Familiar Guangzhou & Swimming Video

We made it safely to Guangzhou! The day started off slow because we did not have to leave the hotel until noon. Jane took us to the airport and we said our goodbyes. That was another hard one. We will keep in touch, Jane! The plane ride was only about 1.5 hours. RunYi did great until landing, when I think her ears started hurting and we couldn't explain what was happening. She started yelling at us in Chinese again, hitting and scratching. We were the only white people on the plane, only non-Asian, minus 2 black guys (not American). You can imagine the stares when we were waiting to deplane. I wish I knew what she was saying. We finally got to the terminal, got our luggage and Helen was there waiting with a smile. When we got close to Shamian Island, Kevin and I both recognized things. We are staying at the Victory Hotel this time. I told them we wanted a room at the Old Victory, but we have one at the New Victory--the room is great, and at this point, it I am kind of at a "whatever" point. We got settled into our room and walked to Lucy's Cafe for supper. We ordered RunYi chicken fried rice. It was a huge plate. The thing about this girl is she has the need to clean her plate, no matter what. I'm sure it is an orphanage behavior. If we go there again, we will ask for a 1/2 order so she won't feel like she has to eat it all.

Our travel mates Todd & Faye should be at the White Swan. Their flight and Cynthia's were both delayed, and they arrived late. Cynthia's flight is not arriving until 9:10pm tonight. Our guide Helen told us that Cynthia had called our agency upset because she was stranded at the airport with a busy 4 year old with no means of communicating. I can only imagine. RunYi is exhausting for us and we have 3 people to deal with her. Kevin and Gavin are going to go along to the airport to welcome her to Guangzhou. I'm sure she will be happy to see 2 familiar faces.

Okay, now it is the next morning. I did not finish this post last night. Cynthia arrived safely and we will meet up with both families this morning for the medical exam. RunYi will most likely have to get 4 shots to meet US requirements. I am so mad about this, but there is truly nothing we can do about this if we want to bring her home.

Side note: Kelly P. If you are reading this. Gavin is broken out in chicken pox this morning. And he even has had TWO shots. He was very tired yesterday and we wondered if he was getting sick. Now we know he was. He has more pox than Karson did, but not bad. I am laughing, not mad. I am mad that one of the shots US requires is the varicella (chicken pox) vaccine. I am hoping that the doctor will agree with me that the scars she has on her tummy and back look like chicken pox scars and she won't have to get the shot.

Enjoy the pictures and video... I will post more later.

RunYi & Mama at Lucy's (note the portion size of fried rice--half eaten)

Baba and RunYi at Lucy's

Goodbye Hefei...

On the airplane. We actually took a bag with 2 empty water bottles through security that RunYi was having fun playing with. They kept her entertained for quite awhile.

Getting ready for takeoff.

Swimming with Baba on Thursday.