Settling In

I promised to keep this going, so I apologize for the delay. We have been busily settling in with Laina, and introducing her to all her family, neighbors and friends. She is very willing to be held by strangers and is quite sociable with everyone. I am attaching a few photos tonight. One is of Laina with me, she is in traditional dress and we are at a Buddhist Temple for a blessing of the babies. Another shot is of a beautiful Pagoda roofline in a park that we went to in Beijing. The details in the architecture are so beautiful and intricate. The third shot is a picture of our first hotel room in Beijing, the linens were very soft but the bed was not! Pretty, though, and the amenities were everything you'd expect in a nice hotel in the U.S., we had a blow dryer, 2 bathrobes and slippers, an in-room safe, TV, phone, lots of complimentary toiletries, a mini-bar with snacks and soda as well as liquor, big towels, and regular housekeeping every time we went out. I will put one more photo up tonight, it's of a ribbon-dancer in the park. There were so many activities going on there, lots of musicians and dancers of all sorts. The ribbon dancing is beautiful in the sun and looks like fun. I have been working on photos, downloading them and cropping them, etc. It's a bit of work with almost a thousand pictures! More to come!

Day Four at Home

Laina is settling in pretty well, although Sunday night was the first night we actually slept more than 2 hours since we got back! She is still on 'China Time' and wants to sleep all day and play all night. We are all a little dazed but trying to enjoy the nice weather and take some short walks and get out to visit. I am posting a picture of Laina and our kitty, Nick, to show how they stay close, he really seems to like her. We introduced her to our piano today, Jimmy recently acquired this old player piano from 1920, and just for fun we opened it up for her. She loved it and banged away at the keys. She likes anything that makes noises so maybe she'll be a musician some day...who knows? It is so fun to see her inspect new things. I'll put up a picture of her at the piano too. Just finished downloading all 953 photos from China, so I can easily find something to show you all from our trip! Our group will be sharing pictures also, since we couldn't help but take pix of the other families and all the cuties. Here's one of the mommies and the girls at the entrance to the zoo in Nanning. It was a really nice zoo, but no pandas, and the famous Asian elephants were inside where we couldn't see them. We did go to a dolphin show, and saw monkeys, lion, tigers, exotic birds and lots of other things. While we were there, a young couple came up to me and asked" will you take picture?', I said sure and reached for the camera, but he indicated that they wanted to take a picture of ME! I smiled and stood there, and now I wonder what story they will tell when sharing their photo albun....a white amazon woman? A frizzy-haired freak?(it was very humid, and anyone that knows me, knows that my hair is kind of, well, fuzzy and huge in that weather) We'll never know..

Homecoming

Home at Last! We made it back mid-afternoon yesterday and were welcomed by our Waiting Parents Group with a banner, flowers, toys and hugs. Laina was squeezed by all and didn't mind a bit. A few tears were shed, as we all share our adoption experiences together and understand the long road it can take to bring your baby home. Laina seemed to settle right in. She decided the car seat was a sleeping place, thankfully. She enjoys the kitties and claps when they come to her. Nick, our big male tabby seems to like her and rubs up against her even though she grabs him pretty roughly. We introduced her to a few new toys, including a bouncy seat that she absolutely loves. We are all a bit out of sorts with the time change and all, so today we are doing a lot of napping and slowly starting to unpack. Laina is taking her first nap in her own room. She slept in our room last night, since she was used to being next to us in a crib in the hotels we decided that was the comfy place to start, besides the fact that we feel the need to admire her every few minutes! The sun is shining, as soon as Laina and Jimmy wake up I hope to take a stroll around the neighborhood and visit a couple of people. I just posted a bunch of photos so make sure to look around the blog, there's some new stuff. I am going to try and post a video of her in the bouncy seat, hope it works! You should be able to click on the still photo to get the video to start. We intend to keep posting so our family and friends who are not nearby can enjoy the Laina experience from afar.

