Gotcha!!!!

Today was a very busy day for us.  After our flights were cancelled yesterday we were booked on the train for this morning.  It was a very nice ride and fast.  The highest I saw us going was 236 kilometers per hour, which translates to just over 146 mph.  As we would say in Vermont, wicked quick!.  I can tell that me talking engineering stuff is just driving someof you nuts cause you want to hear about our beautiful daughter.  Keep your drawers on, I'll get there.  So we got to Taiyuan about 10:30 and were met by our new guide Emily.  She promptly told us that we would head out to "gotcha" at 2:30.  Wheew!  we had some time.  So we made it to the hotel despite the 10 different drivers that tried to kill us on the way.  Oh, by the way, other that the Norwegian couple we came her with on the train, I think we are the only caucasions among the 1 million plus chinese here in Taiyuan.  Stare, stare, stare.  Pretty funny.  No one has stopped to practice english yet, but it is only a matter of time.  So we got to the hotel and had lunch.  Pretty darn good.  Shanxi province noodles are excellent as is their vinager.  So, after lunch we noticed our guide hanging out in the lobby area, so we went to talk to her and make sure we didn't mess up the schedule.  We decided it was a good time to to go to the bank and exchange the bulk of the cash.  So we did that and it was it's own mini ordeal.  It then threw us a little late.  No problem though.  So we got everything together and headed out for gotcha.  Of course the bank ordeal kept us from getting nervous and now we got very nervous in a very short period of time.  So we jumped in the van and let our driver brave the death match style traffic of Taiyuan once more.  It only took about 20 minutes to get there and we made it before the children so that was good.  That gave us some time to get ready and do some paperwork.  We also took the blankets that my mother and her friends hand made for the orphanage.  They were very well received and appreciated.  So, we had some paperwork to do and since I was shaking i was nearly worthless for that and Jo hip checked me off the couch so she could tackle the paperwork.  Soon enough that part was done, and in marched the two children.  Ally was looking pretty confused and scared.  She was brought to us and put in Jo's arms and Ally was just so confused.  Jo went into mom/teacher mode and got out the stickers.  Soon we had a smile on her face and she was laughing a bit.  That however, was all about to change.  as soon as she saw the orphanage worker who brought her leave, the tears began and the crying was very real.  She didn't melt down at this time and she did ok when we went shopping for some food next door to the Civil Affairs office.  In the car though the whimpering started.  We got back to the hotel and once in the room the full impact of the grief hit her and hit her hard.  We learned that she had a foster mother, father, grandmother, grandfather and older brother.  So she has lost a lot, everything she's known.  She cried for about an hour.  During this time she would not let us take any clothes off, not one of the three layers of pants or one of the six layers on top.  It got to a point though that it was not going to get any worse so Jo went for it.  That oddly didn't go too bad.  Next was an attempt at a bath.  Not for cleaning, but for calming in case she was used to baths and this might calm her.  No such luck.  So, she has finally cried herself to sleep, naked, laying on her jacket and covered with one of the blankets my mother and her friends made.  Yeah, we couldn't let go of the ladybug one.  So that is our day.  I've got to go and get some things done for tomorrow, so I am signing off.  I'll leave you with some pictures of the worlds most beautiful daughter.  Oh, and as we had hoped, if there was to be one of the parents she is rejecting it would be me.  This is very normal, but I have yet to hold her in my arms.  It will come and sooner if I don't push it.  Later, Jim