Waiting Child: far away, so close

Friday, February 15, 2008

far away, so close

Just when you thought it was the wierdest, something new happens to make this journey ever strange.

The friends with whom we traveled to China last year are returning to Beijing next week. Last year's trip began with an artists' conference, at which we were the guest speakers, and moved on to include a visit to a medical foster home (where our hearts changed forever, sans sentimentality), the opening ceremonies of a training center for worship leaders (very hush-hush), and of course seven days near Tibet (where it would be nice to start an apple-canning business).

This year's trip has a different itinerary, but the one item that keeps this blog by invitation only is a jaw-dropper. They're going to Youyou's house. THEY'RE GOING TO YOUYOU'S HOUSE!!! The guy with the tickets and the itinerary is from Singapore, as is the woman who helped start YouYou's home, and when it first seemed that we'd be traveling "in February by the latest" to get our little boy (how I remember those days), this guy decided to schedule this year's trip to coincide with our own adoption travel, just because he wanted to share in that moment. Turns out, we don't know when we'll be going, but his group is traveling next week, and since they'll be passing "the Riviera," the area immediately outside of the Beijing airport which is filled with expatriates and has Youyou's home on its fringe, they're just going to casually drop by...

...and meet our little boy.

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Timeline

04/05: Tian Yo is born-we don't know about him til 10/15/07
06/05: We go to our first agency
12/05: Tian Yo's 1st corrective surgery
07/06: Tian Yo's condition worsens
02/07: We change agencies
03/07: 1st trip to China; at Hope Healing Home we decide to adopt a Waiting Child
07/07: Tian Yo travels to MD for surgery @ Johns Hopkins
09/07: Our dossier is logged in-Tian Yo returns to Beijing
10/07: We secure agency approval to pursue adoption
03/08: We receive Referral and Travel Approval

04/08: The Consulate lacks our CIS papers, the Chinese Embassy requests our pledge not to proselytize while in China, and we need an I-290, stat!

(The I-290 is processed within 24 hours of arriving at CIS.)

04/30/08 We travel to China.

05/01/08: We meet Tian Yo & spend a week at BlueSky learning how to manage his ostomies, gathering his medical paperwork, and spending time with the people (from donors to nurses to airline reps to nuns!) who have poured themselves out for our son's life.

05/08/08: We leave BlueSky to join our travel group in Beijing.

05/11/08: We travel to Zhengzhou for the official stuff.

05/12/08: The Szechuan quake rocks China (and us) hours after we receive our adoption decree. We spend the rest of the day playing "Evacuation/Not Evacuation."

05/13/08: We travel to Jiaozuo City, YoYo's "hometown," for notary seals. Our guide is puzzled when we don't want to see the orphanage YoYo "came from," we have to stay the night because our agency rep said we insisted on spending extra time in the city, and we end up in the newspaper.

05/14/08: Return to Zhengzhou. Tired.

05/17/08: We travel from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou. Not sure (after 2 flights, car travel, earthquake, etc., that this catheter thing is all it's cracked up to be)

05/19/08: The Clinic.

05/20/08: Paperwork.

05/21/08: We pledge our allegiance to Tian Yo at the Consulate as the Chapmans lose their sweet daughter.

05/23/08: We attempt to take in all of Hong Kong in one evening. On a ferry. With an HK native named Dick who we keep calling Phil who runs a Chinese restaurant in Spain, and his mother, who calls Shane, "The Slow Cow," because of his mahjohngg skils. Like you do.

05/24/08: We finally-FINALLY-come home.