Adoption Story, pt. 3

The Garden Hotel was SPECTACULAR!  Everything we'd been told was true.  The part that I loved the most was the free WiFi in the rooms.  This meant that we no longer had to video chat with my mom and Juliet from our hotel lobby; we could now do it from the comfort of our living room, yes, I said living room.  It was truly one of the nicest hotels I'd ever been to.  We had a suite, complete with a living room, bedroom and bathroom.  I took some pictures.

Looking in from the front door

Looking toward the door

The nice bedroom

The bathroom, which had a huge tub.  I was in heaven!

Yes, this will do quite nicely!  The hotel is very adoption friendly.  They have a children's play room (kind of like a church nursery complete with toys and books) on the 6th floor, which we used on several occasions.  They also have strollers available for adoptive families at no charge!  In addition, they brought us a little basket of goodies, including a little stuffed panda bear, some wipes, baby wash/lotion, and a few other baby necessities.  As Liesel is four, we took the stuffed panda for Juliet, but left the rest for another family to enjoy.  Finally, the lobby was incredible.  I took a couple of photos for you to enjoy.

The mural on the wall behind the front desk is made of pure gold!  I wonder how much that is worth. 

The floor of the lobby from the 3rd floor overlook

This gorgeous wooden staircase led to the 3rd floor, and was in the lobby to the left of the main entrance.  

We were met at the airport by one of our two guides, Miko.  Our other guide that week was Rebecca.  Right away, she gave us a schedule for our stay in Guangzhou...I love her!  Remember, I told you how much I like lists?  I had a list of questions in my mind when we arrived.  No need for a list here, the schedule gave us all the info we needed.  Our guides were so thorough.  It was a stark contrast to our experience in province.  Here, there were activities planned.  I was thankful because I knew staying busy would make the week go by fast.  I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand for our family to be divided.

Guangzhou is a very modern city.  It's also very "western" looking, as it is quite close in proximity to Hong Kong.  There are many parts of the city that look similar to Europe.  Our hotel was centered in a nice location, within walking distance to some great restaurants, shops and grocery stores.  We didn't have to go far to find whatever we needed.  Most people didn't stare at us when we walked down the street; we weren't a freak show any longer.  And...the locals spoke English!  It was so nice to be able to communicate our needs.

As I expected, the week flew by.  We had a lot of fun going on some touristy excursions.  We went shopping for pearls, jade, and Chinese dresses.  I bought some pearls for my mom, a thank you gift for keeping Juliet.  I also bought the girls some Chinese dresses in various sizes.  We went to the Guangzhou zoo, which was nicer than I anticipated.  We saw tigers and other cats, pandas, monkeys and baboons, fish, and many other animals.  We went to Shamain Island and shopped for squeaky shoes.  I went a little crazy...I bought six pairs of squeaky shoes!  I think they are so cute.  We also took a dinner boat cruise on the Pearl River, complete with a clown show for the kids.  There were thirteen adoptive families in our tour group, but there were several other families there with other groups.  We spent a lot of time meeting and chatting with these families.  Someone arranged dinner plans most nights, and we would all go out to eat together.  One night we went to Tekila's, a Mexican restaurant.  Another night, we went to a Thai restaurant.  We also tried an Italian pizza parlor...yum!  The community was wonderful after a week of isolation in province.  We were so thankful for friends, familiarity, and fellowship.  

A panda bear at the zoo

Liesel and her favorite guy

Zoo cat

See the flamingos through the trees??

Notice the last line...

First family photo with a smiling Liesel

The clown on the river cruise...I love James's expression here. 

The kids loved this clown.  

Mamas I will be bonded with for life! 

Guangzhou at night

We also had to make time for paperwork.  The purpose of our visit to Guangzhou, was to go to the US consulate to file the paperwork we'd received in province, and to apply for/receive our child's US travel visa as well as her immigration documents.  We arrived in Guangzhou on Friday, July 20.  On Saturday, we all went to a medical facility to have our children's health assessed.  They had to see a medical doctor, an ENT, as well as receive a TB test.  Liesel passed all three with flying colors!  The medical doctor told us (through a translator) that her spinal meningeocele (a form of spina bifida) looked good.  He was impressed with how well she was doing.  It was so reassuring to have that assessment.  

The international medical travel center

It was packed! 

Liesel being assessed by the medical doctor

Blowing bubbles with the Turner's and waiting for the other families to finish up

On Tuesday, July 24, we had our consulate appointment at 8:30am.  Liesel's passport finally came that morning too!  We'd been waiting on Taiyuan to print it after we had to travel to Da Tong to apply for it.  Finally, it was printed and shipped to our hotel, and delivered to the consulate so that Liesel could receive her visa.  As you can imagine, we breathed a huge sigh of relief.  Several families had appointments that day, so we were not alone.  When we arrived at the consulate, there were many other families there who were not at our hotel, but were getting visas for their children too.  It was quite the scene!  We were asked to swear an oath that all the information we'd given was true and accurate.  Then we were individually called up to a desk, where we presented a clerk with paperwork and answered a few questions.   After that, we were free to go!  Our guides picked up our visas and immigration paperwork on Wednesday and delivered them to us that afternoon.

We also had a bit of excitement in the weather department during our stay in Guangzhou.  Before we left, I knew it was Typhoon season in Guangzhou.  The last three days of our stay were quite soggy.  Typhoon Vicente, equivalent to a category 4 hurricane, made landfall to the south and west of Guangzhou.  We were spared a direct hit, but we were not spared three days of rain, and some windy conditions that caused downed trees/tree branches around the city.  Fortunately, our flight out was not until Friday, and although it was raining when we left, the typhoon had dissipated, and we were left with light showers.  Although we were disappointed with the rain, as we were unable to go to the pool or explore the beautiful gardens at the hotel, we were thankful that the storm came in when it did and spared us, or any of the families in our group, any travel headaches.  

Stuck at a Starbucks waiting for a rain shower to pass while enjoying a nice, hot latte.

Finally, Friday came.  Our flight was scheduled to leave Guangzhou at 8:30 am, which meant a very early start for us.  Our itinerary had us traveling to Beijing, then to LA, and finally on to Austin.  We were so thrilled to be leaving.  We couldn't wait to get Liesel home and introduce her to Juliet.  All that was left were the flights...sounds simple enough, right?