Fuzhou Day 2

Cora Li slept well last night.  She coughed a few times, but didn't wake up until around 7 am.  However, with a new day came more anxiety.  She wasn't happy unless I was holding her.  There were a few times that she'd let me put her down, but only a few.  After I finally managed to get a shower, we went down for breakfast.  She had a good appetite, and ate a few bites of everything.  Her favorite was the drinkable yogurt and orange juice.  Guess we had dehydrated her?
After breakfast, we went back upstairs and talked a little with the kiddos back home.  Oh, how I miss them!  Their sweet smiles were so welcome this morning.

We met our guide in the lobby to go to the Civil Affairs Office to finalize the paperwork for Cora Li's adoption.  The two women and one man from the orphanage were there again.  While Cora Li wanted one of the ladies to take her yesterday, she clung to me when one of them reached for her.  Yes!  We answered questions like, "Why do you want to adopt this child?"to "How do you plan to raise her?"and then officially promised to never abuse or abandon her.  A given, but a formality nonetheless.  We went then to the Notary Office to sign more paperwork
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Our guide took us to Wal-Mart to pick up a few drinks and snacks for our room, and we looked at some of the interesting food items.  The kids were equally amazed and grossed out.
Fuzhou is not very westernized, so American fare is hard to come by.  We requested to find a McDonald's on the way back to the hotel, so the boys wouldn't starve.  :)  We had to drive around a little to find one.  Just Billy and our guide got out to go in to order.  After we got back to the room to eat, Billy had ordered Spicy Pork McNuggets for Rebecca instead of Chicken McNuggets, but she didn't seem to mind.  I thought they were awful! 

We hung out in the room the rest of the afternoon since it was raining.  Cora Li got to take a much-needed nap.  The kids did some of their math and reading homework.

Bedtime didn't go quite as well.  It was a good two hours before sweet baby finally gave it up.  She has the most soulful eyes.  I always wonder what she is thinking when it gets quiet like that. I know she must long for her old life and everything she knows.  We have completely taken her from all of that.  She's experience so much in her little life.  I can only assume that she has come to this place due to her special need.  Why?  Why should she be seen as less because of a birth defect?  Why should she be seen as less because she is an orphan?  She is an orphan no longer, and I vow to advocate for her in every capacity I have.  She now has a family to speak for her, to stand up for her, to accept her, to love her.

We always ask our guides questions about Chinese culture, food, social policies, and the like.  We were discussing the one-child policy today, and our guide told us about how her mother was forced to have an abortion when (our guide) was a little girl.  Most everything else she told us was rather matter-of-factly, but I could tell that she and her mother are still deeply affected by it by the change in her tone.  An "I'm sorry"just didn't seem good enough.  Pray for the Chinese people.  They are proud of their country, but they live under such an oppressive government.  Even the number of churches in an area is strictly controlled by the government.  They need the Word and are hungry for it.