LAST DAY IN NANCHANG

Naptime check in. This will probably be the only thing I post today seeing as we are heading to the airport in a few hours. I can't believe our time in Nanchang is already coming to an end. We are leaving the province of our daughter's birth and honestly could not be more humbled. The Chinese people have given us this incredible opportunity to raise a tiny perfect little girl. We feel truly blessed and will forever honor her amazing cultural heritage.

And speaking of Juni, she is definitely emerging from the trauma of the past week and she is hysterical. I don't think she has ever seen herself in a mirror because each morning when I get her dressed, the first thing she does is to waddle over to the full-length mirror and grin at her reflection. We also showed her a video of herself and she laughed so hard and kept looking at Steve and I in disbelief. She is so funny!

She was terrified of my hat at first but once she got one of her own, everything seemed to be okay. Here we are going down to breakfast in the freezing lobby restaurant of the hotel. By the way, I wasn't planning on wearing a hat, but we were running late for the buffet after Skyping so I had to shower after we got back. Juni didn't want to take hers off. One of the mom's laughed and said she looked just like a Chinese mini me. (Oh and Mom, everyone loves the ladybug leggings.)

Also, HUGE EVENT today that I unfortunately was unable to capture on film, Juni let her Daddy hold her today!!!! She actually ran up and hugged his leg first. In case you all wondered, Steve is very happy.

We had nothing on the itinerary today except having our daughter's Chinese passport delivered to our room. I loved having the free time so we went for a walk around the neighborhood near our hotel. It's like night and day from the glossy department stores and small shops we've been shown so far. There are  alleyways branching off of the main streets every twenty feet or so and it was great to see and smell and hear the real working and living conditions of Nanchang's residents. I asked each person if it was okay to photograph them before I took each image. The point and shoot is beyond frustrating and I wish I had my gear here but you get the point. FYI, you can click on the images to make them bigger.

These ducks do not look scared enough to me.

This woman was really funny. She and some of the other fishmonger women came up and started talking to me. They touched Juni and worried about her lack of clothing layers but then felt her warm nose and gave me the thumbs up. I wonder if Juni's nose smells like a sea turtle now. Hmmm. Better check after nap time.

I had forgotten about eels and turtles and I wonder if I have consumed any so far. There are many mystery meats in the dishes we've been served so it's really anybody's guess. I actually like eel in small sushi sized bites. I'm not sure about turtle.

I put this one in because you can see our hotel literally half a block away from this row where an elderly woman was washing her metal dishes outside on the stoop. It's mind boggling the juxtaposition between old and new in China. I wonder how long the old ways will continue to exist as China races to modernity.

Back in the hotel room. Juni slept through our entire walk.

I'll leave you all with these sweet pictures of Juni starting to love her toys. She keeps wanting to share them with Steve and I and I think she is starting to realize they are hers. Oh, I almost forgot, today in the lobby I called her Miao Miao and she got upset. I switched to Juni and she gave me a big grin and quickly waddled over for a hug. Interesting stuff.

Love to you all!