Free Day in Guiyang

Good Evening (or morning in your case),

We had a "free day" today - meaning that we were on our own with no guide all day. Since venturing out of our hotel room is always an adventure, we decided to stick close to home, so to speak (although, Katie must think this is where we live at this point). We hung around our room until after lunch and then wandered around the area right by the hotel. We decided to try Walmart again on our own this time. Maybe because we had been there before and maybe because we actually paying attention to where we were going rather than trying to keep up with our guide (Aggie is her name), but it didn't seem so overwhelming this time. We found what we wanted, checked out and found the exit with only a small tantrum at the checkout when she had to give up the book she was holding so we could pay for it. We were impressed with the number of children sitting in the children book aisle reading the books (I wonder if their parents were shopping).

Katie is definitely at the stage where she is testing the limits. Throwing toys, spitting and jumping off the bed (or from one to the other) were the big ones today. Time out seems a bit dramatic at the time, but she doesn't seem to be going back to the behavior that caused it, so it seems effective. Overall, though, she is doing well. We think that she might be starting to mix some English into her speech, but she does it so fast, it is hard to tell. Dean is pretty sure that she told him "No shi" earlier - a combination of "No" and "bu shi" which means no. I am kind of hoping she corrects that one before we get back to the U.S. because it might be slightly misinterpreted there! :) She is clearly starting to understand some of what we say, but there is so much. What a road in front of her. She is smart, though, so she will get there.

Tomorrow we are going to a museum and a "bird and flower market". This should keep us busy for a little while.

To back track a little, we found out as soon as we got to Beijing why our trip is so long (3 weeks instead of 2). Guizhou, the province where Katie is, does not do as many adoptions as other provinces so they are not as efficient. It takes at least 8 working days to process the paperwork and get all the documents we need. Other provinces are able to streamline and it takes only 3-5 working days. We are the only family in Guizhou right now (though there were 2 in the last group), so we arrived 5 days before the rest of the group, had our Beijing tour and left before the rest came. We will meet up with them in Gaungzhou. At first, I thought that was cool because we would get more individual attention (which is true), but now I am wishing there was someone else to venture out with, especially on free days. Our guide, Aggie, works for the group that organizes all adoptions in Guizhou. She is a local resident. She is really nice and her tours are great, but she does not stay at the hotel with us like our guide in Beijing did, so we are on our own a lot.

I am not as tired as the past couple of days - it is amazing what a good night's sleep can do for you. I am hoping to continue the pattern. Good night on this end and happy Friday to all of you.

Karen