No longer searching for Kassandra….we have her.

What a day…what a day. We left a little late for the Civil Affairs office. We rode a small bus for 15 minutes from the hotel to the Civil Affairs Office. Up an elevator to the 3rd floor and into a large waiting room with wooden benches. There she was sitting with three other adults on a bench across the room. She looked exactly like her picture but a little bigger. We took a seat on another bench and started to play mimic games. Peek-a-boo, touch your nose, blowing kisses, etc. She was quick to imitate and easy to engage. The orphanage workers she was with tried to get her to come over but she started to cry so we were content to play across the room for a while as paperwork was being verified. Finally they said we could go over and be introduced. They handed her over to me and she instantly cried. For those of you “betters” out there…here’s the crying total at the orphanage …Kassie one, Kristin, Bill, Chris and Italo –NONE. (I evoked my good friend Michele’s advice from my wedding, you will be photographed and do not want to always remember how great you looked crying and also she told me if I cried, it would make the baby more anxious and that is NOT what we wanted so….no tears. I have witnesses.) Italo came up with the BRILLIANT idea of taking her picture and then showing her the camera so she could see herself. She LOVED it…no tears. Then I pulled out the crispy pea snacks thinking food would be a great bonding event. Instead of eating them, we played pass them from Bill to Kristin and back. Then Chris got involved in the game and we passed them among the three of us. We now have the entire bag allocated as “toys” instead of “food”. Whatever works. We messed up the bus with more pea snacks. Oh well.

We came back to the room. She did not like the 31 flight elevator ride. The room went well, and then we cried. Played for a while and then more tears. Finally a REALLY big fit of screaming and crying….she wanted out and in a bad way. Can’t blame her, we found out today, she left her foster family this morning. So much for a separation. We really ripped her world out from under her. She will be fine, this I know but getting through it will be a test. She finally passed out (oh did I mention, in all the changes today, she missed her nap in the afternoon which is usually for about 2 hours.) and is still sleeping 3 hrs later. We all slept out of emotional exhaustion for a short while. We woke and have ordered room service, we are not sure if she is going to wake. We shall see.

Tomorrow is more bureaucracy in the Civil Affairs office. Then we are going to Wal-Mart in the afternoon. We do need some supplies. We will be going to an embroidery factory on Thursday afternoon. This is what Changsha is famous for. We are hoping to buy some souvenirs from he province.

Love to all….please post on the blog with comments so we know you’re out there sending us positive vibes…we need them. Thanks…more to come….