Today we started out at around 5:00 a.m. Skyping friends and family back home. It was so good to see my babies faces and yours too, Matthew, Tim, Tonya and Amy. We spent the majority of our early morning trying to obtain a converter that would not blow up our electronics. Let me just say that when you bring Joan C. with you, well...she is relentless. We have power for our chargers now. We are minus one hair dryer and a fan.
We left our hotel around 9 and decided we wanted to visit fabric stores, antique markets and electronics. It was so overwhelming and not to mention extremely populated in each place. It rained on us all day long so you can imagine how many near misses we had with umbrellas to the eye. Foster and Chase are professional barterers now. These boys have had a blast and I don't think the shop owners have met quite a bargainer as Joan. I could hear her five stores down hollering lower prices and then see people chasing her down the aisles with a calculator.
We tried to eat at a dim sum house inside a bazaar that we were at but the lines were unbelievable. Did I mention that it was raining and there were fifty million umbrellas? We chose to get in and out of McDonalds. Who, by the way, has delivery guys on motors and bikes. You have to see it to believe it. It is something to experience the amount of people, cars and bikes in one place.
We left the markets and headed to a local tea room where we did not partake on tea but was whisped through the alley ways of the area. Did I mention that it was still raining?
We then were taken to the Acrobat Show at a local theatre. If you are ever in Shanghai, I would highly suggest seeing this show. It is absolutely crazy to see what these people can do with no safety measures. Yikes!!! I had to close my eyes and cringe several times.
After the show, 6:30 p.m., we were driven to Chaning's house where we were greeted by around 20 people who were there to say goodbye to Chaning. Many had prepared a table of food and brought gifts for her. Chaning greeted me at the door and said hi mum again. She was a little nervous to see me. You know I have that effect on some ;) but she quickly brought me my bowl and eating utensils so that I could make a plate. It took a little while but she then decided she would sit beside me. We have a girly girl on our hands. She opened one of her gifts and it was a beauty make-up set. She helped me put it together and then we took turns putting our lipstick on each other. Many people were at this party that are foster mothers to kids who are about to be adopted or will be put up for adoption soon. Let me just take this time to say that these people absolutely love these kids and want so bad to know where they are going to see how they progress years from now. If you EVER get the opportunity to meet them, please do. Even if you only have one parent meet with them after you receive the child, you will want to do that. These people can offer so much information about your child's past, habits, likes/dislikes and it gives them a huge peace of mind to know that you are going to love them.
As each person left, it was so hard not to cry and somtimes I did cry and they cried as well. Chaning had teachers, friends, neighborhood kids that will miss her and wish her well. If you know me, you know I cannot watch Benji/Lassi without crying and I definitely do not do good-byes. Let me just say, it was emotional. My little girl was loved by many and if you meet her, you will see why. Her smile is captivating and very friendly.
Tomorrow, we will head to Guangzhou. I will meet up with the foster family there and try to spend the next day and a half with Chaning and the family so that, hopefully, when she is handed to me for good on Monday that she is not as frightened as if she had never seen me before. Let me also say one more thing, and then I promise I will quit writing books, GOD IS GOOD!!!! He definitley had his hand on my girl and we would like to thank all of those who have prayed for her transition. Please continue to do so because next week will be hard for her and this crazy, non-stop talking American Mum.
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