Day 4 With ShaSha

Hello everyone!

Well here we are on day 4 with our little miracle and let me tell you that she is more than just a miracle at that!  The day started out meeting Clare for breakfast.  ShaSha likes to see her as they both chat Mandarin together.  ShaSha can get quite excited and loud when she is explaining things!  I think there may be some Italian in her!  :)

We spent the morning just playing games at the hotel.  After lunch Vicki, our guide, took us to a very famous and very old university where several political figures were educated.  We were worried at first as we thought ShaSha was going to be bored.  Well we were wrong.  There were many exhibits and artifacts on display and ShaSha had questions for Vicki constantly.  She couldn't believe the things our little ShaSha was asking!  She pointed out historic people, spoke about the communist revolution, WWII and even showed much interest on the age of the University!  Towards the end of this visit ShaSha pulled a dollar out of her own wallet and we asked what she was doing.  She told Vicki she wanted to give it to the beggar she saw when at the beginning of the tour!!!!  This child's heart is so big.

It doesn't stop there.  We then went on to visit the Embroidery.  Changsha is famous for this.  It was amazing to see the absolute detail in some of the works displayed.  They looked like pictures!!!  Its hard to describe without actually seeing them.  We have pics and will show you all.  Once again she showed so much interest and impressed the people there making them laugh and amazed.  At the end there was a shop that sold many items.  Linda's dream is to buy a silk Asian dress and take a picture of her new daughter on the "Red Couch" in the White Swan hotel in Guangzhou.  Well wouldn't you know it we found a beautiful pink silk dress at the end of this tour at the Embroidery!!!  ShaSha had the entire staff there laughing and in tears when she came out of the change room with the dress on.  She looked absolutely beautiful.

From there we went onto a bookstore.  Linda and I wanted to get her some books and DVDs for her to have so she can still have a connection of home.  You would think a 9 year old would like subjects like doggies, kitties, etc.  Not ShaSha.  She picked out 3 books.  "Shakespeare", "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Greek Mythology"!!!!!!!!!!  We still can't believe it.  From there we went to the DVD section where we told her she could pick out 2 DVDs.  She saw a cartoon she liked and picked out 2 DVDs.  As we were heading out she stopped and put the 2 DVDs down and then proceeded to pick out 2 "box sets" of the same cartoon and turned around and said "you said 2".  She knew there was more in the two box sets...more for the money:) It made us crack up.  She is definitelty a smart girl.

We then ended up having dinner with another family at the hotel who had adopted 2 little girls.  When we sat down to eat ShaSha jumped up and ran around the other side of the table and started gently feeding the baby. She was very nurturing towards both of them, rubbing their faces and holding their hands when we left.  She then proceeded to give her Fuwah (stuffed animal) to the other child.  Again she has a huge heart for a 9 year old little girl.

We also discovered she's a little Ansel Adams.  I gave her our camera today and not only did she love it but she takes really great pics, they are centered and she has quite an eye.

My favorite time of day now is bedtime.  Linda runs the bath for her as she absolutely loves baths and I puff up her bed and tuck in her stuffed animals.  When she comes out in her jammies she gets so excited to watch a little TV and then falls asleep on us.  So amazing.

Anyhow I will stop here as I am starting to feel like one of those parents that goes on about their kid!!! :)  Day 5 is just starting and Clare has already sent us our agenda.  She is putting on a Thanksgiving dinner for us Changsha.  She has been such a great part of this journey for us.

More updates to come later on.  Hope all is well with everyone.  Clearly we have one small miracle we are very Thankful for today.....Happy Thanksgiving.

Love,

Paul, Linda and ShaSha  xo xo xo