Travel Journal - Day 12
Day 12. I spent this day covered in sweat, pee, dried congee, puss (yes, I said puss) and baby spit. IT WAS A MAGICAL DAY! What a great day this was for the new little DeFelice family. Neither words nor pictures could describe, but I will try.
As with most great days, it did not start out great. We had to be on the bus at 5:45 this morning to go to the airport. Not only is airplane travel not so fun with a baby (and 7 pieces of luggage) I knew we would have to say good bye to our new friends. On the bus, some of us decided that we should all live together in the same neighborhood with a Starbucks on the corner. We will take turns having a mommy-day-off and we will all continue to use Chinese yuan. Okay. This isn't really going to happen but we sure are going to miss each other.
When we arrived in Hong Kong we were on our own. Both of us agreed that we are crazy to extend our time out of the country but also agreed that we would flip into "vacation mode." So far, so good." When we got to the Disneyland Hollywood Hotel we immediately felt more at home. The weather in Hong Kong is nice and hot. Also, there is a ton of green!! This is something we missed while in China. We saw green and also a bit of welcome sunshine. When we were in Guagzhou I was sad that it was cloudy and over- cast every day. It wasn't until our last day that I discovered that it was not cloudy. It was pollution! No wonder my sinuses have been so irritated.
Anyway, being at the Disney Hotel made us feel at home. I know, not exactly experiencing true Hong Kong but we really need a bit of R & R right now. We got checked into our room and grabbed some quick lunch. I expected that we would take a nap, hang out and eventually head to the park around 4:00. Chris really surprised me when he suggested that we head straight to the park at noon! I thought we would surely conk out before the fireworks.
I was wrong. Neither one of us actually expected Lucy to enjoy Disneyland. We assumed that she was too young and that we were actually going for us, not her. Again, we were wrong. SHE LOVED IT! It was the most amazing experience!
I remember when I saw my sister watch her son experience Disney for the first time. She was so happy at how happy he was that she was moved to tears. Now I understand. Lucy took in so much more than I ever imagined. We rode the Carousel and she loved it. Then we went to Phillharmagic (just to get out of the heat) and she was riveted! She watched every second of this film and she laughed and sang! I don't think I saw any of the movie at all because I could not take my eyes off of her.
Eventually we made it to "Festival of the Lion King." When Chris first suggested this I told him that she was too young to enjoy it. After her response to the movie I was willing to give it a try. OH. MY. GOSH! She went nuts! She was waving her hands and bouncing up and down and laughing! She got so excited that she could not contain herself. She was cracking me up. She is so animated. Her whole little face just lights up. So much fun.
The parade was more of the same. She loved watching the floats. She even waved back when some of the performers waved at her. She is very big into waving these days. If you say "bye bye" she will stick out her hand and give the finger wiggle. There were many, many people waving at her and talking to her today. She was just loving it. She is very happy to be the center of attention.
We are pleased to see that people are responding very positively to two pasty white people walking around with a Chinese baby. Some will ask about her and where she came from. We are happy to share with anyone who is genuinely interested. We knew to expect a variety of comments from people. No one has said anything negative, but we did get two comments today that made us laugh. A man at the bus stop looked at her and said "Your baby looks like a boy." Then the cast member who rang up her Minnie Doll looked at her and said "She almost looks Chinese!" Mostly people will play with her and laugh. Sometimes they will tell us about their families.
After the fireworks (which she loved) we took the bus back to our hotel and Lucy fell asleep. Her Daddy foolishly thought she was down for the count. Ha! Currently she is playing on the bed with Daddy. Twice she has shown us how she can stand up by herself for a moment. There was lots of clapping and congratulating each time she did!
I am still so surprised that we spent 7 hours in Disneyland. I never would have expected that. Chris and I are so familiar with being cast members and making other people's children feel special. It was such a great experience to be on the other side of it. Everyone there went out of their way to be extra sweet to Lucy and giver her lots of stickers. (Which she tried to eat.) Tomorrow we are going to force ourselves to see a bit of real Hong Kong. (Even though it is tempting to just hand out at the pool…)
As much as we really miss our new friends (shout out to any of you if you are reading!) it is nice to be a family on our own. With each step we make away from Nanchang we are feeling more and more a family.
One more thing before I sign off. Lucy sat on the bed and played with me tonight while her Daddy worked on the computer. She fed me Cheerios and entertained me with her clever games and charming smile. She only screamed for Daddy twice and I'm not even sure she really meant it. I know that things could be different tomorrow (as they were this morning) but for now I am basking in her attention. I have to go kiss her cheeks now.
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