Rosa's by the River

Last night we went with Tom and Amy to Rosa's by the river. It was a lovely setting for a pretty decent meal. Their daughter is Sage and initially she wasn't too sure about Abby sitting next to her but before long she was feeding Abby her little Gerber puffs. It was too cute. They are both adorable little girls.

We were there for a long time because in China they bring you each dish when it's ready - meaning if one thing cooks fast and another takes longer you get it when it's ready. So I'm thinking it was at least 1/2 hr. between the time they brought the first dish until they finally brought the last. That doesn't include the 1/2 hr. we waited for them to take our order. Kind of funny.

We were glad we went there because there was a fun music and light show on the river so at least we enjoyed the wait for our food.

Squatty Potty, Pearl Market

Wednesday we visited the Chen Academy. It was built by many many members of the Chen family to honor their ancestors. At one time it was a residence but now it houses a museum of local arts and crafts. It was beautiful but I had to attach the above photo. It is a "sqatty potty". No instructions necessary. I'd been told about these and we have therefore avoided bathrooms in public places but our friend Tom showed us this one. Tom is compiling a photo tour of China's squatty potties. He has perhaps 50 photos and they really are not all alike. This is a pretty average one.



This is a famous ivory carving that was at the museum. It is a big ball with 43 (I think) smaller balls inside. It is intricately carved and each layer has it's own designs including a small ball in the middle. They had some unbelievable ivory, bone and jade carvings.


This is one of those teeny paintings on a grain of rice. You have to look through the microscope to see it. Who has that kind of patience??


Our guide Michael took us to the Pearl and Jade markets today. This is one of the shops in the pearl market - there were many many stores with many many shelves packed full of many many bags of pearls. The prices were OK but still not like the ones we got with our friend in Beijing. The jade market was WAY overpriced, like little teeny necklaces for $500 - needless to say none of us bought anything there.



This is Shawn and Tom shopping for Rolex watches with our "friend" Linda. This is the "Lucky House" where we bought quite a bit of junk. We decided a good strategy for shopping here is to make some acquaintances with store owners and then buy many items in one store. That way you can usually get to the best price. For example tonight we were buying a little toy for the boys - Linda said she was out but she would sell them to us tomorrow for 5 yuan. We had to leave so we checked another store who told us they were 20 yuan. So we told them she would sell them to us for 5 yuan and started to walk away and presto - they told us they'd sell them for 5. It is kind of exhasting to compare prices and bargain but you can save some money if you're up for it.

Dr. Visit & Pearl River Cruise

I've gotten a little behind since this area is so accessible and easy to walk around we've spent much less time in the hotel room. We're heading out for our last shopping afternoon but here is a quick entry.

Abby's Dr. visit when we got here on Tuesday - I think I wrote a little about it but it was pretty quick - maybe 10 minutes. She was rather angry at the nurse who looked in her ears.

On Wednesday evening we went on a Pearl River Cruise. It was a river ferry, dinner cruise. The two bottom levels were filled with nicely set tables (ok - nice linens wtih paper plates) and then there was an upper level to wander around and see the surrounding area.

We sat with our new friends - Tom and Amy from Maryland - who used the same agency as us to adopt their little girl. She was from a different province so we just met them here in Guangzhou. It was so much fun to hang out with them for a couple of days - I had been feeling a little ripped off that we weren't traveling with any other families in Changsha and now I know I was right. Although I suppose it might not have been as fun with just any family we had a great time with them and we laughed a lot.

The photo I attached is everyone racing for the buffet. The only thing I liked on the whole table was tofu in something and some cake that tasted Sara Lee-ish. There aren't many social rules about waiting your turn or standing in line here - it's kind of a survival of the fittest in traffic, airplanes, elevators, etc. Actually when we landed here and the airplane stopped there were people who went running to the front to get out first - we just chuckled. This dinner was kind of like that. I'll post more Pearl River photos later.

Adoption is Final!!

Today was a great day! Our adoption is final, Abby is officially a US citizen and we can go home now, but we couldn't get a flight until Saturday so we have one more day to support the local economy.

We went to the US Consulate and they herded us into a big room (no cameras allowed). There were 60 babies, 150 plus parents, grandparents, aunts, siblings, etc. and probably 1 dozen guides. Pretty incredible to see all of the babies/chldren with all of the families. Apparently they can process 60 adoption visas per day so they have a swearing-in ceremony like ours 4 times a week. He said last year there 5,000 Chinese babies adopted by Americans, the peak was 7,000 3 yrs. ago.

They had us all wait in line and a lady looked at our passport pictures to make sure it was the right parents getting the right baby. Then we all sang Happy Birthday in Chinese to one of the babies, then we all stood and raised our right arm to swear that everything in all of our paperwork was accurate to the best of our knowledge. We were given her passport and visa and a big brown envelope that we have been told NOT to open and we must give it to the immigration officer at our port of entry.

Whew!!!

