Made in China, the tag says. We went to the Walmart today. There are two things in this world that you can almost guarantee that no matter where you are, they will be near...no matter the remote place or the culture...they kind of make the world a smaller place...Walmart and Starbucks...okay, I never saw one in the Masai Mara but my guess is Nairobi has them....well, this isn't your typical Walmart with the elderly gentleman greeting you at the door and handing you ano verdicts cart for your oversized purchases...their are none of those happy faces cutting prices...there are American baby products lime Huggies and Johnson baby stuff...and if you know the packaging colors you can identify the Enfamil packaging written entirely in Chinese. There are Barbies. Since Matteo makes them here it is only fair they are sold here too. But this Walmart is way cooler than Walmart back home, because here there are about a hundred varieties of mushrooms in bins, young smiling girls dressed in retro dresses of sherbet colors offering samples of brightly colored juices, and there are skinned ducks and other critters on ice. Audrey almost lost her junk. That may been my favorite part, walking though the food aisles with Audrey. My little cousin is quite expressive. We did find all our baby needs and then a load of snack foods to feed our ravenous bunch. Emma was quite a hit with the customers and employees alike. Occasionally, a well meaning smiling lady would come by and to ouch her feet or pull her head toward them to see her face, smile and nod or speak to me in quick Mandarin tones. Gracie and Nina drew attention everywhere they went. People approaching and asking if they were ours. Yes, proudly so. " Beautiful. Beautiful girl" was mostly what we could understand from our very limited Mandarin skills. No matter where we are, we draw stares, sometimes just stares, but mist if the time, smiles and interaction with her our little and big girls. Gracie has decided she needs to work on her Mandarin more as many approach her talking in Mandarin and her eyes widen unsure of what they are saying.
Meanwhile, Emma is making huge steps in just two days. She is alert rather than asleep or staring into nothingness all the time...although the staring is still there at times. We cuddle a lot. She loves. She may be behind in a lot of ways but affectionate she is amazing. She reaches for my face and touches it, hods my hair gently, wraps her fingers around ours, especially sissy's and muzzles in close...as close as she can possibly get. She struggles in some other ways, but bonding has been beautiful.
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