April 5, 2005 Tuesday has come and gone. It was a good day, for the most part. We are all growing tired of shopping. Not that that takes very long for Heidi and me. Leah decided to take a late nap and did not go to sleep until almost 9:00 P.M last night. I had to wait in the room from 10:30 to 12:00 this morning while our documents were being reviewed by the U.S. Consulate. I guess if they needed clarification on anything, they wanted us to be available immediately. It was a good chance for me to take a nap. Once I was freed, we decided to try the White Swan deli for lunch. I did something I have not done in a long time; I threw my food away. Heidi and I ordered braised beef on rice. I don't think I could have gotten any more fat on the meat if I had tried to cut nothing but fat. I tossed both Heidi's and mine, and we got a bacon and cheese pastry. For those of you who know me, you can guess how well that filled me up. After lunch, Heidi and I were going to the park to take some pictures of Leah, but she feel asleep on the way, so we turned around and came back to the room. She slept maybe 45 minutes. We then went down to the Swan Room (play room) and let Leah play for a while. She seemed to really like it. There was a little 15 month old girl there that was from the southern part of China that had scars on her arms where she was tied to her crib. The grandmother told us that all of the babies in their group had the scars, and that their agency had warned them about this possibility. The little girl seemed happy, however, so hopefully it will have no long term effects. This was tremendously sad and made us thankful that all of the babies in our group seemed to be well-cared for. I cannot adequately describe what is like to be here. I have been thinking of ways to put into words the feeling that the surroundings give you. Some places on Shamian Island remind me of an old Tarzan movie. The architecture is British Colonial, but the feeling is definitely not. As you can see in the pictures, there are large trees everywhere, and the mixture of the dappled sunshine shade and the old buildings give an almost mystical feel to the place. There are life-size bronze statues of children playing and people doing different things that add to the feeling that you are not quite part of reality. I have, as a whole, enjoyed our time here. Heidi got her "custom made" clothes back from the shop yesterday, and they didn't exactly fit (this is an understatement). We had the girl from the shop come up to the room to see how they fit, and she is now making alterations. We will see how well they do the second time around. I guess what can you expect when you buy a set P.J's, a dress, a jacket, 2 ties and 2 babies outfits for about $100? I guess we should be glad my ties fit fine. We finished all of our other shopping and just have some things we need to pick up on Wednesday. We are missing all of you and are looking forward to coming home. We were discussing this morning how exactly to get Leah on Eastern Time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will try to post one more time before we come home. For now we have to begin packing. Love, Rich, Heidi and Baby Leah   Baby Got a New Pair of Shoes     Close-up at Waterfall   Daddy and Leah     Driving Leah     Jade Ship       This page hosted by