Day 11: Medical check, walking tour

Sunday's late photos:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=f0o3yyn.1s2nm5fr&x=0&y=-eto9mu

Today's photos:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=f0o3yyn.apwhlcjr&x=0&y=-j3km0e

We had to get up early today to meet Molly at 8:30am in order to go get Isabel's visa photo taken and then head to get her a medical exam. Despite sleeping at the Victory Hotel, we headed to breakfast at the White Swan since we paid for the night and thus had breakfast vouchers. Those tots...can't say enough about them. Also the dumplings were excellent, and both were dripping in the excess syrup from my french toast. I really recommend you try food with syrup that normally isn't paired with it. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It brought me back to 2001 when Les and I worked in California. When I'd fly down to L.A. to see her we'd go eat at a chain called Roscoe's. They served a great combo...fried chicken and waffles. Syrup on fried chicken is goooood.

So we got the visa photo taken and Isabel didn't want to get off of the stool to let the other kids get their turn. She wanted to be Miss Diva and model for the camera. We had to pull her away, but she didn't fuss. We then walked about six blocks to a small medical clinic. This was much nicer and cleaner than the Children's Hospital in Xi'an. We went to a back waiting area which was just for medical checks for adopted children. We just took turns with the two other couples we were with. There were three steps. General medical health, ENT, and height & weight. Isabel weighs 22 pounds. All the kid's passed their exam, which is just another step in getting them home!

Directly from the exam we walked off of Shaiman Island (where we're staying) into downtown to the Qing Ping market. There are storefronts after storefronts of people selling anything from pharmaceuticals to pets. There were some very interesting aromas along our stroll through the market. Within ten steps the smells would change between good, bad, horrifying, and just plain interesting. No one in our group bought anything from the market, but I was tempted to buy a pet scorpion, although I doubt it would get through customs. This guy just had tubs filled with scorpions...some tiny and some huge. Molly said they're used to make scorpion soup, but she says she's never tried it. I think neither will we.

We veered off to a pedestrian mall and headed down to a small indoor mall where we were introduced to a pearl shop...my favorite. Leslie bought a few pearls, and then we headed to the DVD store. They had all sorts of DVDs for about $2.25. I ended up buying eight. Most are movies that aren't out yet on DVD in the U.S. I'm sure this was all perfectly legal.

On the walk back to our hotel we passed a place that sold various remedies. I noticed the snake wine in a huge gallon jug, and it was full of snakes. This was the same stuff I bought yesterday, only mine was one snake in a small bottle. While we were checking out the snakes Patrick, another Dad in our group, pointed out the wine next to the "plain" snake wine. It was labeled "Red Spotted Lizard, Snake And Snake Penis Wine". I just need to ask, who came up with this, and who had the stones to be the first one to try it? I'd love to meet him (or her).

The final thing we did tonight was gather at the White Swan to take pictures of the kids on the famous red couch. Apparently there is more than one red couch in the hotel lobby, and maybe there is one in particular that is more well known than the others, but we just picked one and began taking photos. The lighting was poor, so many of the pictures came out blury, but a few turned out great.

I know this was a weak blog compared to the others and I apologize. It's getting very late again, but I was able to sort and upload pictures from Sunday and today. As you'll see from the photos, Isabel is doing great and smiling a lot! We can't wait to get her home. Only 96 hours until we land in Minneapolis!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have no set plans, just a free day for us while Molly works on the logistics behind the scenes. She said if there is a problem she'll call us, but no news is good news.

Good night/afternoon!