Kunming, Yunnan!

OK, so to my friends that said I would not have time for this blog...yes, I guess you were right! So much has happened in the last couple of weeks, that it would take that long to describe properly the rest of our trip.

We arrived in Kunming on Saturday, January 20th. Grandma Xiulan was there to greet us. Emma ran and gave her a big hug, and Xiulan was equally happy to see her. Of course, her first comment "Too much luggage!" was completely expected. Try though I may have, I could not get it any smaller than 3 suitcases. We all squeezed into her husband's car, and drove to Kunming Hotel. The hotel was nicer than the New Nanjiang, I think. There were more English-speaking staff members which made it a lot easier. We had a king-size bed for Mama, Daddy, and Emma, and a crib for Annie which came on day three. Not a lot of room left to walk through, but cozy for our family unit. We met another of Xiulan's families in the lobby upon our arrival, The O'Briens, who had received their daughter, Kiera, a few days prior. We wound up making a date for dinner with them at a restaurant with a show, that we knew would serve the infamous "Over-the-Bridge Noodle Soup". This is a must taste for Kunming. They serve you a bowl of hot broth and then you dump all kinds of things into it and it basically cooks in the hot broth. Most of the "things" are vegetables and noodles. The show was great and the costumes were beautiful. We ordered a bunch of other interesting items...pig's ear salad - both Daddies tried, and said it just wasn't a good consistency...the Mamas skipped it. There was a really good dish that had shrimp and pineapple. Kiera is a happy, beautiful, little girl, who was living at Kunming SWI/foster care. She was about 9 months old. She has a biological brother and sister who were waiting for her at home.

The next morning, Sunday, we went to The Stone Forest with Xiulan's assistant, Cho Yu (spelling?). Kathleen O'Brien came with us, and Will stayed at the hotel with Kiera. We missed The Stone Forest on our last trip, and I am very glad that we went. It is an awesome place with huge pillar stones, that was once under water. There is a fish fossil there that is estimated to be 230 million years old. If you look at our Kodak Easy-Share Gallery, you will see many cool pics. The weather in Kunming was in the 60's. They call it the "Eternal Spring City". Part of our tour included lunch, which they served us about 10 different things. Zhou Yu (sp.?) came and described each one for us, but did not eat with us. He ate in another room. I think the guides are not allowed to join us?

We were kind of wiped out, and getting very anxious about meeting Anne Min Mei the next morning. We wound up eating at KFC - that's right, Kentucky Fried Chicken - across the street from the hotel. They have a menu in English that you can point to what you want. Emma enjoyed her kid's meal that came complete with a toy elephant squirt gun. Sleep was hard to come by...the jetlag helped us to a certain degree...

The next post - Most Important Post!! - to be completed at next naptime...

Nancy