Friday morning we woke up to our last day in Nanning. We were able to sleep in, enjoy our last buffet breakfast at the Marriott (which was my favorite hotel and breakfast of the whole trip) and slowly packed up our room.
We did one last trip to Walmart. Looking back, I wish that I would have stocked up more. It was so easy and convenient to be able to walk down a few flights of stair and have everything that we would need. Our next stop, Guangzhou, was much harder to navigate and to get necessities.
We loaded up all our bags, said good bye to the room where we brought our daughter "home" and met with Sunshine. She was bringing us the last of our legal documents.
We were taking the bullet train to Guangzhou, instead of flying, and I don't think that Ryan could have been more excited! The train station was large, clean and very modern. We figured out our gate and paid a bell hop to take our bags to the train, so we did not have to navigate stairs. Turns out that for $3 we got to board first and didn't have to load our bags. It was great. Our guide Sunshine set that up for us.
It was sad to say goodbye to Sunshine. It was like the adult parent leaving us alone! Sunshine said her good byes and then 5 minutes later came running up to us. She told us that we had to get off at the Guangzhou-Nan station. Nan means "south" in Mandarin and so we needed to get off at the south station. In only a way that Sunshine could, she made all of us repeat the word "nan" back to her. All of us. All adults. No questions asked, you repeated "nan" back to her...even if you are in your mid 30's. You repeat what she tells you to repeat!
The bullet train was just so fun. It was quiet and smooth and fast! It goes around 135 mph and you can barely tell that you are moving. It was my favorite form of traveling while we were in China. The only bad part was that we left at night, so 2 of our 4 hours were at night and we were in rural China, so there was no light or electricity around.
While we stayed in beautiful modern China for our trip, it was fascinating to see "real" China, as our guide called it. Rice fields upon rice fields that were being plowed by water buffalo with farmers in traditional conical hats. Stunning rock formations that appear out of no where, small villages filled with animals and laundry hung out to dry. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip, to see how the rural, "real" China lives and survives.
Maggie came alive during the trip. It was the first time that we got a peak at her silly, wild little self. She was funny and started to tease Ryan and I, smiling and laughing most of the trip.
Tickling Daddy
We arrived in Guangzhou late, managed to get 4 adults, 3 children and 6+ bags off the train and to the main entrance. It was medal worthy :)
We met our next guide, Molly and headed to our hotel. Guangzhou is just so massive. Even in the dark evening, you could see city stretching for miles.
After some room service, we finally got some sleep.
Saturday, day 9, we had our medical appointment for Maggie's US visa. We needed to get her Visa and US immigration picture taken, as well as a short medical exam.
The A/C was out in the building, and we were all dripping with sweat after the first 3 minutes. Maggie was NOT having her picture taken. She would not let me put her down and screamed her head off when we tried to prop her up. Miraculously, we were able to get a head shot, though I have no idea how!
The medical exam is very basic and just confirms that her special needs are what is stated in her paperwork and that she does not have any contagious diseases before she boards a plane for the US. She would have her height and weight checked, her hearing and vision and a quick exam.
It was here that we saw our docile, limp little daughter turn into a raging, kicking bull. She came alive and fought every one of those doctors. She was strong and moving and kicking. When the doctor tried to get her to stand, she kicked at him and threw her head back and screamed. It was crazy. I do not know if she had bad memories of doctors from her time in the hospital, or if she was just hot and didn't want one more stranger to touch her...but she let the world know it.
Afterwards, Maggie and I rested, while Ryan went over all the legal papers for our consulate appointment. The last part of our adoption would be completed on Monday.
Maggie and I hung out in the room while Ryan worked on paperwork with our guide.
Here is the thing. Adoption is messy. It is hard and is born out of deep loss and pain. That was one of the areas that I was not prepared for. I thought I was. I read the books, did the training. I knew that in order to be an orphan, you had to experience loss. The heaviness of this hit me hard in China. Maggie lost everything she had ever known...for the second time. BUT...the beauty of adoption is the redemption. God can make brokenness whole, bring families together and create a new beauty out of ashes. 9 days after we met this sad stoic girl, we hung out and had fun together. Real fun with real joy. Adoption is good for us. It stretches us and moves us. And it brings us great joy.
After a nap, we met up with our group at the outdoor pool. I loved it. It felt AMAZING after the constant heat of China. Maggie, however, was not impressed.
At all.
Guangzhou is in southern China and they mostly speak Cantonese. Cantonese food is prevalent and served family style. We decided to venture out as a group and have dinner outside of the hotel. Somehow, Ryan turned into the "adventurous" one and did most of the ordering. I found it hilarious, because it was definitely not something that he would normally do. The food in China is not like anything in the states. Most restaurants have their seafood tanks on the outside and you regularly see the chefs coming out and pulling from the tanks.
Dinner is usually a pork dish, a noodle dish, rice, a vegetable and many requests for forks. No water, because all water is served hot and is probably not filtered. Maggie started letting me put her in a high chair, so that I could actually try to eat.
Overall, our first full day in Guangzhou was successful.
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