Well, it was a nice rest after being up for so many hours. Our room is ok but the place has a odd odor that I am not partial to. Everything is kind of dreary cuz of the weather (no sun) and I think everything is covered in a coat of gray dirt – probably soot Plus the city smells oddly smokey outside in the ‘fresh’ air. China so far has been interesting. I think it’s easier on Vince since it is obvious that he probably doesn’t speak Chinese. Patty and I are always spoken to in mandarin and haven’t a clue! Folks seem a bit frustrated with us. Chongqing is a very big city with 7 million in the city proper and 31 million altogether if you count the immediate surrounding area. That is a lot of people! There are lots of very dense hoods – very tall apartment buildings very close and then open space interspersed with shopping areas. We’ll get the city tour on Tuesday with other site seeing activities planned for Wednesday and Thursday. Today is the big day…Gotcha Day! 10am Patty and Vince meet with the group coordinator and the other families to fill out some paper work, go to the bank to pay the fees and then leave at 2p for a 2:30 appt at the government building to finally meet Ruby! For lunch we dash across the street…no actually we go underground in to the pedestrian underpass to the Chinese fast food chain “CKC” – Country Kitchen Cooking. It’s all noodles, all spicy…well, they did have rice plates as well with some pretty delicious looking morsels on them…mmm, twice cooked pork… We decide to have noodles though. I have a bowl of noodles with pork and chilis. It was very tasty though a tad hot.
Finally we gather in the lobby to board the bus for the government office to finally meet Ruby. Patty and Vince are excited as are the other eight families in our group. After a 20 minute ride we arrive at a very nondescript building – pretty run down by our standards. The entrance had a few shops along one side, we excitedly walk toward the dark interior where two very small and ancient elevators will take the families up to meet their new daughters and sons.
Patty and Vince go up on the first ride while we wait for the next. Unbeknownst to us Patty and Vince got their first glimpse of Ruby crying while being held by the director of the social welfare institute where she has been spending the first 10 months of her life. By the time Mom and I get up to the fourth floor, Ruby is clenched to Patty. Wow, there she was – finally. All cheeks and a head of hair you’d never believe. Patty immediately took on the role of Mom and Vince – there he was beaming. Ruby took glances at both as if she knew these two people were her destined parents. What a journey all three have taken to finally come to meet today. They looked like they belonged to each other.
