GZ day 2

We left Nanjing on Friday evening (China time) and got to Guangzhou late Friday evening (which was around 11:00 a.m. E.S.T.). The Victory Hotel in Guangzhou was very nice.

We were overlooking the courtyard. The room was beautiful, with a sitting room and its own PC with free internet. Therefore, Jiliang could watch her Chinese Tom and Jerry DVDs I bought her at the Chinese supermarket in Nanjing while I checked emails. The other members of our group were at the famous White Swan hotel. It is a Five Star Hotel that houses many adoptive families. They have the well-known Red Couches where people pose their adopted Chinese children. Our guide does all of the adoption business at the White Swan and it is more suitable for Jiliang. We decided to move to the White Swan after the 2nd night for the convenience and to have a hotel with space to run and play for Jiliang. It is huge and has adopted children's playroom. The price is not much more. There are some other perks too, so it evens out.

I want to reiterate how late we arrived on Friday. We had to take a later flight to Guangzhou, because we weren't going to have Jiliang's passport in time for the original flight. On our first morning in Guangzhou, we had to be at the Victory Lobby at 8:00 a.m. to go with the other families to get our Visa pictures taken. It was within walking distance. (We didn't make it to breakfast in time, because Jiliang was so tired, and I didn't want to pay for room service.) After pictures, we went to get her physical.

The adoption clinic was full of mosquitoes. I was warned by my travel clinic not to get bit, because they carry Malaria in those parts. Of course, I got bit, and then my guide gave me his Tea Tree Oil to use.

Jiliang did very well at the clinic. It was so fun to see all of the other adoptive Chinese children. Most of the children I saw had a special need of some sort. The children were all so beautiful. It was amazing the compassion and love between the parents and children. These amazing children were glowing as they were held by their new forever families. I felt so inspired knowing that hundreds of these amazing children were going to have a chance at a successful new start and a real family.

Moreover, I found that every parent's story of how they arrived at choosing their particular child and/or their child's special need was unique. Many people will tell adoptive parents that their child is "lucky" to be adopted by us. I can speak for myself, but I can also speak for many other adoptive parents as well: We are the lucky ones. These children come to us by no mistake. I believe that it is God's Plan. Through the adoption, we learn many life lessons, but most importantly, they teach us about compassion. I have never felt so much love in the air since I have arrived in Guangzhou, what I refer to as Adoption Central.

After the medical, Jiliang had to get her TB test. She cried a little, but did amazingly well. Three people would have had to have pinned T.J. down for something like that. They didn't even give a Band-Aid afterwards. It was peculiar. What seems so obvious in the States was a not a common practice here... Band-Aids. We blotted the blood of our kids pokes, and some other adoptive parents that I met on the flight from Nanjing supplied Jiliang with a Hello Kitty Band-Aid, which made it all better.

Afterwards, I requested the prescription for Jiliang's bronchitis. The doctor agreed to give her an antibiotic, but it ended up being Bufferin, and was nothing more than a medicine to calm a cough. She is doing better and it's possible that the coughing could be asthmatic or heart related. However, she is doing very well, has a lot of energy, and doesn't seem to be restricted by her play. She knows her limits.

Afterwards, we had exactly 35 minutes to walk back to our hotel, get the necessary paperwork (still packed in my suitcase from the late night before) and walk from the Victory to the White Swan to fill out paperwork. No time for lunch. :) I grabbed some snacks for Jiliang.

I met Peter, my guide, at the White Swan at 11:30 a.m. He told me to meet him at the 2nd floor Conference room. It was a huge area and I went to the only conference room. Then, he was in the lobby. I was so nervous about missing him and not having his cell number yet. Luckily, I found him. The paperwork was horrendous. He walked me through it, but it was just a lot to absorb. We ended up fininishing in about 3 hours! Jiliang stayed right there the entire time. We ended up finalizing more business and switching hotels. Peter was so wonderful about getting me into the White Swan and switching everything with the two hotels. We got back at the hotel at around 4:00 p.m. My poor girl was such a trooper.

Peter made me laugh so hard. He told me not to mention to the first hotel that I was switching to the other hotel. I assured him I would not. I asked him if I should get a taxi from one hotel to the other. He told me that I could just walk my luggage down one at a time. I have 5 bags. :) He told me to check in at the first hotel and not check out of the 2nd hotel until I made my last trip back for the last luggage. The hotels are around 4 blocks away. There are not sidewalks the entire way, so you have to walk in the road. I was dreading that morning jaunt. I thought, "At least I will get some good exercise".

