little more adventurous.  I ate duck and bullfrog stew.  The frogs were chopped up in the stew with bones and all.  It tasted good, but if felt gross spitting the cartilage and hip bones on my plate.

I feel like barking!

Cathy's favorite foods!

I better not drop any bullfrog in Cathy's drink.

Clifton eats snake

China is amazing.  The sites are beautiful, the history is rich and the food is out of this world.  In the past couple of days Cathy and I visited the Forbidden City, climbed the Great Wall of China, went on a rickshaw ride through the streets of Beijing, toured a jade carving factory and used a restroom in a 7 star hotel across the street from the Olympic Aquatic center.

Here are some photos that tell the story of our tours. . .  

Our First Rickshaw Date

Our Adoption Group at the Forbidden City

Great Wall Outside of Beijing

Cathy at the Great Wall