Saturday in Guangzhou

 We are in the city of Guangzhou. It's really really big. China's second largest city, with about 17 million people. 

We said goodbye on Friday afternoon to George at the Taiyuann airport...

And boarded the plane, a Boeing 737, for a 3 hour flight south to Guangzhou...

Anna sat between Michelle and Joel...

And was DFC before takeoff, stayed that way for the entire flight. Fantastic!

Tyler and Dylan kept busy reading and playing on the iPad the whole flight.

Fried rice, a sweet bun and diced cantaloupe delivered to us with a spork really hit the spot...

Safely arrived in Guangzhou !

We are really enjoying the company of Wendy fix on this trip. 

We were met right on cue by Jocelyn, our CCAI rep for this final leg of the journey, hopped aboard a shuttle bus and were transported directly through rush hour traffic to the front door of the China Hotel...

Big city, lots of construction and new high rises going up. Traffic was fast and very organized in comparison to Beijing and Taiyuann. No mopeds nor scooters are allowed here and honking your horn carries a potential fine of 200RMB or sixty bucks! So it's way more quiet!

Anna in the back seat of the bus. She got car sick again, and had to make use of the bag, unfortunately. Next time we'll sit closer to the front! 

It's a nice clean spacious set of rooms with a cheater door between them, which is very convenient 

On the way home from dinner, a dazzling grin from a little lady

This is Saturday morning... Michelle and I were taken to a clinic for Anna's medical appointment. It was on the fifth floor of a high rise building downtown. This is required by the U.S. consulate as part of her immigration and visa to the USA. Our host, Jocelyn, warned us that there would be many other American adoptive families there at the same time, about 30 to 40 parties would likely be there. We haven't seen any other Americans since we were in Beijing 

 

A quick visa photo before the dreaded medical exam on the fifth floor which includes a needle blood draw 

It was packed, but it also felt strangely assuring to be here with all these other adoptive parents from the US who are doing the same thing as us. We had Anna's full immunization records and her medical records from the orphanage... Four separate appointments, all in quick succession. 

First, height, weight and temperature, and Anna resisted the ear probe. Some tears and fighting back here, and she was very upset (and we hadn't even got to the blood draw needle yet) get that thing out of my ear! And who are you by the way?

 

She did NOT appreciate the man in the mask. About a 3 minute appointment 

Third appointment (that is our host Jocelyn BTW) 

He took Anna's clothes off and closely examined her back especially her Nevus birthmark. 

The final appointment was the dreaded blood draw to test her for tuberculosis . We were not allowed to accompany her. Two Chinese lady nurses took her, closed the frosted glass door, and we sat on pins and needles waiting for the 4 minutes to be done. We could hear her hollering. Michelle was quietly crying in the waiting area. You are powerless to do anything, and you know it's for her good, but you feel like you are breaking her trust and putting her through another traumatic experience. This, too, shall pass...

She did great! She had a power snooze with Bredenhof back at the hotel and survived the experience like a champ!

We treated ourselves and Pauline to a Starbucks coffee upon returning to the hotel. Our dear sister Pauline stayed behind at the hotel entertaining our sons while Michelle, Anna and I went to our medical appointment 

Took the boys to the pool

Dylan couldn't get enough: it's hot here

Anna and Michelle and Pauline came for a visit.. So many firsts for Anna: has she ever been to a pool? Who knows?

It was about 32C / 85F so perfect for a dip. The vegetation and weather here is subtropic and reminds me very much of Hawaii...

Time to hit a McDonalds! Yes, a true authentically Asian dining experience! 

I'm about 75% certain that these were actually CHICKEN nuggets...

It was surprisingly difficult to order but we butchered our way through it... Even the Happy Meal contains the same cheap toys that are made in... You guessed it!

Note the green tinge of the ice cream in Joel's sundae: green tea ice cream!!

En route to a city park, Pauline was curious to check out a 7-11 to see if they sold any suitable grocery necessities . This picture is taken in a pedestrian tunnel that crosses below the busy street in front of our hotel. Like in a subway, you take an escalator down to a subterranean world that branches off in several wings, but contains a labyrinth of tunnels and walkways to subways, underground shopping areas and escalators to the street level.

Entered the gorgeous city park, one of several within walking distance of our hotel. A tropical version of Stanley Park, lots of waterfalls, walking paths, a man made lagoon, Zen gardens, public lawn bowling fields, ping pong courts, and amusement park rides. Warm, muggy, tropical and swassy, but lots of natural beauty! And some man-made beauty, too

Feeding the huge goldfish, but I can't recall the name of those things: you see them in Japanese gardens and they have gaping round mouths that actually go out of the water as they scavenge for handouts. Anyway, Dylan and Tyler were on their hands and knees picking up scraps of bread and bird seed that others had dropped, and were dropping those down to these fish. Koi!! That's what they were! 

Hey! I recognized this couple from seeing them at the medical exam appointment this morning. They are from North Carolina and adopted this beautiful little dude...

Dylan caught a gorgeous tropical butterfly...

The loud whirring and clicking of cicadas is ever present, and sounds like the jungle!

This toilets sign assures visitors of its excellence. I went. It was FAN TAS TIC!

Bathroom etiquette sign posted at entry way

Stunning rock gardens everywhere!!

These young people asked to pose with us...and the Confuscious statue...

At the bottom of a well... in China... I have never experienced this...

The pictures started to get tacky...

And even tackier... Dylan called this an awesome rooster horse. I'd never seen one before... A Tim Hortons or Starbucks coffee on me to anyone who has ever posed with one of these before... Hahaha

Needless to say, all of us be-hawed in the most civilized way possible! 

The Chinese signs offer JUST enough to communicate the message, and often do so in a humorous way. To their credit, I have to remind myself that THIS English is still far better than our best Mandarin

Back to the hotel!!

Anna was still snoozing by the time we got back around 4:30 P.M.

It was a great day!!

We look forward to a quiet day of rest tomorrow! The Lord has richly blessed, guided, and protected us on this trip so far... We are within sight of our last, major appointment at the US consulate on the 22nd! 

A blessed day of rest to all of you back home in BC, Washington, Tasmania, Alberta and Ontario!  Love, the Vandriels