Back to America

We slept well at the hotel, but arrived there late so didn't see anything but our eyelids until breakfast. Had to once again, have bags ready and gathered for the buses to the airport. Most, but not all of the families were on the same flight home, so some goodbyes were said for those who went other directions. The airport was frustrating and very hot. We had to go through immigration and customs and check our bags, get our seat assignments, etc., with babies and documents, etc. Jimmy and I were unable to get seats together, and it's a 13 1/2 hour flight back to Newark! Other people were actually assigned seats away from their kids, as young as 2! It was a madhouse and there was a little 'road-rage' but we all finally got on the plane and played musical chairs with people until we were together. Jimmy and I got very lucky and a Chinese woman gave us her window seat next to Jimmy and took my icky center seat between 2 other people. We sat with a nice businessman named Don who said not to worry about him, and to get up whenever we needed to and I could even use his tray table if I needed to when Laina was in my lap. She was an angel, she couldn't have dreamed that she'd be so easy. The flight was gruelling, I was so uncomfortable and hot and tired of sitting. Laina, however, got laid on a makeshift bed of our tray tables and slept like a log! 10 hours out of 13! The rest of the time, she either had a bottle, was walking the aisles and going to get changed, or watching Tom & Jerry cartoons on the little portable DVD player we had bought. The stewardesses all said that she was the best and we proudly agreed. Many families had screaming babies, sick, and frustrated other children along with them, and were still seething from the airport frustrations. It was a tough trip and we were all overjoyed when the long flight ended. Jimmy, Laina and I had one more short flight to T.F.Green airport in Rhode Island, but we were happy to stretch and lounge during our layover. The last flight ended up being delayed and we didn't reach RI until midnight. We were starving and Laina had more formula and the grownups had burgers and fries from an all-night Wendy's before trying to sleep on American-time so the jet lag wouldn't be so bad. China is exactly 12 hours ahead, so day is night and night is day, it is a very difficult adjustment. The king-sized bed was soft and cushy so we managed a few hours and got up early to head for home at last.

Back on the Bus

The next morning we had to have all our bags packed again and left outside our rooms for the bellhops. Jimmy and I had to buy another small suitcase after all the shopping we had done! We had an excellent breakfast(the best buffet of the trip) and put all the babies in traditional chinese finery for a group photo, posed on a large red couch. This was, of course, a zoo. The babes were climbing all over each other, little ones were toppling and mommies were trying to hide behind the couch and hold their kids without being seen, it was pretty funny! Laina sat cooly in the front and only started crying when all the other babies did.By the way, there will definitely be more pictures posted, I am essentially sleep-walking here, and have not downloaded off the camera yet, so keep looking for the next couple of days and scroll down as I can add photos to the appropriate posts that I've written already. After the Photos in the hotel, we all got ourselves and stuff back on the buses to go to the Six Banyan Temple to have the babies and families blessed by the Buddhist monks there. It was beautiful and quite moving for both Jimmy and I. Afterward, we strolled the courtyards and other areas within the temple grounds. We loaded back on the bus and headed for lunch. The trip seemed to have caught up to some of us, as we realized that the journey was soon ending, the adrenaline was waning and our minds were settling on going home to our new lives with our children. We went to a Park called the Five Rams and wandered a bit but some of us just found a nice spot to sit with the kids. We were basically spending time until the appointment at about 4 p.m. at the Consulate. Finally we were on our way and arrived at the Consulate building. We were told to bring only our passports and our babies, no cameras or bags inside. We were ushered through the building to a large room.Family by family, we went up to a glass-enclosed counter so they could make sure that we had the right babies, etc., then we were all told to stand and raies our right hands for the swearing in ceremony. It wasn't long, but it made our adoptions official in China, so we all cheered and congratulated each other afterward. We were given Laina's passport and immigrant visa to have and to use taking her out of China. We have alot of beautiful, official documents from this process. The Chinese love their papers! After the ceremony, we got back on the bus and headed for the airport to fly to anothe hotel near the airport in Beijing for the final leg of our journey to bring Laina home.

