The last couple of days have certainly been a whirlwind.

We had to get up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning to head into Guangzhou. The flight was only 45 minutes or so, and Jillian fell asleep before take off, and only woke up when I was standing up to get off the plane. I SO hope that's an indication of how well she will sleep on our journey home at the end of the week. When we got to Guangzhou, we came straight to our hotel. Normally, all adoptive parents stay on Shamian Island. I must say, I was rather disappointed we were not, but our hotel makes up for it a little bit I suppose. We are at the China Hotel, a Marriott Hotel. They just went through a renovation, and we are the first people to stay in the renovated rooms. It's probably the nicest hotel room I have, and ever will stay in, in my life. It's an amazingly beautiful hotel. However, the tradition of the White Swan Hotel for China adoptive parents, is one I'm really disappointed to miss out on. There is, as my sister in law has posted, a starbucks in the hotel, which is nice. But even nicer, McDonald's is right next door. Since we are not eating with our guides any more, Roy and I are just too nervous to branch out to some of the Chinese restaurants. And for some reason, the granola bars that we packed are just not calling our name. I guess it's that 'we're on vacation' mentality or something.

Yesterday, we got up and headed to a local Folk Art museum. Roy and I aren't huge on Chinese history, but several of these attractions have really been fascinating. I really enjoyed it, and did a little bit of shopping in the gift shops. So much here is SO cheap. But, then again, so many of the vendors see that we are caucasian, and the prices instantly go up. I guess it all evens out. After that, we headed to a department store, much like Dillard's. Of course, everything here is multi story. That was another adventure. You went to each department, they gave you a ticket for the items you wanted to purchase, and then you went to one central place to pay, and then you had to take your tickets that you had paid, back to each department to show that you had paid for it, and then they would give the products to you. Sound confusing enough?? We wondered if our guides might get a commission off of some of thes e things. While it is fascinating learning how this culture does things, it isn't very practical when there is a group of 18 families trying to do it. We then came back to the hotel to have our 'paperwork party'. This is the last bit of paperwork, hopefully, for our trip. It was about 2 1/2 hours of paperwork with our guide. Of course, the pressure of it all got to me, and I made a mistake on one of the 'crucial' pieces of paperwork. I couldn't believe it. I really do cave under pressure, and I wrote Jillian's name wrong. I have NEVER done it before, and I doubt I will do it again, but we are in a wait and see stage to see if I have to go to the American consulate myself to correct it on this ever so important document. Hopefully, our guides were just trying to put the fear of God in me, and another member of our group, and it will be just fine. Regardless, we are leaving Friday to come home, with Jillian, we just might ha ve a few extra steps on Thursday. We then headed to a Japanese restaurant which was very overrated, but again, it was part of the experience.

Today, we got up and went to the medical exam. This is part of Jillian's visa application process. We had to go to 3 different rooms to have her poked and prodded. She did amazingly well. Most babies scream through the entire experience, but she only cried when they put the tongue depressor in her mouth. I was so very impressed, and you could tell the nurses were too. They kept saying, "happy baby!!!". And I said yes she absolutely is!! She was said to have weighed 16.5 pounds in August, and I had been told to expect her to weigh the same now. That generally, they are weighed with crazy amounts of layers on, and then they exaggerate the weights sometimes. I am proud to say my little girl weighed 18.4 pounds today!! Woohoo!!!! I felt so accomplished, after all, she has been eating like a horse the last week!!!

The medical exam office is actually on Shamian Island. It is an absolutely beautiful place. It is evidently designed in a European fashion. There are LOTS of shops, and you do lots of bargaining. It was an experience to say the least. There is also an American style cafe...Lucy's. Almost all adoptive parents have been there a time or two during their stay. We went today, and got a cheeseburger and french fries. It was just like back home. Delicious!!! While we were sitting there eating, Roy leaned over and said, "Leslie, is that xxx". I thought he was kidding, but walking towards us, was a guy that we went to high school with. He has moved to Baton Rouge, but was in China now adopting their first child. What on earth are the chances of that?????? So, we sat with them for a little while talking about West Monroe. His in laws, who were with him, still live there, and it was just surreal. ; We are in China, and sat down at the same restaurant with someone else who lives in our little town. I still just can't believe it!!! After that, we did more shopping, and then headed to the starbucks on the island to use the restroom. I can't describe how pretty this place is, and pictures really don't do it justice. But, it was so pleasant, that we decided to get a coffee and just sit on the porch. I felt like i was in the British Isles or something. I really, really, really wish we were staying on the Island. But, the White Swan is being renovated, and there aren't enough hotel rooms any longer for the amount of adoptive parents that are coming through. We have no plans for tonight, but tomorrow afternoon is our power shopping trip. We actually have a guide taking us around to the wholesalers where she does the bargaining for us. We pay her $7.50 per hour, but will save TONS of money. And, we don't have to barga in....thank goodness. I really don't enjoy that part. I know that's the game, but I feel bad trying to get people to come down.

I will come back later to download more pictures. When we got back to our hotel, Jillian had already fallen asleep, and I SO wanted to get a post in. I will try to do another later too, with just some tidbits about China that I am finding fascinating. With maybe some pics of China, and not just Jillian. It really is a fascinating country, and I can really see how world travelers do it. I am just so surprised how easy it is, for the most part, to maintain our normal lives. The world wide web has sure made a difference in everyone's lives!!!

I'll be back later with pics!!