I'm in China!

Today is Day 9 of my stay in Xi'an, China, so I apologize that this is only my first post about the trip.  I guess I've just been soaking it all in, and there is so much to tell that I don't know where to start.  I mentally stop several times a day just to remind myself of the incredulity of this experience, as if saying it makes me realize it's really happening. "I'm eating mystery meat with chopsticks while the harmless old Chinese men next door play a rock-paper-scissors drinking game."  "I'm buying mango milk for 4RMB (about 67 cents) from a family-run corner store."  "I'm walking down a dusty rural road, lined with remnants of burned trash, trying to avoid the cars that don't seem to know the concept of traffic lanes."  "I'm singing American folk songs to a full circle of Chinese orphans in baby walkers."  And this thought seems to recur more than all the others: "I'm in China.  I'm in China?  I'm in China!"  I've wanted to be able to say that for so long, but now is the right time.  I know it.  Anna and I are living in the volunteer room of Starfish Foster Home, a facility for children in need of medical attention {more about Starfish tomorrow}, and I know I will look back and consider this one of my life's most precious experiences.

I'm wishing I could complete my adoption paperwork and become a single mother of 35 xiao peng you {little friends} as soon as possible? Yes, I'm in China.