Sunday, November 16
Today our guide wanted to take the whole group of us here from our Great Wall agency (five families) to tour one of the Guangzhou temples and to the local pearl market. We decided Arayla needed a day of REST on this Sunday, since we got in super late from the airport on Friday night and Saturday had been a stressful time at the medical exam. (Plus, we had been to both places four years ago.) So we spent the day at the hotel instead. At around 11 AM we set out on foot to find AEON, which is a five-floor upscale department store. The 1st floor is a grocery store, and the other floors above are all different departments like clothing, toys, electronics, housewares, furniture, and even a few cafes and restaurants. The night before we had set out to find this store around 6 PM and couldn't find it. We had come back tired and disappointed after walking for an hour. Next morning we look out our window and discover we can actually see the AEON store from our room! (At this point we felt like such smart people!!) We mapped out the route from our window, and thankfully it took us less than 10 minutes to get there this time. We were able to find something for lunch and also purchased some good quality shoes for our sweet girl. The shoes that we brought with us were a little too big for her, and the shoes from the orphanage were constantly slipping off her feet. As much as she likes to walk she needs good shoes! The shoes we found are also very cute, just like our girl. :)
For supper we decided to meet up with the four other families from our agency and eat at the Hong Kong Bistro for a local meal. This was quite an adventure!! Actually every outing we take is quite the adventure. All five of us American southern families squeeze into to this little local diner. No one in the place except for us speak English. Lucky for us, there were pictures on the menu. What we ate was delicious. Keyanna had noodles, and I had a plate of Hong Kong style stir-fry vegatables. I also ordered french fries for Arayla and a chicken wing basket for me. The chicken wing basket was never brought out to us, even though we asked about it after half an hour or so. Finally after everyone was finished eating, still no chicken wings, and we were all attempting to pay for our meals, I noticed the chicken basket that was never brought to us was included on our bill. Keyanna told the lady we were NOT paying for the chicken! Our friend Melissa typed "the chicken was too late and we do not want it" to her Google translator app on her iPad. The lady read it and spouted off a mouth of Chinese displeasure! She then proceeded to the back and brought out the owner who spoke some English. After Keyanna and three others finished working out the international dispute, we paid for our meal (without the chicken) and got out of there! We bought our drinks for 50 cents next door at the 7-Eleven. The drinks at the restaurant were $2 each for small glass. Woah. Our meal was cheap and our bellies were full. That's a good combination so we were happy! We started our walk back to the hotel. Piece of advice, you must watch every step you take while walking the streets of China. Jennifer, one of the other ladies in the group, stepped in vomit on the sidewalk on our way back. Nice! We are enjoying getting to know this group. We have met several families for whom this is their fourth, fifth or even seventh child. Wow! Big families like to adopt.
This day we visited Shamian Island in Guangzhou. The same place where we stayed at the White Swan Hotel 4 years ago with Nathanael, which brought back a ton of memories. We walked around with the other adoptive families here and did some shopping. There are many gift shops in the area. All the shop owners stand on their doorsteps calling you inside. "Come, look! I give you discount! OK?" They are all really nice people and love Americans who come into their shops. After shopping and lunch at the 7-Eleven, we headed back to the hotel. A few hours later, on Monday evening, we did the river cruise with the group. It was cool to see the city along the river all lit up with colorful lights.
One thing we are very excited about is we are going to try to have Arayla's birth date changed! Two families in our group have done it before on a previous adoptions to give the child more time to adjust and overcome delays in education. We will have to confirm with a lawyer, but this lady said you can do it because of the uncertainty of facts around the child's history and birth. Due to Arayla's developmental delays it's already like having a 1 or 2 year old instread of a 3 year old, so this will make it easier on everyone and be very beneficial to her, we think. Also, looking at her and the limited information we have just doesn't seem like she can really be 3.5 years old right now! According to her orphan announcement it looks like she was found abandoned AFTER she had surgery done for hydrocephalus. That cannot be the case since we know she was brought to the orphanage needing the surgery. So March 15, 2012 will be her birth date, which means she is 2 years old instead of 3.
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| Arriving at Shamian Island we saw a cute bunch of Chinese kids walking in a line. |
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| Large trees line the streets creating a green canopy |
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| Keyanna deciding which silk dress to buy while Arayla and I wait outside. |
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| While Arayla and I waited I spotted this atrocity...Internet Assecc |
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| This is the White Swan Hotel which is closed for renovations. |
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| Modeling shoes. |
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| They were cute but a little too small. |
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| Is there anything fun to do here??? |
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| Silly Mama |
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| Jenny's Place is where we bought several gifts. |
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| Pleasant walking around here. |
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| Sun penetrating the palm branches |
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| Flag of China |
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| We took Nathanael''s picture with this lady 4 years ago. |
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| Looking back toward the White Swan Hotel |
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| Green apple flavor. Jolly Rancher in a bottle! |
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| This is our whole crew getting lunch at 7-Eleven |
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| Arayla in the floor resting. |
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| Look at this classy place! |
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| Lots of bronze statues |
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| Here I'm holding our lunch from the 7-Eleven. Instant Noodles! |
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| About to eat lunch |
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| Noodle time! |
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| Our new friends |
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| This is their son they came to China to adopt. He is 10 years old. |
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| Odd looking figure painted on this wall. |
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| Walking along the river |
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| I don't know if you can see it but the last rule is "No shotting" (should be shooting) |
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| Here you can eat cooked pigeon. |
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| On our way back to the hotel |
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| That smile! I can't take it. |
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| Ready for a good nap. She slept almost 3 hours after we got back to the hotel. |
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| Going on the river cruise |
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| Inside the boat |
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| Upstairs on the boat |
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| We were glad we went on this cruise. Lots of pretty lights as you will see in the coming pictures. |
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| Of course Arayla had to try out her sea legs. |
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| Don't remember what was so funny, but something sure was! |
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| Back at the hotel, time for a SNACK! This girl loves some snacks! |
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| Arayla and Mama having fun with snack time. |
Love and Grace,
Troy
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