Sunday

There is one family, a single mom, that is getting her daughter today. She was excited, scared, and nervous this morning. We all assured her she would be fine. We told her to trust her gut and follow her heart and she'll be fine. Everyone else will get their child tomorrow. We will all meet up again in Guangzhou. I think the 2 of us families traveling to Shanghai were the only ones not going it alone. But that's almost the normal way these days.

Our flight to Shanghai was non-eventful. We left at 7:30 and landed at 9:30 a.m. We met our guide, Veronica, and headed to our hotel. Shanghai is very green and flowers are everywhere. We've been by several parks that are gorgeous. Saw a bunch of wild cats in one. But it is also very humid. It's only in the 60's and it feels much warmer. It's a very urban, very modern city. After checking in and getting a little settled in our rooms, we met Veronica and walked to a grocery store a block away. We picked up some water, snacks, and snacks and juice for Amanda. After we brought those to our rooms, our guide walked us to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. It was delicious. The cabbage was wonderful! Who knew?! All the food was wonderful. I also really liked the chicken and cashews.

After lunch we walked to a bank to exchange money for the adoption fees. When I went for my other girls, we paid the orphanage donation and fees in US dollars. In between, agencies could wire funds to pay the orphanage donation. Now, we have to exchange our cash for Chinese RMB's. Since you get about 650 RMB's for every $100, we had a large wad of money. Very interesting and a change from the way things were done in the past.

It was about 4:30 by the time we got back to the hotel, so we're just trying to chill before the big day tomorrow. I keep trying to imagine different scenarios. One where Amanda comes to us smiling. One where she comes crying. One where she's scared. One where she tries to run away. I have no idea how she will react. What a trauma to put a 5 year old through after all the other's she also been through. It's not fair, but it is what it is and I have to trust that she'll come through it as she has the other changes in her life. I'll try to get a good sleep tonight, but I get more excited and more nervous as the time gets closer.