Monday

I'm a little behind on my blogging. The internet in the hotel is painfully slow, and it takes forever to download photos. As soon as Zoe goes down, I begin downloading one picture at a time, then walk away from the computer to wash a bottle, tidy up the room, etc. then come back to the computer to download another. It is laborious, but I will be glad I did it someday. I am definitely not a scrapbooker so this is the best record Zoe will have of the last two weeks in her homeland.

So, here is what I can recall from Monday. Zoe woke up happy as usual, played on the bed as usual, chugged her bottle as usual, and did her business as usual, (have I mentioned what an easy baby she is??) then we went downstairs to the breakfast buffet and pigged out as usual. (When you type "usual" that many times it starts to look wrong!)


Amy and Linneker went to the consulate to do something with our paperwork. One of us (me) had to wait in the room from 10-12 in case they called with questions. Meanwhile, Kevin went out with Meredith to ride the subway and try to find some baby formula at a grocery store. By the way, the grocery stores here are very similar to ours except for the shopgirls hovering everywhere...these nice girls are very eager to help you find what you need (although when Kevin tried to find jelly they directed him to some sort of gelatin snacks). Before they left I warned them to be careful, "and if you wake up in a bathtub full of ice, make sure you still have both kidneys." Meredith laughed but said this was not that kind of subway...it is very clean and safe. This is his family's second trip to China to adopt, so he knows his way around Guangzhou a little better than the rest of us. Can you spot the American in this picture?


When Kevin returned from his shopping trip, we met the group for another excursion on Shamian Island. The older kids in our group also had to have their TB tests read at the notorious clinic I told you about (the tests were all negative...we cheered each time one of the kids got back on the bus). As you can see from most of our photos, it has been raining nearly every day here. Many areas of China are flooded. In fact, this year's floods are the worst since 1998, when over 3,600 people were killed and 20 million displaced. We have not seen much evidence of the flooding here, but we see video of it on the news. They say several hundred have died this year from the flooding and landslides. The water surrounding Shamian Island was very high.

We could see people filling sandbags on the streets that were closest to the water.


Shamian Island has many little shops that cater to the international adoption crowd. One of our favorites was Jordon's, where the owner did every child's name in calligraphy for free. We bought some more squeaky shoes, cheap Croc's, a doll, a panda backpack, and some cars for the boys. I don't think that Kevin really enjoys haggling, but he did get the owner to shave several yuans off the price.

Kevin and I got a bit weary of shopping so we settled in at the local Starbucks and waited for the group to finish. Zoe enjoyed jumping up and down and leaning backwards.

She also posed for us wearing her new hair bow (which must have been meant for a newborn 'cause it left divots in her skull!) One of the shopkeepers also gave us a sweet little pearl bracelet which we put on her ankle.



Finally, the group gathered together on the bus and we headed back to the hotel. I can't remember what we did for dinner so it must have been uneventful! I will blog about Tuesday right away so I don't forget everything.

Hugs and kisses? Maybe not!

Love,
Karen