Guangzhou...So this is it?

As many know, Guangzhou is the last stop for all American adopting from China. It is a tropical area of China and is much warmer than our other destinations. I haven't posted as of yet because frankly there's not much exciting to say about Guangzhou other than that. It's warmer.

There was this big build up to Shamian Island, which is where most adoptive families stay. It's not really an island, just a neighborhood between a canal and a river that is a European/Colonial themed area. It is very small and is tailored almost exclusively to Westerners, since it was once the home of the US Consulate, but now only has a few of their offices. I frankly just don't get it. It's pretty boring here and not representative of China at all. I'm so glad that we got to see and experience Beijing and Hangzhou before this. Some families stay here their entire trip if they are adopting from this province...I'm so glad that wasn't our situation. I would have gone crazy.

There are two main hotels that house adoptive families, The White Swan and The Victory. After reading a lot of information online, I came away with the impression that The White Swan was over rated and that The Victory had nicer rooms and the same distance to everything on the island. Well, I'll say it here because it's my blog and I can say what I want... Those who said that The Victory is better are idiots. I may be ranting again and will take the risk of sounding extra picky, but I can't find a redeeming quality about this hotel. The buffet, service, room...everything sucks. We walked over to The White Swan's lobby and I immediately knew that I had made a bad decision. It's so much nicer with waterfalls, a koi pond, shops, better buffet set up...Oh well, we're only here for a few more days and then we can go home.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in China, especially Hangzhou, but we are really getting homesick. We are anxious to see our puppy and to introduce Ian to the rest of his family. More than anything, I'm just ready to get Ian on a more realistic schedule. At this point, I'm pretty sure he thinks his home is a hotel and that we walk around for part of the day, play on a king sized bed, and then eat some rice in a restaurant somewhere.

Speaking of Ian, there's a bit to tell about him from the past few days. He took his first plane ride from Hangzhou to Guangzhou, which was 2 hours, and didn't have a single problem. He was awake the whole time and didn't need any toys to entertain himself. He had no pressurization issues with his ear and was an overall great kid. This was a good trial run for the big haul back over the Pacific. He has his own seat for those flights, so hopefully it will give us some extra room to stretch out if nothing else.

He wasn't so happy once we got to the hotel here in Guangzhou, though. I think he was expecting to come back to the same hotel in Hangzhou that he had gotten to know, and when we put him down for his nap in a new crib, new room, etc., it was serious meltdown time. Shawn wanted him to stay in his crib and ride out the tantrum and I wanted to pick him up. A big argument ensued over napping strategy. In the end, Ian and I went for a walk and Shawn had a bit of a nap himself...I think he's really the one who needed it!

This is when my letdown started. The shops around the island are all tailored for the adoptive families and the shop owners all sit outside and strike up conversations with the families as they walk by. They are all very friendly, but they also all have the very best artists on the island and all have "a discount just for you". By the time we made it a block, I was hit by 4 such shop owners, all with the same schtick, and all with shops full of stuff for girls or things I don't want to waste my money on. It was a little disheartening. I'm not sure what I expected, but everyone online talked endlessly about how much they loved the shops on the island, etc., and I frankly found it all just a little annoying and over the top. The biggest annoyance of all is the shoes everyone buys their girls with squeakers in them. It sounds like a bunch of dog toys coming down the street and took about one squeak to go from cute to annoying. One word of advice for parents travelling to their kids: If you buy them squeaky shoes, please don't let them run up and down the hotel halls in them at 9pm or 6am! Your kid may not be sleeping, but someone's is!

OK. I got that out of my system.

If you can't tell, I'm a little cranky. Partially because I'm homesick, but also because Ian came to us with a raging cold that he is just now getting over...and gave to me. He's taking antibiotics, and I'm getting ready to dip into his stash in hopes that I can get the worst out of my system before we board another plane. It has made for a tough couple of days for me.

