A perfectly horrible 32 hours of traveling was finally completed at about midnight on Nov. 22. That was yesterday, I think. We left the hotel in Guangzhou at 5:30AM local time on Nov. 22 (that’s 4:30PM EST Nov. 21). We didn’t have any problems on the short flight from Guangzhou to Hong Kong except for some wild turbulance. We were worried about figuring out all the transfers in Hong Kong, but that all went fine. Seems like we had to go through security about 20 times, but we finally got on our plane to Newark. That flight went fine, except for everyone getting cranky. For those who may be considering these Continental flights in the future, I have to say next time I’ll probably try the United flights out of Chicago instead. Our flights were fine, but the in-flight service is exactly as I’d expect from my experience with Continental’s domestic flights – definately lower tier. The attendants tend to be brusque and rude if you don’t understand what they’re asking immediately. The attendants on our little in-China flights on China Southern were much more polite and respectful. When you’ve been on a plane in a little cracker box seat, a smile goes a long way toward making you feel a bit more human again. ‘Nuf said – we got there in one piece and on time, and back in one piece and on time.
Anna behaved pretty well overall. She did quite well for the first 10 hours, but then got pretty fussy. She never had a tantrum, but was whimpery and moany much of the last 5 hours. Unfortunately, Joe was also pretty cranky at that point, so they just fed off of each other’s negative energy. I so desperately wanted to help, but I’m still taboo. We knew things were going to be stressful in Newark because we only had a 1:50 hour layover, and we arrived about 15 minutes late. We were in the second to last row of the plane, so it took us forever to get out. Immigration was about 2 miles away from our gate, so that was a hike. Surprisingly, that moved very quickly, although the escort told us we were in the wrong line. But he helped us out anyway. We were told several times that we couldn’t go in the line for US citizens, and there was only one other choice, for visitors, so we went there. It wasn’t a big deal. The agent was very fast, just looked at our passports and Anna’s visa, and took her brown envelope, told us he would send it downstairs, stamped her passport, and we were through.
When you come in on an international flight, you have to collect your baggage at your first US port city, go through customs, and then recheck your bags. It’s all streamlined, so it’s not really as hard as it sounds, but the baggage claim turned out to be the longest part. We were through immigration before the bags started coming, and then I swear, our bags were absolutely the last three. We must have waited there over half an hour for them. Going through customs was a breeze, though. We had only half an hour before our next flight to Manchester, so we booked it to the baggage recheck counter, and the baggage guy there caught us and told us our flight to Manchester had been cancelled. Oh, yippee. We knew there was a later Continental flight to Manchester, so we were hopeful we’d get on that. We went just around the corner to the special Continental transfer desk, waited a few minutes, and fortunately, found out we could take the later flight. Funnily enough, we almost had a problem with Anna, because her reservation was booked separately from ours, and when their computer automatically rebooked us, the flight was full after. So, it rebooked Anna on a flight out the next morning. It didn’t seem to raise any red flags that there was an infant traveling alone! But the agent made a call, and got her on the same flight. Whew. Although in retrospect, it might not have been such a bad thing …
Our new flight was scheduled 5 hours later than the first one, but we could deal. Continental gave us three meal vouchers, so we got a nice pizza dinner. When we got done with that, we saw that our flight had been delayed from 8:40PM to 9:10PM. OK. (The reason for cancellations and delays was high winds in Newark.) It kept getting later and later, and we finally left the gate at 10:15PM. We arrived in Manchester at about 11:30, and Raoul and Jon (Joe’s brother) met us at baggage claim. What a treat to see familiar faces! Our bags arrived in good condition, and Jon and Raoul took our suitcases while Joe and I took the Highlander shuttle to our car, strapped Anna in the carseat, and went to Joe’s folks’ house. We had planned to go on home when we arrived (which was supposed to be 5PM) but in light of the hour we decided to stay over. Kay fixed us a nice snack, we stayed up talking for a bit, and then went to bed around 3AM. We woke up at 1:30PM today. So now I’m not all that tired. Wonder why? We ate a brunch, then headed for home, and got here a little before 6PM. Anna cried for the first 15 minutes in the car seat, but then went to sleep, and made it all the way home.
