Our hotel, The White Swan, is a nice one. Our room is on the 13th floor with a beautiful view of the Pearl River. The breakfast buffet looked great, but due to lack of time and the need to feed Bennett and April first, we did not get to eat much ourselves. The place is a maze and I had to refer to the map to find my way back to an ATM I saw last night. The hotel even has different lobbies (on 2 different floors) for individuals and tours to check in. The Swan does have the standard hard beds we have seen. It is like you are sleeping on 2 box springs or a board.
Today we met the rest of our travel group in Guangzhou - 4 families from the U.S.. 1 is an ethnic Chinese family doing a regular adoption (NSN for those familiar with the acronyms) and the other 3 are adopting waiting children. April is the oldest by about 2 years. It is great to talk and share experiences with other families at the same stage in the process. 3 of the familes are adopting under grandfather i-600 and one is under the new i-800 (i.e. 1 family is adopting under the new rules/processes under the Hague Adoption rules).
After getting pictures of the kids for their U.S. visas (or their Chinese medicals or both?) we were off to do the medicals for the U.S. embassy. April, as usual, charmed the pants off the different medical staff she saw. Everything went well. We get the report on Monday in a sealed envelope for the U.S. consulate, when we visit to get the skin TB test read.
This afternoon Lisa took Bennett to the pool while Daddy unsuccessfully tried to get a very tired April to nap. After the pool Daddy was left with 2 kids not on their behavior while Mommy was off to do the remaining U.S. forms with our guide and the other families. Mommy returned 2+ hours later to find everyone sound asleep.
For dinner we ventured out to the famous Thai restaurant on the island - Cow on the Bridge or something like that. It was good, but not that great. Plus, it is disappointing to be back in the land of higher priced restaurants. It will be a lot easier to eat while we are here, but more expensive and likely not as rewarding as Beijing and Nanjing could be at times.
Nothing special to highlight about today. The medical clinic was loud and busy. Bennett enjoyed the newly married couples getting photographed as we walked around today.
Bennett is getting smarter about how to get Mommy to stay in bed. When he goes to sleep in the hotel or takes a nap with her, she is not allowed to lie on top of the sheets and she has to change into her PJs. This pretty much guarantees he will not wake up by himself.
It was nice to run into some adoptive families we know from Nanjing and an adoptive family we met on the plane from Newark to Beijing.
Also, we are working to arrange to get a copy of the video the TV cameras took when we visited the Xuzhou orphanage.
Not a bad day it sounds like! We stayed at the victory - not the swan - and liked that just fine as well. But now you are getting to the home stretch - and it won't be long now til home!
ReplyDeleteBlessings - and don't forget a burger at Lucy's!
hugs - aus and co.
Glad you made it to GZ safely. Sounds like April and Bennett are doing very well and your last leg of the trip is off to a great start. Looking forward to hearing more soon in upcoming posts!
ReplyDeleteJust read Bennett's email. Looks like he is ready to come home. We are honored to be on his "missing list". Hope all is well and will see you soon.
ReplyDeleteJohn and Esty