A little about Mississippi, a little about Louisiana, a little about New Orleans and A LOT about our adoption story. This blog and our adoption story is dedicated to Camryn and Matthew Cassreino so that you both will know. Copyright 2021 by Terry R. Cassreino
ZHENGZHOU, China (Friday, Dec. 12, 2008, 7:15 a.m.) – This likely will be our last post from Zhengzhou as Pam, Matthew and I prepare this morning for our flight to Guangzhou, our last stop on our China adoption trip.
We must meet Echo, our escort from Holt International Children’s Services, in the lobby of our hotel by 8:45 a.m. for the trip to the Zhengzhou airport. Our flight leaves at 10:50 a.m. today.
Then it’s back to completing more paperwork as we get Mathew’s visa, allowing him to enter the United States on Thursday, Dec.18, and automatically become as U.S. citizen.
We hope to finally have Internet service in our room in Guangzhou sand will file an update once we arrive – which means you’ll have a post and as story or two when you get up Friday morning in the United States.
Before we leave Zhengzhou, I hope you enjoy this nice photo f the city park we visited on Thursday. We found it to be a peaceful, relaxing park that offered many opportunities for beautiful photos.
Thanks for reading and following our journey. Please check back Friday morning for the latest news and developments – includes Pam’s grasshopper-on-a-stick.
Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
ZHENGZHOU, China (Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008, 9:05 p.m.) – For our last day in Zhengzhou, Pam, Matthew and I spent a cold morning strolling through the back streets of this city, watching and observing people doing what they do best – being themselves.
We strolled through a city park and through as street market. Echo, our escort from Holt International Children’s Services, said many of the people we saw today probably have never seen and Westerners.
In fact, she said, this city’s top visitors are from in country. The only Westerners who stop by Zhengzhou usually are adopting a child.
Well, Pam and I enjoyed the walk. We snapped many pictures and have posted as sampling of the best here in a new photo slideshow-photo album. You can access it at the bottom of this post.
Remember: Click a photo if you want to enlarge the size. I had so many great photos, not all of them made the final cut. And if you want to see other photo albums from our trip to China, just click one of the photo galleries on the left to go to my Picasa Web albums.
Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
DIRECTIONS:Click photo to enlarge. Toggle photo captions with button in left-hand corner of photo gallery slide show.
ZHENGZHOU, China (Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008, 6:25 p.m.) – The poll is closed and Pam and I are on our way to find grasshoppers-on-a-stick.
Pam and I would like to thank you for participating in our first poll, “Which exotic food should Pam eat before she leaves China.” The winner with a whopping 6 of 18 votes cast was grasshoppers-on-a-stick.
If you’ve been following our blog the past week, you’ll remember that grasshoppers-on-a-stick were quite plentiful and popular in Beijing. Zhengzhou doesn’t have a night food market like Beijing, where a lot of exotic food was sold.
Because there was such overwhelming desire for Pam to eat grasshoppers on a stick, that’s what we will do. So, off we go to the Zhengzhou 24-hour grasshopper-on-a-stick fast food shop (Grasshopper King, I think they call it here).
And don’t forget: If you were one of the six who voted for grasshoppers-on-a-stick, kindly send your name and address to us by e-mail so Pam can send you a nice thank-you card.
Stay tuned …
Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
ZHENGZHOU, China (Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008, 6:15 p.m.) – We finally learned about how our son wound up an orphan and, ultimately, a part of our lives – but we still don’t and will never know all of the details.
Plain and simple, Matthew was found abandoned on the steps of the Civil Affairs office in XianXiang. Officials estimated he was two days old.
From there, Matthew found his way to the local orphanage. And then the orphanage managed to send Matthew to Beijing for treatment of his club foot.
That’s about it. We and Holt International Children’s Servicesa have no additional information.
Echo, our Holt escort here in Zhengzhou, speculated that Matthew may have been the son of rural residents, possibly a farmer, who were unable to afford the medical treatment he needed.
As for Matthew himself, he seems more at ease with us today. He still speaks in Mandarin, saying such things as “I want more” at dinner and “Baba pick me up” when he sees me.
But other U.S. families who we have run into here in Zhengzhou, including a few who have adopted children before, tell us not to worry. They say Matthew should quickly begin to learn to speak English.
Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
ZHENGZHOU, China (Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008, 5:45 p.m.) – Traditional Chinese music played from a pavilion on the banks of the man-made lake as Pam, Matthew and I slowly walked through the large city park.
A few people, covered tightly to fight the brisk, 45-degree morning chill, walked along the park’s winding paths.
A group of elderly ladies sat at a park table for a game of mahjong. A few feet away, a man dipped an oversized brush into a bucket of water and practiced writing Chinese characters on the sidewalk.
It was Thursday morning at Zigingshan Park, about a 10-minute walk from the Crowne Plaza Hotel where we have been staying since Tuesday – the day we met our son.
Today was our last day in Zhengzhou. And we asked Echo, our escort from Holt International Children’s Services, to give us a walking tour of the city – and a chance to see what life is like here.
Echo graciously agreed. We began our trip at about 10 a.m. with Matthew tightly packed inside the coat he had on when we got him Tuesday. There was no way he would get cold.
From the Crowne Plaza, we walked toward the park.
City park
Once inside the gates, the area quickly becomes quiet. Large weeping willows line the banks of a man-made lake that dominates the park as a cement path winds its way throughout.
On one end of the park is a small children’s amusement area, complete with a helicopter ride, a carousel, a bumper cars and an enclosed playground. Except for the bumper cars, the rides were vacant and sat unused.
Once outside the park, we found ourselves in an area of town that Echo said few tourists ever visit. This is what life is like in Zhengzhou, the area where locals shop and socialize.
All along Shunhedong Jie, residents sold clothing, fruit, food and other items from the side of the road. A few were displayed on carts, while others were displayed on blankets spread on the cement sidewalk.
Some businesses along the street sold meals to locals, anything from meat dishes to frozen fruit on a stick. One elderly woman tried to persuade me to buy something from her cart filled with men’s underwear.
I politely declined.
Another woman cleaned fresh fish in a plastic tub and handed it to customers. Next to her, the back of a small pickup truck was lined with plastic and filled to the top with water and live fish for sale.
Local market
A couple of doors down, Echo brought us to a large, outdoor grocery store where she said she often shops.
Bins were filled with fresh vegetables, fruit and meat. Workers behind long counters sold roasted chicken and duck. And it reminded Pam and me of the French Market in New Orleans.
But there was at least one thing you don’t find n the French Market – customers on motorcycles and bikes whizzing through the store and buying food to take home for dinner.
Speaking of bikes and motorcycles, Zhengzhou has more of them than we’ve seen since we arrived in China last week.
Rather than drive heavily-congested streets, many folks here opt for bikes, mopeds and motorcycles. And they drive the vehicles on sidewalks they share with pedestrians, so you better be careful.
Locals stopped Pam and me several times, curious about Matthew and asking several questions. Once Echo explained the adoption, they smiled, laughed and walked on.
After a brief stop at the Lotus SuperCenter, Pam and I took a $1 taxi ride back to the Crowne Plaza with more video and photos to share with our children when they want to know about their heritage and culture.
Copyright 2008 by Terry R. Cassreino. All rights reserved.
We must meet Echo, our escort from Holt International Children’s Services, in the lobby of our hotel by 8:45 a.m. for the trip to the Zhengzhou airport. Our flight leaves at 10:50 a.m. today.
