Before I tell you about this day, I need to back up to last night. We started the dreaded process of packing all of our stuff back into our suitcases in order to fly to our last city. Denny worked and worked on getting the weight right for each suitcase....this was a harder process in country because our in country flight had a lower weight limit that our flight to get here. And for some reason ALL of our stuff wouldn't fit back into our suitcases so Denny decided we might as well buy another suitcase. A lot of families do this once they get to the last city, Guangzhou, to help divide the weight better and to have room for souvenirs. We just did this step a little sooner than later. So at 8:00 last night he headed out into the dark to find a Wal-mart like store we had passed earlier that day and get a suitcase from there...as the mall was way too expensive. I must say we have felt very safe here in Nanjing....Denny said he feels safer here than in the states. The atmosphere here seems very laid back but there is more smog here than I expected as Nanjing has a better air quality than most cities in eastern China. There are beautiful trees lining the main streets and the people seem very casual and laid back.
So I didn't think much about Denny heading out by himself at night in China to hunt for a suitcase. That is, until an hour passed and then an hour and a half. I started to wonder what in the world would I do if he didn't make it back tonight! Thankfully, that is when the hotel door opened and Denny came puffing inside...pulling a suitcase. He said he was able to catch a cab to the Walmart and was very intrigued by the items for sale inside...after exploring a bit he found a suitcase and when he went to check out he said it was like Black Friday...a complete mad house with lines everywhere. He finally got out of there and went to catch a cab home...which was easier said than done. He flagged a cab down and it stopped for him but then someone else jumped in it right in front of him! And this didn't happen just once...but three more times. After this he said he was just going to walk back to the hotel....a 20 minute walk pulling a suitcase down the streets of Nanjing. So he finished packing last night so we could spend our last few hours here on Friday exploring and enjoying our last breakfast buffet.
Have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE the food here?? Now, I'm not eating the food off of the street wagons, just the little local restaurants and also the hotel restaurant. The breakfast buffets have been amazing and have tons of choices on them...eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, french toast with different flavors of homemade syrups, Asian/Japanese buffets with sushi, steamed dumplings, stir fry, fried rice cakes, soups where you put the noodles in an then choose different ingredients and make your own soup, meat dumplings, and the best yogurt I've ever had...my favorite flavor is the red date yogurt. They even have a yogurt dispenser where you can fill up a whole bowl with it. They also have the little portable yogurt cups but since spoons aren't common here they have little straws that you use instead. These are very handy for a mom who only has one arm available to use as the other one is always holding little bit. I haven't gotten any pictures of the food here for the same reason....when I'm at the restaurant my free hand is holding food....not my phone! Today is the day when Gracie stopped screaming at the front carrier and actually got in it...and boy has it been a life saver! Or I should say "arm saver".
After breakfast we wanted to walk around the beautiful area close to our hotel and explore the Confucius Temple. I haven't be able to get out and enjoy the beauty as much around here so I was very excited about our remaining time here today. There is a Confucius Temple in each larger city and the one here had all kind of little shops and food markets. There were beautiful red lanterns hanging down the walkways. We also came across a stunning waterway that had arched bridges across it as far as we could see.
We visited a few little shops where Emma found a tea set for herself....the one thing she was hoping to find while we are here. There are scooters everywhere by the way! And it's not just one person per scooter...it's pretty much as many people as you can cram on a scooter. We have been "admiring" the scooter warmers too. It reminds me of a sleeping bag with big oven mitts attached. The "oven mitts" are attached to the handle bars to keep their hands and arms warm.
We hurried back to the hotel where we were to leave for the airport at 12:40 pm. Us and the other family loaded into the van and said goodbye to Nanjing. We loved this city and it was here where we finally felt like we are in China.
It was also here where we met our wonderful guide, Denise. Even though we had only been with her for a few short days, she was with us as we experienced so much. She is a small part of Gracie's story but was such a huge support while she was sick. We didn't think our guide could get any better than the one we had in Shanghai and boy were we wrong. As we said our goodbyes to Denise in the Nanjing airport I had tears in my eyes....she was beyond wonderful to work with and I am truly going to miss her. Another reminder of God's greatness and how He has gone before us in this and cares about all of the little details.
