Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Jim, Trina, Nick, Jesse, Catherine and Faith!
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November 25 - 27, 2006
November 25 --
Ah, Guangzhou at last. This morning we finished packing, ate breakfast, and checked out. We left for the airport at 9:30, and caught the 11:30 flight to Guangzhou. Trina and I had envisioned a plane full of screaming kids, but they all were surprisingly well-behaved. I don’t think any of them were crying or bothered to be on the plane in the least. Faith was very good. She had a bottle during take-off, and played in the seat the rest of the flight.
The ride from the Guangzhou airport wasn’t as long as we had been told. Perhaps it was because we were all amazed at the size of the city. Even compared to Beijing, Guangzhou seemed larger. The highway was at least three levels high and there were so many apartment buildings. They do look poorer than in Beijing, but there were gardens on the rooftops.
From the outside the White Swan didn’t look very promising. After we checked-in Trina and I went looking for the waterfall. There were koi in the pool at the bottom, and we took some pictures. Guangzhou was a lot more humid than Nanning, so the hotel A/C was refreshing. We went to our room and waited for our luggage to be brought up.
Trina was unpacking a few essentials before going to get a bite to eat, when she discovered something leaking in a suitcase. It happened to be the tanghulars that we had bought in Beijing. We’d had them in the refrigerator at Nanning, and packed them this morning. The sugar coating had melted and leaked all over our jackets, and the clean clothes that we just had washed yesterday. Trina cleaned up as best she could, but we were all starving. We put all the clothes in a bag and took then to be washed, and went to Lucy’s for dinner.
Boy, that was one of the best meals since coming to China. Trina and I shared a hamburger and some chicken fingers. Faith had some chicken gongee. She is getting her appetite back. After dinner we did a little shopping, but it was too hot and the three of us were tired, so we returned to the hotel.
After cooling off a bit we all went to the Swan Room, and let the kids play. It was great to see all of the kids that are here in the hotel, and to share stories with the parents. At first, Faith was tired and didn’t want to leave mommy’s lap, but she soon warmed up and came out of her shell. She had a great time for about an hour, then most of the children were getting tired. We came back up to the room, fed her, and she was asleep by 8:30.
Tomorrow we get her Visa picture taken, and complete some more paperwork. The rest of the day is ours to do whatever we want. I think we’ll check out the pool. Kids, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to talk to you this morning. We love and miss you. See you soon
November 26 --
Nothing much to post today. We started off the morning with a glorious breakfast, the best yet. The buffet here at the White Swan was enormous. I know I didn’t see it all, and I doubt Trina did, either. Can’t wait until the morning to do it again.
After breakfast the group met and we took our daughters to have their Visa photos taken. Then one parent for each child met to fill out all of the immigration paperwork. This took about two hours, so Trina took Faith to the Swan Room for a while to play, and then went shopping with Mendy.
I had to go find Trina when the paperwork was completed, so that she could help verify that everything was accurate, and sign some papers, then the rest of the day was ours. We did some more shopping, had dinner, shopped some more, and took the girls back to the Swan Room to play again.
Like I said, not much to post. Tomorrow we have the medical exams in the morning. I think Trina and I will venture off Shamian Island in search of instruments and electronics.
Love you Nick, Jesse, and Cat. We will see you in just four short days. Mommy and I miss you.
Today we all slept in a little. We didn’t have to meet until 10 am to go to the medical appointment. What a madhouse. Not only is the building full of adopted children, but the same facility serves as the local clinic. From what pictures we’ve seen the building looks larger than it is. Faith did very well, though, and only cried during the ENT portion. We aren’t posting a picture of that.
Once all of the exams were finished our local guide, Peter, took Trina and me to a music shop (actually, he took us to four of them before we ended up at the first one, again) to buy our oldest son, Nick, a violin. The second time we were at the original shop there were three men there who were pilots for UPS. One of them played the violin, so he helped us to choose one, and played it for us. Let me tell you, he was a Godsend. Trina and I were completely in the dark before meeting him, and I am absolutely sure we would have made a mistake in choosing a quality instrument if it weren’t for him.
After buying a violin we went to “electronics city,” which is an entire block that sells nothing but electronics. We were on the hunt for some cheap mp3 players. The bargains we had heard about eluded us, so we journeyed to the pearl market, and then back to the hotel.
During all of this shopping, 2 ½ hours worth, Faith was so good. Trina and I are very blessed to have a child this well-behaved. She fell asleep during the cab ride back to the White Swan, and Trina was developing a migraine, so we rested for a little while before hitting the local shops for an our or so and picking up some more gifts.
We got together with Joleigh’s family for dinner. We were going to try the bagel place, but they wouldn’t answer their phone. We went downstairs and had the dinner buffet instead. Holy cow, they had a little of everything: rabbit stew, grilled salmon, escargot, prime rib, crab, caviar, etc. It was worth the $35/person. I haven’t even mentioned the dessert buffet.
Faith had finally had enough, and it was time for her to go to bed. I held her in the restaurant and put her to sleep. Once we got back to the room I placed her in the crib, and she woke a few times fussing. Eventually she woke up and would not be consoled. She has already gotten used to cuddling with mommy and going to sleep. Once Trina held her for 30 minutes or so, she was fast asleep and hasn’t woken since going back into her crib. We’ve only had her a week and she is spoiled! It’s a good thing that Catherine prefers cuddling with daddy!
Tomorrow we have to wait in the room for any possible questions from the consulate, and then we have the afternoon to finish shopping. I hope we finish, because Trina and I are done. We’ll let you know!
We love and miss you kids. We’ll be home in just a few short days with your new sister. See you soon, mommy and daddy love and miss you!
