Day 10 and 11

It's Monday night here in Guangzhou and the last two days have been less than exciting as it has been cold, rainy and windy both Sunday and Monday. Sunday was a scheduled free day which means that Eddie and I were on our own for the day. Eddie is a typical teenager and likes to get to sleep in the mornings, but his dad is not going to miss the buffet American breakfast down on the "Middle" floor here at the Victory Hotel. This means that I usually have Eddie up around 9 which gives me a full hour to munch down on eggs and bacon. But don't think that I am the only one who enjoys eating as Eddie usually eats at least as much as his dad does. Eddie is a huge fan of all kinds of sausages, but particularly likes the chicken and pork sausages (here in China, sausages come in all forms). In addition, he looks for noodles, toast and jelly, dumplings and many of the local dishes. He always finishes his meal off with a large plate of fruit. Throughout a meal, he often signs that he is full and I tell him that he does not have to finish everything, but he continually dives back in until the plate is finished.

After breakfast we strolled down to the park which sits alongside the Pearl River. Here it is not uncommon to see families having a quiet walk (many American families come here to stroll their newly adopted children), Chinese senior citizens playing hackey sack, dancing or engaging in traditional Tai Chi. We watched some of the activities and would have taken in some shopping but all shops are closed on Sunday morning. Eddie stood and watched and even understood some of the movements and did a few simple movements for me to see his expertise.

Eddie and I went back to the room and spent most of the afternoon watching TV, engaging in a little horseplay and basically lounging around. Later in the afternoon, we headed down to Lucy's Restaurant which is a favorite for their many traditional American dishes. Lucy's sits alongside the river next to the park as well and is an enjoyable stroll. Eddie had a shish kabob and I had chicken strips. After our late lunch we headed back to the room for some more lounging. Later in the evening, we headed out to the local 7-11 store for some snacks. Eddie's version of a snack is noodles, but he usually is able to work in a little candy as well. We turned in early after a little TV.

On Monday morning, we had our usual breakfast and headed back to the room. Connie, our guide, was coming by today to go through all of our documents in preparation for our consulate visit. This is nerve racking since there are so many documents and missing even one can bring about tremendous hardship for a family. As Connie went down the long checklist, Eddie would try to file through the papers to pull out the right documents. He really did not have a clue what he was looking for, but he was sure that he was a big help in the process. He also headed over to the refrigerator to pour our guide a big glass of Sprite. Eddie enjoys playing the host and does so even when it is only me that he is serving. Fortunately, all of our documents were in order which made the day start off right. After completing the checklist, we headed out into the rain back to the medical clinic to retrieve the reports from Saturday's visits. This would be necessary to complete the process at the consulate. Fortunately, here also, everything was OK with the reports. A bad report here could keep you in the country for possibly several more weeks. After the reports we headed back to the hotel.

On Monday afternoon, Eddie spent a couple of hours with Daniel, a previously adopted Chinese boy who now lives in Mississippi. His family had adopted another child and his mom asked if it would be OK if Daniel and Eddie played handheld video games while she got her new son down for a nap. Eddie really enjoyed the interaction of a new friend here in the hotel. Even tough Daniel could not sign, he and Eddie could easily communicate with one another by instincts alone. There are several families here who have adopted children and stay here at the Victory Hotel (and down the street at the White Swan Hotel) as we have met another family from Chicago also. If you are reading this and you have adopted a child before, you understand the bond that quickly develops among families who have trudged through the process. All of them are so happy, yet many are so scared with this new delivery from Heaven that is with them forever. It is always comforting that no matter the difficulties, we always realize that we are not alone in this new adventure.

After Daniel left, Eddie and I gathered our laundry to carry to one of the many shops that do laundry here close to the hotel. Interestingly, all of these laundry shops are "50% off." The owners of these shops are such barterers. It is really a lot of fun dealing with them. I sometimes have wondered why they just don't put the reduced price out to begin with, but I have come to realize that this would take away half the fun of their daily work. Eddie used this time to try and negotiate a bracelet. That is something that we will deal with when we pick up our laundry.

Things are getting better each day. Eddie and I have made a lot of progress in our communication and our bonding which is quite a relief. Each day brings closer to understanding one another, But, I would be remiss if I did not point out how badly we both want to get home. Eddie just beams every time he sees the family on the computer. They already have quite a relationship together, but getting them face to face will be so much better. Tomorrow, our plans are to go to the Safari Park. There is record cold here in China this month, but here in the sub -tropical Guangzhou it is not terrible. Expected temperature tomorrow is to be around 50 which is better than the freezing that is being experienced in Beijing. If nothing else, the rain is supposed to hold off tomorrow so we will at least see some sunshine. Thank you again for taking the time to follow us in our journeys. We look forward to sharing with you again tomorrow.