Greetings from Guangzhou!

Hello Everyone!

Apologies for not updating the past 2 days. I figured you could hear the sigh of relief all the way in the states from when we got here. We LOVE Guangzhou!

Last Day in Changsha
We spent our last day in Changsha (Friday, China time) visiting a park, and then getting ready for our flight that afternoon/evening. Of course I cannot remember the name of the park at the moment, but it was the best thing we saw in Changsha. It was fairly crowded, but not on the main thoroughfares or paths. It was crowded in the trees. I sent Ed into the trees, after we heard some lovely high-pitched singing, and Chinese instruments. There were people in hammocks, doing thai chi (we're guessing at that), walking, playing board games, exercising strangely, and playing instruments. Attire ranged from very dressy with parasols, to alarmingly half naked. There was even an amusement park hidden in there. Lou, I took a picture of the racetrack, but I couldn't find any cars on it. Debbie & Ben, I found an activity for us when we retire - Debbie and I can play the cymbals, and Ben and Ed can wave scarves around. I think Overton Park would be a terrific venue for this.

Retirement at its best, and "The Trees"

The Trees, and the racetrack at the park in Changsha.

On to Guangzhou!
Not for the weak of stomach....
Lucy's first plane ride can be described in one word - vomit. And there was so much of it. We can't pinpoint exactly what caused this nonstop assault on Ed's shirt (he had to rinse it out in the airplane "lavatory" and return to his seat with a blanket wrapped around his wet shirt), but we have narrowed it down to either motion sickness, or a bad meatball at the infamous Coffee Garden buffet in our hotel in Changsha. Poor little girl. It started while waiting in line for our plane tickets, continued on the plane, and then on the bus to our hotel, which evidently had no shocks whatsoever-sending us bouncing all over the back of the bus (we were trying to stay downwind from the rest of the bus, as at this point all 3 of us were covered in vomit), while trying to clean up Lucy. Not fun.

Lucy all ready for her first plane ride, and the hotel lobby in Changsha

That aside, The White Swan Hotel is a dreamy place! It's beautiful, the rooms are clean, we are surrounded by the rest of our group (17 families in all), and many many many other families that are also adopting kids from China, and we can leave our hotel any time! Hence the sigh of relief mentioned above. We have heard much about the playroom, which is sponsored by Mattel but have not been there yet. Mattel left Lucy a gift in our room - her first barbie doll with a Chinese baby. There are 2 pools too, that we haven't been to (still a little scarred by the Shanghai pool spitting episode) - but plan to work up the nerve to try it out. And let's not forget the breakfast buffet - completely devoid of snake, duck tongue, and donkey meat.

Guangzhou caters to the adoption crowd. There are shops after shops after shops - and most are willing to negotiate on price. Many of the shops have a laundry service, and will loan you a stroller for the rest of your stay, if you do your laundry there. We are waiting on our laundry from The China Doll - you have never seen 2 people so excited about getting their laundry done as Ed and I (please refer to airplane episode). There is also a restaurant next door to the hotel called Lucy's. It's cheap, and has American food. I love Chinese food, but after a week and a half of nothing but Chinese food, one looks forward to the occasional sandwich, or steak - especially if it costs under 100 yuan! Sandra, is Lucy's where you had the lavender shake?

The White Swan is located on a river (name escapes me), and at night there is music and a light show. The boats cruising up and down the river turn on fancy neon lights, and the businesses along the river drag out tables, and people come and sit and play games along the riverside.

Today, Sunday (China time), we went on a little adventure with a couple we were in Shanghai with - Ron and Michelle, and their little girl, RuRu. We decided to venture off the beaten path (actually, off the island) in search of a market. We found one, and it was a sight. We think it was a wholesale seafood market. There were piles of live frogs in nets, eels and fish, live turtles, crabs - you name it. We have some pictures, but it seemed as if we were being watched rather closely, and we did not want to be disrespectful, or get ourselves into trouble, so we cut our little adventure short.

We also found out today that the "Spicy Hunan Girl" reputation is right! Everyone who asks where Lucy is from, after we tell them they say, "Oh, a spicy girl!". One of the shopkeepers here, Jordan, talked to Lucy today in Chinese and made her laugh so hard! It makes Ed and I kind of sad that we can't communicate with her like she is used to.

Yesterday was the required medical exam for the adopted kids. This involved moving through stations for various purposed - One for height, weight, and temperature; one for ear, nose and throat; and one for "surgery/medicine. Poor Lucy, she hated it. And her medical file (the one the orphanage gave us in Chinese) confused everyone that looked at it. Eventually, they just measured her scars and sent us on our way.

OK. I will try to update again before we leave. Tomorrow we have our first meeting at the Consulate, and then we will go there again on Tuesday. Wednesday we leave to come home! We cannot wait to get home (in case that isn't obvious), and we miss everyone so much! We can't wait to check our e-mail everyday to see the comments you have left on the blog - they make our day!

Lots of love,
Ed, Melissa, and Lucy

Say a little prayer for Lucy!