A Clear Sign

On Tuesday morning we had to complete our adoption paperwork. We met up right after breakfast to go to 3 different offices. The first stop was back at the adoption center. We paid the fee to the orphanage and for the various documents we would acquire that day. The most important thing was that we got Sinclair's adoption certificate! Some of the orphanage nannies were there again and they were so happy to see Sinclair. One of them asked to hold her and Sinclair went right to her, got a little tummy tickle and then went right back to Anita. She wasn't upset about it at all. It really seems that the people from SWI Poyang County really liked Bo Zheng. When we first got her, all the workers were calling her name and trying to get her to calm down and be happy. So before we left, Anita asked Lineker to thank the nannies and tell them we could really see that they loved Bo Zheng and took good care of her. They smiled and nodded and said "Thank you," and then to Sinclair they said, "Bye-bye!" Anita got really emotional as we walked out. It just sunk in that Sinclair Bo-Zheng is really ours.

The second stop was the police station for Sinclair's passport application and photo.

The third stop was the notary office. This person is not like our notaries, but more like a judge. We sat down at a desk and answered a couple quick questions about ourselves and why we wanted to adopt from China. We then promised to take good care of Sinclair and promised never to abuse or abandon her (of course not!).

After that, we went to Wal-Mart. This was the biggest Wal-Mart we've ever seen--three stories with shopping carts that can go up and down the escalator ramps. All we needed was some bread and jelly and formula, but it took forever. It was so crowded (Nanchang feels much more like the China we expected than Beijing did). One whole floor was like a grocery store and we saw some very interesting and "Fear Factor"-type things being sold in the deli area. Then we all got KFC to go. The rest of the afternoon we finally got to do nothing.

We woke up well-rested on Wednesday morning, except for Madison who woke up really congested. Nevertheless, we had a wonderful trip to the Tengwang Pavilion. This pavilion, or tower, was built by Prince Teng and is included in a famous poem written about the whole Jiangxi Province (please see our post on the Jiangxi province). We walked through the gardens where men were practicing Tai-Chi here and there. We watched a short music and dancing demonstration inside and looked at the view of the Gan River and August the 1st bridge. The artwork on each floor of the pavilion was so beautiful. People were staring at all of us and so we showed them a little card that AWAA had given to us which reads in Chinese, "We love China and travelled here from America to complete our adoption. This baby is part of our family now and we will love and take care of her forever." The people smiled and nodded and one man said, "You are very good." Again it brought tears to our eyes. We don't feel like we are very good, but that we are very lucky.

We headed back to our hotel for free time once again (Wow, two days in a row!) For lunch we enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches back in our room. That really hit the spot! Madison stayed in bed sleeping for the rest of the day while we took a little dip in the pool. I can't say Sinclair loved the pool, but she warmed up to it. She seems to be really cautious and serious when we show her new things. Overall, though, her personality is really starting to show. She really loves her siblings and laughs and smiles at them a lot. She goes to all of us now without fussing and seems to enjoy each one of us. We are all so happy!