Monday, November 10

What a fun day! Okay, except for one part, but I'll get to that.

We started out with another yummy breakfast (Shane continues to eat more bacon, eggs and hash browns than he has eaten in years), then we joined the Irishes in a cab to Beijing Road, a pedestrian shopping street. I called Mom and Peter while we were walking down it to check in on their weekend. All is well! Mom said it sounded like I was in Webster Groves, not in China. Technology is amazing.

We wandered down the street and ended up down a long market which I have dubbed Underwear Alley. As far as we could see--underwear, underwear, and more underwear. Later on we hit Shoe Alley, Christmas and Chinese New Year's Street, and Belt Boulevard. We did wander into Sacred Heart Catholic Church--and for a moment we thought we were in Europe. In an among all these little back alleys and side streets are people, people, people . . . living, working, cooking, selling, sleeping, staring. It was another great experience of being the minority.

This afternoon we took two buses to Shamian Island to get the girls' medical checkups. This is the not fun part. We waited in line, then Lia's temperature was taken, and she was weighed and measured. In room #2 a woman squeaked a little orange alligator to check Lia's hearing, then looked in her ears. Not good. Then pried open her mouth and checked it out with a tongue depressor. Really not good. But the best was yet to come: room #3 was where a doctor listened to her heart, then lay (laid?) her down on an examination table. This did it for Lia. She began to scream. She turned her over and looked at her Mongolian spots and said, okay, good bye. I had questions about a bruise/deep knot and newer red spot on top of it on her upper left arm. She got the translator--shots. Then I asked her about this round spot on her upper inside left thigh--they said it was from where the diaper rubbed it. Hmmm. I don't know about that one. During all of this Lia is screaming, and she's continuing to scream as we walk out into the waiting area and dress her. She was one unhappy little baby. But--she recovered!

We walked across the highway overpass into the famous Qingping Market. We saw: snakes, dried snake skins that look like canes, dried mushrooms in all shapes and sizes, live chickens, teeming scorpions in various sizes in various plastic tubs, puppies, kitties, dried tea leaves, dried seahorses, dried starfish, genseng and all kinds of unidentifiable roots and more and more and more of the same spilling out of all the shops. I loved it. Shane? Maybe not so much. Lia, worn out from her medical exam, slept.

We did do a little shopping on Shamian Island--all the shops are totally geared to the foreign adoption trade.

Another highlight today was meeting the Watt's daughter, Sophie. When we walked in their hotel room, she was covering Brenda in Hello Kitty band-aids. She did say a soft bye-bye when Elsie, our guide and interpreter, and we left. She is darling and a perfect fit for the Watts!

Bath time--and now bed time. Another day in China! They are going so fast.