Almost no crying today!
December 2, 2005

We are delighted to report that JacJac hardly cried at all today.  She only let out a few tears at the times when almost all 18 month olds would:  while having her diaper changed and when she had to take a nap.  Otherwise, it has been almost all smiles!  She really seems to have accepted that we aren't going to leave her, so she's more and more willing to walk on her own.  She's also been chatting up a storm.  It seems to be part Chinese and part baby-babble.  I can hear her in the tub right now talking to Kevin, even while I'm writing this.  Her most common word is "EE-AH" which seems to mean something like "Look at this" or "Go there" or "That way".  Whenever she says it, she is pointing at something.  We have asked some of the locals what they think it means, but no one seems to know.  She also says "Dada" and "Momma," which, of course, makes us very happy!  And she is responding to us when we call her JacJac.  We have been calling her JacJac XiaoLi since we got her, so she would recognize her name, but now she seems to accept the shorted version of just JacJac.  

Today was a free day for us, so we spent most of the time just walking around, going to the playground and park, and shopping.  The prices here are unbelievably inexpensive.  We were a bit worried about money because we have to eat out every meal (except Kevin's favorite, the Giant Buffet Breakfast – that's included with our room).  But we find that we can get an entire meal here (2 drinks, 2 entrees and a dessert) for about $12 TOTAL, including tip.  Our favorite place to eat is Lucy's.  It's a little diner right down the street from the hotel that has outdoor tables overlooking the park.  They serve all sorts of food: Thai curry, hamburgers, spaghetti, stir- fry, almost everything you can think of. And we can take JacJac for a stroll in the park if she gets restless while we're waiting for our food.  We love it, and have eaten there for almost every dinner.

The shopping here is also great.  Everything is inexpensive, but you have to haggle in all the shops, so it's a bit unnerving.  Kevin, I've found, is a great negotiator (go figure!).  What he recognizes is that the shopkeepers are willing to do almost anything to keep you from walking out the door.  But we also feel bad because no matter how much you pay for something, it is still less than what you would pay at home, and this is how these people make a living.   It is difficult to walk down the street, because the shopkeepers see you coming and will fall all over themselves trying to get you through the door.  Once you're in, they follow you around making suggestions.  They are very helpful and kind, but it is definitely not a no-pressure sales area.  We have also been to a mall in the city, but we couldn't get the same bargains as the little shops on the island.

Tomorrow we are going to White Cloud Mountain a local "beautiful place," and on Sunday we are traveling out to the countryside to get more of an understanding of rural life in this area.  We were hoping to go to Shanwei City, where JacJac's orphanage is located, but that does not seem to be working out.  It is very tricky to get permission to enter an orphanage and we were unable to do that.  And since Shanwei is an 8 hour roundtrip drive from here and it would cost us about $600, we decided that it would not be worth it if we couldn't obtain access to her orphanage.  We are disappointed because we had hoped to find out more about where our precious daughter spent the first 18 months of her life…

We're counting down the days until we get home.  Especially now since Janie has spent almost all of her shopping money!

Love,
Kevin & Janie