April 17 in Guangzhou

The next day we were confined to the island in case problems came up with our paperwork which was being processed via our guides elsewhere. We didn't mind because we had some exploring and shopping to do, we knew it might be our last chance since we were only there for one more night. The hotel is beautiful, there's a huge indoor waterfall, shops inside with extraordinary things; jade sculptures like a miniature horse, incredibly ornate ones like a cornicopia of fruit and foods all done in different colored jade, ivory and other stones. Some sold for hundreds of thousands of US dollars and were museum quality. There was a playroom, game rooms, a massage parlor(Jimmy enjoyed a good massage there, but no one walked on his back as he had been wishing for), hair salons, restaurants and shops all within the hotel building. Outside, we rented a stroller(for free actually, from the place we had our laundry done) and enjoyed checking out the island. The vendors and shopkeepers are very forward and greet you on the street and proclaim the beauty and low prices in their shops; we soon learned that most of the shops carried the same products and we could easily bargain down the prices. Something I had bought for 120 Yuan at the Jade Factory I was able to purchase another here for only 30!(120 Yuan is about $15 US, 30 would be about $3.50). We found there was a Starbucks, which was out of place but we really appreciated a good cup of coffee at last! That day Jimmy and I also found Lucy's Cafe that had an American burger on the menu for lunch. It tasted great after 3 meals a day of Chinese food. We loved the food there, but needed a change sometimes. After getting our laundry and other things in order, we met up with the whole group to walk to a Cantonese Restaurant for dinner. We had babies, 28 of them, in strollers, etc. and suddenly the skies darkened and a squall kicked up, we had to make a mad dash for it in the wind and rain, laughing and screaming all the way. I put Laina inside my windbreaker with just her head poking out and she was giggling the whole time, the hostesses had a good chuckle at our appearance at the Restaurant. Dinner with agroup like that takes some time so after that, it was back to our rooms, baths for the babes and bed for all.

The Story Continues

Hello; Sorry we couldn't post for a few days, we were rushing around from place to place and couldn't get to a computer, so we'll try to catch up. Let's see..on our last night, we all met as usual in a large dining room, where we had the place to ourselves. Glenn had put a beautiful "love ball" as a centerpiece in the table. We had a gift and a tip to give Glenn and we all told him how much he had meant to us, and what a great guide he had been. He said we were one of the most memorable groups he had ever had. Our friend, Peeps, had a hidden talent that she shared with us, she could do ventriloquism! She got Zacchary on her knee first, then Bob, then Jimmy, and then Glenn. She made them "sing" funny songs and there were a lot of laughs as everyone tried to be the "dummy".I videotaped it too. The next morning, April 16th, we had to leave so after dinner we all headed to our rooms to pack, most of us had our doors open and everyone was trying to give each other things to lighten up the suitcases, and were also tyrying to drink the last of the wine they had bought.We were all laughing and deciding what we could ditch out of our stuff. Things like a jar of peanut butter, paperbacks, other American snacks and some miscellaneous toiletries,just didn't make the cut. There was a lot of discussion about the weight limits of the bags and trying to convert from the metric system on the scales in our rooms.
We had to get all our bags packed and locked, meet the group for breakfast, and get to the airport for a 10:20 flight to Guangzhou. We were all a bit sad to leave Nanning. It was a beautiful, clean and friendly city and we were really getting comfortable there with our little group. At the airport we had to say goodbye to Glenn and get ready for taking our babies out of their Province for the first time. They all behaved, Laina slept like a log and we arrived a couple hours later. As we entered the airport, another plane was also unloading with some of the other families from our extended group. We all started laughing and crying and meeting each others' babies and then the babies started up, so soon everyone was crying and hugging, it was unbelievable! We managed to all the luggage and everone on board the 2 buses and headed for the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou. The White Swan is located on Shamian Island, a 44-acre area of old mansions built by trading companies from Britain, The U.S., France, Holland, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Japan. It was initially set up as an enclave for foreign merchants. These buildings have since turned into Government buildings, churches, and hotels and loads of little shops, galleries, and eateries.In the center of the island runs a long park with courtyards and playgrounds and landscaped grounds to stroll. The afternoon we arrived, we had to check in all the families and get all the luggage brought to the rooms, etc., the lobby was a complete madhouse! We had about 1/2 hour to get "settled in" and meet back downstairs. We walked a few blocks to the office where we had the visa photos taken for the babys' immigrant visas, and then walked to another building for their medical check-ups. The clinic was quite clean and well organized. There were 3 stations to go through, the first one was getting the height, weight, length and also the baby's temperature. The second was the eyes, ears, and throat place where they basically played a toy keyboard and made sure that the baby responded and followed things with her eyes, etc. We started at that station and Laina absolutely HATED the ear probe gizmo, and she started screaming bloody murder and never stopped until all the checkups were done. The third station was basically a body look-over. Although she was ornery, Laina passed and calmed down as soon as we left. After we got back, Jimmy took Laina and went along woth some other daddies to the pool. Nancy had to go to the "white-out"party, where we have to fill out multiple forms and applications for the baby's visas. That took 2 1/2 hours, and we all definitely used the white-out a few times! For supper we were given a pizza for our room and sleep came pretty early.

