Esther's Gotcha Day

Megan and Michael do not have adequate internet access, so I (Megan's sister) am writing to give you a few details about Esther's "Gotcha" day.  I am sure you are all dying to know how everything went because I know I woke up anxious to check the blog to see how things went!  Here is how Megan described it all:  "We arrived at the hotel at 1 p.m.  Pearl seemed very nervous and we think it is because she was used to getting all of our attention and she was worried about what would happen next.  It seems like it would be difficult to get attention in an orphange with lots of children including babies and not as many caretakers.  You can only get attention if you are actively seeking it. We were waiting for what seemed like forever but was only 15 minutes.  Esther arrived at 1:15 with another girl who will be adopted on Monday.  She does not know this girl, but since they shared a car ride for 5 hours, they were comfortable together.  Esther seemed quiet (which we expected) and sort of tentative (normal), but it seemed like this other little girl was leading Esther around, giggling and telling her things like "Ooh, that is your family" and maybe keeping Esther from relaxing and getting to know us.  We were anxious to leave the lobby and go to our room so we could just focus on each other.  When we returned to the room, Pearl immediately started asking if we could go swimming.  Esther got a scared look on her face and said "no" with her head that she did not want to go because she doesn't know how to swim.  With google translate, we told her it was shallow and that she could just stand in the water and wouldn't have to swim and immediately she got excited and agreed to go.  This was her first time swimming!  She got her bathing suit on and we went and they loved it. 
Esther comes from a family where the couple is older and very poor.  Our guide told us that her Chinese name is actually a boy's name and Esther seemed tomboyish in her photos.  After swimming we were showing Esther her clothes and we were kind of worried about whether she would think they were too "girly" because they were pink.  We were totally surprised when she chose the girliest one of all and LOVED it!  She wanted her nails painted and her hair to be done (her hair is much longer than the photos we had).  She is super chatty and sweet with Pearl.  They are very talkative and Esther is the sweetest big sister to her.  Esther is not shy at all and she is very happy!  We went out to dinner and it was raining so we all huddled under one umbrella as we ran to the restaurant.  That was kind of fun.  We did not have our guide with us, but Esther was so great because she communicated for us, ordered for us and was very attentive to Pearl (asking her if she wanted anymore, etc.)  Esther showed us that she knows a few English words like, "Hi!  My name is Esther."  When I said, "Hello!  my name is Megan," she said "Nice to meet  you." This was so great! When we came back to our room, the girls got in their p.j.'s and hopped on their bed to look at all of the pictures Pearl colored this week.  Esther was super sweet with Pearl and was very interested in her drawings.  Then, Esther read to Pearl from a book that she brought.  They are now under the covers giggling together.  We are pinching ourselves because we cannot believe we are so lucky to have these two happy, beautiful daughters who are already getting along so well.  We will not have good internet access for about a week, so we will not be able to update the blog, but just know that our day exceeded our expectations and we are so happy to have both of our girls. 

(I hope this does the experience justice, but I am sure Megan will rewrite it when she is able;)  Chelsea)