In one week, we will be on our way home. We have been gone now for almost 2 weeks and we are all starting to feel homesick; my "big sister" 4 year old especially. While she has been pretty good, today has been a trying one. She misses her home, her bed, her friends, her cousin Joey, and one more week feels like an eternity to her. She has a playmate here in our group but it doesn't diffuse all the change that is clearly happening around her. This too shall pass and we will be on our way to Guangzhou in just a few more days and back to the US in about one week.
We had a wonderful group dinner last night at a local Chinese Restaurant. We were quite the entertainment for the locals. The food was very good and our best meal in China by far. Meilyn enjoyed the local ribs, the tempura was terrific and we found out that little Analei will eat just about anything. She tried anything we put in front of her and at one point picked up her orange spoon and put it in my hand to let me know she wanted more!! Meilyn is fascinated with feeding Analei. After she finished her dinner, she jumped on Dad's lap to take on her big sister responsibilities. The photos tell the story. All in all dinner was awesome. Even the little one in our group who still seems to be mourning her foster family turned the corner yesterday and was laughing at dinner last night.
Today we visited a local Buddhist temple. It is unusual for this kind of temple to be built in the middle of a big city. However, this one is located on the other side of the Yangtze river from where we are staying and right in the middle of the city. Over 100 years ago, a landlord donated the land to the monks after they attended to his medical needs. Local monks live at the temple and people come from all over to worship. Many people leave fruit, nuts and oil as gifts to Buddha. Today, one of the women who takes care of the temple brought each of the girls in our group an apple left by some of the worshippers. It was a touching gesture. And the girls all dug right in. Unfortunately it is another rainy day here so we were not able to walk around too much. We hope the weather clears up so we can have a chance to walk around the hotel a bit before we leave.
We get official notary documents this afternoon from the Province and pick up the girls' passports tomorrow. We complete our Consulate paperwork tomorrow afternoon and pack for Guangzhou. We leave for Guangzhou and the White Swan Hotel on Saturday morning to complete the last leg of this memorable journey.
Thanks again for all the emails from home. We love getting them. We miss everyone so much and can't wait for all of you to meet Analei.
With love from Hubei,
The Frank Family of 4
Jeanne, Brian, Meilyn and Analei
A beautiful smile
A playdate in China for the big sisters
Analei before dinner
Apples are good!!
Group shot at the temple
Meilyn taking her big sisters responsibilities seriously
