Guangzhou…Yeah Baby!

Okay, I’m a day behind, but I’ll just keep updating, and we’ll all just pretend I’m on schedule.

We left Changchun and headed for Guangzhou (gwon-jo). Kevin was trying to spell the name and we came to the conclusion it was spelled goo-ang-za-hooey. :)

Kate was absolutely perfect and angelic on the 4 ½ hr. flight here…really?...no. Picture me standing in the aisle, bouncing a crying kid (while, you know, everyone stares at us as if I were Bozo the Clown juggling or something) and I hold on to the seat in front of us due to turbulence….I want Mommy, no I want Daddy, I want Mommy, no, Daddy, I want…Oooohhh…is that food? This plane food is just delicious! Oh, do you mind if I eat your’s too? Isn’t is funny that no matter how long your flight is, it’s the last half hour that can make or break you?...especially if you have a 20 month old traveling with you?

We had to say goodbye to May in Changchun, and one of our two new coordinators, Leila, is waiting for us at the airport. Our flight was the last of the 6 families from All God’s Children to arrive, from the different provinces. We will now all spend the next week together (but they’re already at the hotel). We walk outside to a balmy night…feels like a cool summer night in San Diego. Actually, it kind of looks like San Diego. The freeway getting to the hotel is in very nice condition, lots of landscaping. I mention it to Leila, and she tells me that Guangzhou is in the Guangdong province (a province is like a state here), which is the most affluent in all China. They were the first to have the open-door policy with the U.S., and a lot of people who live and travel in Hong Kong will invest in businesses in Guangzhou. We drive by A LOT of apartment buildings, which look nicer than Changchun, but still not the same as in the states. Everywhere you see laundry hanging in the windows or outside on the porch. (Most people have a washing machine, but no one owns a dryer. All laundry is hung to dry)

About 45 minutes after leaving the airport we pull up to the White Swan hotel. OH MY GOSH. I heard it was nice, and was the place where all the adoptive families stay, but I did not realize it was THIS NICE, or this big! It is located on Shamian Island, and as soon as you drive on to the Island, it is like Disneyland, when they do it up with lights. It’s so contradictory to the area we just left in the morning, that it’s almost funny. I kept expecting to see the Electric Light Parade with Mickey Mouse and Pete’s Dragon going by. I must have looked like a little kid turning around in circles to look at everything when we stepped into the hotel. I’ve heard it is very similar to Las Vegas hotels, except without the slot machines! :)

We go up to our room, and I’m not expecting a view at all, and I open up the curtains…We are on the 11th floor overlooking the Pearl River, the boats (which are lit up like they’re in a parade), and hotels and buildings which are all lit up across the river, and this laser sky show coming from both sides of the river. The sides of two huge hotels are like film screens that have a music coordinated light show on them. Kevin, Kate and I sat there like 3 little kids staring out our window, where you could see everything. My compliments to whoever made our room reservations. I wish the boys could see this. Actually, I wish you all could see this. It’s incredible. (We find out later we are the only ones in our group with this exquisite view…makes me appreciate it even more!)

The bed is a large futon, I think, and hard as a rock. I must have been exhausted because I slept like I hadn’t slept in weeks, and could have just slept all day, but no such luck. We need to be up and ready to go at 8:am. Uuugh. The next morning we meet the other families with their new little ones, and head to the photo place to get another photo of Kate…can’t remember why…Visa? (It’s all beginning to blur together) Anyway I lug her jacket and my heavy sweater, and find that I’m ready to melt like a cheap candle in my short sleeve shirt. No jacket needed here! Turns out that the photo place is literally a 2 minute walk from the hotel, inside a little store. On the walk there, you would almost swear you were in San Diego, at Balboa park. Balmy, lots of green shady trees, and cool looking old buildings. I put her on the stool to have her picture taken, but she wants no part of this and is leaning toward me. Someone shakes a rattle at her and she turns her head toward them…click!...that’s her visa picture. It came out pretty good, too!

Next off to the medical exam. It is another 3 or 4 minute walk away. They want the children checked before they leave the country and enter the U.S. We fill out a minimal piece of paper that asks if she’s been exposed to anyone with the creepin’ crud, and if she is a healthy or special needs child. Then they quickly, but kindly, examine her, fill out some papers in Chinese, and we show them her original medical check up that we brought from home. The nurse (doctor?) looks at Kate’s legs, squishes her chubby thigh, and laughs. “Very good for baby” The next “station” they weigh and measure her. (No one working here speaks more than a few words of English), and finally, they look in her ears and listen to her chest. We’re done. Visa photo…check, medical visit…check. Now it’s time for the squeaky shoes! More about that tomorrow! :)