Monday

Last night was easier still to get Alina to sleep.  But when she is tired, she is tired and wants to sleep (whether she knows it or not).

 

Today must have been opposite day because Alina only wanted mama.  She reached for me almost every time.  I remember the first day that Randy got her to reach for him.  He was so excited & yelled," SHE REACHED FOR ME!"  It really is amazing to see how much things have changed in the past week.  She is starting to trust us all more.   

 

We went to the Guangzhou Folk Art Museum.  I'm sorry to say but I almost skipped this one because I didn't think it would be very interesting (plus I wasn't feeling the best).  Was I ever wrong.  I felt like I was living an architect's dream.  The building was breathtaking. The doors were painted with scary warriors.  They believed that the scarier the picture, the more it would prevent people from entering.  We walked through building and I was in awe.  There was a section with wooden panels and each panel was carved with a different picture.  I was teary just standing there taking it all in.  Each wooden panel was carved with a different scene and had a different meaning.  No mass production here. 

 

We went into a room which looked like they had different paintings.  It was embroidery!  EMBROIDERY!!  So much detail in each of those pictures!  The beauty really was overwhelming!

 

Next we went to New Town which is where the new business section is and where the Asian games were held.  It felt so good to be outside walking by the water.

 

We met up for a group photo at 5:00 and after that we headed over to the park (across the street) with a few friends.  We came at a great time of year because everything is so bright and colorful for Chinese New Year.  We were told by our guide that since we are here, we have to see the statue of the ram in the park.  We walked and walked and walked some more.  We started to wonder if she didn't send us on a wild goose chase.  Like maybe she was laughing at the hotel and we were looking for something that didn't exist.  ;)  We found a guard who showed us on the map where to go.  Um...he didn't tell us that it was up a kabillion steps.  We walked up some steps.  We walked up some more steps.  Finally!  We arrived!  I think our friend's son summed it up the best.  As soon as we got up there he said, "Why is that one goat smelling the other goat's butt?" (it is nursing).  Hilarious! 

 

We had a quick meal at McDonalds and then headed straight to bed.  I am loving all the sights and sounds and everything we see here but we are excited about getting home!

 

Tuesday

I know...2 updates in one day!  WHAT?  Today was our US Consulate appointment.  We had to meet at 7:45 in the lobby.  Ugh to early mornings!  But happy for the appointment!  And by the way...all of our paperwork came in and on time too!  Hooray!!  I was so nervous going in because our guide couldn't come in with us.  We were on our own.  Ok...so I have become a little spoiled by them.  ;)  When we got there, the line was looooong!  I mean hundreds and hundreds of people.  Good thing we had an appointment!  We were able to walk right past most of the people there.  It's weird, Shiyan told us that we had to push in past the people or we wouldn't be able to get through.  It's such a weird feeling to have to push people out of your way to get to where you need to go (hmm...seems like there should be a story in that line there somewhere). 

 

Everything went really well and quite uneventful.  But Shiyan checked all of our paperwork before handing it back to us to make sure we had everything.  We had to take an oath.  We had to show our paperwork.  We had to wait for the other families and then we were done.  Easy peasy.  And much easier than I thought in my own mind.  You know...especially with my fear of being hauled away and stuff.  ;) 

 

Tomorrow morning (Wed) we will get Alina's visa back and then head to Hong Kong.  We will stay overnight in Hong Kong and then fly out of Hong Kong the next day.  Homeward bound!!  We are so excited to be headed home! Please pray for our trip home.  Alina has been through so many changes in just a week and this change is going to be huge.