I, Kory, am again writing today's blog and giving Meghan a break. She kind of hit the wall today and is quite tired. After breakfast Sunday morning we went back to the Swam Room to give Hattie a little play time to help wear off some energy. At 11am many of the families planned to meet and attend a church service at a Christian church only a block away from the hotel. The 11am service was conducted in both Chinese and English which explains our choice. It was a nice little church and was completely packed, I would guess about 200 people. The first thing I noticed was that the pews were so close together that I could not sit with my knees strait in front of me. I guess it was built for shorter people, not to be stereotypical. I told Meghan that this was worse than the airplane. Anyway, there was a gentleman and lady in front, the gentleman spoke chinese and the lady interpreted in english. After an opening prayer, it was worship time and there were four worship choruses that were song alternatively in chinese and english. It was really an uplifting experience to be among fellow believers from anther country. Even more than the english choruses (which I was surprised they could all sing in english), I was really moved by listening to the the Chinese people singing in their native language. I could not help but think I was in a Communist county which officially believes in atheism and has had a history of oppression of public expression of religion. The government now allows certain churches to exist in their country and people can freely attend as far as I know. It was a very enjoyable experience. The preacher then gave a message which was interpreted, but was still hard to hear and follow. Hattie soon fell asleep after the service had started, which we were glad the Swan Room had worked.
After Hattie finished her nap in the hotel room, we went back out and did a little shopping. Meghan bought Hattie three pairs of shoes in sizes 3, 4, and 5 to cover her for the next several months. The shoes are called "squeaky shoes" because they squeak when you walk. For some reason they are famous here and everyone buys them. Hattie loved wearing them and would stand by the bed and just stomped repeatedly to make noise. She also at one point took them off and tried to put them on her mommy! We also bought Hattie a traditional Chinese dress of deep pink with gold butterflies, for the group picture, the famous "red couch picture" at the end of the trip when all the adopted babies/ children are sitting on this certain couch in the hotel in chinese attire and have their picture taken.
The only official business of the day was at 3pm when families had to meet to go over the remaining paperwork and what would transpire over the next few day prior to leaving the country. Only one person from each couple had to attend, so Meghan went to the meeting, while I stayed with Hattie and had some bonding time. Hattie continues to make great progress opening up to us. She now seems to be a very happy and playful little girl who is smiling and laughing more and more. It is amazing to witness the transformation in only a few days from when she was so sullen and scared.
Sunday night we had to go back to Lucy's for dinner, just our family, and we both ordered hamburgers this time. They kinda of tasted more like salisbury steak than a burger from Sledar's. I told Meghan I hope this is hamburger we are eating?
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