Back to Beijing

Now that we are settled back in Beijing, it is time to catch up on some events!

We got up early Saturday morning to make sure we were ready to leave for the airport on time. I was really, really nervous about the flight and the changes we were yet again putting Maelyn through. To her, that hotel room had become home and here we were, changing things on her again.

We got to the airport, checked in, passed through security and then waited at our gate for our flight. Our flight was, of course, delayed by almost an hour. I shouldn’t have worried about keeping Maelyn busy – everyone in the airport took care of that for us.

It finally happened – Maelyn was surrounded by people wanting to know her story and why she was in our care. For the most part, people were wonderful. There was a young man and his girlfriend, who thankfully spoke quite a bit of English, and we befriended them quickly. We explained our story to them when they asked and in turn, they explained it to all the others who kept coming over and asking us questions. It really helped to take the heat off of us. We tried our best to be gracious and answer the questions that we could.

At first, you could see that Maelyn was quite stressed about everything that was going on around her. I absolutely hated that I couldn’t explain everything to her and did my best to hold her close. After awhile, she opened up and then became the ham that we now know she can be! She would laugh at the people in the airport – she absolutely loves to watch people and then give them a big grin. Thankfully, this made it easier when so many people wanted to see her.

There was one point, when we were lined up to board the plane, that we were surrounded by a small mob of people. Paul and I just stared at each other wide-eyed and held onto Maelyn tightly. Thankfully, our new friends just kept answering questions and moving people along. It was like having our own bodyguards! Our friends were also very helpful in getting us situated on the plane – carrying some of our bags, speaking to the stewardesses to get us a set of three seats on our own, etc. We were very, very grateful for their help!!

The plane ride itself went quite smoothly. Maelyn was completely full of beans and hardly sat still for one moment. She kept lapping up the attention of the other passengers, leaning over the seats to play with their hands, their hair and even making faces at them. Oh! And of course, she ate for almost the entire two hours!

By the time we landed, all three of us were exhausted. Paul kept saying that he felt like he had been hit by a Mack truck! ;-) We waited for our guide and Maelyn feel asleep in my arms. When our guide finally arrived and brought us to the bus, it was like walking to my new version of heaven. The bus was full of our travel group, all of us having returned from our separate provinces. We walked towards the bus waving, so happy to see familiar faces. Everyone cheered when we got on the bus, because it meant that we were finally all together again. We hugged, we cried, we rejoiced in our happiness of being back together. The support system provided by a travel group is completely invaluable.

Maelyn checking out her new digs!

Maelyn and Jennie meeting for the first time...

Our friends, Tracey and Dan, with their son, Lu

We all felt elated, but exhausted. We settled into our new hotel room, back in Beijing, had dinner at the buffet in the hotel, and then headed to the mall for supplies. By the time we got back, it was quite late. We decided to forego Maelyn’s bath and spent some time playing with her instead. She truly started to blossom last night. She played with Paul for almost an hour, only checking in with me every few minutes. That was a HUGE step! Paul and Maelyn played hide and seek in the hallway, Maelyn giggling and laughing hysterically the entire time. She seemed so HAPPY! We just couldn’t get over the change we were seeing in her, so quickly.

I was worried about her going to bed in a new environment, but she did absolutely fine! Paul and I crashed shortly thereafter.

Overall – a long, but good day!