Avoid the pepper bullet and.....clean ears

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I'm a day behind because my VPN decided not to work for a bit and I can't get the computer away from the boys!  My pics are still uploading, so I will post those later.
Today we went to the Panda center which can be summed up in two words...hot and wet!  We saw about 5 pandas because they were smart enough to be indoors!  Once finished with that, James requested to eat at a Chinese McDonalds...we all got Big Macs though they don't call them that here; they are just burgers.  The fast food chains here taste better, I think, because they don't load up the food with all the grease America does; James agreed.
After lunch, we met up with Susie and headed off to Civil Affairs for the official "stuff".  This is where NingNing had to agree to be adopted by us.  Thankfully, there was no hesitation on his part  (I got a teeny bit misty but held it together) and once that was done, we were whisked off to the Notary and finished that up also.  They read us NingNing's information, that he was found abandoned at the No. 5 bus station in Chengdu, delivered to the police, and then the orphanage at 3.5 years old.  I asked our guide why a boy like NingNing would be abandoned and she said most likely his mother was divorced and wanted to remarry; children from a previous marriage are regarded as a burden and subsequently............how very sad and when I look at this sweet boy that is now mine, I can only wonder if his biological mother ever regrets her decision.

NingNing is a sweet and delightful boy.  He "bounces" everywhere he goes and is curious about everything.  He is polite and funny and did I say sweet?  James and he are really hitting it off; they spend most of the time together either on the computer or playing Uno or just hanging out watching TV for the brief moments we've been in the room.  He's impressed by all he's seen and has told Ray he is very happy with us :).

Tonight was the best, though.  Ray, our tour guide (not our not-so-fun adoption  guide Susie), took us out to dinner and then to a Chinese folk art show.  We ate with the Horn family who adopted NingNing's foster sister, but the funny thing is he and Ping will not talk to each other.  We had Ray ask NingNing if they got along and he said "things did not work out well betweeen them".  However, we still had a pleasant dinner and Ping is enamored with James.  The Horns gave her a camera and she must have snapped countless pictures of James all night, lol! 

NOW, about the title.......at dinner we had this dish of beef, peas, and other stuff....me and Shon Horn bit into something that tasted awful and set our mouths on fire!  Ray said it was the "pepper bullet" they put in for "looks" and NOT to eat it!  Ummmm, thanks for telling us AFTER we did!  So my new saying is "avoid the pepper bullet".  Then the "clean ears".  We walked through a park before dinner and happened upon a lady in a white coat. Ray said she was an "ear doctor".  In China, it is customary for folks to get their ears cleaned regularly!  James, being  a champ, agreed to have this done.  How the "doctor" exclaimed at the amount of ear "stuff" she pulled out!  Then she did mine too....sorry, no details on that one :).  I think we need these people in America!

However, here is the best part of the whole entire day.  During the folk art show, James was clowning around with the camera pretending to take a picture of NingNing (he is very camera shy).  NingNing leaned very close to me and I just wrapped my arms around him to "hide" him from the camera.  I motioned for James to get a quick pic (see below).  It felt so good to hold NingNing in my arms for just that brief moment.  Up to now, I've patted his shoulder or rubbed his arm and he's not reciprocated, but has accepted it fine.
Back at the hotel, I was tired, but the boys got on Google Translate and figured it out finally so that they spent more than an hour "talking".  It was great to see and I wasn't about to make it stop.
Then, I FINALLY managed to download an app on my tablet that let NingNing type into QQ in Chinese; he was soooo appreciative and found Seth and Zane's messages right away ( I like Zane's kitty cat icon).
All in all, a wonderful day..................