Tuesday - 9/23

The rest of our group arrived at various times yesterday. I can't tell you how good it was to see them all. People that were strangers a week and a half ago, are now allies and friends in this foreign land. They were truly a site for sore eyes. As homesick as we were getting, it all seems so much more bearable now. And to hear some of their stories about the places they've been and the provinces they went to - it seems as though we've been sitting (as one lady put it) in the 'promised land' all this time.

After breakfast, one person from each family (me) went to a 'paperwork party'. We filled out several papers and forms that had to be done for the rest of the appts and such that still need to be completed before we can bring the children home.

This afternoon, all the babies had their medical exams. It wasn't a very detailed exam. There were 3 stations. At the 1st station, they were weighed and measured. Leila weighs 14.8 lbs, and is 25 inches long. At the 2nd station, they checked her eyes, ears, and mouth. She did NOT like that. (That does not bode well considering the medical procedures that await us upon return to the states.) At the final station, they listened to her heart and lungs. That was it.

We then stopped at a grocery store so the families that arrived yesterday could get water and whatever else they needed.

Tonight, we decided to splurge on dinner. We ate at one of the restaurants in our hotel with the Christians family. It was a Japanese restaurant, but it did have chairs. (One of them here doesn't - you have to sit on the floor.) We had a good time, and the food was good, but it was really pricey. We won't be going back there. After the chefs finished cooking, they passed Leila back and forth while we finished eating.

I learned some more interesting facts today.
There is no drinking age in China - beer is sold in vending machines like coke.
Marijuana is legal and grows in public.
It's legal (but not really admirable) for men to beat women.
BUT, it's illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving.
Their is no tooth fairy in China. If you lose a tooth from the top, you throw it on the roof, but if you lose a tooth from the bottom, you throw it in the ditch.