Day in Qingdao

Orphanaage Director
Room where babies sleep
Babies' bathtub
Playroom
At the orphanage

Sorry we haven't posted for a while, but yesterday was such a long and stressful day. We left at 7:30 for Qingdao and returned to Jinan at 7:30 p.m. Monday night before bed was a rough time for Ciarra. She didn't really want Brian or I and just wanted to sit in the corner. She looked so sad and it was really heartbreaking. She finally let Brian hold her and we got her to sleep and she slept pretty good. Tuesday was a 4 hour drive to Qingdao and we are so thankful we made it back. I read so much about the driving here but you really need to experience it. I have never been so scared it a vehicle. The van looks like it is about 20 years old and there doesn't seem to be too many laws to follow while driving. A couple times we were passing on the very narrow right hand shoulder.
We made our first stop at one government building to get paperwork done to apply for Ciarra's passport. We had to make a 4 hour trip for a passport that will actuall be prepared in Jinan where we will pick up on Friday. We then went to the orphanage and another couple from France adopting a 2 year old girl joined us. They served us lunch which we were all a little nervous about eating in fear of stomach problems. So it was a long day with no food. We then were able to see where the babies were cared for. Ciarra was only there for about 7 months and has since been with a foster family. It was very nice to see such a clean and fairly new facility. The nannies really seemed to care for the babies and they called Ciarra by her Chinese name. One of the nannies tried very hard to get her to come to her but she didn't want anything to do with them. She even gave me my first kiss after that. I think we are making progress everyday with the bonding. She has such a cute little smile and her personality is coming out more and more each day. Were not real sure how much she is talking as we do not know Chinese. She waves bye bye and shakes her head when she doesn't want something.
After the orphanage visit we went to the police station to apply for the passport. That took a little bit as there was a long line when we arrived. We stopped at a rest area on the way back to Jinan. It is nothing like ours. I have to say I am so thankful for where we live and can't wait to get home to the many amenities we take for granted. We are really missing the kids and counting down the days till we can get home to be a family of 6. I think it will be much better once we get to Guangzhou where it will be back with the rest of our group and Shiyan will be there to help with the adoption process and the food will be much better. We are definitely not eating much here. I can only do so much McDonalds. Take care and we really appreciate the comments.