AND HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?
12/5: The day started with the White Swam buffet breakfast. Talk about culture shock -- all the Western food you could want including "scrable egg!" What was the most shocking though was the pandemonium of the room which is chock full of adoptive families. It is good that there are so many families adopting and yet it is such a huge contrast from Changsha that it takes a bit of getting used to. Everyone on Shamian Island also speaks English very well and so all of those Chinese language lessons are unnecessary here! One of the strangest things about the hotel is that there is a floor attendant who stands by the elevators and punches the button for you and tells you when the elevator has arrived. I was most freaked out last night when I came home and she actually knew which room I was in!
After breakfast the first stop was Eleanor's passport photo. She stayed awake for it so that was good. Next it was off for her medical exam. Like all big moments in her life so far, she was asleep when it all started, but they had to take her from me and she was not happy about that. To set the scene for you: a small, warm room (aren't they all) with three "stations." The first one is "height, weight and temperature." The second is "E.N.T." and the third is "medical and surgical."
The first station is self-explanatory -- Eleanor is 71 cm long and weighs 8 kg which explains my aching back. The E.N.T. station was a little weird. The doctor had on one of those big round shiny things and she first tested Eleanor's hearing. If you look at the picture you can see how -- a squeaky ball and a little electronic keyboard. Eleanor turned towards the sound and her ears were deemed "ok." Next she used the big, shiny thing (what are they called - I thought they were only used in cartoons) and looked into her ears. Again, fine. Then she used the tongue depressor and looked in her mouth. Fine. On to medicial and surgical where they measured her head and then had me undress her and looked in her diaper front and back. Have no idea what that has to do with medical and surgical, but was just happy for all our sakes that Eleanor had a clean diaper! And that was that! After her high-tech medical evaluation, Eleanor was given a clean bill of health!
After that, the guys went back to the hotel for daddy-daughter time and the girls went . . . you guessed it, shopping! Here on the Island it is all about bargaining which is a little strange when you realize that a pair of shoes costs $5.00!
When we got back to the room today, we had our "Going Home Barbie" which is a blonde, caucasian Barbie with an Asian baby. Mattel sponsors the playroom at the hotel and gives these out as gifts. Interestingly, the packaging specifically states "for ages 14 and over. This is not a toy." Curiouser and curiouser!
Tomorrow, Marcia, our guide, will take all of our paperwork over to the U.S. Consulate in preparation for our appointment the next day. I guess we will spend the morning wandering on and off the island. In the afternoon we hope to go to a Buddhist Temple to have the babies blessed.
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