Home again, home again. At least the dogs and cats love me. Anna was afraid of, but intrigued by the cats. Kotcha is so outgoing and gentle, he kept coming up for attention, and of course, I had to carry him around a bit. The other cats don’t know what to think yet. She calls them something I don’t recognize, so she must know what cats are. The dogs were their usual selves, which of course scared her silly. Those of you who know my dogs know that they wouldn’t harm a fly, but they are, how do you say, a bit exuberant, to say the least. They jump a lot. They’re very interested in Anna, but she’s pretty scared of them, although she was willing to yell at Siri from the safety of the couch! Siri talks back, though, so I don’t know how they’re going to work that out. I had to hold Anna while Joe was doing a few chores, like putting our basement door back up so she can’t fall down the stairs. She cried, but didn’t fight me too much.
We had a late Thanksgiving dinner (thanks, Kay!) and then went downstairs to watch some football. I got the bright idea to get out the little tricycle because I know she likes them. She was so excited she jumped off the couch, and immediately pushed it a couple of feet into the dog’s water dish. That was OK – it was empty – but it wouldn’t go anymore, so I backed it up and put her on the seat. Well, I should have known that if I put her there, she wouldn’t like it, so she immediately started yelling bu yao and just went limp to fall off the seat. I put her back on and tried to push her a bit, but she was screaming by this time, and pushing a wet noodle on a trike is neither easy nor fun. Joe was so aggravated with how she was behaving, that he decided it was time for bed, and he was done with her for the evening. So we went upstairs, put her in her pajamas and plopped her in her crib. Joe just left before he yelled at her. I had to then stay in the room with the little set of powerhouse lungs. She tried to destroy her crib, she tried to climb out, and she finally just gave up and stood there squalling. I loved her, I read books to her, I sang to her, I carried her, I played with all of her new toys, to no avail. Oh, when she’s interested in something, she’ll stop crying for a few seconds, but then she’ll start back up again. This started at 9:30, and I finally quit at 12:30. Three hours. I thought I was making a break-through at one point, because she actually held her arms up to me while I was beside the crib. I picked her up, and she did hold on for the first time, but didn’t stop crying, and was looking over my shoulder the whole time in case Joe might come in. After trying that 2 or 3 times, I figured out the only reason she was holding her arms out was she wanted me to get her out of the crib. If I just bend down and give her a hug, she breaks if after about 3 seconds, and pushes away from me again. Three hours of this. We finally decided she needed to sleep, and she won’t even cry herself to sleep. So Joe came in, and she stopped immediately.
Mama’s still chopped liver around here. We’ll keep working on it. It’s really hard for me to hold out for that long. Seems to be no problem for her. But we’re going to do whatever it takes, so if I have to sit with her for 8 hours while she cries the whole time, that’s what I’ll do! Thank heavens I have a couple of weeks before I have to go back to my regular work schedule. It’s looking like that 5 hours Joe will be gone on Monday night will be a nightmare. Oh, I wish we’d felt comfortable doing this more in China. I’m sure we’d be farther ahead now. But with neighbors banging on the walls in Nanning, it didn’t seem like the best time to do it. We will be turning over a new leaf at home. She will have to have time with only the Mama, and she’ll have to learn that that’s OK. There’s no one here to hear her scream except the dogs, and they’re barking so loudly outside they hardly notice.
The banana is awake again, and even Joe can’t get her to sleep, so she’s helping him blog right now. I, however, am getting tired, so I have to go take my bath and go to bed. Tomorrow we have some important errands, like getting a high chair and bowls that stick to the tray, and a potty chair, and maybe a few more 12-month clothes. I know she won’t wear them long, but that seems to be the size that fits right now. Thanks for your continued prayers and support. Wish us luck and perserverance!