Happy
Halloween!!!
A big Happy
Halloween to everyone in the US!!! There
were no signs of Halloween here except a
couple of kids dressed in costumes. In
Beijing and Nanchang there were tons of
businesses with Halloween decorations but
there were none here!!! Surprising
considering the influx of Americans here.
Today was a very
busy day. We started out the morning having
a breakfast buffet in the White Swan Hotel
restaurant. It was packed!!! In Nanchang
we could complete breakfast in 15 minutes.
Here it will take at least 45 minutes and
this morning we did not budget enough time.
We did meet Lana Firestone who is here with
her CCAI group. We also met Tammy Cotton
and her husband yesterday. Several CCAI
groups were getting their babies today. We
were so excited for them. We remember what
it felt like to be on the edge of your seat
with anticipation. We can't wait to see
everyone at breakfast tomorrow morning with
their new babies!!!
We had to meet
our group at 9am to walk to the Medical Exam
building. When we arrived at the exam
building it was packed!!! There were so
many families with Chinese babies!!! It
took about 1 hour to get through the maze of
people and complete the exam. The exam
consisted of 3 different stations: general
check-up, height and weight and ENT. We
found out that Kiah weighs 17 ½ lbs. I was
right on my guesstimate. The doctors only
did a brief check of everything. The ENT
station was too funny. It consisted of a
doctor shaking rattles all over the place to
see if the babies can hear. As if they
could hear the rattles over all of the
babies screaming!!! We then walked back to
the hotel to prepare for our 10:45am
meeting. One parent from each family had to
meet with the Kathy (our CCAI Rep) to
complete the paperwork for the Consulate.
This paperwork is submitted to the Consulate
and requests that the babies be granted an
IR-3 Visa. An IR-3 Visa is the Visa that
allows an adopted foreign born child to
become an American citizen as soon as they
enter the US. The meeting was very
stressful and detail oriented. It took
almost 2 hours. After the meeting we
decided to go out for lunch and do some
shopping! We ate at a place called Lucy's.
Lucy's specializes in American cuisine. I
had a cheeseburger and Brandon had a club
sandwich. Kiah ate a whole bowl of mashed
potatoes. Actually, Kiah will eat anything
in front of her!!! We purchased a new
suitcase to haul everything back to the US
on Saturday.
Ah Saturday!!!
We can't wait to board that plane!!! Well,
actually it will be 3 planes!!! We go from
Guangzhou to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Newark
and Newark to Dulles.. all in the same
day!!!
After more
shopping and walking we ate dinner at Lucy's
again and headed back for the evening.
Tomorrow is
considered a "rest/shop/tour" day. We are
taking a tour of a Buddhist Temple, an Arts
and Crafts Store and a Folk Art Museum.
We are beat
today so we are keeping this update short.
Love to Jake and
Katelyn!!! 5 more days!!!
Love from
Guangzhou,
-Nicole, Brandon
and Kiah!!!
