Hello Guangzhou

Sorry we haven't posted sooner. I've been down for the count with this cold and now I have viral pink eye in both eyes. You'll see more pictures with me in my glasses since I'm unable to where my contacts right now. Every spare moment which is few and far between I've been trying to get some rest.


"Are you sure it's ok to sit on this tray table?"


Lets see where my closest exit is

Well we arrived safely in Guangzhou on Saturday. It took seven hours for a one hour flight. Not such a big surprise since we have 15 families and 16 babies and lots and lots of luggage to manuever. Maya did fair on her first flight so we are curious to see how she does on the long flight back home. Mostly she just hates being confined. But, we are here now and it's completely different from Changsha. We are staying at the Victory Hotel on Shamian Island which sits along the Pearl River. The island has a rich history with a colonial feel since this area was once occupied by England and France. Beautiful colonial buildings surrounded by big trees, parks and statues everywhere. It is subtropical with lot of beautiful foliage. We have enjoyed strolling in a more peaceful area then the hussle and bussle of Changsha but miss a little of the authentic China feel. They also cater to adoptive families and almost everyone here speaks English. There are lots of shopping and eating places within walking distance. Yesterday we went to the jade factory and pearl market where we purchased things for Maya's graduation and wedding day.

Napping on the bus between shopping

We also visited the Chen Family temple which is beautiful with the typical Chinese architecture. I've tried to imagine what it was like when people were living there. We then visited the Six Banyan Buddhist Temple where all three of us were blessed by monks which was very special. Daddy and Maya climbed to the top of the temple which is 9 stories on the outside but 17 inside. Apparently the insense smelled really good but my stuffy nose didn't detect any of it.


Pagoda at the Six Banyan Temple


Monk that blessed us


Our buddah baby


Today we had Maya's medical exam which is necessary to get her visa to leave the country. The room was buzzing with screaming parents trying to comfort screaming babies. Maya was no exception. She was crazy mad when they tried to take her temperature under her armpit. Seeing how that went we'll try to avoid rectal thermometers in the future. The whole exam took about 20 minutes with three stations. One station where they do weight, length, and temperature. Another where they exam her ears, nose and throat. The throat was pretty easy since she was screaming so loud and showing off her uvula (that dangling thing at the back of your throat). The hearing test basically consist of shaking a toy on each side to see if she looks. Pretty low tech. The final station they measure her head and check her body. Not quite sure what they were looking for.


Not so happy about the medical exam

According to their scale Maya is 12.8 lbs. Yep, she is shrinking. Actually in all the hotel rooms she hovers right around 13lbs....either way she is a little peanut. But strong as an ox when she doesn't like something. Maya was very happy to get out of that place. Unfortunately we will have to go back to the doctor when we get home so that she can be immunized with American immunizations. I'm not looking forward to that.

We also took a group photo at the White Swan hotel on the famous red couch. Thousands of adoptive babies have posed for pictures on this couch throughout the years. It is extremely difficult to get 16 babies to cooperate for one photo as you can see. Maya is on the couch farthest on the right.


Tomorrow we have decided not to go on the group outing but instead enjoy some quiet family time and hopefully catch up on some rest. Only 5 more days and we'll be home!