Some Highs, Some Lows (tissue alert!)

We've had many 'highs' on this trip -- the transition thus far has been much better than we expected. But last night we had one difficult episode: Maelin was goofing around in the hotel room, wearing the hotel (adult-sized) slippers and her big backpack (full of all of her new treasures), and she tripped on the rise between the hallway and bathroom and fell on her bottom. It scared her, and probably hurt her bottom a little bit, and she started crying. And once she started, she couldn't stop. She cried and cried and called for her foster mama over and over and over. It was sooooo heartbreaking; i can't even write about it without tears... i just held her and rocked her, sitting there on the bathroom floor, and i cried and cried with her. After about five minutes, the tears got less and less, and she finally stopped crying. This has by far been the hardest thing for me so far. I have this huge feeling of guilt for taking her away from the only family she has even known; we were told by the woman from the orphanage that they "loved her like their own child," and i know she loved them, too. They have given her priceless gifts -- the love, attachment, and a family, when she otherwise would have spent her first three years in an orphanage. The fact that she has known love and attachment and spent time in a family means that she will grow to love us and attach to us. It's so much better and healthier for her in the long run, but we know that there will be times when she misses them and grieves for them. That, too, is healthy. But watching our sweet little Maelin in such pain was harder than i thought it would be.

Now for some happier topics!! Yesterday afternoon, we went shopping with our guide and the Chinese American couple (Kejing and Wiefen) and their new daughter (Vivian). Our bus dropped us off at a huge shopping complex, and we spent a couple of hours getting new things for the girls. Our first stop was shoes ... Maelin was SO excited to get new shoes, and she kept telling every passerby that she had new shoes! We got a pink pair with velcro closure that she wore out of the store, and another pair of tennis shoes that light up (about $20 US for both pair). Then we went to the clothing section and spent about $55 US on three pair of pants and four shirts for Maelin. Then we went to a bookstore and bought a few childrens books (which were ridiculously inexpensive -- just over $1 US each!!) that were in both Chinese and English. When we got back to the hotel, we were all hungry, so the six of us walked across the street to a restaurant and had a delicious traditional Chinese dinner. Chongqing is known for it's very spicy cuisine, but our friends were kind enough to order everything 'mild' for us!

Today we meet our guide at 2pm for a trip to the zoo!! We can't wait to see the pandas :)

Love-love-love you all,

Shonda, Jim and MaeMae