Meili's name...

We're doing a little bit of research into Meili's name.
A new friend we made in China this summer, Lorraine,
is helping us out.

MEILI
We chose this part of Meili's name. It means beautiful or
pretty. Here is the character for her first name.

美

The next parts are the three names Meili was given,
either by her birthparents,
a relative, or the caretakers at the orphanage.
Here's what Lorraine told us about the rest of her name.

JIANG (first tone)
I was actually a little surprised by her name. First thing,
orphans in Chinaare usually given a family name like Dang,
(meaning the Party), Guo (meaning the country)
or some other patriotic family names.
Meili's family name is Jiang, a very common,
probably not very patriotic family name.
I guess maybe her birth parents
or some people who were close to her
gave her a name before giving her away.
The character Jiang itself means
ginger, but it's just a common family name
and does not carry that meaning
when used as a family name.

XIN (forth tone)    YI (first tone)
What's more surprising, is her given name,
which consists of two characters.
The first character, Xin, means to believe
(belief, faith, if used as a noun), to trust.
And the second character Yi
means to depend on, to rely on.

I say it's surprising because these two characters
carry strong Christian connotations to me.
So I am wondering if her birth parents
(if they are the ones who gave her the name)
actually have some kind of religious belief.
Maybe I am reading too much into it
and the name was just given by a Christian orphanage or
just the adoption agency.

A Package to Meili

We recieved confirmation today that a package we sent to Meili was delivered on December 5. We sent this package through an online service. It contained a teddy bear, two disposable cameras, and candy and nuts for the orphanage workers and director. The package was sent with a letter in Chinese explaining who the package was for, who it was from, and asked Meili's caretakers to take pictures of her, her cribmates, friends, and her caretakers. There's no guarantee that they will have time to take pictures or that they will be able to get those cameras back to us but we think it's worth a try. We sent her a birthday cake too, which also arrived on the 5th. Birthday cakes are really decked out in China and are a really special way to celebrate a birthday.

My Grandma

My grandma died today. I haven't seen her in a few years. She had Alzheimers. My last visit with her (and her roommate, Myrtle, who also had Alzheimers) is a favorite memory of mine. My grandma knew who I was and remembered Henry too. She and Myrtle talked and talked, sometimes about the same things over and over, not realizing they were repeating themselves.

One of my favorite parts of that visit was that Myrtle kept asking Henry if he was from Canada (he was wearing an "I Am Canadian" shirt.). After about the 10th time she asked Henry the question, my grandma said "For heaven's sake Myrtle, quit asking him the same question!"

My grandma did all kinds of great grandmotherly stuff. Here are some of my favorite memories:
- picking green beans with Grandma in her HUGE garden
- watching Grandma crochet while the Wheel of Fortune or Family Feud was on TV
- eating Grandma's chicken soup
- at Grandma's house we got WHITE bread and we could put SUGAR on our cereal
- eating Grandma's chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the freezer
- going to "The Green Farm" for Christmas each year
- playing in the hay loft at "The Green Farm"
- playing with the barbie and other doll clothes she meticulously sewed for us
- the thick blanket Grandma crocheted for me for my high school graduation gift
- going to church really early, Grandma passing us a mint from her handkerchief, and then leaving church right away to go home and have a REALLY yummy meal

I keep thinking of more, I'll add them later.

Gertrude Jeanette Kempema Blankespoor
1921 - 2006

Fingerprints extended

We got our new I171 form in the mail yesterday stating that our new fingerprints are good until 2008. We continue to wait for our TA, and hope that Henry's new passport comes BEFORE that does. Otherwise we'll have to wait for that before we can travel.

What's next?

Well... now we have to wait for a TA (travel approval) to come from China. This comes once our acceptance form has been processed. A TA can take anywhere from 4-10 weeks to come. Once that comes, our final appointment at the US consulate in China will be set and we'll know when our last day in China will be. Then all of our other traveling and appointments will be planned. We would likely leave about 2-3 weeks after receiving our TA. More waiting...