Day 3 - Adoption

We had an early start this morning with an 8:30 appointment at the civil affairs office to complete the adoption paperwork. I was a bit concerned when Amy said she was full after eating just 2 small dumplings for breakfast. She said she didn't want anything else. No yogurt, no juice, nothing. Wonder if it was nerves.

We only had to walk across the street, which wasn't too bad - we managed to avoid being struck by any traffic, which is a feat to be proud of when crossing in Chinese traffic!

Things generally went well at the civil affairs office. I was introduced to the director and assistant director, both of whom seemed to know Amy. The assistant said she had visited the older children at Amy's orphanage and been asked to try to find them families before they turned 14. All the adults seemed genuinely happy that Amy was being adopted.

When it was time for the orphanage staff to leave, Amy had a death grip on her ayi's arm. Both were crying. It was hard to watch. I left it to the staff and our guide to work out how to separate Amy from them and transfer her to me. I didn't want to pull her away. Finally, one of the men took the lead and broke the grip and passed her to me, motioning for the ayi to leave quickly. Elsie stepped in and started talking to Amy while the others left. While it was heart-breaking, it was also a good sign that Amy has and therefore will again bond to adults in her life.

After a stop at the notary's office and the police station (for passport stuff), we returned to the hotel. Both girls said they were not hungry and just wanted to nap - Alice because she is definitely sick; Amy because she was a touch carsick and probably emotionally exhausted.

After giving the girls appropriate meds for their conditions, I had about 20 minutes of quiet time. Amy perked up quickly and it has been a busy day since then. She is trying to learn English braille letters and had me working with her on them with some stuff I sent to the orphanage and some stuff I brought.

They finally got hungry and we were able to get the guide to takes us to a noodle shop for dumplings for a late lunch. A quick trip through Walmart for some fruit and a few more snacks and then back to the hotel room. The girls have been happy hanging out here. Amy is starting to figure out how to use voice over on her ipad and playing with the virtual piano on the ipad and ipods. Alice is enjoying vegging out in front of the TV.

I think we are in for the evening, eating from our stash of Walmart snacks and some treats from a bakery.