Strolling in Guangzhou

Today Abby would not take a nap so we decided to try a ride in the stroller - her first ever I would imagine. The sidewalks here are actually stroller friendly and the stores even have ramps, unlike anywhere else we've been.
The area near the hotel where we are staying is quite charming. Little tree-lined walkways between the buildings which house shops full of touristy-type items and oodles of salespeople trying to entice people to come inside, "lady, come into my shop, you need some baby dresses?" They literally turn off the lights and sit outside and wait until a customer comes and then they run in and turn on the lights when you walk in. Since the adoption traffic has slowed down so much in the past few years business appears to be struggling a bit.
Throughout this area they have these adorable statues like the one above, cute kids doing various things. There is one of a little boy mailing a letter, a few small children following a lady playing a violin, and then there are others like photographers taking photos and what is up with this?? An non-Chinese looking couple, Dad taking photos, chubby Mom pushing the stroller, baby wearing souvenir Chinese necklace??? I won't take offense - but there is one right next to this one with a really chubby lady in a bathing suit and her dog. I might have to take offense if they're saying that is what we look like in bathing suits. ha ha
We stopped for lunch at the cafe outside the White Swan hotel. First 5 star hotel in China according to our guide. Many adoptive families stay at this hotel. Notice the guy in the background. He was a sweet little old man sifting through the garbage collecting every conceivable item - used and unused plastic silverware, napkins, plastic cups and bowls, you name it. He took my untouched soup (looked like muddy water with chicken parts in it) and set it down next to the garbage can. I even saw him take a receipt off of a tray and put it in his pocket. Sometimes it is easy to forget how good we have it until we see someone else who doesn't.









Our nap strategy worked!!!

Are you my mother??

I decided I was tired of people asking me if she was a boy or a girl so today there should be no question (thanks Aunt Mabel for the dress and Marilee for the headband - and Hannah for handing them down). But sure enough a lady on the elevator (after Abby had pulled off the headband) said "boy or girl" actually she really said "boy and girl" but we knew what she meant. Is it that hard to tell??



We are happily in Guangzhou today. After the abrupt entry late last night we had a good rest and woke up to a place really different from Changsha. We took Abby to get her Visa photos and then to the medical clinic where they examine all adopted babies for immigration purposes, making sure they don't have any contagious diseases, etc. We found out that she weighs, fully clothed, a whopping 15 pounds. That puts her just under the 25% on the Chinese growth chart and not even on the US chart. She doesn't look malnourished though - her skin is good, she has a little fat on her teeny tiny bones and you can even see some muscles in her arms and legs. She is extremely alert and many people have commented about how "smart" she is - she studies faces and knows who is a stranger. Until just today anytime we were holding her if she was facing out she would turn around and look every little bit just to check our faces. The first few days she would look at us and cry - which broke my heart but she doesn't do that anymore. She doesn't like to be held facing in which we are working on - tonight I tricked her by having a toothbrush in my mouth and she was so fascinated she forgot to push away so I'd have to hold her facing out. I'm sure it will come with time.

We spent some time walking around this little place called Shaiman Island. All of the American families who adopt babies from China have to come to this place because they have to go to the American Consulate to get their baby's Visa. Thus, the shops, hotels, and restaurants all cater to adoptive families. There are many many shops within walking distance with good prices - we didn't buy anything today I just needed to have the overview and then divide and conquer. Oh, if only I had a larger luggage allowance and more money I could really spend some cash here.

Three other great things about Guangzhou:

one, the sidewalks are really only for pedestrians. In Changsha I felt like I was always watching my back because there are bikes, mopeds and cars always driving on the sidewalks. They have big walkways which double as access roads to parking spaces for the cars, etc. but it is totally unnerving to be walking on the sidewalk and have a scooter or car come up behind and honk at you to move - or worse to sail past rather quickly and much too close.

two, we've been to 2 restaurants already that have menus in English and have "normal" food. We went to a Thai restaurant tonight and it was quite tasty. I love to try the local cuisine but some of it was too adventurous (read stomach churning) for me.

third, there are tons of adoptive families roaming around this place. We've been here one day and I've seen some people we met on the airplane to Beijing, people we met in Changsha, and lots of others. The most fabulous thing is that they all have these little Chinese babies (although I haven't seen any as little as ours), and children - even up to 10 years old. It is sad to know that they are all going through varying degrees of trauma as they adjust to their new families but it is so thrilling to know that they have families! It makes me teary to see a sweet little child who has spent their life in an orphanage have 1 to 3 or more doting adults - parents, grandparents, aunts, whoever. It is heart warming to think that they are seeing the same faces every morning when they wake up and having the same people to love and care for them. And although leaving the culture of their birth is sad it is infinitely happier to think of having a family.



And in the midst of all of these children how did we get the child that is just right for us??? in all honesty we really do know how and will be forever grateful since we know Who is ultimately in charge of this process. We are humbled and so grateful to the Father of us all who has seen fit to allow another beautiful little spirit into our family along with the 4 that we already completely adore. We're falling in love with her more every day and it is hard to believe it has only been 1 week since she has been with us. The miracle of adoption.

Earthquake and Frogs

You've probably heard plenty about the earthquake, but here's one follow up. Our guide worried aloud to us that the government should have predicted the earthquakes better. We told her that it is impossible to reliably predict earthquakes and the only thing you could do is prepare. That led into a discussion about 72-hour kits that we have and she thought the kits were an excellent idea (she phoned her mother to be prepared). Anyway, apparently there is some earthquake prediction by watching animals, as stated here: http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20080513-toads-predict-earthquake-dead-china . There were thousands of frogs moving in an area near the earthquake in the days before it happened.