In case you are wondering (along with the 4,000 other people who feel it is necessary to ask me every.single.fucking. day), we don’t have travel approval yet. I am hoping we have firm dates by thursday.
How am I passing the time, you may wonder? Here is a quick round up:
1) Getting two root canals – remember my previous dental nightmare? It turns out two of my fillings came loose from my tooth and the whole area around them is now rotting out and is within a hair’s width of my nerve. GOOD TIMES! Not only am I terrified (the last dental visit, they gave me NINE shots and NONE of them took…we discovered that each time by drilling), I will be maxing out my insurance and I will have to pay about $2000 out of pocket. Can I sue the previous dentist for malpractice? It was only a year and a half ago that I got them!
2) Breaking cars – Mr. A’s car seems to be broken so tomorrow we will have to get THAT fixed too. It sounds like he has been driving without break pads for quite some time. I am sure the resulting damage will cost a pretty penny too.
3) Hemorraging money – Lordy, I remember why people have baby showers. I am not having one because just the thought exhausts me and I technically got most of the big stuff when M was born, but good grief. Diapers and bottles and breastfeedng medicine and new beds and plane tickets, they are expensive. The fancy stroller is indefinitely on hold.
4) Travel planning - The logisitics of this trip are just a pain in my ass. I have enlisted three travel agents to help me figure out how to get to the provincial capital, to a touristy area, and out to the county where the baby currently resides. Does $80/day for an english speaking guide sound fair? What about $280 for a driver for the day and approximately 360 miles of driving? Anyone with any experience hiring a driver for the day? That sounds crazy expensive to me, though the guide seems much more reasonable. Also, does anyone have any hotel recommendations for Yangshuo? We might swing through there too.
5) Going to the ice capades – whoo. freaking. hoo. The things I do for my kid. I can not think of anything I would like to do less than watch monsters in ice skates. But I will go and I will smile about it.
6) Planning darling Paige’s baby shower – Boy, if anyone deserves some good loot, she does. She is adopting the cutest baby ever while simultaneously moving far, far away from me. I am so sad. SO so sad.
7) Planning two birthday parties – Because it is easier to have two than to negotiate my family and Mr. A’s family at the same time. Two days of balloons and cake. M currently wants vanilla cake with GREEN icing. I am trying to sway her to banana cake. We will see who wins. Since I am baking, I bet it is me.
Marking off the days – Yes, this may be the most boring entry ever. All I am doing is trying to pass my time to get to the trip. It doesn’t seem real. Each night I recalculate how long it is until we will leave on the 17th-ish.
20 days to go.
Hah- on one of these days I will tell you about the preggars wife pateint of my endodontist. I told him (in jest of course) do me right or your wife gets no epidural until 9 cm. Rock on, my waiting woman!
Yes, it’s like people who keep asking pregnant women, “Haven’t you had that baby YET?!”
I hope TA shows up really quickly!
I’m so sorry about your teeth. Dental work is miserable.
You might try Our Chinese Daughters Foundation for your guide and driver. We used them in Beijing and were very, very happy. The guide and driver they provided were excellent and, more importantly in China, OCDF seems to have a very good network of people they work with.
I’m not sure what the current going rate is for English translators, but my husband travels to China on business about three times a year. He just recently got back from Beijing and Shanghai. I’d be happy to ask him what the going rate for translators is in those cities, if you’d like. Just drop me an email.
I loved Yangshuo (well, mostly that it was small and didn’t get in the way of the scenery the way Guilin does), but my hotel knowledge is completely out of date. I was there just before Spring Festival the first time, and it was cold and muddy (but beautiful and fun).
Not looking forward to the TA questions. I almost stopped seeing friends while waiting for our referral in fear of the “so have you heard anything about the adoption?” question.
Hang in there!
Oh my goodness, those prices are ridiculous. In comparison, we pay our ayi in Beijing about US$190 PER MONTH. Our Driver gets $850 for the whole month, including car, gas, insurance, everything. I suggest you book a driver and a guide through your hotel. Alternatively, send an email to the people at this China travel agency http://www.elong.com. You are totally getting screwed.
I agree with Rebecca. I’ve booked an English speaking tour guide and driver together for the day for less than 50US$. Ok, I used local travel agents who can get better deals than travel agents trying to book from overseas, but still, those prices are ridiculous. Let me just phone my friend who lives in Yangshuo and ask for hotel recommendations.
Trying to send you strength through the internet. And *hugs*. And tequila if I could.
about the baby shower … I have been told by members of my family that it is tacky for a 2nd shower. I did an internet search and there’s lots about 2nd baby shower etiquette… as for us, we’re getting our first (hopefully soon, too) and having a shower thrown for her is the last thing on her mind – let’s get that referral and TA and get to China!
I am all for 2nd showers, specially if you throw one for somebody else, too!
Take some valium before the dental visit — you can call the dentist and they normally fork some over. I react differently to shot depending on the time of the month…perhaps you have the same thing..
No matter how stressed you are… you going to have your baby in a few weeks… YEAH!
I’m with what Rebecca & the others have said…those prices are way too much! Elong is a good idea. You could also search online at sites like thatsbeijing.com and thatsshanghai.com. I realize you may not be going to those cities, but if you check out the classifieds it might give you a better idea of what fair prices should be like for those services.
As for Yangshuo, I stayed in a youth hostel when I was there, just a random place I located from the Lonely Planet. Accomodation shouldn’t be a problem and it should be cheap, even if you pick a nicer place than where I stayed. My one bit of assvice for Yangshuo: beware of con artists! There are seemingly friendly women who roam the main street pretending like they want to be your friend, following you around all day, who will then present you with a “tourist fee” for harrassing you all day. It can get ugly. If you go to Guilin, same thing. I was conned twice during my Guilin-Yangshuo trip.
Happy travels!
An afterthought: you might consider contacting a Chinatown travel agency to help arrange those services for drivers, translators, etc. It doesn’t matter if you don’t live in NY/LA/San Francisco etc., you can still use their services. I’ve found that Chinatown agencies are better connected AND a thousand times cheaper.
That’s almost exactly what we paid for our guides back in November. They were extremely competitive with their price.
I have been following your adoption progress for a long time and was so excited when I read a while back about your referral. I haven’t commented in a while, but I have definitely been following along and I am very excited for you and your family. I wish you the best in your travels.
Ditto what everyone else is saying about having a second shower, why the hell not have one?
Or at the very least, register someplaces on the internet so your friends from across the country can send something they know you’ll like….