We’re having a very nice time here. Everything about this area is more laid back, even the traffic. It’s against the law to honk! I told the guide that appreciated the fact that the driver wasn’t honking at everyone. I thought he was being considerate because Jia was napping, but it turns out, he’s not allowed unless it’s absolutely needed.
We ventured out for a little walk after breakfast and went into Starbucks. The prices of most things here are way less, but Starbucks is the same as the US. We could buy an entire lunch here for what we paid for three drinks and two treats.
We went to the zoo today. Jia recognized a lot of the animals and told our guide that she had been to a zoo before. That’s great! Thankfully, she willingly got in the stroller. There’s no way we could keep carrying her all day long, (even though we still end up carrying her quite a bit). We have a free one from the hotel, but I think I’ll buy a cheap umbrella stroller as we’ll be in the Beijing airport for a long time on the way home.
Jia continues to amuse us. We are having such a fun time together. She is a happy and energetic five year old. She found a couple of hard plastic dolls we brought. They aren’t as big as Barbies and not as small as Polly Pockets. She loves them. They even went into the bath with her and she wanted me to blow dry their hair after I did hers.
She had a rough night again last night. More grieving. This time she was reaching her hand out for something. I asked her if she wanted something and she said her mama. Poor baby. I think this will last for a while. She was very attached to her foster mom. I was reading through a book that was written by her caretakers/teachers over the last several years. It sounds like she was a very different child before she went into the foster family. She had been quite unresponsive, never smiled, and didn’t really interact with anyone. Mostly stared out the window. It is amazing the progress she has made in these last few years. I don’t think she would be the same child if it wasn’t for her foster mom. I hope she retains those memories as I hope to have many conversations about her “China mom” as soon as she’s comfortable with that.
We’re going to head out and do some shopping. Jia loves her snow boots, but she needs some other shoes as it is supposed to get up to 70 degrees tomorrow. I brought several pairs of shoes that were too small so I gave them to the orphanage. I have a feeling she’ll like picking out her own shoes and clothes. When she saw a skirt that I pulled out for her to wear, she gasped, her eyes got big as saucers, and she started doing a dance. So cute! I think she’ll be wearing dresses and skirts every day.
Oh, I forgot to mention that at the medical appointment, the ENT doc she did not have any cavities. The stuff on her teeth was caused by medicine. I’m curious to see what our dentist in the US has to say, but I’m so relieved about the cavity part. I don’t feel quite so bad letting her have jelly beans now. J
Here are some pics from today.
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