A Wild Ride!

What a wild few days it has been. It feels like we have been travelling non-stop for days on end and we are all reaching the end of our ropes.

We fell asleep easily by 8pm last night. But then we were all wide awake by midnight. After only four hours of sleep, I figured that Maelyn would crash again – but no – we were up for the day. We entertained Maelyn as best we could from midnight until 6am and then we went and had breakfast.

Keeping Maelyn busy during the night...

Our guide, Kelly, and our driver arrived to pick us up at 7:30 to take us to the train station. On the way, we were able to get our first glimpse of Shanghai in daylight. We couldn’t believe the sheer number of buildings and apartment buildings there were – it was unbelievable! Every square inch of land was accounted for.

The train station in Shanghai is huge!! Luckily, Kelly took us through all of the gates and even made sure we were in our seats before she left us. We never would have been able to find our way around – it is just too big!

The train itself was comfortable and was very fast! We travelled at about 200 km/hr the entire way. Maelyn was fascinated with the scenery and spent much of the first part of the ride staring out the window. I tried my best to entertain her for the last 2 hours of our 4.5 hour journey. We coloured, decorated paper with stickers and made worm families with playdough.

Paul and I also loved watching the scenery. We pulled away from the busy and very cramped Shanghai and headed towards a more country-like setting. It is hard to explain – seeing the sparse and older setting in the towns, mixed in with a few new structures or roadways. Nothing seemed organized and planned. There were many, many gardens and there were garbage piles in the outskirts of most towns. Yet the gardens and the people working in the fields make the scenery very beautiful. So very different from home and so very fascinating.

The funniest part of the train ride was this family or group of friends (we aren’t sure) that got on at one of the stops. They sat down as a group and they started taking out bags of food. They had all brought food to share with one another. Then, they started passing out small green bottles of booze and rounds of what I can only imagine were ‘cheers’ was being said over and over again. We watched (stared at) them while they ate food such as chicken feet – they kept us very entertained.

I think we also helped to entertain many of the passengers on the train. After a few hours, Maelyn wanted to go for a walk, so we walked up and down the aisles. Heads would turn as we walked – they kept looking at her and then looking at me, trying to make the connection. It was pretty amusing to watch their confusion. But, most of them were very kind and they would wave to Maelyn and say hello – to which she would proudly reply, ‘Ni Hao.’ She even managed to make friends with one little girl and they kept ‘visiting’ each other on walks up and down the aisles.

We quickly tired of our train ride – we were all so sick of travelling by this point. All we wanted was to check into the hotel and be able to crash.

We got off the train in Shangrao, the city where Maelyn’s orphanage is located. Our Shangrao guide, Susan, met us on the platform. We knew right off the bat that she would be wonderful – she brought McD’s fries for Maelyn because she knew she would be hungry.

As we made our way towards the van that was waiting to transport us to the hotel, we had our first ‘swarming’ incident – and it really threw my mom. Shangrao is a more remote city and they do not often see foreigners. When we exited the train tunnel, we came to a platform that was a flight up from the people below. You have to picture it – it was like a scene of the second coming. These foreigners emerge from the tunnel onto this platform and it is like time stood still. All of the street vendors and other people hanging out in the area dropped everything they were doing to stare at us – it was like being an animal on display at the zoo. My poor mom felt intimidated by it – Paul and I are used to it, so it was something we had expected. However, it has never really happened to the degree that it did today! As we made our way down to the van and loaded our gear, we had a parade of people following us – if only you could have seen our entourage!

We headed to the hotel and enjoyed the scenery on the way. The scenery here is much different, due to the poverty of the area. Neither Paul nor I could believe that we were finally in the city where Maelyn spent the first two years of her life. We feel such a connection to China and especially to Shangrao. My heart is happy!

Maelyn fell asleep during the last five minutes of the van ride and we are completely unable to wake her up. Poor monkey is so, so tired! It looks like it will be a 3am wake up call for us! Although the fireworks that are being set off in the parking lot directly outside our hotel room right now might wake her up!

We are now settled into our hotel and we are all very happy to take a break from the constant travelling. We are all totally done in – not helping things is the fact that I am still feeling pretty crummy.

Tomorrow we visit the orphanage and foster family. I cannot believe that the day is finally here!! Our guide told us that when we visit Maelyn’s finding spot on Saturday, that we are going to meet the person who found her. Unbelievable! Susan made some phone calls for us and because Maelyn has only been home with us for two years now, the information we are looking for is still fresh in everyone’s minds.

I cannot wait to see what the next two days bring!