2008 Olympics - Beijing

Hello everyone!

I meant to blog about this after the Opening Ceremonies, but I am just now finding time to sit and type some thoughts.

I'm sure many of you watched the Opening Ceremonies and were in awe of the magnificent show that the Chinese performed. I watched with mixed emotions. Part of me was mesmorized by the artistic creativity, colors, lights, and sounds that were shown. Part of me was angry - angry at the Chinese government for spending all of that money on the Opening Ceremonies when I know how many thousands of children there are without homes, how inadequate their government-run orphanages are, and how many of us want to give the children a loving home while the government stands in our way. Part of me was sad - sad because we should have our little girl by now...sad because we probably won't meet her for at least 4 more years.

I enjoyed the Olympics as a whole. I was intrigued by how the Chinese competed in almost every event and earned more gold medals than any other country. I watched the Chinese athletes (especially the female ones) and thought....will our daughter look like you one day? I watched the Ethiopian athletes and wondered if our children will look like them. I was angry again while watching the gymnastics and hearing about the grueling Chinese government-run program that they put the girls in when they are very small. Angry to think that many of them may not have been the minimum age to compete and how much pressure those young girls must have felt during the competition.

I am proud of the US and our athletes.

I am sad that the Olympics are over. Needless to say, I experienced many emotions during those two weeks. We can only hope that the Chinese government will speed things up on the adoption front now that the Olympics are over. But, we won't get our hopes up. It is almost September 1, and they have only made it through one month of referrals. At this rate, it will be well-beyond 4 more years before we meet our baby girl.