Esther's Second Day

It turns out that we do have fast enough Internet here to blog but only in the morning.  I am grateful Chelsea could update all of you because we were all on pins and needles about getting Esther.

Well, it is Friday morning in China and things are going better than we could have hoped for.  It is so hard to blog about our experiences over here because they are so different from home life and each and every moment could fill a blog post.  From the crazy things we’ve seen in the traffic to the poverty peeking through to the constant noise and commotion to the sights and sounds.  If ever there is a slow spot in conversation with friends I will have great stories to tell.

You can see how the girls are feeling.  Pearl is nervous about being  loved by us still and her new older sister and Esther is wishing she weren't there.

 And so, what happened?  Well, the first afternoon went really well.  We went up to our room and everyone felt pretty out of sorts but once we started showing her the clothes we got her and things she started warming up.  Through Esther’s file and pictures we had deduced that she was a shy girl but we seem to have been wrong.  Esther is SO talkative.  She is either speaking in Chinese, repeating what we’re saying in English or singing to herself.  We also guessed that she was a tomboy but once again – wrong.  She was only interested in the girliest clothes we got her, she was SO excited to get her nails painted – for the first time ever, and she loves having her hair done.

   We also got to give her another first – swimming.  Pearl now loves swimming and so when she asked to go once Esther was here Esther seemed pretty set against it.  When we asked her a couple of times if she would like to swim she firmly replied in English, “No.”   So I hopped on google translate and explained that the water was not deep and suddenly the light switched on In her mind and she said just as emphatically, “Yes!” So we got her in a swimsuit – as story in and of itself – and took her down to the pool.  She was singing and jumping and shouting hooray the entire elevator ride down until we were in the pool.  She was overjoyed to be in the water.  After the pool we put both girls in a bubble bath and they sang and splashed and talked and talked for quite a while.  They are becoming fast friends.  How strange it is to make sisters of these two sweet girls.

 After the bath we got dressed and headed out to dinner in the rain.  Because of the weather we had to gather under umbrellas – Esther and I under our own.  She was very sweet and said to me in pretty clear English, “Hello, my name is Xiangzhuang, nice to meet you.”  The walk was through the busy streets of China with all of it’s lights and sounds and was pretty dreamy.  At dinner Esther could see that her parents were completely lost so she took over and ordered food and got us all situated.

Everyone drinks hot water here because you can't drink water straight out of the tap - it has to be boiled.  Here was the kettle at the restaurant.  Looking pretty old.

Our meal options.  We had no idea what these things were.

In the window of the restaurant - hello pig head.

I love the duck carcass next to the power strip.

 She was so helpful with Pearl since we’re terrible with chopsticks and serving noodles and she hummed and sang her way through dinner.  Once back at the hotel we watched some amazing Chinese TV show ;) about magical girls or something and both girls were totally into it.  It was a nice break for Mike and I.  At bedtime the girls cozied up and read together, drew pictures and played with the little dolls that Jessica gave us – btw – those were brilliant.  Esther was so sweet with Pearl and Pearl ate it up.  She looked through all of the artwork that Pearl brought from the orphanage –one by one – and even held them up to show us as well like, “Isn’t she so good, Mom and Dad?”

Looking at Pearl's art together.

They giggled their way to sleep with lots of whispering under the covers until our hearts seemed like they might burst with happiness.

This morning at the breakfast buffet Esther seemed to love the endless good food and trying our selections and sharing her own.  After breakfast we hurried out with our guide, Claire, to get the paperwork side of Esther’s adoption taken care of – visiting three different offices.  Lots of waiting for the girls and they were bored.  Oh, and Esther gets car sick as well so that was interesting.  Apparently most people in China don’t own cars and so children – especially children from the lower classes – don’t ride in cars that often.  Add to that the craziness of traffic in China and who can blame them?  The paperwork took several hours and the girls were very bored and I think it gave them time to start to really think about what was happening.

 Once we were done we took everyone out for lunch to a dumpling restaurant.  It was good food but I think it was starting to sink in for Esther that she’s not just on some fun sleepover- she’s going to stay with us forever – on the other side of the planet.  By the end of lunch, tears were streaming down her face and she didn’t want to look at us or have us look at her.  Our hearts were breaking for her and we finished up as fast as we could and got a taxi back to the hotel.  By the time we got up to our room and broke out some sticker books she was doing so much better.   We are realizing that urban China can be overwhelming for anyone and that in times like these being bored at the hotel isn’t all that bad.
Last night we headed out to town in a taxi and had dinner at Pizza Hut.  Pizza Hut in China is a super nice restaurant and we had to wait nearly an hour to get a table.  But the girls were excited and loved their pizza.  We got two large pizzas - which were just barely bigger than a personal size in America.  After dinner we got ice cream cones and walked around town and eventually back to our hotel.  It was a super fun night an we were all in good spirit with lots of hand holding and sweetness.
Things continue to get better and more comfortable though Esther is obviously still frustrated that we can't understand her.  We are grateful for these girls and that they are finally in our life.  We can't wait to bring them home to the boys.  I am more homesick than I could have imagined and miss those boys so much.  My heart aches for their hugs and kisses.