AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
12/4: We left Changsha very early this morning and as a result we had to break one of the cardinal rules: never wake a sleeping baby! As a result, although Eleanor did really well on her first plane trip, she has been a bit fussy all day. All of the girls did very well and I think for us, the key will be keeping Eleanor entertained as she is very curious and active. Many of the girls slept the entire plane ride -- but not Eleanor! Oh how we wish we could have upgraded to Business Class for the trip home! We may look into buying her a seat as she seems to do very well sitting and amusing herself with a few toys. Today on the flight from Changsha, the toy of choice was the air sickness bag or as the Chinese call it the "clean bag."
What was most amazing about our trip here is that we thought we had off-loaded a lot of our luggage contents in Changsha because we had all the gifts for the orphanage. And yet, when you add a baby to your carry-on luggage, it changes everything (I know my parent friends are all smiling smugly)! I will say this -- we have yet to be late to anything and are often one of the first ones at the designated meeting spot. Anyway, Rich and I alternated being the carry-on pack mule -- that was probably the part that made the trip home seem most daunting -- lugging all this stuff!
We are now in Guangzhou which is a completely different world. It is China meets Southern Florida (without the old people) meets New Orleans. Lots of European architecture, lots of brightly painted buildings and palm trees! Yesterday it was 81 degrees here but today it is only 65. Still it is very pleasant and we can certainly walk around without being bundled up. We have been so fortunate with the weather this entire trip. We are staying at the White Swan hotel which is a very luxurious 5 star hotel where most Americans who are adopting stay. It is also where Queen Elizabeth, Nixon and George Bush the First stayed. But before you get jealous -- we still cannot drink the water -- crazy isn't it!? The reason most Americans adopting stay here is that the U.S. Consulate used to be next door. The reason we are here in Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) is to get Eleanor's visa and U.S. paperwork completed so that when she lands in Chicago, she will be a U.S. citizen.
Unfortunately, about 5 months ago, the U.S. Consulate moved its offices and they are no longer right here, but the White Swan has become a part of the adoption culture and so we all chose to stay here. In fact, there is a red couch in the lobby and if you know any Americans that have adopted from China and you talk about the red couch at the White Swan they will know exactly what you mean -- it is tradition to have a group photos of the girls all sitting together on the couch. I have no doubt that you will all see one soon! The hotel is actually on Shamian Island which as you can see from the pictures has boulevards and lots of beautiful walking areas. There is also store after store after store that cater to the adoption community -- and as one dad put it: it looks like we'll be emptying out the 401k now!
After being such a novelty in Changsha, it is very strange to be here where everywhere we look we see other couples with their Chinese daughters. In fact, the first thing I heard when walking into the White Swan -- a thick Southern accent! Guangzhou has about 5 million people, but right now, they all seem to be adoptive families!
As we plan our assault on all the Consulate paperwork and the stores of Shamian Island, Eleanor is finally taking a nap! Rich is very excited to get out and wander around as it is beautiful here and he was quite disappointed in our stay in Changsha in that he felt that we did not get to really experience Changsha.
Tomorrow we have to get Eleanor's U.S. passport pictures taken and have her consulate medical exam - should be interesting!
|