Yesterday was also a very rough day for Ian. He had his medical examination along with about 50 other families and their babies. It is a very basic exam, but is done in several parts in a very small building with absolutely no order whatsoever. It really was a cattle car and anyone with claustrophobia would be screwed. He cried up to and during getting his Visa photos, so he has dark circles under his eyes and looks like he had been beating him up all morning, and then we drug him into the medical exam chaos. It actually went pretty fast, but he was not, I repeat NOT, interested in being poked and prodded. He did do pretty well during the hearing test, which isn't very state of the art...just a squeaky toy...but he responded in both directions and the doctor had a surprised look on her face. He also got a more reliable weighing, and came in at a staggering 27 pounds. As you can imagine, my back has been killing me even with a hip carrier.

The day also ended poorly when Ian didn't want to come out of his bath and kicked and screamed bloody murder as I struggled to get a diaper on him. I learned my other rookie mom move...don't try to diaper a baby with lotion on your hands. I threw out 3 of these cheap Chinese Pampers because I got lotion on the sticky tabs. Where's the duct tape when you need it? I also found out that when you throw a diaper across the room, it goes really far. Even when dry.

Today was a much better day. Ian slept until after 7am, making for a 11 hour sleep and we had to stay in our room by the phone while our guide went to our Consulate Appointment. There was one problem that we have to correct this evening...our agency gave us an outdated form that they wouldn't accept...but other than that, we had the day to ourselves. We went to one of the shops and borrowed a stroller, which Ian really liked. He loved looking around and it was a huge relief on my back and shoulder.

We went to Starbucks, which is the one redeeming quality of this island, and ordered sandwiches and coffee for lunch. Ian sat contently in his stroller playing with the toy attached. Shortly after we had set out again, he fell asleep and stayed that way for the next 45 minutes. We walked for a while more, but found that we had already seen everything within walking distance. We were back at our hotel by noon and here we sit playing on the bed waiting for our 5pm appointment with our guide. Another exciting day in Guangzhou. Ian is back to his happy self today, so we're not worried yet that the honeymoon is over. Yesterday was just one of those days that could test anyone. I also forgot to mention that he has had 2 molars break the surface while here, so I'm sure that didn't help matters yesterday.

Tomorrow, we have our swearing in ceremony at the US Consulate, where we raise our right hands and swear that Ian won't become a terrorist and that we'll try to keep him in one piece to save some taxpayer money...and then we are officially done until we leave on Friday. We could technically leave Thursday, but had to stay longer in order for our FF Miles to apply to our plane tickets.

Backtracking a bit, we did do a little sightseeing in Guangzhou yesterday. We went to the Six Banyan Temple, which is a Buddhist temple in the city, and Ian was blessed by a monk. Shawn also climbed the Temple. In the picture below, you can see him if you look very closely. They built it to appear to be 9 stories from the outside, but it is really 17 stories on the inside. He made it up and down in under 30 minutes and was barely out of breath.

We also went to the Chen Family Temple, which is a palatial sprawling area built and dedicated for all member of the Chen family in all of Guangdong province. In China, those with the surname of Chen number more than 2 million. It was quite beautiful, but Ian was killing my shoulder and back at this point...not to mention that I was running a fever and was very congested. I don't know that I enjoyed it as much as I would have on another day.

Afterward, Simon took us to a large mall and at first we though he was going to tour us through the mall... well, we've seen plenty of them and a mall is a mall, not much different no matter where you are in the world. However, this mall was jewelry on every floor. 5 floors to be exact. It was pretty overwhelming and we were really to get out of there. He then took us to an outdoor jade market. Every stall was jade, jade, and more jade. There was no real way to tell what's real and what's not, even after being shown how in Beijing. Shawn bought another ring for himself, but I was really feeling sick at that point and couldn't handle haggling over something I only sort of wanted. I only wish I had looked at the jade in Beijing more closely. I know I want some, but I'm just out of energy for shopping at this point. Yep, I said it. I'm out of energy for shopping. Mark it on your calendars, people.

I'll post again before we leave for home, but there isn't much else to write about from Guangzhou. Below are a few pics from the past few days. Ian's first plane ride and a few pictures of our sightseeing yesterday.