It was also here where we met our wonderful guide, Denise. Even though we had only been with her for a few short days, she was with us as we experienced so much. She is a small part of Gracie's story but was such a huge support while she was sick. We didn't think our guide could get any better than the one we had in Shanghai and boy were we wrong. As we said our goodbyes to Denise in the Nanjing airport I had tears in my eyes....she was beyond wonderful to work with and I am truly going to miss her. Another reminder of God's greatness and how He has gone before us in this and cares about all of the little details.
We found our gate in the airport and then went to eat lunch and enjoyed more stuffed dumplings. We might look like stuffed dumplings by the time we get back! When we went back to our gate they had moved it so we had to go back to the other side of the airport where we then loaded the plane. We ended up having an hour delay on the runway, and didn't take off until after 5pm, instead of 4. This was only a 2 hour flight and they served a full chicken and rice meal with an unidentifiable side dish. There were at least 4 other adoptive families and their new children on the plane with us...and I heard NO crying the entire flight! Since we were sitting in the back of the plane, one family warned us that he has never seen so many people go to the bathroom on such a short flight than he did on a previous in-country flight. Wow is all I can say! There were probably 50 bathroom visits in the 2 hours we were on that plane! Gracie did wonderfully as she fell asleep about 10 minutes after we took off and then woke up 30 minutes before landing. In that 30 minutes she discovered the tray table, the window shade, the magazines, snacks, found her belly for probably the first time ever, and desperately wanted to push all of the buttons overhead.
Once we landed in Guangzhou we had to take a bus to baggage claim. We got to briefly talk with another family who was here to adopt their little girl. They are from Nashville and brought their son with them as well. There ended up being two other families from Tennessee here in Guangzhou this last week. We got our luggage and quickly found the guide holding the Holt agency sign. She took us to our van where we had to take another 40 minute ride to our hotel. Emma quickly passed out asleep as did Gracie. We could tell driving in that Guangzhou was going to be a much different city than Nanjing as it seemed busier and bigger.
Just as a side note, all adoptive families spend their first week in the capital city of the province where their child is. (province is similar to a state in the USA) Then the second week all American adoptive families go to Guanghzou because that is where the United States Consulate is located. And this is where we will receive Gracie's visa and have the swearing in ceremony.
As we walked into the lobby of our hotel, we all noticed how much fancier this hotel was than our last. Most agencies have their adoptive families stay here because of it's location and thankfully we were able to use Marriott points. We checked in and then headed up to our room...which was much bigger than we were expecting! We thought we were walking into a regular 1-king bed hotel room but it was much more than than. We apparently ended up with a suite which was similar to our last hotel and we were so thankful to have 2 separate areas as getting Gracie to sleep can be quite a task. It allowed Emma to sleep in the "living room" again and we had the bedroom. When we thought we were going to have a regular room Emma was going to be either on the floor or little couch if there was one. She was extra thankful. :) Tonight was a tough night for Gracie as we were in a new place again. She is so fearful of most things and it's normal for night time to be hard for children from an orphanage. We didn't get to sleep until around 1 am and we have an early and long day tomorrow. Tomorrow morning all families take their child to the medical check up. I'm going to take Gracie while Denny and Emma stay here to get unpacked and situated again. Gracie and I will meet the other Holt families in the lobby at 9:30 am. Good night Guangzhou.
Just as a side note, all adoptive families spend their first week in the capital city of the province where their child is. (province is similar to a state in the USA) Then the second week all American adoptive families go to Guanghzou because that is where the United States Consulate is located. And this is where we will receive Gracie's visa and have the swearing in ceremony.
As we walked into the lobby of our hotel, we all noticed how much fancier this hotel was than our last. Most agencies have their adoptive families stay here because of it's location and thankfully we were able to use Marriott points. We checked in and then headed up to our room...which was much bigger than we were expecting! We thought we were walking into a regular 1-king bed hotel room but it was much more than than. We apparently ended up with a suite which was similar to our last hotel and we were so thankful to have 2 separate areas as getting Gracie to sleep can be quite a task. It allowed Emma to sleep in the "living room" again and we had the bedroom. When we thought we were going to have a regular room Emma was going to be either on the floor or little couch if there was one. She was extra thankful. :) Tonight was a tough night for Gracie as we were in a new place again. She is so fearful of most things and it's normal for night time to be hard for children from an orphanage. We didn't get to sleep until around 1 am and we have an early and long day tomorrow. Tomorrow morning all families take their child to the medical check up. I'm going to take Gracie while Denny and Emma stay here to get unpacked and situated again. Gracie and I will meet the other Holt families in the lobby at 9:30 am. Good night Guangzhou.