Day One

The Terrible News: Our hotel smells like a cigarette.

The Bad News: Our internet connection goes from spotty to nonexistent and there is no access to Blogger or Facebook, even with a VPN, so we are back to blogging by email.

The Good News: We have Sophie and she is amazing

The Great News: We completed the ENTIRE adoption in about two hours.

We had relatively uneventful travels from DC to Beijing and then to Yinchuan, Ningxia. Upon arrival at the hotel after 9pm Sunday local time, we collapsed onto our board like mattress (very Chinese) and tried to sleep until morning. We had a pretty nice breakfast at the hotel then we made our way to the Child Welfare Institute. We thought we were going for a brief signing of a 24 hour babysitting agreement but, to our happy surprise, we were actually allowed to do all the official paperwork for the adoption. It was quite the celebration. They had everyone who had ever taken care of Sophie present as well as the province's official TV news reporters. The TV videographer interviewed Keith and many of the caretakers including the orphanage director. They are apparently trying to increase domestic adoption with the story as the reporter asked Keith many leading questions like "do you hope your adoption of all these many children from around with world will encourage other families to do likewise?" Yes. Yes, we do.

When we completed all the paperwork, the director gave a speech, saying: "This is both a very happy and a very sad occasion for us. We are so glad that Sophie has a forever family and we know that is what is best for her. But we are also sad to se her leave us because we have all grown so fond of her over the years and she is a very special and wonderful girl." We then broke into groups and took many photos and were spoke to by many people through translators. When the director came to speak with us after photos, he literally collapsed crying into Keith's arms, a rare display of emotion for this culture, and one we will not soon forget. Sophie is beloved by all and we feel even more convicted that we have been entrusted to care for a a very special child.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Keith left for the bank to change some money and Susan and Sophie stayed at the hotel and Sophie tried out everything in sight, including Keith's reading glasses (very stylish on her, for certain). She is a very curious child. We had a very spicy lunch (Joshua would love the food here, even the mildly spicy stuff is a fireball) and had great fun reading the menu, everything from strange cuisine (sauteed magpied gizzards; much better than fried magpie gizzards) to typos (beff and spinach dumping; Susan likes dumplings but wasn't sure about this).

We spent the afternoon at the passport department taking photos and making application for Sophie's passport, which will allow her to travel on a plane in country. We then went for a walk through town and saw many wonderful sights, including baby chicks dyed crazy colors and a store that seemed to reflect the entire city's love for Sophie (PhiloSofie). It's not just the Greeks who love wisdom. We had a delightfully spicy dinner. Sophie came home and took a bath and we were amazed to see the five layers of clothing she was wearing on a day when the high was 62. She never complained of being warm, nor did she complain about the wildly spicy food although she did gravitate to the less spicy dishes. She had 5 helpings of broccoli! Sorry, Noah.

Sophie is excited to meet her new brothers and sisters.

And now day two begins...