Shortly after, another adoptive mom (Kelly Rumbaugh) from my Christian adoption community, Loving China's Children, contacted me by phone. She was also in Guangzhou too. She adopted a beautiful 14 year old girl and will be adopting another adolescent girl this Wednesday. I was able to meet her daughter, and her guide and friend, Angela. It is a small world. Angela and Kelly have the business together, Ladybugs 'N Love from Above. I sent Jiliang's ophanage care package through them and worked closely with Angela, who went above and beyond to make the experience better than I had ever imagined. I met them at my hotel and we dined together at Lucy's Bar. We ate outside in the warm weather and had a wonderful time. They pointed out some of the local places to check out for meals and necessities. Kelly and Angela are both veterans of the China Adoption world.

Jiliang and I both checked in early last night. I woke up to mosquitoes buzzing in my ear. I turned on the light and saw them swarming around Jiliang's warm little head. I found that the slippers they give you are bundled in plastic make nice flyswatters. I took pride in my first kill. Then, my second. I couldn't sleep, so I started mosquito stalking. I felt like a mother bear protecting her cub from a vicious predator...any of those nasty creatures could carry malaria, you know. :) Finally, I started to drift off, but awoke to a bad dream that Jiliang fell and cut her head. I roused when she started to move around and cry in her sleep. I turned on the light and saw blood on the sheet. I frantically searched her for any injuries as she's crying to go back to sleep. It turned out that she had smacked a mosquito in her sleep and its blood when all over the sheet. Yuck! The nasty thing was still alive. Disgusting. It is very hot and humid in Guangzhou right now.

I asked for a 6;30 Wake-up call, but it never happened and there was not a clock at the Victory Hotel. However, at 7:34 a.m., Peter called and said, "I called a car for you to get your luggage at 8:30, so you be down there at 8:30 and he will take you to the White Swan. Don't be late, because he has other places to be." I jumped up, packed everything quick, showered, ordered my baggage downstairs,, got Jiliang ready and jumped into the cab. Peter checked me into the White Swan and then went back to the Victory to have breakfast and check out. Check-out was by noon, however, they locked me out of the hotel room. They assumed that since I took my luggage, I was gone. I wanted to double-check the room for anything possibly left behind.

I made it to the Shamian Christ Church (Shamian Island) at 10:50. The service was amazing. I really needed that. I was really stressed about my flights and another missing document.
At the church, a lovely Chinese woman introduced herself and took Jiliang under her wing. She was so sweet. We saw Kelly, Show-Chung (spelling?), and Angela at the service. I prayed for help with all of the loose ends of this trip to come together. Angela and Kelly offered to help me arrange my flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai. That was a huge relief!!!!! Leah and Scott and working to speak with Delta on Sunday afternoon (Michigan time), so I cannot book my connecting flight until I hear from Leah or Scott.

I spent hours on the internet and phone trying to get through to Delta Airlines to switch my airlines and leave on March 5th, instead of March 7th. I can't book a flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai until I figure that all out. It also just happens that Delta's phone lines were down today, due to the weather.

I had dinner with Kelly, Show-Chung, and Angela. We had a great time watching some Chinese Opera-style comedy at their hotel. I got to tour the area near their hotel, which was so neat to see. The alleys were filled with spices and pets. What a treat to see some of China in all of its richness. We had some awesome Chinese food and then Kelly and her daughter walked Jiliang and I back to the hotel. What a great night. God is good and he is definitely putting the right people in our path.

Just a sidenote: Kelly has children with various special needs, including a son with a heart condition, so she has been very helpful to me in regards to Jiliang's heart condition.
Jiliang is the sweetest little girl I have ever met. She only talks to me, however. She talks in Chinese of course. Even so, I know what she is saying, if even I don't understand the words. When there are other people around, she doesn't talk or smile. Hopefully that will change. When Kelly and Angela went down to get some take-out Chinese, Jiliang came alive and warmed right up to Show-Chung. She kept bringing her things in the room. She giggled, talked, laughed, jumped, played, danced, sang and sat on her lap. When the adults came back, she went back to her reserved self. She is warming up to Angela and Kelly too, but she feels safe around another child. She knows that another child is not going to take her from Ma-ma.

Jill :)