Hold On, I'm Coming...*

. . . just not as quick as I thought.

Yesterday, our hope for January travel was dashed. According to our agency, the most likely scenario is now after the Chinese New Year celebration, with us arriving in Kunming February 20, give or take. And, of course, even this is still tentative for the time being. The good news is that we have picked up some tidbits of information about Man Li, specifically about her last name, Guan. Each orphanage has a different practice. The Kunming CWI names the child depending upon which of the four city sectors where the infant was found. Guandu district (Guan for short) is in the western part of the city, and other babies found in that part of town share the same last name.

We also have a copy of the finding ad that was placed in the local Yunnan Fazibao paper, and even more precious, an actual newsprint edition of the paper. Man Li was one of 16 babies listed that day, all found between January 7 and June 4, 2009, although the greatest cluster was May and early June. We don't know what explains the lone January baby, or how often these ads are run. Her ad shows Man Li at the approximate age of one month.

Yesterday was tough, but today we've chosen to be happy for what we have, and what we will have in the near future. Yesterday was also notable as we attended the re-adoption ceremony for our little friend Roz, which certainly started the day off right. Things like that keep us moving towards Kunming.

*Hold On, I'm Coming recorded by Sam & Dave