Last Day in Nanning

We've had another busy day. This morning we went to a Buddhist temple on the highest point in Nanning. Everyone was lighting incense and bowing, there were other statues of Buddha's students from the stories and legends. Jimmy went up to a monk with Glenn, he requested him to bless and wish the remainder of Burge's ashes a safe journey, wwhich he did; he said a prayer, rang some bells and blessed him with something like holy water. He also patted the picture and gave Jimmy the Thumbs-up sign which was a sign to Jimmy himself because Burge always did that. They had beautiful things for sale, there was a lot of incense burning, we were not allowed to take pictures as it is bad luck to take photos of the Buddha and considered disrespectful. We climbed the tower at the highest point, but it was a cloudy morning so the views were hidden. Then we went down the hill to a beauful park, where strolled around. Jimmy had fun with some old chinese ladies, posing for pictures with them. They seemed thrilled and smiled the whole time. We saw children in a huge plastic bubble, like a gerbil ball, actually out on the water, seemed like fun but must have been hot in there! From the park, we went to lunch. It as one of the first times we were in a restaurant with a lot of other people. There was a lot of staring. At the end of the meal, Sandra, or "Peeps", and Jimmy decided to try some of the local delicacies; scorpions, worms, ants, bees, and Jimmy's favorite, big crunchy black beetles. Yummy! Then we went on to the famous Nanning Market, a large area of vendors selling just about anything ; trinkets, bunnies, birds, dogs, jade, coins, plastic junk, lots and lots of beaded jewelry, everyone picked up some treasures to help us remember our time here. Our suitcases are definitely going to be over the weight limit! I will be adding some photos later on today. Laina seems to love the outdoors and just coos the whole time we are strolling and everyone wants to hold her, which we allow since she doesn't mind. She has started clapping, and is smiling a lot more. Tonight we have to try and pack to head into Guangzhou for the final visas for the babies. We'll stay at the White Swan Hotel for two nights, which is a beautiful place that really caters to the international adoption families. We'll have pictures with the whole extended group, do any last-minute shopping that we can and will have a couple of appointments to complete Laina's documents. For some reason we could see the blog today, not sure why.Thanks for all the great comments! It was the first time since we left that we could read them. I have edited a few things, Laina only weighs 15 pounds by the way, I blame my mistake on the anxiety and sleep deprivation from the first night! There is the Prime Minister staying here so a lot of bigwigs are around the hotel, and there's a red carpet in the main lobby that no one can go on but him. We just met a nice family in the gift shop who will be getting their baby tomorrow, amazing to share these life-changing times. We cannot express how polite and friendly the Chinese people are here, we feel very welcomed and do our best to be as respectful and kind as they are. Tonight is our last dinner with Glenn, it will be sad but also celebratory of all that he has shared with us. Not really looking forward to getting on a small plane with kids and luggage tomorrow, but it's only an hour flight. Our Laina is usually a very content baby but we will give her some drops for ear pain just in case.Getting up early so the next post will be from Guangzhou, hopefully we can figure out a computer set-up. Can't believe we'll be heading home in less than a week, everything seems surreal! Oh, also wanted to mention that not one person in our group has been sick at all, we just don't drink the water. We are now sleeping well as are the babies, and the food is great so we are eating well too. Really didn't need all the snacks we brought and they will probably be left behind to make room in the bags, among other things!

