Day Nine--Medical Exam, Shopping, and a Cantonese Restaurant

Maggie just continues to amaze and bless us!  Today we went back to Shamian Island for her medical exam and to do some shopping.  It was not fun and then fun!

We know that Maggie has spent time in a hospital on more than one occasion, and she was probably alone when she did.  Needless to say this did not make her very fond of medical professionals.  The medical exam has to be done for her immigration to the U.S.  The first thing that they do is conduct a TB test.  Why they do this first is beyond me.  The nurse swabbed her little arm with a cotton swab, and Maggie immediately began to cry.  She knew just what was coming.  Bless her heart.  Her arm is pretty badly bruised where the needle went in.  She just cried and cried.  She settled into my arms and let me hug her and comfort her.  That was about the best thing about the process.

From there we still had to do ear, nose and throat, have her hip and leg examined and have measurements taken.  It was all done in the opposite order that things would have been done in at home.  They were all done in separate rooms and she became upset during each part.

When we were finished, she got a sucker, which did offer some relief.  When the sucker was gone, she was pointing toward the hallway that led to the door.  We had to wait a little while before we could leave though. When we finally did, she was serious all the way through the little clinic we were in.  Then, when we crossed the threshold of the building she broke out in laughter.  She was thrilled to be finished with her exam, and so were we!

From there we took a little tour of the beautiful island, which reminds us of Savannah, GA.  There are gardens and moss-laden trees.  There are many shops selling goods that cater to adoptive families.  Squeaky shoes, Chinese silks, toys, games, etc.  We had fun, and we were able to do a lot of shopping.  I got Maggie some things, but I really want her to have some more.  I want to be able to give her little pieces of her country.  She is Chinese.  I want her to feel pride about that. If there are little things that I can purchase here to remind her of where she came from, then I will.  And it is fun!!

Our guide took us to a Cantonese restaurant tonight.  It was soooo good.  We went with the other family in our group, who we really like.  Our guide, Simon, ordered all of the food.  I don’t consider myself an adventurous eater, but I ate everything but the duck and the green beans.  I don’t know what the official name of any of it was since he ordered it all, but we had:  fried rice (of course), rice noodles, barbecue pork, fish soup, fried cod (loved this!), green beans and eggplant, potatoes, and steamed buns that had a pineapple filling.  Everything was very good!  It was the best meal we have had since we have been here, and it cost us less than $20!!

We finished off the night by returning to the playroom, which was a big hit with the girls.  Maggie continues to do extraordinarily well.  She is walking on her own even farther than yesterday.  She can do things today that I never thought I would see happen when we received her a week ago.  Today was our one-week anniversary!  We are just in love with our sweet girl!!!