Guangzhou

---

Guangzhou
March 5th and 6th, 2011
We are in love with Guangzhou – we are on a tiny island, warm air and cool breezes coming off the river = a welcomed change!!! The hotel…the famous White Swan is a madhouse and kind of odd. It is swarming with adoptive families and then you have the business men (and not many are friendly). Our guide for this leg of the journey is Joselyn, she is very kind.

Saturday after breakfast we walked to the medical clinic to get the kids required medicals completed. It’s a requirement required by the US for the entrance visa. It involved lots of waiting in a very small room with other large groups of adoptive families. After an hour and a half of standing in lines it was our turn:
1) Ear, Nose, Throat - hearing was tested with a toy keyboard and squeaky toy squash ☺.
2) Medicine & Surgery - This was the area that reviewed their medical condition and gave the physical. This involved laying him on a table while the doctor removed clothes, poked and prodded and was NOT very kind or gentle!
3) Height, Weight & Temperature.

Today (Sunday) was a free day and we went on a half day tour of a few local attractions. It was not very kid friendly…they used to have a trip to the zoo planned, not sure what happened to that but it needs to be put back in the schedule…little ones are not entertained very well by museums.

Early Monday morning we are off to the Consulate where we will take the oath. Tuesday is waiting for paperwork to be completed and if all goes well we will be heading to Hong Kong on Wednesday. One step closer to home!!!

---