Update for Friday & Some Catch-Up...

Hi there, C here,

We just finished Lunch (we tried McDonald's for a change!!) - we had to eat in a common area of the hotel since our room was being cleaned by our maid crew. After the meal, I broke out our phrase book and tried to ask Dylan if he enjoyed his lunch. After re-checking the book, I fear that I may have told him that I was pregnant and due in two weeks. We'll continue to work on this...!

Here is a quick photo of Lunch Today:



Much to get to this afternoon, so let's shove off...

One note about our 2nd appointment here in Shenyang the other day at the civil affairs office. We had to sign some papers, and have them registered and notarized.
Dylan indicated that he needed to go to the potty. No sweat now that I know what to do to help him. We went back into the same bathroom that we used the previous day. As we went in, I had to do a double take when I saw a very nice gentleman washing his hair in the sink. Not just wetting it or rinsing something out of it. I'm telling you he had a full-on, TV-commercial quality lather going - in the SINK. He didn't hear us as we slipped in to a stall to use the same squat potty we used the other day. We finished and came out to find him almost finished rinsing his hair - it looked like he was dressed to head off to work. I lifted Dylan up to wash his little hands, only to find NO SOAP. This generous, now cleaner man saw our dilemma and offered us his soap. I figured it would be rude to refuse his generosity, and after all, Dylan's hand did need to be washed. So we lathered up ourselves, rinsed and as quickly as we came we were on our way with a quick "XieXie" from Dylan. Very funny!

Just a note from the Bus trip TO Dalian City.
Kyle & I shared the front seat behind the driver and we noticed that he seemed to be drinking an awful lot of tea. The driver was assisted by a sidekick/conductor who sat beside him in the passenger side of the driver's compartment. I counted 4 cups of tea - my guess would be "Venti". Beeping as one passed another, esp. when passing older "Fred-Sanford" type trucks is common in China - it happens a lot on the city streets. Now granted, I'm no commercial bus driver, but it seemed like there were an unusually large number of other cars/trucks/buses that were passing us (we passed many as well) that beeped much more (and longer) than they should have, given that we were on a fairly open stretch of highway. As I paid more attention, I would swear that the driver was drifting - obviously due to the lack of a stronger blend of tea! Believe it or not, after we stopped at the rest stop, he actually drank 3 more cups of COFFEE for the 2nd half of the trip. I'm glad Kyle & I drifted off to a nap for this leg of the journey!

While in Dalian City, after our short walking tour (picking up from a previous post...), we had to go to an appointment at the central Police Station to apply for D-man's Chinese Passport. Somehow, Ms. Pan was able to compress a normal 2-week turnaround into 2-days. We are taking a "don't ask, don't tell" approach on the process. Our grateful appreciation goes out to Ms. Pan. Veronica is on her way to pick this us as I type.

Now the situation at the police station was one of the absolute funniest things that has happened to me in our adoption adventures(considering BOTH trips) - I hope I do this justice in words.

The first step in the process was a Photo for the Passport. As Veronica, Dylan and I stood in line for just a few moments under the sign that said "Photography Station", she explained that the picture need to be very good or they would need to retake it. No problem, thought I, that makes sense.

The team consisted of a photographer, a photographer's assistant who positioned the subjects, and the ever-present supervisor who, well... supervised.
We moved Dylan into position on a normal chair and backed away. Dylan drifted just a little as the flash went off. The photographer's assistant quickly grabbed a booster seat from the side of the room, and sat Dylan up on it. After another quick flash of the shutter, the photographer indicated that the shot was no good. The assistant grabbed Veronica's arm and pulled her into service. He had her sit at Dylan's left side down out of frame to hold his little hands in his lap to steady him - remember, the picture needed to be very good, or no-go.

The assistant cupped little Dylan's face at the exact angle indicated by the photographer as he looked on from his console. He slowly backed away and held up a small plastic animal to get Dylan's attention. He was using what looked to me to be a very frightening-looking plastic PIG. Dylan was NOT buying this! His tiny head bent to the left ever-so-slightly. So slightly that I really couldn't even notice it as I looked on - helpless for now - from the edge of the room.

