Arrived Safely to Guangzhou

We left Changsha at 3:00 PM and arrived an hour later in Guangzhou. We drove to the White Swan Hotel which is very well known by the Chinese Adoption Community. Most of the families stay at the White Swan while they await their US Consulate Appointment which will finalize our adoption process for Rachel. Rachel did very well on her first airplane ride. She got a little fussy in the middle because she was hungry. Our flights home will be the true test for Rachel!

Rachel's schedule was completely messed up yesterday. She didn't get any of her full naps and by last night, Dave and I were given our true first test. Rachel screamed non-stop for 45 minutes when we tried to put her down for bed. I was already tired and extremely irritable (ask Dave!) and now our baby was screaming her head off. I guess the change in environment, a new crib (you should see the bedding-so old and absolutely no padding), and a lack of sleep just put her over the edge. After about 45 minutes, Dave took her for a walk for about 15 minutes through the hotel. She came back smiling and waving hello, which we just found out she could do! Before putting her back in the crib, I called housekeeping to see if they had any other bedding for the crib. I basically took a down comforter and folded it and put it in the crib. Talk about comfy cozy! LOL! We put Rachel back in bed and she screamed for about 10 minutes and finally feel back to sleep. I thought maybe she may be teething too so we gave her a tad bit of Tylenol. It's so hard when they are crying like that and you don't know her enough yet to know what those cries mean. Broke my heart! Today was a very pleasant day for her and she went down without a hitch!

The White Swan is located on a small island along the Pearl River. It's pretty cool because it's like we are in a little city. Lots of shops and restaurants. We ate at place called Lucy's Cafe and Grill which is mostly western style food. Well, what we consider western style and what China considers western style is two different things! They do try though! LOL. Dave and Jake had burgers with french fries. It must have not been too bad because Dave ate it. I guess when you are hungry enough, you will eat almost anything that resembles a hamburger. I ate sweet and sour chicken which was delicious! I would get that again. It resembled the sweet and sour chicken we would get at home. My father in-law had southern style fried chicken. LOL. They basically were chicken fingers, but the shape didn't resemble anything we were familiar with. He ate it, but he eats pretty much anything. My father in-law will try anything once!

Jake wasn't feeling well today. He ate quite a bit for breakfast had no lunch except for some pringles. He was complaining about his belly bothering him. Our entire group went to a Thai Restaurant and Jake pretty much sat with his head down. He finally went to the bathroom and got sick. He was a new person after that! LOL. The bathrooms were basically located in an alley behind the restaurant. That was an experience! I have yet had to use a squatty potty! Thank God. I've been lucky to find a western toilet whenever I've needed to go. If I had to go, I waited till I could use a western style toilet! LOL. Oh, and before you do go, you must make sure there is toilet paper! Most toilets don't have toilet paper! Ewwwwww! Thank God we brought some along with us. I have yet to figure out how a woman uses a squatty potty!

Dave spent about an hour and half this afternoon working on paperwork with our facilitator, Helen. She walked everyone through each piece of paper that needed to be completed. We are preparing for Rachel's visa. The next step is tomorrow where we have an appointment for a physical examination for Rachel. Tuesday, Helen will take all the documents to the US Consulate and Wednesday will be will go and take an oath and we will receive her visa. We come home on Thursday! I'm so ready to come home!

One of the biggest things I've been looking forward to is buying Rachel squeaky shoes which is very well known in Guangzhou. They are shoes that squeak when the baby walks! So far I've bought her two pairs! They are so cheap! I was told of another store on the island that has a very large selection of squeaky shoes. I will be going there tomorrow hopefully! The hotel gave each adopting family a Barbi Doll which is a mother with an Chinese Baby. How cute! This will be a great keepsake for Rachel.

Oh well, my eyes are getting heavy. I'm ready for bed! Hopefully you enjoy the photos!

Love to all!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)