We have arrived in China safe and sound!! NOT without
many hurddles however!! I don't even know where to being.
It started in good ole' Charlotte NC when our flight
leaving for Washington was late leaving by 40 minutes.
I was biting my nails the entire time to Washington
knowing we would have just minutes to connect our flight
to Beijing and of course,we were seated in the very last
row on the plane. Ugghh! Finally we got there and discovered
our connecting flight was leaving from terminal C3. Guess
where we were?? D28! As we stepped off the plane we hear on
the intercom "Roberts family needed at C3". Yeah, we knew
that!! We began running through the airport in a full sprint.
Shaelyn sobbing to the point of hysterics and saying "I want
to go home"! We are plowing through the crowd as fast as
possible (and still only to C24) when we here "Roberts family
needed at C3 immediately, 1 minute til departure". The word
terrible doesn't begin to describe it! We reached the gate
at the very last possible moment. Shaelyn and I were both
crying, and Rob was broke out in hives from the rapid body
temp increase. It took me 45 mins to finally calm down and
uncurl my fingers and toes. About the time I calmed down,
the captain came on the intercom and stated "Ladies and
gentlemen, we are running about 1 hr 15 mins AHEAD of schdule".
What!! We had nearly killed ourselves when they could have
held the flight for at least 5 minutes longer!! URGHH!!!
Deep breaths!! Deep breaths!! Anyway we settled in for
the 14 hour flight and it wasn't long before we realized
something was wrong with our TV's. On a 777 boeing jet
each person has their own screen and headphones and you can
play movies and watch TV. This is an absolute lifesaver
for parents of small children. Well guess what.....The entire
system was broken. No movies for the entire trip! Thankfully,
I had planned for some extra things and Shaelyn did relatively
well. We arrived on schedule at Beijing and everyone aboard
cheered and clapped! We were told by our agency that we would
have a guide meet us at the airport and take us to our hotel.
We had already paid for these services. First huge problem
was NO LUGGAGE! We barely made it onto the flight but our
luggage DID NOT!! Then we discover we have been stood up by
our agency and had no guide or no transportation to our hotel!
At this point, Shaelyn is experiencing a full blown anxiety
attack in Beijing airport while hundreds of non-english speaking
people stare blankly at us! We had no cell phone coverage
(even though we signed up for the international plan before
leaving and they assured us it was activated)so couldn't even call
our agency. Even if we could have called our agency, it was
Saturday morning at home and they don't work on Sat. So, we finally
were able to get a taxi to take us to our hotel. You guessed it,
the travel agency booked the reservation but our guide was wired
the money to pay for the hotel and of course we had no guide.
The hotel would not give us the key until it was paid in full.
We tried to explain that we had paid our agency and they were to
have paid them. I think they may have understood 2 of about 200
words we spoke to them. Shaelyn sat in the floor of the hotel and
screamed "I just want to go HOME!!" Of course no one knew what
she was saying but us and no amount of consoling her seemed to help.
She was overtired and traumatized!! I being to wonder if we had not
made a huge mistake by bringing her with us. Anyway, the hotel desk
clerks, finally got in touch with our guide, who was very apologetic
and told us the reason she had not come to the airport was because she
received a call from Lavida (our adoption agency) saying that our
flight was cancelled and that we would not be coming until tomorrow.
So...at this moment, we are beyond exhausted! We are in the hotel
beautiful hotel) and are just thankful that we made it here alive!
Hopefully our luggage will arrive tomorrow!! We are eating snacks
from our carry-on for supper, wearing dirty clothes tomorrow and just
trying to remain positive. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!!
The guide meets us in the morning for sightseeing. Not much in the mood
for that I must admit. We did take a little walk down to the local
market to get some snacks and drinks. Shaelyn had calmed down by then
and seemed to enjoy the street scenes in Beijing. She is sleeping
peacefully now so hopefully the worst is behind us. Please pray that
our luggage comes tomorrow!
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5 comments:
Oh how horrible. I feel like I'm on this adventure with you. I will pray that you luggage gets there soon and that God will give you each peace and smoother sailing. Remember it will be worth it all when you have Baby Aiden in your arms.
MY deareast little Roberts Family. I have checked this blog evry couple of hours for an update on your arrival. I got up first thing this morning and yeah!!!!!! you Made it. OMG I started crying again reading your story. Girl you are keeping me in tears. I feel likeI am there with you. I am praying that your stuff gets there soon. LOve you so much !!!
IT WAS GOOD TALKING TO AT 2AM BUT NOT UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. yOU ARE IN OUR PRAYERS AND THE loRD HAS YOU IN HIS HANDS. lOVE YOU SO MUCH. DAD
Melody I just received an e-mail from Dad. He stated that you are were doing okay. You had found a Wal-Mart. WOW! Heaven's every where, UH? He said you had one bag to arrived but not the bag that has he charger.URGH!! I'm about to go nuts for an update from you.Dad is actually trying to figure out how to post a comment and he will update anyone who wants to know about you at the present time. I set his account up for him yesterday but when he went to post I guess it wont allow him. I am still praying for you daily. I know you are about to bust to see Aiden. "First impressions are lasting impressions"--- Take your time and relax.Don't scare him because you are sobbing so hard.LOL I love you all. Hurry home.
This is Melody's Dad, & it is 5 AM Sunday morning here in NC. I just got off the phone with Melody and their bags did not come yesterday as planned. They are hopefully in the air now, but they will be leaving Beijing in a couple hours for the area where they will get their baby. There is a possibility that one of their two bags has come in, as the identification has come off. They are going to check that out. Mel said that everyone is okay, but she is extremely uptight. They went out to a local "Wal-mart" store (believe it or not) and bought pampers, and a drinking cup, and a few toys for Aiden when they get him on Monday. They have just visited the Great Wall of China and Shaelyn has become a "real Trooper". She went all the way up to the top. Mel also said that she is amazed that so many people looks like she. Also Mel is not able to post anything more to this blog 'till their bags come, as her battery is about run down and the charger is in their LOST bags. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. Pawpaw. PS. Just another phone call from Mel and that bag was theirs at the Beijing airport and Rob split everything and pack each bag 'sort of' alike. But he could not split the charger (ha) and that is in the other bag which they should have tomorrow. They are presently at the Airport in Beijing and are checking in to fly to their "baby" destination." They are not sure if they will get Aiden by 2AM. So they should soon have him in their arms. .... Papaw... Well one more phone call and one more problem. They flew out of Beijing and had retrieved one of their bags, but when they landed at their final destination the bag was lost again. The Guide told them to waith one hour for the next flight in from Beijing and thankfully, it was there. They should now be in bed at their new destination, but as far as sleeping, that can not be guaranteed. Everything must be running through their heads and also excitment from the anticipation of holding Aiden in a few hours.
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