Laina's Hometown

Today has been a journey of finding every detail about Laina that we can. Our 4 family group had to divide into 2 vans and go separate ways to seek out our daughters' abandonment sites.We were met at our hotel by Mary, a very sweet, soft-spoken woman and a smiley bus driver that came up to about Nancy's waist. Our agency guide, Pat came along as well. The city of Laibin is about 2 1/2 hours from Nanning, so it was a long ride. Mary told us that Laibin is not a big city, and much poorer than what we have seen so far. It was actually more modern than we expected, online I had seen streets with water buffalo and dirt roads, but inside the city was fairly bustling. There were a lot of motorbikes, as there is everywhere here, and in Laibin there are a ton of them with little green roofs that act as taxis. We are not allowed to go to the orphanage, or even to get get out of the van near it. Our driver pulled over across the street and we had to take pictures through our open windows. A man in uniform came up to our window and said "what are you doing?' and then spoke to the driver so I think we were in trouble, but mission accomplished, we continued on to explore the area. We went to the hospital area where another baby had been found and many people come right up and stare at us until we smile and say hello. Woman with their babies often come over to smile and coo. Some very cute elderly women came over and Mary told us that they had never seen foreigners before. Laibin is not exactly a tourist spot! We had a great time with the locals.Jimmy wandered a bit and found a baby store where I bought a beautiful quilted, silk outfit for Laina, red with blue dragons, it was 60 yuan, or about $7.50. We went next to Laina's spot and were both moved by the enormity of how we will be changing her life. After taking pictures, we decided to go to a restaurant for lunch and Mary found a hotel that looked fairly clean and decent and the food was delicious. The waitresses and patrons obviously enjoyed watching us and Laina got passed around as usual. After a lunch of 'congee', a sweet sesame pork rib dish, some steamed pumpkin, a platter of sizzling beef with peppers and some steamed pork, and rice,and some small custards, we asked to go to a local outdoor market. This was a market for food and 'commodities', there were rice stands,sugar cane, nuts and beans and spices, and also a rather unsavory, and unrefrigerated assortment of meat, and I'm talkin' pig-heads, snails,all kinds of fascinating things we never think to eat. We often had school children say hello and run away giggling. The elderly people are as interested in us as we are them, they shyly stare until we speak to them.The entire market was buzzing, all eyes were on us. Aman tried to sell Jimmy some live chickens. Mary and the driver seemed anxious to go so after lots of picture-taking, we started back to Nanning. The other group wasn't back yet, so we decided to change our usual routine and go down to Pizza Hut. Yup, we really needed some American food, and it turned out to be a really great night. The square of eateries,a neon blazed shopping and gathering area of about 6 blocks square, including McD.'s, and KFC, was a large area totally crowded with teenagers. A group of about 6 kids came up and told us it was one girl's birthday and asked us to sing, which we did. We had to wait 20 minutes for our table so we stood outside the door. Suddenly we were surrounded,the people were crowding around us, at least 4 or 5 people deep, it was so funny. Felt like a Rock-Stah! All the kids want to practice their English, it was really fun. Jimmy took some pictures and they ttok some of us and the birthday girl,and then we went in and thoroughly enjoyed some pizza and beer. All the time, Laina and Isabella are being cooed over and patted. Luckily, they don't seem to mind. Laina loves riding in the stroller and puts her little feet up and kicks back to enjoy the scenery. It is now about 10:00 p.m., my family is quiet and soon I will be too. Tomorrow is our last day here in Nanning, we will be sad to go. This is an absolutely beautiful place. No pix tonight, the other group has not returned and so I can't ask to use Peeps'laptop. Hopefully tomorrow! Heard you are having sleet and rain, and maybe a storm back home, glad to miss it! Maybe we'll stay a while....

