Guangzhou

We arrived late last night in Guangzhou. Our travels were interesting and trying, neither of which we can blame on our newest daughter. Today, Hank and I can look at each other and laugh, but yesterday was a different story.

We met our guide about 3:00 pm to head to the airport for our 5:50 pm flight. We loaded up all of our luggage...six suitcases to be exact...and were off. When we got to the airport our guide helped us check in and check our luggage. One strange thing about in country flights here is that if you are over the weight limit of 44 pounds per ticketed passenger you have to go to a different counter to pay the overage fee. We, of course, were over that limit, so we went to pay and when the lady behind the counter saw my baby belly she went off in Chinese to our guide about it. We have no idea what she was saying (we didn't ask and our guide didn't offer to tell us), but she after a few minutes of jabbering our guide turned to me and said, "how many months pregnant you are?". I told her and whatever she followed up with settled the lady down and we were finally able to move on to security.

Saying good bye to Helen before going through security.

There, we ran into our next set of problems. First, they took Emalyn right out of my arms to pat me down after we'd already been scanned, which already upset us. Then, as they scanned our luggage they saw the liquid medicine in our bags and, through pieced English and hand signals, told us it would have to be checked. This all while Emalyn is whimpering, Adair has to use the potty and 20 Chinese people are standing, staring, pointing, laughing at and talking about Adair. The checking of the bag wasn't a big deal, but then they decided that the porcelain that was also in our bag couldn't be taken to check and I would have to carry it. Now, let me explain what I already had so that Hank could go back to check the other bag...Emalyn was in the stroller, Adair was walking with her backpack, I was pulling our other rolling suitcase and carrying a large tote bag. I would not and could not carry the porcelain. Besides that I didn't want us to have to carry a loose box of porcelain onto the plane with all of the other stuff we had and it didn't make sense to me that we couldn't check it. It was up to us if we wanted to risk it getting broken, right? Finally, after they saw my frustration they let it go and Hank went to check the bag, with the porcelain in it. I rush Adair to the bathroom and head to the gate. Next thing I know I see Hank coming, with the suitcase. He had found out guide and she had insisted it would cost too much to check the suitcase and told him he needed to go get Adair's tiny backpack to check the medicine in. I didn't like that idea one bit. First, because Adair was going to be upset without her backpack. Second, because it wasn't going to cost more than $20 to check the bag...a penny in the bucket at this point. And, third, because it seemed to me like a child size backpack was much more likely to get lost in the luggage compartment than our suitcase and we might really need that medicine. All that to say, Hank headed back with the same suitcase against the advice of our guide. Once that was finally worked out, it was almost time to board.

Emalyn's first flight.

The flight was extremely turbulent, no surprise because the clouds were really low and weather had been iffy, but this was the worse than any I'd ever experienced. Emalyn did great despite the rocky ride and Adair actually thought it was fun...I, on the other hand, was terrified.  When we finally landed, we were the last ones off of the plane (the Chinese people are not very good at waiting their turn), and after I took Adair to the bathroom we realized we didn't have the camera bag.  Hank ran right back to the plane and couldn't find it.  The flight attendants and cleaning crew were the only ones on board and all claimed they hadn't seen it.  We were shocked because it had been less than five minutes and, like I said, we were the last passengers off the plane.  We were sick over loosing the camera, but even more so the pictures that hadn't been downloaded and the fact that we would have to buy another camera to capture the rest of our trip.  We headed to baggage claim and hoped our guide might be able to help track it down at a "lost and found" or something.  We picked up our luggage (which had already been gathered and put on a cart thanks to two sweet families we had flown with from Nanchang) and found our guide, Aron. We told her what happened and she immediately went to work.  She is a total rock star!  She definitely saved the day!  She convinced them to find our camera and bring it to baggage claim.  So, after an hour of her pushing and us waiting we were reunited with our camera and memories. 

After that excitement we were taken to the Garden Hotel, which has become our home for the next several days.  It is a beautiful hotel right in the middle of the city.  The inside is elaborate and adorned with fresh flowers.  And our room is wonderful with two rooms separated by a door...much more conducive to nap time and bed time.  We settled in a bit and headed straight to bed.  Emalyn amazed me!  She went right to sleep and slept great all night.  She woke up happy and smiling this morning, too!

Our little angel hasn't skipped a beat yet.  She is learning to trust us and seems happy and relieved when she wakes up and sees our faces.  We are so proud of her and so, so, so very thankful she is ours!

