Yet Another Free Day... (China Day 11)

Yep, today was yet another day with no official appointments for us to attend.  One of the things we dislike most is all of the waiting around we have to do here.  We just want to be home with our family of five!  Helen's passport was supposedly ready and picked up by our agency late this afternoon, so at least we feel like there's been a little progress.

Because Helen went to bed with a fever last night, we decided to keep her in the hotel room this morning.  She went to bed with a fever of 101, woke up with a fever of 100, and as of this evening it's down to about 99.  Unfortunately we feel like we've undone a good deal of the bonding we've accomplished over the past week by having to give her medicine today.  She fights it so strongly that we have to pin her down on her back and force her to take it  :-(

She seemed to gain a little more appetite throughout the day and ate a little bit of food.  She likes dry cereal best of all.  She has a cute new game where she picks up a single Cheerio, bites off half, and puts the other slobbery half into the mouth of whomever is holding her.  She also loves grabbing a napkin, wiping her hands, and wiping the table when she's done eating.  She must have picked that up in the orphanage!  Here are some pics of Miss Helen from today:

Steve ventured out alone this morning to purchase a few things, and then we had lunch in our room.  Helen only napped for about 45 minutes after lunch, and since she was acting much better health-wise, we headed out to a explore different part of town.  We had asked, through our agency, what items Helen's orphanage might need that we could donate.  We were told that they needed a new DVD player, because the old one broke.  Jordon came through yet again yesterday, going on quite an adventure around town to get us a good quality player at a great price.  One of our agency guides told us that bringing non-noisy toys would also be a good gift.  She recommended we take a taxi to a wholesale place nearby called "One Link Plaza".  Thus, our afternoon adventure was underway.

HO.  LY.  COW.  We were expecting some kind of mini-mall, but there's nothing mini about this place!  It's eight stories tall, and there were easily more than 100 different stores on every single level!  No joke!  We spent three hours at this place and only made it through the first four floors!!

Need a pen?  Check out a pen-only store.  Need a cheap watch?  Go to one of the dozens of watch-only stores.  Need an Angry Birds backpack, fannie pack, alarm clock, pencil pouch, pillow, or pair of shoes?  Yep, there's a store specializing in that, too.  How about some bling?  Look no further than "Best Bling".  Coffee mugs.  Jewelry.  Purses.  Dishes.  Backpacks.  Clocks.  Toys.  Candles.  Electronic accessories.  Every type of mini stuffed animal you can imagine with a keychain screwed into its head.  Seriously, pictures don't do any justice to just how insane this place was, but we'll try!

We were successful in finding two big containers of building blocks to bring along with us to the orphanage.  We are meeting our guide in the hotel lobby at 7:30am to make the long drive to Yangjiang City, where the orphanage is located.  Tomorrow is sure to be an emotional day, and we'll have a lot to write about!