Visa Appointment

Wednesday, May 14th
Hi – it’s Crystal.
Madeline realized last night that she was not going back to the orphanage so she was more emotional. She cried and was very sad all night long but was we calmed her down she went to sleep and slept for 10 hours straight without making a peep. We had to slowly wake her up this morning. Today we are going to attempt to give her a bath in the sink. A real bath would completely freak her out as even the huge bathtub here freaks me out! I am however going to take a nice bath in the tub as it is so beautiful.
This morning we went to breakfast and then we walked around the island. It was nice and cool in the shade of the Giant Cypress Trees. The older people were out exercising. It was very cool to observe. Then I walked into a store armed with my bargaining demeanor and bought a ton of Chinese outfits, regular clothes and 9 pairs of shoes for Madeline. The Chinese pieces are so beautiful that I had to take pics of them to share with you. In this area you have to bargain to get what you want – I am fairly cut throat so the lady adds all of our stuff up and then gives me the line that she gave us 40% off so then I said this is the price that I want and we went back and forth, attempted to leave the store, she had to call her boss for approval and then she gave us all of the stuff for the price that I wanted. Yay! Jim stood there and was a good support person for me. I am practicing my bargaining skills as we are going to the Pearl and Jade market this week and I want to be adequately prepared to get some awesome deals!
When we go out for excursions and if I am holding Madeline the Ergo has been a lifesaver for my back. There is no way that I can carry her for any period of time longer than 10 minutes without experiencing back pain in the shoulders and neck. I love this thing and thank you to our friend, Christina who has let me take hers to China.
This afternoon we are off to apply for Maddy’s visa. Once we get back we will relax, have dinner and play with Maddy. A nice routine to settle into for all of us.