September 20, 2006 Request to become world traveler
Today we were asked to be back in our rooms no later than 2:00pm to find out if our group was able to get an appointment with the government agency that will process a Chinese passport for Aliyah. In order to get an appointment the Guangdong civil affairs agency needed to be complete with their paperwork from the prior day. All said Aliyah got her passport photo taken at about 3:00pm today.
We are starting to learn more and more about Aliyah as her personality begins to show to us. Generally she enjoys her meals and is doing the best in the group in that regard. From time to time she will pass on a feeding as she just did this evening. She is very interested in what is around her. She loves feeling the texture of almost anything and will squirm toward anything new she thinks may be interesting to touch. When we hold her she likes to face outward instead of in toward the shoulder. Because of this we found out today that she really loves the cheap stroller we got for her for our time in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Today she has gone from very content to very anxious. We have found that she enjoys a ride in the stroller and as long as it keeps moving she is happy. From time to time we have run her around our apartment in the stroller here at the hotel. It’s actually quite cute.
Now just a little bit about where we are staying. We are at the China Hotel in Guangzhou. Because of the last minute travel plans and heavy booking at the hotel, most of the group is staying in the Hotel apartments. The rooms are not as nice and much older than the regular hotel rooms, but we have space … much more space. Our apartment consists of a kitchen, dining room living room, office, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. It seems like a good deal for us especially since we can stroller Aliyah right in the apartment if she wants a ride.
Today we had a little time to explore in the morning and there seem to be several very interesting restaurants nearby that we can check out with the other adventuresome group members. John took a trip to Shamian Island with some other families to check out the shopping around the White Swan Hotel. This is Mecca for adoptive families with many stores that cater to their needs. We will need to go back to that area again. You will see one picture from a courtyard on Shamian Island it has a flavor of the islands French and British colonial past. Guangzhou is an interesting place with a very entrepreneurial emphasis. In the older area most of the buildings are 2-3 floors. The first floor is a business with the family living on the upper levels. You can see everything here from well dressed business men and women to beggars and man pulling a cart selling wild animal pelts in the same block.
Sometimes we feel like we are still babysitting Aliyah as we feel we should know her better. Please pray for attachment adjustments as we are still leaning Aliyah’s signals and she learns to trust us.
