From Jill, September 27th...

Okay, so since we've had some seriously heavy blogging lately we wanted to share some of the lighter moments in the past 11 days since we got Collins.

Today we went shopping into the heart of Guangzhou (population 13 million). We were able to take a cab there (cost $1.50 in U.S. dollars), but we couldn't get a cab to get back home. Finally out of utter desperation, Carl hailed down a man on a motor scooter These are only legalized for handicapped people. So this is a small scooter with a little bench attached to the back of the driver's seat. Understand this looks like it is as old as the hills and about to fall apart. The driver can't speak English but Carl shows him our room key with the hotel name on it and he agrees to get us back for about $3 U.S. Please get the picture that we are in New York City type traffic. It is INSANE! And we are on the main roads! We are swerving in and out of cars and bicycles and trucks. The only thing I could hang onto was a little side handle, and I kept thinking if it broke I would fly off and be road kill. I have NEVER prayed that hard in that short amount of time EVER! Welcome to China. There are people everywhere. Masses of people with no where to put them. They live in these huge high rise apartments and hang their clothes out the window on bamboo poles. The lingerie drawer is visible for all to see! I's been so interesting to see how people on the other side of the world live.

As we've said before, Collins is very active. She is interested in everything and what its purpose is. She saw me grab my eye drops, so she took the bottle and wanted to put them in for me. She did so perfectly. One time she pulled me down to her level and motioned for me to open my mouth. Just like a dentist, she took 2 fingers on either side of my mouth and pulled it open. With a serious look on her face she scanned the uppers and scanned the lowers, nodded her head as if it was all fine and walked away. Geez, I guess I passed her approval. One of her favorite things is playing with my hair. She's good at it too. That must have been something they were able to do in the orphanage. She grabs barrettes and stretchy necklaces and rubber bands and I end up with some crazy hairstyles. Most of the time I'm saying "tong" because that is "hurt" in Cantonese. It does hurt like the dickens, but it's good bonding. One of the highlights of each day for her is a bubble bath. She's learned to go under and hold her breath like she's swimming, so she's very proud of herself for that.

Today we were in a store and Carl took the wig off of a mannequin and put it on her. All the store clerks came by and thought she was a little doll baby. She loved it when Carl switched the wig to his head. Also today she ran up to a mannequin of a child and picked it up before I could get to her. When she picked it up it came out of the pole that was holding it. She is laughing hysterically and I am standing there with a lot of people staring at me like I'm the worst parent around. I am holding a mannequin that I CANNOT get back on the pole. She thinks everything is funny, which is great except when we tell her "NO!" She still laughs even then. Boy, do we have some interesting parenting days ahead...

2 days ago Collins had her medical exam. I know I keep talking about the masses of people, but seriously, you cannot begin to imagine the people lined up on top of each other in that clinic. Long, long lines, every hall was lined with people, and those poor doctors and nurses running around. People were sitting and standing everywhere, and you just had to push through everywhere you went. We had to go to 5 different sections and I still cannot believe that entire experience. Collins was a brave girl getting 6 shots. She was mad as a hornet after it was over until we went to 7-11 and got her a sucker and M&M's. In the exam the doctor diagnosed her with scabies. We just thought she was covered up with mosquito bites, but it was more. Someone in our group had the medicine for scabies so we're all good now, but the doctor told us we had to change all the bedding in our room and pour boiling water over all our clothes. 3 weeks of clothes for 4 people because we still have most of Conner's clothes here too! We have a tiny tea pot in our room that will boil water, so it took most of the day to boil enough water to cover them all. Then we sent it all to a Chinese laundry which is in my opinion one of the best things about China. Love having all our clothes clean and folded perfectly and wrapped in nice cellophane packaging.

Collins is the only child I have ever been around that has no interest in television or videos. My guess that she doesn't care about TV is because they had one at the orphanage. She is interested in experiences and starved for time with people and everything else she wasn't exposed to before. I haven't be able to get her to watch even a minute or two of Veggie Tales or Dora. The only exception has been once when Conner was still here and the movie "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" was on TV. She actually watched it for awhile. What does this mean? It can't be good!

In China, the people eat every part of the animals. They waste nothing. Some things on the menu and on the street we have seen: baby squid, chicken feet, ostrich kidney, pig intestines, fish head soup, turtle soup. Last night our group went to eat at a Cantonese restaurant. I was actually really food. On the sidewalk in front of the restaurant they had the turtles and other creatures that were unknown to us that would be used in the meals. We ate goose, and pig neck, sweet and sour pork and a yummy dessert which was little pastries with cooked milk in them. As for us, we are counting down the days 'til we get to eat some good old Mexican food. Collins still has a big appetite. Carl was thinking our food bill would go down a couple of hundred a month after Spencer left, but it appears not. After having a very limited menu before, she gets a kick out of all these new foods we are introducing her to. I wish you all could have seen her face when she tasted a McDonald's ice cream cone. Simply bliss.