Sunday in Hefei

So we left Beijing this morning to fly to the  next province of Anhui to Hefei where we will meet Milli.  The other families went to another province, so we were on our own. A little girl in the airport came up to John and asked him to take a picture with her.  We were all shocked because it's been the kids in our group that the Chinese people want their picture taken with.  I think he was flattered. We were delayed 1 1/2 hours, second flight in a row with a delay, but we finally got here around 2pm.   Hefei has less people speaking English, and pretty much we are the only Americans besides another couple from Utah that is also adopting that we met this afternoon.  The airlines lost their luggage so I'm glad I did have a lot of stuff in my carry on. I've been second thinking it because of how heavy it is, but you just never know.  So we met our new guide Jane.  She's pretty direct and tells it like it is.  John is afraid of her.  I think she'll be fine.  She said the older kids in the orphanage are quiet because the caregivers cannot answer their questions and cannot listen to them because they need to take care of many children.  So I'm expecting Milli to be quiet for a while. She said she had a 5 year old girl not speak at all the entire week.  How sad. I compared it to greyhounds never barking because they are always yelled at to shut up.  One more unfair thing you don't think about for a child in an orphanage-no one listening.  I can't wait to show her how important what she has to say is.  Hefei is very polluted and even without clouds there is a thick grey haze in the air.  There is so much construction, traffic,tons of people smoking, horns honking and treacherous driving.  We are on the 18th floor and I can hear honking right now at 9pm Sunday night. It's chaos here.  Next time I am in downtown Chicago driving, I will think it's a piece of cake.  We carefully walked to our first China Walmart about 10 minutes away. We always crossed the traffic with a local person because the pedestrians do not have the right of way, even if it's flashing green to cross.  Plus, there are motorized bikes and scooters that do not obey the traffic laws and come at you on the sidewalks. I can't wait to walk with Milli.  The Walmart is very  similar but with many differences also. There were Lays potato chips, but with a few "interesting" varieties, like cheese lobster, fried prawn, and chicken flavors.  I chose the Classic American Flavor. We tried to go to Pizza Hut again, but it was too crowded.  Gus had McDonalds fries for the 4th day in a row, and we ended up having a great meal at the hotel of pasta with marinara sauce.  It was our first big dinner in China. The food here smells very unappetizing.  There is something called stinky tofu that is sold in the markets on the street that the odor will just about knock you over.  Overall, China does not smell pleasant.  Even our nonsmoking room smells like smoke off and on. At least John and I have both lost weight.
So that's how we spent our last day as a family of three. Tomorrow our lives will forever be changed.
I'm going to try to sleep, but I may not be able to.  I hope you all are praying for us and for her to transition well to our family.  I appreciate the emails and comments. Thanks!