I have lost my voice. And despite my daily vow to take it easy, I have been having too much fun with the shopping and the park going and the breakfast buffet overeating.
Smiley has also had a sore throat, and Bee has been congested. All in all, though, I think we're doing pretty well.
Yesterday, we joined with two other families from our agency to go through the requisite medical exam so our new children can gain entry to the U.S.
the clinic is housed in the back room of the municipal clinic, and there are always at least a dozen or so families crowded into the tiny waiting room. In the fashion of every Chinese service establishment, one must visit a series of providers, rather than just one. First, you go to the doctor who listens to the child's chest and asks you to undress the child on an exam table. Then you proceed to the ENT, who looks into the child's ears and shakes a rattle and makes a sound on a colorful keyboard to determine whether your child follows sights and sounds.
Then you proceed to the two doctors or nurses who measure, weigh and take the temperature of your child.
Two years ago, when we went through this process with Bee, this was the appointment that broke my emotional camel's back.
Bee is a smart and sensitive girl, and when we entered the hallway and she could hear a room full of crying babies, she protested. Loudly. Angrily. Incessantly.
By the time we got back to the hotel room, I was also crying.
MM just doesn't react to stress the same way. When we entered the room where everyone was crying, she looked at the other babies with no small amount of concern, her eyebrows forming little sideways question marks.
Then she fell asleep.
She slept through the doctor who had me lay her on the exam table in the buff. She slept through the cold stethoscope. She slept through the ENT poking around in her ears with that pointy little flashlight thingy.
The ENT couldn't even finish her part because MM wouldn't wake up for it.
Finally, she woke up while being weighed, looked a bit distressed at the two women holding her on the scale, then apparently decided she was in no immediate danger and relaxed.
Her physical went great, and she was smiling and laughing by the time we left.
And Bee, for her part, acted as the ever vigilant big sister, watching every move that anyone might make against her little sister.
This trip has not been easy for Bee, but she has been wonderful. It has made all the difference in the world that we've had our friends Zee and Smiley here to help. We couldn't have done it without them.
They are both leaving two days earlier than we are, so tomorrow is their last day here with us. We'll all be sad to see them go - especially the proprietors of Blendz.
MORE UNSOLITICED ADVICE
For anyone who is looking forward to a trip here, I have a little shopping advice: You must check out Michael's Place next to the tennis courts and his family's other shop just up the street. The prices are the best and the sales tactics are decidedly low key. For instance, you will not hear the words, "Take your time and look around" anywhere else on the island.
Today I bought silks for MM, as well as some shoes for both girls. Bee has been asking every Santa from Cat-hattan to Guangzhou for a pair of "golden ballet slippers," and I think she got something even better today. Mulan herself didn't have prettier slippers than the ones Bee got to match her silks.
Bee also made some new friends at lunchtime as we sat in the outdoor dining area of Lucy's Bar & Grill overlooking Shamian Park.
A group of adults was playing a game that is essentially like hackey sack, although it's played with a birdie made of feathers and weighted with coins. One guy played in his suit and looked very suave.
There was an American family - a dad and two kids - from Opelika, Alabama, who were also playing this game nearby, and Bee ran over to ask if she could join in. They welcomed her, although both the kids were older and far better able to play the game. But she had a great time playing with them. Not long after that, she invited another little girl closer to her age who was sitting in the dining area to join them also, and those two had a great time chasing each other around the pillars and large flower pots in the park.
It was a good day, which we ended with a pizza party courtesy of our agency and then another trip to Blendz. I even bought a couple things from the owner of the little shop inside Blendz who doesn't speak any English whatsoever and apparently never sells anything ever. Except to me.