Catching Up

We've reached the point in this adoption trip when not as much is happening day to day. So, there is less to write about. But there have been a few things worth reporting.

Yesterday (Monday), we went back to the medical clinic on Shamian Island to have Victoria's ("Tori Zhen" as she has been calling herself) TB skin test read. Luckily, the Chinese doctors agreed with the public health doc from the Ozarks and said the test was negative. Tori has been having a little trouble with her stomach (so far the Americans in her family have been spared, go figure), so we asked one of the clinic docs what he would recommend. He gave us the name of two meds we could get at a pharmacy there on the island (very inexpensively) and so far they seem to be helping a lot.

We spent a few hours after the skin test reading walking around Shamian Island and doing some shopping. But the whole area really is a sad shadow of it's former self. A lot of the small stores, where we used to buy clothes for the girls and good souvenirs for friends and family back home, have closed or have much less to sell.




There are boards on the windows of the once luxurious White Swan Hotel. We did some shopping, but it just isn't the same, and for those of us with really good memories of previous days on Shamian Island, it's sad.

Today, we had our appointment at the U.S. Consulate. Basically, the 12 families that have appointments at the same time all stand in a room together and take an oath that all the info we have provided is true. Then, one family at a time is called up to a window at the front of the room to watch and assist as a Consulate worker goes over all the paperwork we have submitted earlier. Tomorrow, our guide will return to the Consulate to pick up Tori's passport and the U.S. visa we need to bring her into the country with us when we return home in a few days.

After the Consulate appointment, it was time for more sightseeing fun. It was a cool, breezy, sunny day.....just right for a visit to the Guangzhou Zoo.




It's a very nice, fairly large park and the kids loved getting out and walking around looking at the animals. Once again our newest daughter, whose every step looks like it could break her apart, easily kept up, and at times was out front leading the rest of us thru the park.




As we got near the exit from the park, there was a small group of amusement park rides and Tori was right there with her sisters twisting mom and dad's arms to let them ride (we gave in easily, of course).

After visiting the zoo, our guide took us back to the hotel, but we weren't really ready to spend a nice day sitting in the room. So...joined by our new friends, the Jenkins family from Tennessee (who we originally met back in Beijing and who are here adopting a young son), we set out to find someplace to eat lunch. Mc Donald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut are easy to find (there are several of each within quick walking distance of our hotel), but we've only seen ONE Burger King, so we decided to try that. We're thousands of miles from home and yet the food at BK tasted exactly like it would in the U.S........amazing :-)

Our guide had mentioned that there was a nice park within walking distance of the hotel, so after our late lunch we all decided to walk to the park. (Probably a mile or so from the restaurant.) And it was indeed a nice park.




There were walking paths, monuments to soldiers that had fought in several of the wars China was involved in, and a lake with paddle boats. There were people doing ballroom dancing and a group doing a sort of dance where they spun around while holding racketball rackets with a ball on the racket, without dropping the ball as they danced - very unique. But area that got the attention of the kids was the exercise area. We have found that many Chinese parks have an area with exercise machines available for anyone to use.




The kids had to share the machines with the large group of elderly Guangzhou citizens that were there for their daily workouts, but no one seemed to mind.




We spent well over an hour there letting everyone work off a little energy.

Still not ready to return to the hotel rooms, we walked all the way back to the area where the BK was and a little bit further to get to an ice cream store. And finally, after all that walking, everyone was ready to rest.

Tomorrow is another day waiting for the visa to finally become available. Once we have that, we have everything we need to bring Tori home. And on our other trips, that is exactly what we would have done. But not this time. We have one more stop to make and we will tell you about that in a few days. (It's a good thing, so don't worry about us :-)

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