Guangzhou

On the bus headed to the medical clinic

I've only been home a few days now but our China trip seems like a lifetime ago. I did want to post about the rest of the trip so I don't forget, so I have a record for Anna and well, to share with you all.

Nathan strutting his stuff

Compared to Zhengzhou, the week in Guangzhou was a breeze. We only had 2 appointments that week - the first to the medical clinic for all the children to get checked over and the second to the US Consulate to get the children's US visas to travel home.

ear nose throat check at the clinic



the nurse's station - Anna had a serious look of concern

The medical clinic on Monday was a half day event with all 10 families and 12 children loading up on the bus and heading to the clinic. We understood the clinic would be air conditioned (Guangzhou was about 90 degrees and 90% humidity!) but Chinese air conditioning is vastly different than the air conditioning we have here at home. 



waiting at the clinic - iPad's were the cure-all for boredom for the bigger kids

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Anna showing her calculator (her favorite toy) to Nathan

The clinic has a special section just for Chinese adoptees and that is where we camped out for a few hours.  I did enjoy all the families and children being together - the kids could run up and down and interact a bit.  Anna was in top form being very social and active. She would run up and down and hug people's legs and just look up in their eyes with her cute little expressions.

our happy little Anna

Chatting with Valerie

Anna dancing with Joy

We had 3 stations that each child had to go to - a general check / ear, nose, throat / nurses station for general stats - height, weight, temp, etc. When Anna gets into these situations, she kind of shuts down a bit and just goes still. It makes me realize that she's already have a lot of medical work in her short little life. Sometimes with Ryan, I have to hold him and do my best to distract him so he will sit still, but Anna became statue-like. I was able to either hold her or at least hold her hand so I hope that was comforting to her.  The kids older than 2 years old had to have a TB test and they had to go into a room without their parents for the blood test - that would have broken my heart (and I know it broke the other parents' hearts).

Luckily, Anna passed with flying colors (at least that's what I interpreted absolutely zero comments from the doctors and nurses!). And soon we were headed back home on the buses.


The Canton Tower all lit up at night

Our Pearl River cruise boat

We grabbed lunch, Anna slept for about 3 hours (she's a GREAT sleeper!) and then we went to on a river cruise where we had a less than desirable meal (unless you desire chicken feet and heads) and a pretty desirable cruise along the river.


One of the 9 bridges we passed under - they were all lit up and beautiful

Anna and Nathan played on the roof of the river boat and it was wonderful just to relax and enjoy the trip a bit. The buildings and bridges (we passed under 9 bridges) were beautiful and all lit up. And while I was still so grateful that Joy was there with me, my only comment to her on this potentially romantic Pearl River Dinner Cruise was, "no offense, but I sure wish Tony was here."

The Canton Tower