What a Bunch of Animals!

Today after our appointment at the US Consulate, we arrived back to our hotel at 9:30am.  We decided to take in some of the sights in Guangzhou.  A family we met in Nanchang, Pat and Sarah, suggested the Guangzhou City Zoo (Pat you get all the credit.) 

We took a cab to and from the zoo, purchased admission, and bought 2 Cokes all for less than $15.  Your dollar goes a long way in China. 

The zoo was very good for a smaller city zoo; we saw tigers, panthers, giraffes, and even an Panda!  It was a lot of fun.  We ended a little early as it was so hot, and started to rain.  We got a cab within a minute an avoided getting soaked.  Not much more I can say that the photos don’t say them selves.

Lisa and Maisey at Front Gate

Lemurs

Chimps

Apparently the Animals can get their faces painted too.

Cat Nap

Get Out!

Swimming Bear

Get a message to my cousin in the San Diego Zoo, tell him I'm in a
Chinese Prison!

What do you want?

Emperor of the Beasts

Looks like our cat Spartacus

Giant Panda

Kung Fu Panda

Po, the Dragon Warrrior

Lisa and Maisey in the bamboo forest.

Posing for the Camera

Stay tuned, nearly there!

We Can See the Finish Line!

Final Steps

Today was the day we’ve been waiting for, our appointment with the US Consulate in Guangzhou.  This is the last step in this very long process of adoption, and one of the most important.  This is where Maisey starts the process of becoming a citizen of the United States. 

Those waiting to get a visa to USA,
the line was 4x as long at 9:00AM when we left.

I’m sure she left the envy of all the people who were waiting in line just to possibly get an appointment with the Consulate to get a coveted Visa to the USA.  Lisa and I, along with the other 12 or so families at our 8:30AM appointment swore an oath on behalf of Maisey that all immigrants are required to make.  She will land on US soil in New Jersey on Friday, and as soon as we go thru customs, Maisey will be a citizen of the USA!  God Bless America.

This appointment will generate 3 documents required for travel back to the US.  First is her Visa to be attached to her Chinese passport, the second is her citizenship packet, which we will hand to US Customs in NJ on Friday.  Last, is a certified UN Hague Convention adoption certificate, which will serve as her proof of citizenship, much like a Birth Certificate is for us.

We will receive these documents tomorrow afternoon at 3:30PM (3:30AM in Connecticut.) Once we have these in hand we immediately leave Mainland China for Hong Kong.  Hong Kong is technically under Mainland China rule but will remain independent until at least 2047.  We will clear Hong Kong Customs get a cab to our hotel near the airport from the train station, then we’ll fly home Friday morning at 10:30! (10:30PM Thursday in CT.) 

We are SO ready to come home and introduce Maisey to everyone.

Even More Photos

Sha Mian Part 2

Today we had nothing to do!  Honestly, praise God.  We woke up at 8:00 and had a late breakfast.  We returned to our room and just hung out with Maisey for an hour and then met our guide Kelly for our return trip to Sha Mian Island.  We picked up a few last gifts and found a famous statue of small children following a woman playing a violin.  There is a gap between the last child in the line and the rest, where many a adopting family have inserted their adopted child into the line.  So, not afraid to look like tourist (since we are) we inserted Maisey into the slot for a picture.  Not realizing she’d take one look at the bronze children and be terrified.  Oh well so much for tradition.

We then went to the Qing Ping market just across the canal on the “mainland.”  This market has literally thousands of stalls scattered over a number of streets. The focus is mainly on medicinal herbs and various vegetation. But you’ll still find plenty of places proffering weird and wonderful merchandise including dried seahorses and scorpions, not to mention a few tiger claw vendors who continue to warily carry on their business from the streets.  While we did not see the tiger claws or any live scorpions, though we looked hard, the market was really cool.  If felt like taking a time warp into an older China.  Also for a communist country the free market is alive and well.

More to come, stay tune

Run of the mill dried bugs.

Scorpion anyone?

Snakes are good for you health.

Kitties beware, rumor has it that cat meat is also sold
This is the only cat we saw.

Very cool ally

One of many ally ways

Dried Seahorses

Don't know, don't want to know!

Sha Mian Island Part 1

Today was a slow day, no appointments of any kind we just went to a great part of Guangzhou, called Sha Mian Island.  It is technically an island but just a short bridge over a moat and you’re there.  It was a formerly controlled by the British, therefore most of the architecture is very western.  Now it’s home to mostly shops and hotels.  It’s also has a lot of trees which makes it a popular wedding photo destination. 

In China, the bride and groom have their photos done weeks before their wedding, sometimes afterward as well.  So while we were there we saw many couples have their photos taken.  When you see some of the pictures remember that it was 97 degrees Fahrenheit.  

This was the first real opportunity Lisa and I had to shop.  We couldn’t really do it in Beijing or in Nanchang as we were held to a much lower baggage requirement for intra-China flights.  We are now allowed to have a high limit because we’ve only one flight left an that is with a US Carrier which gives us a much larger allotment. 

We just walked from shop to shop talking to the shopkeepers, most know enough English to get you to leave some money in their shops, but the prices are so low, you almost hate to bicker with them on price, almost.  We found beautiful traditional Chinese silk dresses for Maisey for $8  I bought a great leather briefcase for $60 and so on.  We are heading back tomorrow to get a few more gifts and then find the market where the allegedly sell Scorpions and such.  So part-2 coming tomorrow.

After a long day of walking around, we returned to the hotel and I went to review some paperwork with one of the other Dads.  When I returned to the room an hour later, I found that both the ladies in my room had decided to take a little nap.  I couldn't help but take a picture.  NOTE:  I cleared this picture with Lisa before posting!

More to come, stay tuned.

Out and about in Guangzhou

After breakfast on our small worship service sat Starbuck’s, we met our guide Becky who took us to the Chan Family Temple.  This is really a mansion / estate for the Chan Family but once the PRC established they were no longer able to keep it as a residence, and then changed it to a private school for the family.  Now it is a Museum that exhibits the many carvings in brick, wood, and stone that were part of the original building, as well as some of the most amazing embroideries.  I would say the most amazing I’ve ever seen, but since these are among the only embroideries I’ve ever seen, we’ll just leave it at amazing.

We then went to lunch to a favorite restaurant of our guide, Pizza Hut.  Then we toured a jewelry wholesale center, where you could buy loose gems, gold chain by the meter etc.  Not a whole lot to write home about.

Next we came back to the hotel, and Maisey and Daddy went for a swim.  This is her second time the the pool in a week, and probably her second time swimming ever.  She did great!  A little tentative, but she looked cute so overall a good outing.  Tomorrow we go to Sha Mian Island in Guangzhou (gwahn-jo) to visit the open markets where you can buy anything from jewelry to live scorpions.  I hope I get some good photos.

After that we went to dinner FaceTimed with the boys and psyched myself up to stay up late to FaceTime with my church group.

 

 

More to come, stay tuned.