It's a Girl!

Back at the Civil Affairs office today, Brock & I and Shaling first had to meet up with a woman who asked Brock & I several questions, such as our ages, our health, our income (things we've answered a hundred times over), but most importantly, we had to promise out loud that we would never abandon or abuse her. Then, we had to meet in another room with a man who asked us similar questions, but also asked Shaling many questions in Chinese (we have no idea what was said but she answered him in a quiet & sweet voice). He really liked her name, repeating the "ling" part several times and shaking an imaginary bell. For those who don't know, "Ling" means bell or chime in Chinese.

The bottom line is this though - she is now officially Shaling Annabelle Reynolds!

When we got in the van to leave, we had our first display of sibling rivalry. After having buckled up, Shaling took her seat belt back off and I told her she had to wear it. She obliged, but immediately pointed directly at Preston's waist so that I would know he did not have HIS seat belt on. They have also been racing each other everywhere. So far, she is still happy.

Brock took some video during the ride so that all of you back home could see typical daily traffic in Guangzhou:


We stopped at a 10 floor mall to do some shopping. Most of our time was at a grocery store, but I also took the chance to go buy Shaling some snow boots and dress shoes. I supposedly got the dress shoes free with the purchase of the boots, but my total was 748 Chinese yuan, which comes to about $112 American dollars. Not my best buy, but at least I know they fit.

After we returned to the hotel, we went back to Cow and Bridge (the Thai restaurant) for lunch. Here are some pictures of what we each ordered:

Brock's choice


Amy's choice


Preston's choice


Shaling's choice


Shaling's shrimp came with the tails AND heads still attached. She popped off the head of the first one and dipped the rest in soy sauce, eating the entire piece, tail and all. Brock grabbed the part she popped off, saying she'd left meat, but when he dug it out to give to her, she looked at him funny. She oblingingly ate it, but didn't like it as much as the other portion. After two or three shrimp that way, I insisted that Brock let her go. It was obvious she was eating them the way in which she was familiar and that she thought the meat from the head tasted bad.

Here is a short video from lunch:


Finally, here are a couple of short videos from yesterday ("Gotcha Day"). The first is our guide Connie bringing her to us.