Yiling Caves

Today we went to a place called Yiling Caves. The mountains of Guangxi are famous for the limestone formations and ancient caverns. When you see a traditional chinese painting of steep mountains, with farmers in the valleys working the fields with water buffalo, this is the area that inspires that. It is exceptionally beautiful, very green and lush. The farmers here are very poor, these are minority people who still farm and live in the same ways as generations before them. An average annual family income in this countryside is about 5000 Yuan, or approximately $625 US. We feel very excessive in our Reeboks and toting fancy cameras, etc. The caves are over a million years old, it took us over an hour to tour only one area. We went down deeply, on steep stairs and winding pathways. There were stalagtites and stalagmites all around, but the formations here are each unique, many are named for the resemblance to things.I was astounded by one that looked like a huge old man with along beard, and another that looked like 2 men playing chess. There are a lot of myths and fairy tales about the formations. Inside, you are sometimes in almost complete darkness, except for colored lights up in nooks and crannies to illuminate some of the most fascinating ones. It was really incredible. Also at this area the people perform Bamboo Dancing, Primitive dancing in furs with large bamboo drums, we had ginger tea and some local delicacies to try, and 4 women sang a folk song for us. Glenn said that when someone sings to you, it is common courtesy to also give them a song in return. Everyone was shy, but Jimmy started up with "Yankee Doodle" and we all sang and everyone cheered. A woman came over and put a "love-ball", a very fancy decorated ball on a string with multiple tassels, around his neck. They took a sort of 'Touristy' photo of us inside the cave that we could buy and we did get ours.(less than $2)On the way back to the hotel, Glenn let us pull over to take some photos of the farms and people with oxcarts on the street. We came back for lunch and talked about our journeys tomorrow. We will be dividing into 2 groups to go to the areas where our babies were found,so Jimmy and I with Laina, will be going with a couple Bob and Tina, their 6 year old son Zacchary, and new baby Isabella to the city of Laibin. A local guide will help us find places to go, and Pat will be with us also.This will be meaningful for us to tell Laina about when she is older, so we hope to find something special to get there for her, and maybe we will go by the orphanage too. On Sunday we will go to the mountains, and in the afternoon to the local outdoor market for shopping, then on Monday we leave Guangxi and head toward Guangzhou to meet back up with the other families. I am in my own room, it is naptime for daddies and babies, after resting, we plan on going for a walk around the neighborhood, just the three of us.That's all for now. Forgive me if everything is just in one long column, I cannot use the Layout feature, and also cannot view the blog or the comments. At least I finally managed to get the prompts in English!

