Leave Nanchang and off to Guangzhou

Monday, October 19, 2009

Today was a travel day. We got up early and talked to everyone back home (gotta love Skype!) and then headed down for breakfast. Once again Lea ate everything we offered her. She loves hard-boiled eggs. She ate two of them with her breakfast this morning. Well, the white part. The yolk, not so much. She spit that back out in my hand and then Randy gaged. Good grief!

 

After breakfast, we went back up to the room and Randy & Lea played with her toys while I packed our bags. Lea and Randy took a short nap and then it was time to head out to the airport. As we were checking out I got to see a few friends of mine from Austrailia that I have been talking with through the RQ website (Rumor Queen - ChinaAdoptTalk.com). They had just received their daughters this morning. They were so adorable. It's so nice to finally meet the people who have been in this waiting game with us for the past 3.5 years.

Checking out was very easy and then we all piled into the tour bus and headed for the airport. Or so we thought. Two of the carry-on bags were accidentally left behind so we turned around and headed back to the hotel. We weren't too far away when the hotel called to let us know they had found the bags and we had plenty of time to get to the airport. Which we were glad we had plenty of time because when we checked in at the airport, none of the babies had tickets for the flight. Our wonderful guide, Echo, sprung into action and got the tickets for us. We were so lucky to have her with us this past week. I would feel comfortable limping my way through a conversation in French, Spanish, or even Italian (it's so close to Spanish and French), but Mandarin is so not close to anything I learned in school. Not many people speak English here in Nanchang unless they work the front desk at the hotel, so without Echo we would have really been up a creek.

The plane ride was a short one and Lea slept for half of it. She was really good the rest of the time. She kept wanting to go back and forth from me to Randy during the flight. Which was okay, except that we were on different rows, diagonally across from each other. But Lea enjoyed "walking" back and forth and it gave her something to do. We landed in Guangzhou and my hair immediately curled up. Very hot and humid here. It will be shorts and t-shirts for the rest of this trip! Guangzhou is on the southeastern coast of China across from Hong Kong.

On the way to the hotel, we drove by a 7-eleven and I thought Randy was going to jump off the bus. He hasn't had a slurpee in 11 days now. If you know Randy, he might as well have quit smoking cold-turkey. He has a slurpee every day at home. It's his morning coffee. As we arrived at the hotel, he was very happy to see another 7-eleven right across the street. We checked into our room and dropped our bags and he said, "I'll be right back!" About 15 minutes later, he walks into the room with his lip poked out. A 7-eleven with no slurpee machine...who's heard of such a thing! Well, the only saving grace tonight was that Papa John's delivers. We had pizza and root beer for dinner...and it was great!

Our hotel is called the White Swan and it is located on Shamian Island. The view from our window is fantastic. We are right on the Pearl River. With all the lights reflecting off the river at night, it's absolutely gorgeous. Well, it's time for me to turn in. Lea and Randy are already snoring so I'd better join in. Tomorrow is Lea's medical examination and paperwork day (Visa application). After that we are done with appointments until Thursday's Citizenship Ceremony at the US Consulate.

Good night from Guangzhou!!