We received Ainsley's passport today! What an answer to prayer! We spent the morning packing to transfer to Guangzhou later today. Richard needed a few items from WalMart and took a taxi who might have been a kamakaze pilot, or just related to one, and fortunately missed many moving targets.
While at WalMart, we went for a walk around our hotel one last time. We met an interesting male hairdresser at the hotel salon who offered to style Nana Carole's hair. It was a fun experience for her and her hairstylist did a nice job on her hair.
It was exciting to get to the airport to prepare for the next leg of our journey. We are still "moviestars" and are constantly gawked at. We have decided that we will not miss our superstar status and have not tried learning how to say "Why don't you take a picture, it will last longer!" in Chinese. The thought may have crossed our minds, but we are trying to behave. It is hard when you hang out with fun people.
Ainsley is still doing wonderful with her new family. She has such a wonderful laugh that makes us all crack up even more. She just loves to tease. Ainsley has taken to her stroller, thankfully, and enjoys riding in it immensely. Ethan has really attached onto his Nana this trip and offered for her to live with him. Olivia is doing well and is so adaptable in this unique surroundings. She tries to make the best of the situation and have fun, too. Sophia is feeling the strain of a new sibling and gets impatient with her little sister sometimes. At other times, Sophia tries to feed, kiss and love on her baby. We pray God will help them all adapt to their new sister and build love for one another. The flight from Beijing to Guangzhou went fine. They served dinner and we all cringed at the odor coming from the flight stewardesses cart. Yes, it was fish, but thankfully also mystery chicken dish that was fine for all.
Not sure what this is culturally, but the people here do not say "excuse me" or "pardon me" but rather do a "bum rush" toward the area they are wanting to go. So, when the plane landed and had not even arrived at the gate, people jumped out of their seats and started pulling down their luggage from the racks overhead. We watched as the stewardesses tried to get them to sit down. Needless to say, we were the last people off the plane.
As we waited to get our luggage, it was obvious that we truly were in Guangzhou, as we looked around and saw other American families with their Chinese babies, probably headed to the same place, The White Swan, to finalize this adoption process and go to The American Consulate.
We were happy to arrive at The White Swan and prepare for Ainsley's visa photo and medical examination tomorrow. |
