I will do a quick recap of Thursday night and Friday. Thursday Lan Lan started to miss her foster mom and wanted to call her. She found her picture when we were packing and had that in one hand and the phone in the other. I could not let her call her... Broke my heart and hers too. She was sad which turned into mad. We had major listening and temper issues...I was very worried about how I would ever manage on the plane with her at that point and was very upset myself. The TV became an major issue too. A very tough 24 hours. But the good news is this happened in the safety of our hotel room and not in the airport. Our guide was VERY good with her and explained it was too expensive to call but she could write letters to her. She explained to me if I want to I can send letters and pictures to the foster mother by sending them to the orphanage. She said the orphanage would make sure the foster mother received them. Her foster mother was very good to her and for that I will be forever grateful....
In the afternoon on Friday after our guide spoke with her, Lan Lan was very good and helped me finish packing. She seemed excited to be moving on (me too!) and was a good listener. Once we were at the airport and ready to go through security, it was time to say goodbye to Evelyn our wonderful guide. Lan Lan started to cry. Evelyn said it was because she was leaving her. I think that was part of it and the other part was she was scared out of her head about the airplane. She was very tearful while we waited an hour for our flight. I kept trying to distract her but was not very successful. Once we were on the plane and took off she was GREAT! She is a wonderful traveler and was a huge help once we landed. I am so glad we got the "listening to your Momma issues" worked out earlier.
We landed in Guangzhou in the dark and it was beautiful. I could not find a luggage cart and had to try to handle our bags alone which was near impossible. Finally someone helped us get a cart. We were met by our smiling and bubbly guides Jocelyn and Kathy. They noticed us long before we saw them. Did I mention we stand out? Kathy was one of our guides in 2007 with Manon. She and Jocelyn are very sweet and helpful They keep asking to translate for Lan Lan and I but I keep saying we are doing fine. We really need to manage on our own and we are doing great! The ride to the hotel was uneventful. No more crazy taxi rides for us! Lan Lan kept saying "wow" with all the lights and then our hotel room. By the time we unpacked (we are here for six days) we exhaused and went to bed.
Lan Lan and I are very happy to be in Guangzhou! Hardly any cigarette smoke!!! This place is my oasis in the whole trip. It is a beautiful place. It is on Shamian Island and was settled by the British. It is over looking the Pearl River. This is where all families from the US adopting in China must come to complete the US end of things. There are MANY MANY American families here now! I have been able to become part of a group of ten families, two of whom I was with in Hong Kong. It is wonderful to see them with their new children. Today was the medical exam and TB skin test. The best news of all, NO SHOTS!!!! Many, many prayers answered. I do believe in immunizations in small doses not 7-9 at once and this in so not the time for an adopted child to receive them. I have the waiver that we promise to get her immunizations up to date within 30 days. Our doctor will do titers to see what she needs. I truly believe she has had immunizations and she has the mark on her arm to prove it. She will need to get blood drawn anyway so the titers will not cause any extra picks. The guide in Nanchang told me no shots for sure on Friday. She must have thought I was the silliest momma ever because I cried when she told me. But they were tears of relief..... But last night I had an email from our agency saying that because of her age being 10 that she did not qualify for the waiver so she would need the shots.... I cried again..... But the law clearly states 10 and under so our guides this morning reassured me no shots. This immunization issue has truly been a rollercoaster for me. I held my breath at the medical exam and guess what? NO SHOTS!!!!! She did have the TB skin test and we will have to go back to the clinic on Monday to have it read. The whole medical exam is a little silly and VERY chaotic. There were many families at once there and it was crazy! It was the same way with Manon in 2007. It is just a formality to get home. For the hearing test they squeak a toy....
Any way she did great except the doctor doing the physical was very concerned with the fine scars on her face. She made us go to several other doctors at their booths to show them. Lan Lan became upset (me too) about this. The scars are very fine and I do not even notice them anymore. You can tell it bothers her when people look and talk about the scars. The doctor was so engrossed in the scars she did not listen to her lungs or heart. This surprised me because I had the chest x rays and CT scan results and the chest x-ray showed advanced bronchitis. I would think she would have wanted to listen to her chest? I have listened to it and it is absolutely clear. She has no cough, wheeze or fever. I never started the antibiotic but have it if I need to.
Anyway we were glad to be out of there. We did get to meet many nice families today! It was nice to see her interact with other children. She was very sweet with them! I was glad to see that. I have been wondering how she will do with Manon. I think she will be great with her! We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the island and did a little shopping. I always regretted not getting Manon a silk dress so I found a nice one for her, Lan Lan and Kelsey too. One of our first stops was Starbucks! Did I mention I am coffee deprived? There are tons of "photo shoots" going on here. We have had our pictures taken quite a few times too! We are going to head back out to walk around in the dark so she can see the lights. Tomorrow morning we go on a tour with the group and in the afternoon we complete the visa paperwork.
There is a nice deli next to the hotel that we bought noodles for dinner from. She loves her noodles! She eats most everything with chop sticks and is a pro! We will work on using a fork once we are home. She has tried a few times but it is frustrating for her.
All in all she continues to do very well. Most of the time she is very happy but still has her moments. It is all part of the process. She is learning how to be a daughter and I am learning how to be her mother. It is all good.
I miss Ron and Manon a ton and I miss talking to the boys a ton too. But the good news is we are using skype and I am hoping to talk to Ron and Manon on Saturday on Skype. I was able to call them on the phone today and it was WONDERFUL to talk to them! Other good news is we are over the half way mark!
On TV they have a version of "Are you smarter than a fifth grader" and "A minute to win it". Most of the stuff on TV is AWFUL.... She loves it and you can tell she has watched a lot of it.... I am letting her watch it at times but not all of the time.
Good night from Guanghou,
Brenda and Lan Lan
