We woke up super early to pack up and leave our hotel to travel to Guangzhou, where the US consulate is and where all adoptions are finalized. We had to stop and pickup some paperwork on the way form the notaries office. Most of the time we spend in China is actually spent waiting. We went to the notary on Monday, but had to wait until Friday for the paperwork to be done.
For all that we had moments of being frustrated with our guide this week, she made up for it today. We had a quick turn around with the notary, and our guide and called ahead to make sure it would be ready so we could catch our plane. Upon arrival Chris noticed the picture was not our daughter. She started in on them and have it redone correctly in less than 30 minutes to make our plane.
When we arrived at the airport they wanted to stop her cart of our luggage to search it. Some fast talking had that bypassed. Then at check on our baggage was overweight, but she got us out of those fees as well.
We managed to get through security and to our gate fairly uneventfully. Then we had to take a bus to get to our plane to walk up stairs and enter, Our daughters independence shows itself more and more each day. Imagine taking a very independent, opinionated toddler who you can’t communicate with onto an airplane where there are different rules and no one speaks your language. And who doesn’t like to be restrained. Thankfully shortly after takeoff she fell asleep on me, but those first 30 minutes or so were brutal. Then when we were preparing for descent and the stewardess made me wake her to buckle her up, I almost throat punched her.
Before we even left, everyone kept saying being in province was the hardest part, but everything got better once you got to Guangzhou (GZ), and to the Garden hotel…it was like this mythical magical land adoptive parents talked about.
Shortly after landing, we began to understand why.
Those are just a few of our room views. Plus we were greeted by this:
Not to mention. It’s surrounded by a ton of great shops and restaurants. Having to go out for every meal gets old after about 3 days, so having lots of close options is HUGE! One of the restaurants we’d heard lots about was the noodle restaurant, that hand makes noodles. It was everything we’d heard it would be!!!
One of my favorite parts is the Internet! It’s been taking me about 10 minutes to upload one picture, and even longer for video…thus the lack of them in posts. I uploaded 11 photos in the time I took me to do 1 today! SO great!
We walked back to our hotel after dinner and stopped by 7/11 to pick up some water (since you can’t drink it in China). While waiting for Chris outside with the girls, I was laughing about the Chinese version of on the go snacks…corn on the cob!
It really is such a relief to be here. We are looking to seeing our friends in the morning again, too! Tomorrow Naomi has a medical appointment, which will be tough as it takes a long time, and she has to do a TB test which won’t feel good and we aren’t allowed to go in with her. Considering she’s gone through so much without us there, I’m none too pleased about the fact that her very first “ouch” with us, we can’t hold her for. We will be prepared with lots of snacks, but I imagine it will be a draining morning.
Katie your girls are awesome. When I saw the videos I was overwhelmed. I believe that God has certainly chosen the right little one for the right family. I am so proud of you and your family. You are very special people. I love you very much and will continue to pray for you all every day.