part 1



We had a 3 hour layover in Guangzhou before our plane left for the United States. That may sound like a long time to some, but as you can see, my family kept themselves occupied.

We bought a few snacks, and I had to laugh because we bought a few Haagen-Daz ice cream cups and Caleb instantly turned up his nose because they were chocolate. How I managed to find two Chinese boys in a country of over 1 billion people who both hate chocolate is beyond me. I was told when Ben came home that most Chinese people don't like chocolate if they didn't grow up with it, yet many of our guides have told me that they love chocolate.

One mom of an older Chinese adoptee said her daughter turned up her nose and said "It smells like vomit" the first time she was offered a taste. After reading that, I closed my eyes and smelled some cheap Hershey's chocolate, trying to imagine that I had never tasted chocolate before. It did have kind of a funky odor, but I'm not so sure you could convince me of that when it comes down to quality chocolate like Ghirardelli's! As Jeff says, "If they don't like it, it just leaves more for the rest of us!"

What made the chocolate episode even more humorous was a Chinese woman who was curious about our family and who started asking Caleb all kinds of questions. I have to remind myself that this isn't considered intrusive in China.

Her questions started to draw a crowd as the people sitting around her sat up and took notice and were clearly equally interested in her questions and Caleb's answers. When she was satisfied with all the information she received about us and I was starting to be a bit perturbed with the continued questioning, pointing at each of us,and a crowd staring at us, she smiled at me and then handed Caleb a treat in a brown paper sack. He opened it and to his dismay, it contained two chocolate Dove bars!

Continued...