Wow, Guangzhou is not like Hefei

Fu Mei's first flight was uneventful, which is exactly how I like all my flights, especially the landings! She sat right in her middle seat beside Julee and me, strapped in her CARES harness. She thought the whole thing was quite interesting. That bodes well for us seeing that she will be taking quite a few more flights in her lifetime!

So with that big test behind us, we arrived at the Guangzhou airport which already made us feel safer and happier. The Hefei airport was scary looking to say the least. Not sure I have the words to really describe the Hefei airport other than what comes to mind: Third World. But in modernized, urban Guangzhou, we were met by our new guide, Michael Walker Michael. Michael for short. We were bused to the famous White Swan hotel which is technically on Shamian Island. It is gorgeous, a 5 star lobby with 4 star rooms....however, we are back to our "brick" beds. Sigh! The view out of our 10th floor hotel room is stunning. We grabbed a quick American dinner at nearby Lucy's Cafe which caters to adopting families. I was so ready for a good American burger, but mine was served to me a little on the red side, so it creeped me out. I sent it back for a well done version, just to be safe! We crashed literally on our beds (and noisy crib for Fu Mei) and slept away the night.....

Still waking at 4am which is getting old but I am able to ponder the magnitude of this amazing journey to my little sweetie pie. As I have said before, it took me a looong time to have my first child and a looooong time to have my second. Sometimes when I look back at my years of wanting to be a mom and finally being a mom and now being a mom of 2 children, I think that I am blessed in a way. I have thoroughly enjoyed being just Julee's mom for so long; we will forever be like glue since we have spent so much time just the two of us. Now, we both get to share in the joy of another child. Julee said it so sweetly. She said Al and I already had a daughter so we were already Mom and Dad, but now we have another daughter to love. But only Julee got something brand new: a sister! This is what I contemplate at 4am. And also how much we have absorbed in the short time we have been here. I am missing Al so much for what he is missing here. Not the bonding, etc, that will come. But the experience of being here so far away and learning so much and becoming lifelong friends with other families.

The breakfast buffet here at the White Swan is all that I had heard it would be. Lots of great American breakfast foods and even some chicken nuggets (big hit with Fu Mei and Julee and Garrett were sooo happy to have a taste of home)!! I had a delicious chocolate chip muffin. There hasn't been a whole lot of chocolate happening over here, so that was awesome. Plus we had coffee finally....so I was happy! The veggies and Chinese noodles are still available which we have come to crave at breakfast time.

Michael arranged for a tour of the Chen Family Temple which was a bit more colorful and touristy than our Baogongci Temple in Hefei. In Guangzhou we are surrounded by pretty trees and nice looking stores. It reminds me of Vegas in a way because of all the lights and the emphasis on taking your money for a cheap souvenir. We can see the river and Guangzhou proper and it is just beautiful. It is nice to see something pretty again. So back to the temple and museum. The carvings, calligraphy, rice paper embroidery, hand paintings, and stoneware were so interesting to me. The kids were just hanging out with each other and the other family's siblings. They have grown quite close. It was all we could do to keep them interested in this temple. Sounds like me when I was a kid!

Next, we left for the "mall." Of course it is not like our malls, but it was a very pretty store where they had some beautiful pearls, jade, silk outfits, scarves, and many other gifts. Michael explained that this store was where the well-made gifts would be. There will be other places we'll see that will have cheaper versions of these fine wares so if we cared about the person we were purchasing for, this would be the place to buy them something! Yes, mom, we picked out something for you here!!!

After another quick meal at Lucy's (we tried to go to Subway, but they were out of bread!?!), I had to go to Michael's room for more paperwork. It is really getting to me, this endle$$ paperwork. Now that we are legally Fu Mei's parents, all we really have left to do is leave China. But that is complicated and tedious to say the least. I am sooo tired of the paperworks (as Michelle called it)! But I will always and forever do what it takes to make sure Fu Mei is with us. Her visa is beginning to be processed and next we have her medical exam and visa photo session tomorrow. That is all for appointments for today and tomorrow. We will have some free time, which we are all coveting. We are safe to walk about here by ourselves and even take a taxi to other areas. It feels safer and better. People speak clearer English here if they are able to but by now, we are making ourselves understood in basic Chinese coupled with hand gestures. I dropped my laundry off at the local Ladybug Laundry and Sundries store and got a "free to borrow" stroller for the week.

The families that we started out with in Beijing are also now in Guangzhuo and it is wonderful to see all the newly formed families. We are hearing story after story about their Gotcha Days and every one is better than the next. They all tell us Fu Mei is adorable and that her smile lights up her face. We can ask her to say hi to people and if she is in the mood, she will flash that million dollar smile and wave! Lydia, you are gonna LOVE this kid! Julee is having fun "babysitting" Fu Mei. She runs up and down the halls with her and picks her up and throws her around already! Garrett gets the cutest smiles from her. Then when J and G want to hang out with the other older kids, they dump Fu Mei on me or Tricia! hahahah! Sounds about right to me!

Tonight, all the families from Great Wall (21 in all, I think) are going to the famous Thai restaurant close by. It is so enjoyable to spend time with so many different families and talk about their hometowns and the family they have at home.

Still waiting for sunshine and warm weather. We were promised that here in Guangzhou but haven't seen it yet.....