Adoption Trips

The morning was sort of a dud but the afternoon picked up when we went to the Silk Market and realised we were right back in the middle of our 2003 stomping grounds.

We found the Wong Colonel restaurant, so called by me because the signage resembles KFC but it is a Taiwanese noodle shop. We found the other of the two Starbucks we frequented and the hotel we stayed at the last time. Now we know why we have been shipped to the sticks. The Jinlun Toronto Hotel on Jianguomenei Dajie is under going extensive renovation in preparation for all of the guests they will have during the 2008 Olympics.

We went to the 7 floor Silk Market and bought some clothes for C including a dress for her Baptism on May 14th. The staff were very aggressive calling out to me and grabbing me saying looka looka you want silk tie, you want begga (hand bags) and one student of the Yoda asking me "shoes you want". I laughed my way through the market and had V asking me to stop making her laugh with my wise cracks thrown at the clerks. Funny they never touched V but had no trouble laying hands on me. Maybe they thought I was that famous fat guy from China.

The beggar at the corner of the Silk Market who followed us all the way to the side walk in front of Starbucks was just as aggressive. We know better than to give money to the beggars or we would be swamped by others.

A Cafe Americano and a Chocolate Frappacino for 48 yuan was expensive compared to the other fare in China but we had to have a good coffee at least once on this trip. It's no Tim's but its better than the crude we drink in the hotel each day.

We continued down the street careful to stay on private property where the panhandlers and beggars dare not tread to the China World Trade Center. We returned to the food court next to the ice rink and V and I took turns eating while the other entertained the future 2022 Pairs Skating Gold Medalist. She loves to be tossed in the air so I figure pairs skating will be her thing.

C had a full 6oz bottle of formula for the 2nd time in a row which we hope means her comfort with us has grown and that she is adjusting to the formula well. We can only hope she packs on the pounds because she needs them.

While C is light she is a comparative monster to the 2y6m child in our group. He is only 8.1kg and for his age is way under weight. Developmentally he still can not speak. He was kept back for further tests yesterday but was eventually cleared. His new parents will need to work hard to help him gain back what has been delayed.

Our other little darling who needed further tests is not doing as well. V and I can only pray that the round of independent examinations her new parents have asked for will disprove the initial assessments at the clinic and she will be well enough to continue on to Canada. We fear this will not turn out well for her and if her condition is independently corroborated she will undoubtedly have a horrid life in a orphanage and in a country that to this day is full of prejudice and disdain for the handicapped. We are so thankful to God that C is well and with us.

We had a horrid time getting back to the hotel tonight. Seems neither of the two taxi drivers we approached could read so our business card with the hotel address in Chinese did us no good. The security guard at the taxi stop could not read either. Finally the concierge told the 2nd cab driver where we wanted to go and we made it back in no time.

unfortunately V could not read the simplified text on the card so she could translate to traditional text and then into Cantonese and then into Mandarin for the drivers. Darned Mao and his simplified writing system!