Two China Dolls and a Prince!

This blog chronicles the story of 2 of our adoptions, both older children when they came home. It begins in 2008 and will continue in the hopes we can be of encouragement and information to anyone thinking of older child adoption.



Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Money exchanging....and more







Wanted to post this before i forget; the Grand Park will cash up to $300 in American Traveler's checks each day. We went to the bank the second day we were here and it took forever and they charged a 7% fee, so use the hotel, they charge a much smaller fee. In Nanning, the hotel wouldn't do traveler's checks at all, so it really depends on where you are. If you have traveler's checks and the hotel won't do it, then the main Bank of China is also the only bank that will do this. Overall, we've had no big issues with our money; we brought mostly T/Cs.
Went to the Kunming orphanage today. It was very clean, and nice, of course, we saw the best parts. There were a few kids around, and those with moderate to more severe special needs. One girl was very sweet and pretty, about 8 or 9 in the physical therapy room; she waved goodby to me when I waved to her.
Judi led the tour and remembered everywhere she'd been during her week back at the orphanage; she even found the room and the bed where she slept. She seemed subdued though still walked with her typical swagger. Then we went to her finding place. Jazmin asked what it was, so I explained; she was very quiet on the ride back to the hotel, so later I'll have to talk with her privately to see what she's thinking.
Once back at the hotel, Judi let Dadddy pick her up and for the first time, put her arms around him and grabbed onto his shirt. She'll do this briefly and then she's down and off again! Wow, it's an experience keeping up with her; she has no sense of danger or fear; just barrels into everything head first. Jazmin said today she was thinking what it would be like when we get home, if Judi would not mess up her stuff. We'll have to work on that really hard. I've learned the Chinese words for "be quiet", "that's enough", "bathroom", "no", "nap", and more. This trip has certainly improved my Chinese vocabulary! The language barrier has not been as big an issue as I thought; she's gotten the idea of how to show us what she wants, and I'm learning more with my little book and the internet to communicate with her better.
Got her down for a nap fairly quick today; now my thoughts are beginning to turn to the long flight home; how on earth we'll get her to sit still for that long!

3 comments:

Tina said...

I wish I had learned more words. I don't know why I thought a 2yr old would not know that many words anyway. We paid 7% exchange at the airport in Shanghai but have had no problems with exchanging here in Nanchang at the hotel. The girls look precious!!

Aus said...

This is just cool - thanks for sharing your lives with us!

aus and co.

Sheri_n_Ben said...

Congratulations Debbie on your beautiful sweet baby!! She is precious. Both of your girls look so happy together! I bet your other children can't wait for you to get home!

Sheri (Leilah Di and soon to be Olivia Xia's Mommy too!)
http://journeytoleilahgrace.blogspot.com
http://journeytooliviagrace.blogspot.com