Taitung

On Sunday night we went to the night market in Taitung.  We were the only Americans most saw, so we stood out and everyone really enjoyed staring at us:)  Michelle helped us get food and tell us what everything was.  We tried stinky tofu.  I can say it is very stinky!  I am glad I tried it, Michelle likes it.  I finally got to try bubble tea too!  It was good and fun to drink.  It is tea with little tapioca balls in the bottom!  The night market has tons of games for kids.  Elliana and Andy would have loved it!
When we got back to the room, we skyped with the kids and introduced them to Micah.  It was very cute!  Elliana does not understand why it takes so long to come home since we obviously have Micah already.  Next we talked with our friends in Bolivia!  And finally, we saw that our community class (Sunday School) at church was on, doing a test run for talking to the Wardens (in Bolivia) next week.  So we called them too!  It was so exciting for us to introduce him to family and friends who have been praying for him and us for so long!  They both, the Wardens and community, prayed for us again. So precious, thank you guys.

On Monday Michelle came with a new driver, her landlord. She is so sweet, it was difficult for her to find another driver, she called all her friends.  Jake, her landlord, is very nice and runs a Chinese Medicine store so he said he had a flexible schedule.  Deana had a change of plans, really our paperwork from the court was not ready.  We did not know this at the time so we were not worried or stressed about the change.  It worked out good.  We went shopping on the streets to see all the fruit stands and shops.  Michelle took us where she shops, the grocery store:)  She is afraid of the fruit stands because once the fruit had ants all over it and they speak Taiwanese instead of Chinese.  Too funny, also she does not cook so she doesn't know what do do with all the stuff in the little shops.  At the grocery store we got some fruit and dried mango for a snack.
Jack came back and took us to the beach.  We thought we would eat our snack there, but with the heat index at least 114 degrees it was too hot!!  Michelle works at a place called Hookies, named after VT Hookies.  So we went there and ate.  Chris had his only Mountain Dew of the trip!  It is the only place in Taitung that has it.  Next we met Deana for lunch and ate some more yummy food!
It was almost 2:00 so we headed over to Hannah's hope to meet the other babies and special mothers.  Deana went to go pick up our birthmom from the train station and go get some papers signed at court.  The babies were so great!  I will send pictures to all you waiting mom's and dad's, hopefully today!  Without Deana there to tell us all the English names, we did not get pictures of all the new referrals.  The special mothers are so loving and truly care for each little one!  We got to see the ones that cared for Micah.  It was very difficult for them all to say good bye to him, so sad.  At about 3:00 Deana called so say they would be there soon.  As soon as they walked in, she got a call that she had to get to court right away.  Michelle would have to translate for us.  She did a great job, I am sure she was very nervous, was were we!  But she was wonderful.  We learned lots of stuff to share with Micah as he grows and we were able to video the whole time.  One thing she made she sewed "Good Man" on it, which is what Micah means.  That was pretty neat, since she would not have know that!  Micah took a much needed nap as we talked, but she had to be at an appointment at 4:00 so she was rushed away and we had time to decompress and relax for a few minutes.  I went back to say goodbye to the babies and give the clothes that a few families had sent. 
Chris asked about going to the House of Registry that we were supposed to do that morning.  Well, after a little confusion, our paperwork was still at court, but we, Michelle, Wuli (social worker) and us headed over anyways.  They said we were missing a document and we had to wait.  Deana came running in after finishing a families first hearing and tracking down our missing paperwork which had just been completed moments before.  Stressful day for Deana!  We were totally exhausted and came back to our hotel at 5:30.  After eating dinner we headed down to look at the shops.  We saw the traditional tribal show going on and stayed to watch it for a bit.  It was pretty cute to see. 
After a long busy day, Micah was very glad to go to sleep!  He had his bottle at 8:30 before we went down for the show and only woke up at 5:45 to eat again.  That is the time that the special mothers always feed him, so he was right on:)  Yesterday was very difficult to him too, so he is soaking up all the sleep he can get! 
Today we have to go sign the rest of our paperwork and fly back to Taipei!  It will be sad to leave Taitung.  It is such a warming, not to mention super hot, and sweet place.  Michelle has been a huge blessing and help. I cannot wait for the other families to meet her too!  She taught us so much about the young culture of Taiwan!