GOTCHA!

What a day:

It is hard to describe. There was a room with maybe 75 people in there from a number of groups. There were babies crying, adults crying, cameras everywhere...it was chaos.





MWW and her crib-sisters had not arrived yet when we reached the adoption center. They had something like an 8-hour bus ride to get to us today. So, our group of 7 families stood nervously pacing around.


Then we were told maybe five minutes to go.


Then we were told they were sitting in traffic jam (I've have two rides in this city and both were more sitting than moving!).

Then a line of Chinese ladies walked though the crowd, each with a baby. The very last lady carried the smallest one, who was completely asleep. I turned and told Lisa it was her - somehow I just knew it.


They took the girls behind the curtain and then in maybe 60 seconds started coming back out with them one by one.


One family who had NO children were in front of us in line - I was glad to wait. It was really something to see. He was a big tough guy and could barely hold hold the video camera up as tears streamed down his face. A staffer came over and relieved him and told him to go hold his kid.

MWW at last came out and slept through the whole thing. I didn't fare much better than that other guy.





She at last woke up in my arms during the long hot bus ride to the hotel.

Poor girl had already done 8 hours in one bus, probably had never really seen a man in her life, and definitely not one this big or ugly. She SCREAMED.

She has really good lungs! She calmed for awhile and then as we got hotter she, um, got less patient. The poor bus driver tried to drive faster.

Once we got back to the cool hotel room where she could stretch out and crawl she was fine.


This evening we put her in her pouch and walked to KFC. We probably passed 1000 teenaers - I kid you not. Most didn't seem to notice us and that ones that did were amused with her peeking out at a world she has never seen.

Several older adults checked us out - but it was not disdain or anything like that. They just looked, no biggie.


She is now asleep in her crib after the craziest day of her life.

-us