The One Place I Call Home

We have stayed very busy in Beijing! On Friday we went to Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and an acrobat show. Everything is very crowded right now since students don't go back to school until September. I am glad we saw these places before because all we have seen is people! Lilla was a trouper but finally gave out when we sat down for the acrobat show--the one thing she probably would have really enjoyed! Our group we are traveling with is really nice and everyone has kids that were adopted from China. We have to say goodbye to them today as we each go to separate provinces. On Friday everyone will come to Guangdong Province (where we are flying today) because that is where the US Consulate is and everyone has to go there for their new child's visa.

Anyway, Saturday, we went to the Great Wall. Lilla said "we're here! I've waited YEARS to see the Great Wall!" She then proceeded to make us climb really really far! We climbed and climbed and finally had to go back so we would be at the bus on time. We ended with lychee flavored popsicles. Very refreshing! After that we went to the Summer Palace and I mean we couldn't see anything but people. We did enjoy a Dragon Boat ride which was nice.

Last night most of our group (no guide) went to a Cantonese restaurant. Thankfully there was a picture menu and a patient waitress who spoke a little English. She kept telling us we didn't order enough. But when the food came, oh my gosh. One thing one of the dads ordered was dumplings for everyone. They ended up being steamed buns which are about as big as a baby's head. He had ordered 12 of them! On top of that we had "delicious black fungus" (it was!), a whole fish with head and tail, stir fried pigeon and peppers with noodles, spicy beef, green beans, broccoli with about 20 cloves of garlic, a few other dishes we don't remember ordering, 3 giant beers (accidentally giant), tea and bottled water. When we got the bill, it was only about $6.75 per person! We did everything wrong, from Mark pouring his tea into the soup bowl, to all of us using our placemats as napkins. The whole kitchen staff was watching us and laughing, and most of the restaurant employees came by to see what we were up to.

We also got some additional information about Hope and found that she is called Song Yi (song-ee it sounds like). She likes "Bobby dolls" I am assuming means Barbie. We brought her one, so good :-). We also now know the names of her foster parents. My favorite quote from the update is:

Q: What does he/she hate? What makes him/her upset?
A: She has good personalities. We haven't found that she dislikes anything. She will get upset when she is criticized or she can't find a friend to play with her. She will calm down if you explain to her or give her more attention. She is easily to satisfy.

Earlier in the report it says she is a "gentle, thoughtful and lovely girl."

So right now it is 7:22am in China. I have been up since 4am! We will meet Hope Song Yi tomorrow at 2:30pm!! Please do keep praying for Lilla. She seems a little nervous and said she is very excited but scared, like being on a roller coaster! I totally understand the feeling!!