The two sides of Jiliang
The White Swan hotel is beautiful. Our first night's stay was great. No mosquitoes. :)
Today we went to the get Jiliang's TB test checked and all went well. Then, we went to the American Consulate in regards to some paperwork. The McHarg family is going through this process with me too, and they are wonderful people.
Jiliang was afraid of the escalator at the Consulate, as we had to ride several flights of escalators there. At the Nanjing Airport, she fell getting on and off the people mover, and ever since then she has not liked them. As we were leaving the American Consulate, I was going to show her how to get on and off without tripping or falling. So I said, "C'mon", and grabbed he hand excitedly. When I did, I tripped over my own feet and went down on both knees on the hard floor. As I wiped out, I took her down with me. She just got up and pointed to the escalator as if to say, "See mom, I told you that thing was brutal. Carry me, Mama." Fortunately, I took us out before we got to the escalator, instead of down the escalator. Karen McHarg was worried about me, and our guide, Peter, was speedwalking about 50 feet ahead.
We stopped at the grocery store, where we bought pops, waters and snacks to save money. I filled up my cart halfway for about $14 in American dollars. The cab had wrappers and gum on the floor, so when we were dropped off at the hotel, the cabby thought we messed up his cab and was obviously making a big fuss about the wrappers and very dramatically picking them up out of the back seat, cursing about us.
When we got back to The White Swan, I discovered that Leah and Scott had rescheduled for me to fly back from Shanghai on March 5th, instead of March 7th. Good news. I am missing T.J. and Scott and our families are looking forward to meeting Jiliang.
Jiliang also got her White Swan Barbie, an exclusive for adopted Chinese children staying at the White Swan Hotel. It is a blonde Barbie holding a Chinese baby. :)
We are heading out to meet up with Kelly Rumbaugh, Angela and Show-Chung again for dinner, and to book my flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai.
Jill :)
Thanks for sharing all the info! :) I want to see that Barbie!!!!! :) That is the sweetest thing! :) Give my love to Kelly also!!
ReplyDeletehugs,
Tami
PRAYING JEREMIAH HOME QUICKLY
www.tillGodbringsthemhome.blogspot.com
I wondered about the mosquito thing-maybe since the White Swan is on the river, the breeze keeps them away? I'm surprised by the White Swan Barbie thing, too; I can't say our stay there was all that impressive; in fact, we weren't treated all that well compared to the hotel in Beijing. But I'm glad it's going well for you, and the neighborhood nearby is pretty special (the little store down the road, Lucy's, the lights over the river).
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're coming home sooner than first expected.