Changsha Day 4

Changsha Day 4 – Wednesday Oct 28th

I have to admit to being very lonely on this trip and I really would be lost without my computer and the internet. That said at the end of the week when I move on to Guangzhou; I don’t think my room comes with unlimited free internet that I have here in Changsha. I may upgrade my room just for that…

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I’m writing this a day later because of the “problem”.

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The day started with a trip to the Hunan Provincial Museum. There were huge lines to get in this place and with the guide’s help, were able to bypass half of the line wait but not all. The Chinese people as a whole are not a population of good line queue-ers (is that a word?). Many will cut in front, push, rush, etc… It’s something to get use to here and then appreciate when we’re back home.

The mad lineup was to view a well preserved 2000 year old corpse (which I enjoyed looking at the relics but passed on looking at the body). It was a very nice Museum but so crowded. People would rush up to a display case and then snap a photo and move on… kind of interesting. Then we walked into other areas of the building and there were one or two other people in the entire area.

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We ended the morning with lunch in the hotel. During lunch I noticed a family that had been at the notary office the day before; they were just leaving with their new daughter just as we got there. We had a chance to chat and I got their room number to try to connect later. But do I know what it’s like to be the only white face in a room. It’s a good reminder for all of us white parents of minority children. To walk in their shoes for a while... I hope I can remember that feeling in the future.

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Nora and I got quite a bit of attention. She was asleep in the carrier for most of it and I think some people were trying to figure out if she was Chinese or American.
So were done with lunch and nap time. Typically that’s when I write the blog entry. But nap time didn’t last too long. Nora sleep for a maybe 30 mins and woke up crying. When the girl’s got to go she needs to go (we’re talking poop) but that didn’t happen Monday (that I know of) or Tuesday and now it’s Wednesday and it crisis time. She’s working and working and nothing. This goes on for hours (I had HBO on and it was 2 movies long).

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At that point I emailed Jodi Swenson, she and her family are in Inner Mongolia (I’ll be hanging with them in Guangzhou). Jodi’s on my time which is very helpful at 6:00pm and 5am back in the states. She’s a Mom of now 3 girls and did she have any recommendations? Right after e-mailing, I’m digging around in all the little bags of medical stuff I brought and find a few Pedi-Lax melt strips. I gave Nora a half dose and hope for the best (takes 6 to 12 hours). Nora takes her bottle after I force it on her (remember she’s not happy with her bottle at all) but she needs liquids. Around 8:30 she settling down, so I get her to sleep but I know we’ll be up again soon. I think I went to sleep around 9:30 after reading a little.

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At 12:30 am Nora is up and is in so much pain. It’s a problem that I’ve never had to deal with before. And what can I do to make it better? I just held her and tried to get her in a good position but she was just beyond comfort. Bless Mamie, our guide, I called her and she called the hotel Medical Office but they were closed. Then she called back and said that she would come over with a home remedy from her Mom.

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It’s 1am. Of course, as it always happens, by the time she arrived Nora was able to get a little out and had settled back down in her crib. This morning Nora woke up and I got her to take the better part of a bottle, but little or no food.

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The home remedy you ask? A little sliver of soap covered with cooking oil. She had brought it along but thankfully Nora had taken care of it herself with the help of Pedi-Lax.