Chinese New Orleans — Opal and Lola

Indeed. This moment waiting for us at the restaurant enhanced with an extension cord.

That's what Shamiam Island looks like. I don't have a decent picture of It to show so I'll let you use your imagination. The sidewalks are lined with big beautiful trees and the sounds of cicadas felt pretty familiar and good to me. The homes along the walkway are either residences of government workers or are vacant in the interest of preservation. It feels very colonial.

It was about a humid 200 degress F yesterday and today. The girls handle the heat and humidity pretty well. In the middle of the morning as we were walking around the island I got hit with a migraine (mine are not debilitating) so it was a challenge to appreciate it fully. I was fine once I got some meds at the hotel. The girls did great despite the heat and my slower pace. Once at the hotel we explored the area in and around the hotel. Later we braved the nicer steak restaurant here with the girls and ate early and fast and it was very good.

Today we had our 8:30 AM appointment at the American Consulate and Molly guessed that the whole process take about 40 minutes. It took us twice as long though. Molly picked us up at 7:30 to get there on time through rush hour traffic. We'd fed the girls and everyone was doing fine. No Photos is the rule and the Consulate will not allow cell phones so we left them in the hotel room's safe. That was easy to do - I think China is breaking me of being used to having unlimited internet access. I used to be annoyed. I'm just neutral about it now. Actually I swing between pissed off and neutral.

First we went and picked up the girls' prepared medical reports at the medical office we'd visited the day before and then walked over. There were huge lines already and Molly cut through the lines and put us in the right direction - we had to go in alone, only the families going through the adoption process could go in. The Consulate is big and beautiful and I couldn't wait to get out. We were only allowed to bring in the paperwork necessary and some Cheerios and the girls toy cell phones were taken.

We went to the second floor where we went to one of ten teller windows to get a number and wait. We were with four other families that we have encountered along the way at airports, checkups, the hotel. Finally one parent of each family got called up. A Man Behind the Glass gave us an overview of what the next 30 mnutes was going to look like and we took an oath swearing that all the visa information we've submitted is true to the best of our knowledge etc. and were sent back to sit down. Finally we were called up again and I handed over the girls' paperwork and my passport. The process is, after that, for one parent to get fingerprinted and go through an interview which consists of asking me if I know what medical conditions the girls have. That's it.

Except the US fingerprinting program was bugging out as it is wont to do and we had to wait for it to get fixed before we could move forward with that and the interview. We don't care about waiting, the girls were playing pretty nicely but we were warned that we might have to come back later in the day or tomorrow (!), which would delay our trip home. Fortunately the program rebooted or did whatever Mission Control had it do and I was printed, went through the interview and we left. Glass Man added the disclaimer that the glitch may have delayed us by a day but that we'll know by tomorrow AM if we are on track to leave Wednesday. I am sending out all of my best energy to make that happen. We gotta get out of here. Mark and I are going batshit living in a hotel room with two toddlers and cruising the breakfast buffet and eating noodles and drinking coffee. We want to get back home.

It will happen.

We just got off the phone with the kids and we're having street work done just as we return. It felt so good to see our street as Annabel flipped the view to show an orange makeshift fence the street crew put up, and our front lawn. I can't remember feeling so homesick. Only a few more days then, Part Two.

Opal & Lola have been amazing throughout all of this. We took them to a nearby Liuhuahu Park this afternoon on a very humid day but they were content although sweaty. Our intention was to go to a nearby museum that is a Han tomb (air conditioned!) but google maps was in Chinese and I wasn't paying atttention to the fact that we were going the wrong way. They didn't mind a bit and enjoyed the strollers on loan from the hotel. We have only had these ladies for a week and already they feel heavier when we pick them up. There have been many good indications of attachment that I know to watch for but so much that I don't know of their experience or their minds. I think the challenge is going to know when it's ok to refocus their anxiety or unhappiness and get them to laugh or smile, and when to stop everything and empathize and let those tears flow.