Sunday,
June 5
We awoke this
morning with dreams of the breakfast buffet in our heads. Joe,
whom adopted from China and now updates our "journey to
Isabelle" website, recommended the french toast and it was
amazing. Stefanie and Tori miss the crepes at the Novotel Peace
Hotel back in Beijing but I have to say that this buffet is not
only huge but it is the best. Our CCAI rep, Grace, told us to
get there before 8 a.m. and that may have been the best advice
we have gotten in Guangzhou. We arrived, sat down, and were
just about full when the rush hit at exactly 8. Wow, there are
tons of families here. CCAI, our agency, has 50 families here
alone and the hotel itself is completely full despite having 28
floors with over 40 rooms per floor. It is really cool seeing so
many families that are going through the same things we are. It
rained a lot today but that kept the temperatures at a
comfortable level.
After
breakfast it was time to join up with our group mates and cruise
across the street for the children's official VISA photos. In
no time at all, with all the children providing their best
smiles, it was complete and time for one member of each of the
families to fill out more paperwork. Let me tell you that the
Justice Department and the Immigration Department of the US
government make the military look like beginners as far as
bureaucratic morass goes. The forms seem to go on forever and
repetition of information is a requirement rather than an
oddity. It took us a full hour to complete the paperwork and
get it all together; this is with a trained CCAI rep who has
done all of this many times. Imagine what it would have been
like without her -- nightmare city?
We discovered that another family in our group is Christian and
they found that there is a Christian service in a Chinese church
right next to the consulate so I went (Stefanie stayed in with
Isabelle while she napped) with them to the service and it was
amazing. To know that all of us, despite the nationality
differences, were praying to Jesus was a powerful experience.
It was also really electric when one of the church members gave
her testimony and said she just wanted to invite everyone to
accept Jesus and join a fellowship group. The sermon was in
Chinese primarily while someone else translated it into
English. One neat point that the elder brought up, neat because
there is a Chinese proverb that says the same thing, was that
going to hell uninvited, when heaven is inviting, does not make
sense. Following the service I spoke with several young ladies
who were trying to work on their English skills and they asked
me questions and also answered mine.
After church, the Leist bunch went to drop off laundry at
Sherry's place and then did some quick shopping. Quick enough
to grab some things but not quick enough to avoid spending some
Rmb. Tori got a purse that she has had her eye on and Stefanie
got some more things for Isabelle. She is the best dressed baby
around and I have a feeling also, because of Stefanie's
thriftiness, the one with the least expensive wardrobe. She did
wear her squeaky shoes today and they are adorable.
We went on a tour of some famous parts of the city with Grace
acting as tour guide. She told us that in five years she thinks
there will be no motorcycles on the streets of Guangzhou because
the government is not renewing motorcycle licenses and not
giving out new ones either because motorcycles give off too much
pollution and the motorcycle drivers don't follow the traffic
laws very well. She also told us that the Pearl River, which
runs right next to the hotel, is the fourth largest river in
China: Yangtze, Yellow,
Heilongjiang River,
then the Pearl. It was once green but now run grey. After
several wrong turns, 360s, and U-turns we made it to the
Buddhist temple and it was neat to see the 3 big Buddhas (10
tons each), the pagoda, and the prayers (see by the number of
incense sticks burning) that were being offered to Buddha. Tori
took several snapshots.
After the Buddhist temple, we ferried over to the Chen Academy.
The Chen family was the last dynasty and their house is here in
Guangzhou. We visited what is now an art academy and school and
took in the sites. The embroidery was absolutely unbelievable.
It looked like paintings rather than thread. There were also
displays of ivory carvings, bone carving, a porcelain pillow
(Grace shared the fact that her grandma would sleep only on a
hard, porcelain pillow and a bed with no mattress. She said
that if you offered her grandma a soft pillow or soft bed that
she could not sleep), and some other ancient crafts. We left
the academy and went to the shopping area where we saw all the
same things but for sale rather than display.
When we got back to the hotel we were going to eat delivery from
Danny's Bagels but because a member of our group (Mac - in photo
with Isabelle) was headed back, we decided to eat with them and
stayed in the hotel and had dinner here. Then it was off to
satisfy the sweet tooth and we forced ourselves to polish off
some goodies: chocolate mousse (me), coffee crispy ice cream (Tori),
and a Napolean (Stefanie). We wished our new found friends
"adieu," and then went to the room where it was time to give
Isabelle a bath and get some shut eye.
Tomorrow is the medical exam. Please pray that all the babies are in good health, especially Isabelle. Good night from China
and good afternoon in the US. |
Lovely, Lovely, Lovely
Ten tons each and you can't rub their bellies
Tori's friend seemed a little stiff at first
but he loosened up for this picture.
Sharing a father/daughter moment at the
Chen Academy
Example of the embroidery at the
Chen Academy
New friends enjoying their last night
together |
