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8.21.2001
8.22.2001 REFERRAL! 8.23.2001 New Pictures 8.24. 2001 To Austin! 8.27.2001The Other Jin Yi Ling 8.30.2001 Care Package 8.31.2001 Update! 9.06.2001 Travel approval 9.10.2001 Poem 9.11.2001 9.12.2001 Travel booked 9.26.2001 Itinerary 10.03.2001 Departure Day 10.05.2001 Hong Kong 10.07.2001 HK Day 2 10.07.2001 Nanning 10.08.2001 GOTCHA DAY! 10.09.2001 It's official! 10.10.2001 Tourist time 10.11.2001 Green Mountain Park 10.12.2001 Market 10.13.2004 Last Day in Nanning 10.15.2001 Visa Day 10.17.2001 Last Day! 10.19.2001 We're Home! |
Hello from sunny Guangzhou! And it is sunny today! We left for Guangzou from Nanning on Sunday, (was that only yesterday?!) and had a short, good flight, other than being packed in like sardines. I'm sure the Chinese people see us sitting in the seats, and as they walk down the aisle, they pray they won't be sitting next to us! Not only are we JUST a tad larger than the typical Chinese, we have a potential screaming-meemie to sit next to them! Zoe behaved well, only crying after we landed,because she wanted off the plane. The Chinese people in the seats behind us were nice enough to play peekaboo with Zoe to distract her for most of the flight. We arrived at the Guangzhou Airport, and then had to wait for families flying in from other provinces. It was nice to meet these other members of our DTC group. But we all had so much luggage, our guide had to scramble to get another bus to transport the luggage! We stayed in Guangzhou long enough to get the babies' visa photos done, and then we took a long bus ride to our hotel. Most of the time, families coming to Guangzhou to complete the adoption process stay at the White Swan Hotel. Not only is it a very nice hotel, but it is right on Shamian Island, which is where everything is that's related to finishing the adoption -- the medical clinic, the U.S. Consulate, etc. And the White Swan really caters to adoptive families, including having a fully decked-out play room, courtesy of Mattel! But because we were traveling during the annual October Trade Fair, we weren't able to stay on Shamian Island. So off we go to the resort town of CongHua, famous for a hot springs. Hot springs water was pumped into our bathroom! That part was kind of nice. I took a WONDERFUL bath, with steaming-hot water up to my chin. Ahhhh! And we had the best meal I'd had in China at the resort restaurant. Zoe loved the steamed eggs. I thought she'd eat until she'd pop! I hope I can find the recipe somewhere. The downside was that we were on the fourth floor and there were no elevators! Not a huge tragedy, except that we had WAY too much luggage to cart up 3 flights of stairs! And the only people they had to help us were these teeny-tiny Asian ladies. It was funny and sad to see them, two at a time, try to hoist one huge suitcase up the stairs! And when we got up the stairs, we discovered no cribs for the babies! Oh, well, in early days of China adoption, adoptive families had to deal with that all the time. We made a pallet on the floor for Zoe, and she slept great! I lost her one time, though, when she managed to roll herself under the floor-to-ceiling curtains! But then, surprise, surprise, some rooms came open at the White Swan! Apparently, there were rooms available at the White Swan because so many people who would ordinarily attend the trade fair stayed away in the wake of the fears generated by 9/11. Not only have we gotten a room at the White Swan, we won't have to deal with the terrible crowds the trade fair is usually famous for. And the White Swan is lovely -- here's a picture of the lobby, with its indoor waterfall. Getting Zoe's visa was really easy. Today was the first day the US Consulate used a new procedure for approving visas. Instead of having to go to the Consulate and wait for hours to be interviewed and have our documents reviewed, our guide, Vicky, took our documents over to be reviewed, and then we showed up at 4:00, and all of us in a big room swore that everything in the paperwork was true and correct, and we were done! It was much nicer waiting in the White Swan play room while our guides did all the work at the consulate! |