We are here

If you couldn't tell from my last post, we are in Guangzhou. It is such a relief to be here. Let me tell you about our day yesterday.
It started off at 5:30 with breakfast at 6. Our guide was due at 7 and to my relief he showed up on time. Yes he was still wearing the same outfit :). Now that I'm gone he can move on to another outfit. It really is no deal that he was wearing the same outfit, I just thought it was funny and adds to the absurdity of our trip. We got to the airport at about 7:50 for an 8:40 departure. Guess what? They couldn't find my reservation. I knew it. They finally found it and off we went thru security. Our gate was the very last one and what do you know, they were boarding. We had just made it. Sophie was a dream on the flight. She was so well behaved. Then the plane came in for a landing. We got off and at first I was a little confused. It didn't look like Guangzhou. Well I got to the baggage area and found out it wasn't Guangzhou. We had a change of planes that my guide failed to mention. That was my departing gift I assume. So we got on the right flight to Guangzhou and Sophie was still good until right before we landed. She really needed to go to the bathroom. I kept trying to explain we couldn't go yet, but she kept saying it over and over again. I had put a pullup on her so I was prepared. She held it until we got to baggage claim and then we found the nearest restroom. We were met by another guy. This one seemed prepared. We had to wait for another family to come in. We waited about 15-20 minutes and then we were off. It was going to be very busy. We got to the White Swann at about 4 and had to run to go to the medical clinic because they closed at 5. We stopped and had their pictures taken. There are a total of 3 families. 2 single moms traveling with either children or their sister and then me traveling by myself. So it's a group of women with one little boy thrown in the mix. Sophie cried and screamed at the medical. She did not want to see the doctor. They were all laughing and talking to her. She would fuss at them and they would just laugh. The same doctor who was there with Maddie also did Sophie's exam. We then went back to our room for a few minutes because we were supposed to meet at 6:30 for paperwork. We did all of the paperwork which took about 2 hours to make sure everything was complete and correct. Sophie and I then went out to find some dinner, drop some pictures off for etchings and then came back to the room. She was asleep by about 9:30 and I followed very shortly. It has been a long day.
I want to thank everyone for their continued prayers and especially for the prayers about the passport. I found out when I was talking to the other family how imperative it was to get the passport on Monday. This family had some delays arriving to China. They didn't get to apply for the passport until Friday like us. The only difference was, their agency rep was keeping them up with the situation. Apparently if there was any delay in the getting the passport on Monday and we were not able to leave on Tuesday, than our consulate appointment would have been delayed. We could have begged to have an appointment on 5/17, but if that didn't happen than we would have had to stay here for 2 weeks until the next available opening. That is why I say thank you for the prayers. I guess if I had known this, I would have been a basket case. I'm glad everything worked out.
Right now we are in our room waiting for our guide to go to the consulate at 11am. Once she/he (they've changed a couple of times already) calls and gives us the all clear, than we can leave the room. I've already gone to a couple of places, but I want to go some more.
Sophie had just a little meltdown on the busride from the airport to the hotel, but I am sure it was because she was tired and hot. She fell asleep for just a few minutes. She was very shy around the new families at first, but has really opened up. She is such a little hoot. She loves exploring the room and thank goodness she loves riding her stroller. I don't think I could carry her around Guangzhou much longer.
I dropped off her camera from the orphanage to get developed and I should have them back today. It stinks my CD doesn't work on the laptop or else I would upload some of those. I can't wait to see them. Also go check out Asher's blog. Isn't he just the cutest?
Well sorry so long. I will write more about our day today tonight. I am anxious about the consulate because than I will know for sure we are truly going home! Oh, I've also lost 6lbs.... yeah!