Last Day in Nanchang

Tomorrow we head to our next stop, Guangzhou, to do the American Consulate part of getting Madeline ready to be an American.  Today we went through all the paperwork and filled it out together.  There was a bit of a scare at first as some of the forms had been updated in the last few months, and all families but one had the expired forms.  Aack!  We were able to make copies and move forward, so hopefully it will be smooth sailing at the Consulate.  Our guides are De (pronounced Der) and Alicia, De speaks marginal english and Alicia speaks fairly well.  I don't think the mandarin or cantonese have the v or r sounds, so sometimes I have to focus.  For example, Madeline's middle name is LuRen, and they pronounce it LuLin.

The Jiangxi province that includes Nanchang as well as all the different cities all the babies of the group are from, is known for its porcelain, so today our local guide took us to a shop with beautiful tea sets, platters and 6 foot tall vases.  Most designs are handpainted, and some porcelain is as thin as paper, amazing.  We found a nice tea set for Madeline and will give it to her someday, when breaking it won't be so amusing.  The store owner also gave us each, as a gift, porcelain chopsticks, I'm sure Kevin will be using those at every meal.  We also found some Chinese tea, and I have to say, it is the best tea I've ever had, no need for sugar, it had a naturally sweet and full taste, mmmmm.....  

Kevin found a website that we think has some pictures of the orphanage Madeline is from on it, we are having trouble loading it but perhaps in the states it would be faster.

http://wharton.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album13

I think she was here adopting a few years ago.  We will not get to Yifeng, the city of Madeline's birth and where she spent her first year, and in fact we will not get to see any orphanage.  China Center for Adoption Affairs is very particular on letting visitors see the orphanages, seems to depend on their mood.  Yifeng Social Welfare Institute has a good reputation, and as Madeline seems to have been hand fed everything and carried a lot, I trust she was loved by her caretakers.  She has a happy disposition and loves people, especially men, did I mention that?

As far as our group goes, we are enjoying getting to know the other parents.  Most are first time parents, one other couple has a two-year old like us.  We are the youngest couple.  All the families are adopting one girl, boys can also be adopted but are not as common.  All the girls are within a few months of each other, I think there is one who is almost two.  The next hotel has a playroom for the kids so I am hoping to get more pictures of the girls together, it has been hard with us all so spread out in this hotel, and getting together during our free time has not happened as much, mostly during meal times.  

Every hour Madeline's personality comes out more and more.  She really does have a feisty side that for now is pretty cute, but I'm sure won't be in about a month, I'll let you know.  I think she'll be able to hold her own with Leo.  She laughs a ton, and loves to play games.  She plays the drop the toy game just to hear me say "Uh-Oh", and teases me with her crackers all the time.  Right now we are making silly faces at each other across the room.  She enjoys music and sometimes sings in a sweet small voice.  I'm used to Leo's preaching and bellowing, so this is quite the switch.  I do miss Leo's sermons.....