ZhengZhou China

We are enjoying our stay here in Zhengzhou. Eisley's birthplace is the capital city of Henan province in the People's Republic of China. I'd be lying if I said it was very very very far from home and not at all what we are accustomed to! We are honestly trying to just eat one noodle at a time, one meal at a time, every single meal. I would like a nice cheeseburger that was actually made of certified BEEF!!!!!!!!!!! I am not truly sure what the meat is made of here, but I am pretty much 100% postitive it is not beef! We have had pizza twice and it's ok, but man, a Papa John's pizza sounds good too! We can't drink the water, so no ice and so no cold water. We also can't eat fresh vegetables or fruit. We bought some bananas today because they are peelable, oh they are yummy! We have seen lots of chicken feet, lots of fruit we don't know, lots of fish on skewers and in soups, lots of unidentifiable things and lots of tea. Everything is served on teeny tiny plates and you have to ask for utensils and your check when you are through. The money all has chairman Mao on it and pictures of other things on the other side. The 100 RMB (or Yuen) is red, the 50 is blue, the 20 is green, the 5 is whitish and the 1 is also whitish green. There are little dollars and they are for 50 cents or something, I still don't understand it completely but to get the exchange right we take our dollar and times it by 6.4 to equal theirs. So $5 American is 32 RMB or Yuen. This makes for a LOT of bills when we exchange it and is hard to keep track of but also kind of fun. No-one accepts American money and it seems not a lot of places except credit cards. The traffic is insane, bikes and motorcycles drive all over the sidewalks, they're not allowed on the street except to cross it, so they are everywhere and parked all over the side streets. There are lots of cars and they honk and get very impatient at pedestrians. We are quite a spectacle and people stare at us all the time. They take pictures of us openly and will even come up in our pictures and want to be in them. They are especially amazed at my sister in law, Becky, they've never ever seen anyone so tall, white and blonde and they just stare at her! She is being a good sport about it though and it's been kind of funny to watch! It is a very big, clean city, with lots of trees and high rise apartment buildings. We got to drive around quite a bit today and saw little streets and alley ways, a school, lots of shops and lots of big tall industrial type buildings. Tomorrow we get to go see the orphanage where Eisley was for at least some of her life, I am anxious to see that and hope to see more of the city and maybe the famous Yangtze River that runs through the city at one point. We are taking lots and lots of pictures so she will always know where she was born and that it is a really nice place, with lots of people, lots of children and sunshine!

We completed all the final paperwork for her adoption today. As far as China is concerned, Eisley Jane Lan Chisholm is legally and lawfully ours! YAHOO!!! Next we got to Guangzhou and do more paperwork, visa and consulate appointments and medical stuff for theUSA and then we can bring her home!