Easter With Fiona

Happy Easter from China!

We had a wonderful Easter today, even though it didn't seem much like Easter in Guangzhou. The hotel did put out an Easter display that consisted of an angry looking Easter Bunny sitting on top of what looks like a dog house surrounded by Easter eggs mixed in with pumpkins on a bed of straw. The display can be used for Easter as well as Halloween in a pinch. The gesture by the hotel was nice and appreciated.

Patrick has found a new talent. He has discovered how to use the cappuccino machines and make a mean cappuccino. The hotel has these cappuccino machines without instructions in the lounge and restaurant that have a dozen buttons, steamers, and nozzles all used to produce a cappuccino. Patrick had a lesson from Jenny (we are now on a first name basis with the servers in the lounge where you get the free food) and he has honed his skills to a fine art. He had a crowd gathered around him in the hotel restaurant this morning as he practiced his new found skills and brewed up some of the finest cappuccinos in all of Asia. We think that there may be a summer job at Starbucks in store for him this summer.

The first part of today was spent shopping at the local markets. We met up with another LifeLink family from Rockford, IL who arrived in Guangzho yesterday as well. We all ventured out to the local shops and had a great time. There are some great deals to be had. The bartering with the vendors is the most fun. The rule of thumb is that you should end up at about half of the original asking price. You negotiate with the vendors using a calculator where they type in their price and then you type in yours. After buying a half of the inventory from one particularly crafty vendor named Helen, she proclaimed that we are now "good friends." It was quite an experience.

We went to mass today to celebrate Easter. There were actually three other LifeLink families here at the hotel that are Catholic and we all went to mass together. We expected that an English speaking Catholic service in China wouldn't be too crowded. We were completely mistaken. There were literally people packed around the outside the church entrances listening to the mass because they couldn't get in. We didn't get there soon enough so we were outside with the crowds as well. The Bishop for Southern China was at the church and we went and had all of our newly adopted kids blessed by him.

After mass, we went and had a Chinese dinner at a nice restaurant in the hotel. We decided to be adventurous and give some new things a try. Patrick tried to order the steamed snow frogs, but they were out unfortunately. We did have fried eel and seafood "surprise" that had a few parts and pieces of unidentified ocean dwelling creatures. It was surprisingly good and we decided not to ask what all was in there. After I launched a shrimp across the table with my chopsticks, the waitresses brought out silverware. We stuck to our guns and used the chopsticks all the way through.

Fiona is cutting some new teeth. With her cleft palette, it is interesting to see where these new teeth come in. We decided that we're going to go ahead and start making payments now to the orthodontist. He'll probably be able to retire after he is through with us. We told Patrick that he had to be careful with the brackets on his braces so that we could hand them down to Fiona when she's ready for them. We'll need some way to cut expenses. Other than the new teeth, she is doing fine. Every day she becomes more comfortable with us and shows us another side of her personality. It seems as though she has been part of the family all along. Tomorrow Sue and Fiona go for Fiona's medical exam. The exam is part of the immigration process and is required for all of the newly adopted kids. After that is complete, we may have to go see Helen again since she promised to restock her inventory by tomorrow for her good friends.