Loooong Day + Slug + Shark Fin Soup

I learned a few things about Chinese time today and it it quite different - one person from each family was supposed to meet downstairs and then go and exchange $ (actually a fair amount of $) - it was supposed to take a only a short time - when I got to the bank I realized I had forgotten my passport - ran back across the park to the hotel up 29 floors got my passport - back down 29 floors - across the park - nothing had happened - everyone was still there waiting, and waiting, ... it took 2+ hours to process each of our transactions I was the last person - count the 100s, recount the 100s', check the passports, pass the $ through a machine to make sure it wasn't counterfeit, put the Chinese $ in a counting machine (twice), then triple stamp a bunch of forms then over to me to count then over to the CCAI rep for the orphanage fee - multiply by sevarl people. Then this afternoon we met as a group - we were going to process the paperwork that basically means Emma is no longer a Chinese citizen - it was supposed to take an hour - we got there and sat around and around and around - the whole thing took about 2.5 hours - babies started crying - parents were getting antsy - they actually performed a little presentation where we were asked a series of questions stating that we would care for our baby and not abuse her or abandon her - they handed us a little metal plate in a wooden box with a saying - "With our very best sincere wish that everything will turn out to be what you hoped" and Mountain city-chongqing Lives in my heart forever. We were told they had never done this ceremony before - we sat in a room as each family was called to the front - asked the questions - thumbprints in red ink - pictures and after all this the result is that Emma is no longer a citizen of China - she is not a citizen of the US until we set foot back in the states. Somewhere in the middle of all this we 'gave' gifts to the notary officials - can't give cash but they expect you to provide gifts of thanks. After all this we only had a short amount of time to eat dinner before a doctor was coming to check on all the babies. We ate at the buffet downstairs - I tried braised sea slug, shark fin soup, fried cartilage, fried crad (crab), a seashell thing (actually in the shell - one of those spiral types that you get out of the river), and a fried 'shrimp' that looked more like a fried sea monster thing. I didn't have the nerve to try the more exotic dishes - maybe tomorrow. I walked through part of the underground city beneath our hotel - bizarre - there were many restaurants, lights, people bustling, discos, shopping, and then downstairs a grocery store that was like a super Walmart with all sorts of interesting items - I bought some shrimp chips to try and 2 Chinese beers + some coke light (diet). Emma's checkup didn't reveal much - she is ok - no major issues. When I got back to the room Eileen showed me there were about 150 people or more exercising or dancing down in the park below us - kind of like a slow version of the Electric Slide (booga looga). Emma is getting more and more responsive - I played with her on a blanket and she laughed with or at me, she grabbed her rattle and shook it and she cooed a lot more. She fell asleep easily again this evening but just woke up and cried pretty hard - until now she has been very meek with only little whimpers - this was the biggest cry yet - it lasted for only a few minutes and she is back asleep. Oh yeah, we did find out from the orphanage director that there are a couple of the children in our group that were sleeping near where Emma slept at the orphange - Alexandra Brown and Chloe Beach. Pictures - presentation, Emma with orphange director, nannie, driver (the gentleman who handed Emma to us the day before), Emma's closest crib mates from the orphanage and finally dinner