The Great Wall

Nancy's Dad asked about our day at the Great Wall. We went there on Easter Sunday, with all 27 families, in 2 buses. This was the day before "Gotcha Day" so most of us were thinking about the babes and getting anxious, but it was an amazing place to see and we wouldn't have missed it. First, we stopped at a jade factory, where they carve, and of course, sell, beautiful jade and other things at a place referred to as The Friendship Store. We found some fun gifts but the jade was pretty expensive. At most places here, you do not handle the merchandise yourself. Clerks will be right with you as you walk around and they will point out things. If you pick something, it is written on a receipt, you pay at a cashier when you are done and then get your items. We went from there directly to the Great Wall. It was very crowded as it was a nice, clear, sunny day and we were all getting hungry and cranky and looking for bathrooms. We finally crept up to the parking area for buses, shared any snacks we had and headed up. The views are so overwhelming, it was so huge and with such history around us, we were totally awed. Cameras were all out, including video. We went out as a group but some tired quickly and found viewpoints to rest. Jimmy and I and some others from our Guangxi group decided to climb as high as we had time for, and boy was it a climb! The stairs are all different widths and heights, sometimes more of a ramp. There are handrails but they are set down low and awkward, especially coming down! But if you get going down a ramp too fast, they are life-saving. There are vendors and craftman all over the wall, they trap you when you are catching your breath and hawk their wares. Many beautiful things but we must shop carefully for packable items. An old man was playing a sort of flute and Jimmy decided to try one, as he can play the fife and many wind instruments. Well, you should have seen the man's face when Jimmy caught on to it and played a quick little riff! We are having so much fun with the people here. Some pose themselves just near enough so they can get us in the background of their pictures, others ask outright to pose with you. Jimmy decided to have some fun with it and jumped into a couple of their pictures, and everyone got a good laugh. I had to use the bathrooms, and I can't write exactly how that was, but let's just say...crowded place, porta-potties, chinese style, which is a hole in a plastic floor to squat over, unisex, hot day...oh my! Purell me quick! The people don't wait in lines either, I had to touch the door of one or old ladies would charge right in before me. I find I can be a bit intimidating because I am taller than most everybody, it sometimes works to my advantage. We finally gathered the group back at the buses and we went to "lunch" at about 3 p.m., thank god we had found some ice cream at the wall. From there, we headed back into Beijing to see an acrobatic show which was quite impressive. There were unbelievable balancing acts, feats of strength, contortionists, bicycle acts, etc., and it was all in colorful costumes and impressive sets. We were all whispering about packing and going for the babies in the morning so it was a bit much after such a busy day.Throughout our journey, we are sprinkling some ashes of Jimmy's dear friend, Burge, and we know he would truly appreciate where we have traveled and places we are going. So much emotion on this trip, it is hard to put into words.Today is Thursday, the 12th, it is 3 p.m., we are hanging out as Laina the Lioness is napping. Jimmy just went for a massage downstairs, it cost $150 Yuan, or a little less than $20 for 45 minutes. I think I put an incorrect conversion on a previous post. The yuan is approximately at 8 yuan to one US dollar. Once you get the landmark numbers it's not too hard. The internet costs 20 yuan, so that's only between 2 and $3 a day. Most things are reasonable but you still must be careful. We got a carafe of coffee one morning and found we paid over $6, and it isn't very tasty at all. This morning we went for a 'stroll' through the local park, right near the hotel. It has a lake in the middle, beautiful landscaping and stone carving, arched bridges, orange carp in the water, musicians everywhere playing all kinds of instruments, some ladies were singing very operatically to impress us so we clapped enthusiastically. Laina was Princess for the day, getting lots of kisses and cheek-squeezes, all the old ladies want to fuss with the babies and try to talk to us. The young people want to practice their english and say hello. Jimmy had a long talk today with the bellhop at the front door, who asked if we knew Yao Ming, the basketball player who plays with the Houston Rockets. This afternoon we are having some personal time to catch up, clean up, and take naps. Tomorrow, a trip to the famous mountains of Guangxi and maybe some caves. Sounds great to us! Laina loves being outside and watching everything. She had her first baby belly-laugh this afternoon and we just melted. We are total putty. All the babies in our group are gorgeous; we have Laina, Roma, Isabella, and Jianna..we call them the Italian connection. They like each other and share toys easily. All 4 have seemed to double their appetites, we just eat and eat. Each day there are breakthroughs. Today Jianna, who had been reserved and watchful started giggling and running around. Each has her own transition to make. Some were in Foster care and are a bit sad leaving loved ones, but all are starting to bond well with Mommies and Daddies. Our Wide Horizons guide, Pat, flew in today after helping a family who traveled alone, so now we have both Pat and Glen to play with. It is fun for her to meet all the babies today and catch up with all of us. Wow! I guess you are getting some info today, eh?