HELP........WANTED ONE DURACELL BATTERY :( Sorry we are low on pictures today Pauly's battery went dead (second one so far)! We went on a battery hunt today, ok, so we are in China thinking with all the technology and tourists we could find an American camera battery.... Please ignore the date on the pictures! ????
This is the restaurant we went to for dinner, the food was very good, but not traditional American Thai, they use lighter sauces and cook with traditional Asian ingredients.
Paul's dinner can you guess? No, it is not chicken! This would be "Steamed Pigeon Thai Style". The dish was served with 3 types of hot peppers, onion and cashews! YUMMY!!!
Ok, Kim, wish you could try this...... VERY SPICY!!!!!!!!!!! This was Pauly's dinner
Pauly teaching Jessica "Miss Mary Mac"
CLICK HERE TO VIEW A SHORT VIDEO OF BENJAMIN.
(if you are having trouble, the best way to view the video is to right click the link and download the video to your desktop.)
I thought I would take some time to journal since we shorted you all on pictures today. Even though you were shorted believe me you did not miss much today. This was the day our guide, Connie, went to the US Consulate for our appointment for Benjamin's citizenship. This appointment is done by the guide and we have to wait in our hotel room just in case the consulate has a question or the paperwork was not completed correctly. Well, we had a slight problem, but I am sure the agency will be on it first thing in the am (did you get my email Stefani?) So we stayed in the room all am and then headed to the Carre Four. It is like a Wal-Mart, but on many floors. It is confusing where you go in, where you go out, where you pay and just trying to find what you need on the different floors is also a task. Not to mention that obviously everything is in Chinese and a very small amount of people speak English! It is definitely not for the faint at heart! Oh, and did I mention it is a BUSY store with lots and lots of people!!!!! Even though it can be a little stressful at times I have decided I like the Carre Four, it is an adventure!
Ok, let me tell you about Benjamin, because that is probably what you want to know about. Benjamin has been with us for 8 days now. Each day his personally shows more and more, smiling, laughing and playing, still pouting at times, but not as much. He is also showing signs of his likes and dislikes as far as food goes, before he would just eat everything and we would have to stop him from eating, but that is normal for a child that is coming from his background. Today I was watching him (he did not know I was watching him) and he noticed Lily had her shoes and socks off so he decided to take off his shoes and his socks, now I know that is no big deal, but for me it was huge, because I saw my son with one hand and a partial arm and he did an amazing job using his partial arm to get the job done! I bet he can do so much more than we know or have even discovered yet. I am anxious to get him home and into a routine to discover those many things he is capable of doing. Last night I checked my emails and saw one from a family that had visited the orphanage a few months back, she said that she was with Benjamin for two hours and he never cracked even a smile. It made me sad to hear that, but I know that this not the same boy that we have now in our arms. Benjamin is a laid back kind of boy and pretty much goes with the flow (thank you Lord!) I just love seeing Benjamin interact with everyone and can't wait for all you to meet him, I know you will love him as we do. He is learning English and sometime will talk to us in Chinese. His favorite phrase (if you will) is "Nah La" (spelling?) which was very cute, because he would hold out his hand extending his arm as far as it will go, or point his little index finger. Well, we finally asked our guide what that meant and she said, "give me that!" So we are not encouraging the Nah La anymore, we are trying to teach him please now!!!!!
Tomorrow's agenda: Swearing in at the US Consulate.