China Day 12 - Almost the End

(Straight away I have to apologize. This post is a jumbled mix of what happened today and my thoughts. But it is my blog so you can accept my apology or not. I don't care.)

There are certain things that happen near the end of a long trip that signal it's time to go home.

Here are my signs:

1. My shave gel has lost the will to live:

2. My one and only hair elastic broke. Why did I only bring one? Was I afraid of the extra weight? What were you thinking, 2 weeks ago me? So I had to knot it together and now it's tiny. It only fits once around my hair and I'm terrified it will break again. It's so hot and humid that I have given up leaving my hair down. I want to apologize to those around me for my appearance but let's be honest, this is how I look almost all of the time anyway.

3. We are bribing Jack with money to swim laps in the pool. He has little bursts of energy in the hotel room that no amount of evil eye will abate.

Even as I type this, I think of another adoptive mom I recently met. As she was telling me how they have experienced vomiting, diarrhea, pink eye, and other such horrors, it made my problems seems pretty darn small. Their 2 year old had explosive diarrhea all over the mom on a bus. And here I am, near tears that my Walmart can of shave gel busted.

On to the events of today. We had our US consulate appointment today. A lot of adoptive families wear patriotic colors and get their picture taken by the sign outside. I made sure everyone had on their 'Merica outfits and I even threw on some mascara and off we went. We didn't even take the stupid picture. No time before and our guide was off and running afterward. It's probably just as well. Like a dunderhead, I washed my nude colored bra last night and only had my black bra, which is hard to hide with my spaghetti strap dress and white sheer cardigan. Then again, nothing says "I'm free" like showing off your straps.

In the car ride after the appointment, Talitha had a meltdown. Screaming, crying, arching her little back. It was like trying to cradle Linda Blair in the backseat. At one point, Matt laid her on the seat between him and Jack and Jack exclaimed "Why did you lay the screaming head near me?"

This does not bode well for our upcoming 15 hour flight.

Later on in the day we took a walk down the street and I bought a jade bracelet. The girl selling it and I bartered back and forth on the calculator over the price. At one point, she rubbed the bracelet on the concrete. I took that as a good sign that the bracelet was quality. Or perhaps it was a signal to the other peddlers that I was a pretty gullible idiot and to grab my attention because I will surely buy overpriced things from them also.

Right after that, we were walking back to the hotel and Matt dropped a dollar from his pocket. It picked up the wind a bit and he scurried back the sidewalk to retrieve it. It was 20 yen, which is like 3 bucks. I harassed him about letting go of the stroller to get 3 bucks. When we reached the elevator, a hotel employee was standing by to lead us to an open one. I wondered if this was his only job. I told Matt he probably waits for the Americans, perhaps assuming that we are too stupid to figure out which elevator is open. Matt replied "You bought a bracelet because it was rubbed on the ground." I then stated that he left our child on the street to run after 3 bucks. We probably could use someone to lead us right to our hotel room and open the door for us as well.

Over the week we've been here, we've befriended a young Egyptian women we see often at dinner. She's a teacher and tried really hard to be friends with Jack, although he is a fickle companion to adults at times. This evening she was showing Jack his name and his siblings name in Arabic and he was asking her questions about Egypt. He asked her about pyramids and whether there was still a pharaoh. She asked him how he knew those things about Egypt. I was expecting him to say something like "My dear mother has taught me so many wonderful things" or "We read about things all over the world, my mother wants us to be cultured." And then I planned to shyly duck my head in humility and act like I was simply doing my duty as a parent.

He then told her that he saw it in a movie, The Prince of Egypt.

I'm surprised he didn't add something like "We watch it while eating cake and cleaning our pistols. My mom leaves us at home while she plays the slots."

She kept trying to give Jack hugs and kisses, which was an affront to the massive amounts of testosterone coursing through his manly veins. She had to settle for a quick hug and a handshake.

Good gravy, is my face that shiny? Note to self: Blot.

She talked a lot about the political unrest in her country. And then she kept inviting us to Egypt. I'm a bit suspicious. "Come to my beautiful country! You will not die. Probably."

Tomorrow we leave for Hong Kong and then to the airport Saturday. Almost home!