This morning , after breakfast with waffles and syrup (Adair's favorite), we had her Visa picture taken and she had her medical exam.  I really think the medical exam was more scary and upsetting to her than any other event...other than gotcha day and the adoption day pictures.  At the clinic, they weighed and measured her, checked her ears and throat, and listened to her heart and lungs.  She weighs 21.6 pounds and is 30.7" tall.  Thankfully, she didn't have to have any shots or the TB test, which I am sure would have added greatly to the trauma.  Immediately after we finished and she was back in my arms, she calmed down.  She dug around in our bag enough to find a banana that Hank had grabbed after breakfast and ate the entire thing, right out of the peeling like a big girl.  It was adorable to watch!

Entrance to the clinic: Examination Room for Adopted Children

Mommy, Emalyn and Adair waiting for Emalyn's check up...Adair's question, "how will they know not to check me out?"  Our answer..."Sweetie, you're not Chinese."  :-)

Sitting to be weighed after she refused to stand on the scale and kept jumping

off into my arms. Not a fan of being put down in a strange place. 

Definitely a good sign for attachment, but I hate seeing her cry!

Finding her length and temperature...still screaming.

(You can't see me in this picture, but I am holding her hand.)

Getting her ears checked.  Not quite as scary in Mommy's lap.

Calming down after finishing.

Enjoying a banana right out of the peeling.  This was the first time for us to see this,

but she was a pro, so I am sure she had had a banana before.

Once back at the hotel, we filled out a little paperwork with Aron and she gathered some of our official documents, we Face Timed with my parents and then we walked around the block to grab lunch at a restaurant Aron had recommended.  It was delicious and I was quite proud of Hank for choosing, ordering and paying when no one in the restaurant spoke a bit of English.  We had spring rolls, fried eggplant and a pork dish with vermicelli.  Adair wasn't super fond of the food, but Emalyn loved it.  She gobbled up noodles, eggplant and a spring roll and was covered with food by the end of our meal, but very happy. 

Enjoying our first lunch that we managed outside of our hotel by ourselves.

This picture doesn't do it justice, but she was covered in noodles.

After lunch we went back to the hotel for nap time.  Nap time continues to be more difficult for her than night time.  She went down pretty easily, but woke up 30 minutes later whimpering.  After I held her for a while and put her back down she was good, but when she woke up she was sad and still whimpering.  I know napping will get easier as she continues to learn that she can trust us, that we aren't going anywhere and that we are going to love her whether she's happy, sad, angry, silly.

Tonight we walked around the corner to a Mexican restaurant.  I have to say, I was skeptical, but we just wanted something different from all the fried rice and noodles.  It was really good.  Hank, Adair and I loved it.  Emalyn, on the other hand, was not a fan.  She tasted everything on our table and spit it all out, with the exception of a chip and the apple that we brought with us.  Over dinner we kept telling her, she would eventually learn to like Mexican food because we make a weekly trip to Mr. Carlos's (LaBamba) restaurant near our house.  On the way home we stopped and picked up some fried rice and she ate three plates full.  She was very feisty over dinner and as we walked.  I told Hank that I think that is her hungry personality.  I really hope we can find some new things she likes soon after getting home.  I think she will do well with vegetables and fruit and I can always make eggs and rice, but I look forward to seeing what "American" and "Southern" foods she takes to first.  She definitely likes strong flavors, so I may have to up my spice collection to satisfy her...quite the opposite of most children her age who typically like bland foods.

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We'll it is actually morning here now.  I started this post last night and couldn't stay awake to finish adding pictures and get it posted.  We had a good night.  The girls and Hank are still snoozing.  Today we are going shopping with our guide.  The two places I am most looking forward to are the jade market and pearl market.  I am also excited to get some traditional Chinese dresses for the girls.  Adair has already requested purple.  I think I made Hank a little nervous yesterday when I asked our guide how much money we should have exchanged for the shopping trip...and I think he got more nervous when she said that the pearl market would take a credit card.  Hopefully we will find some good deals and sweet keepsakes from our trip.

It is Sunday here and we are excited that we can now say we will be home THIS week!  In two short nights we will take a van to Hong Kong, spend the night and fly home the next morning!  We are loving Guangzhou so far...it is very Western friendly, easy to navigate, many people here speak English, and the food is great...but, we can't wait to touch ground in Alabama!

Thank you for "praying us home" as one friend said in an email yesterday!  We feel your prayers and they are being answered in more ways than we can count.  God is so good and He is here!  You're encouragement through email, blog comments and texts are helping to sustain us.  Know that God is using you to work in our lives and in the life of a precious little girl who is an orphan no more!  We love you all!

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