FLASH went the shutter. No-go, leaning to the right. The assistant approached again, careful not to step on poor Veronica as she steadied Dylan. He cupped Dylan's face again and as he began to back away he turned to the photographer seeming to say "take the picture". So he did - before the assistant could get out of the way! (I was able to sneak a peek at the console - it was actually a very good shot of the assistant's face as he blocked out Dylan.) This happened a few more times - sometimes the flash went off as the assistant approached Dylan, sometimes as he backed away!

Just then the supervisor (a stern woman - the sort you would picture as a headmaster of a boarding school for ne'er-do-wells) barked something angrily in Chinese. The assistant glared at the photographer - the photographer glared at his console - and they quickly shuffled Dylan out of the room. Veronica explained that the supervisor said that the graphic on Dylan's $0.99 Chinese Wal-Mart T-Shirt was not appropriate for an official photograph. It was kind of cute - a little kid surfing with the words "Ocean Refueling"(?) I kid you not, I cannot make this up.
I'm not sure who was doing the translating in the T-shirt silk-screen department at the factory that day, but they may want to brush up on their English.
(Photos Taken to this point = 8-9).

As we moved to an adjoining room, they handed Veronica another shirt for Dylan. (Now, Dylan through all of this, did not even change his expression - it was still as stone-faced as it was when he first encountered that Pig!) The shirt we were asked to dress Dylan in was a MENS XXL! If we hadn't buttoned it to the very top, it would have easily slipped over his whole body. It was threadbare and it was the dingiest dark blue you can imagine. Over the left chest pocket was a very worn, barely readable set of Chinese characters. I was afraid to ask Veronica what it said, so I just kept quiet. It really didn't matter for the picture, because the shirt was so big that the characters covered Dylan's left shoe!

Once he was suited up, Dylan and Veronica were shuffled back into the room. Believe it or not a nearly identical comedy of errors ensued. As Veronica steadied young Dylan, a FLASH, a lot of yelling, then a repositioning. FLASH, no-go - cup his face and turn arou... FLASH. Much more yelling. (Photos Taken to this point = 18-20).

It was one of the the funniest things I had ever seen - until they grabbed ME by the arm. I was laughing pretty hard to myself, so I though that I was being escorted from the room so as not to be a distraction. No such luck. The assistant moved Veronica from the side of Dylan and had me settle in as her replacement - I held Dylan's hands gently and she crawled around on the floor behind him. I looked at her, and she at me, tears in her eyes, and we stifled our laughs the best we could. (For you religious folks out there, it was as if someone far*ted in church - I know you know what I'm talking about!) Any composure that was still there quickly evaporated as we were laughing so hard tears were streaming down both our faces - believe it or not Dylan saw all of this but yet still sat there - stone-faced!

They actually asked Veronica to HOLD DYLAN's head so it would not sway to the side. She positioned her hand carefully behind his tiny neck and held as steady as she could - which was tough because her shoulders were vibrating from the stifled giggles. It took a few more shots to make sure that Veronica's fingers didn't show in the photos. FINALLY, the supervisor grunted her approval at the last of the 30 or so photos and were dismissed with a disapproving glare. I really wanted to get my own photo of Dylan in this shirt, but though better of it. Good decision.

Unbelievably funny. Thanks Veronica, for service above & beyond the call of duty!

Later that day, we took a driving tour of Dalian City, and we stopped by Dylan's orphanage. Ms. Pan said that ordinarily we could go in and look around, but due to the H1N1 flu, we could only stay around the gate. I'll post a photo of the outside as soon as the camera recharges...

We visited a very large ocean side park in Dalian. There were several interesting monuments, a handful of kid's amusement rides (We all rode one of them together) and a lot of local Chinese tourists. Veronica was "attacked" by a band of pigeons when she tried to feed them - luckily she escaped unharmed. It was a very nice, pleasant afternoon. We all lunched at McD's for a change ("We're lovin' it."). We'll post pictures shortly...

There were several condo high-rises near the park, each selling for $US 200K - 500K!
Dalian populations is around 3-4 million. It is where Dylan was born.
The ecnomy is less a factor in Dalian than in Shenyang, as it is generally wealthier. Our driver said that there are many more cars in Dalian (vs. Bikes & Scooters in Shenyang). He said there are 200 cars/Day sold there!

After lunch, and our tour, we headed back to the Bus Stop to catch our Bus back to Shenyang.

Gotta run now, more soon.
C