Progess and Paperwork and Fun

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet,
regardless of time, place, or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break.
--- An ancient Chinese belief

As we write this post…all is still going well!  Maddie is doing great...and it feels more and more that she has been with us our entire life…she continues to integrate well and is she has a great, funny personality.

On Monday, we finished the medical portion of our visa process…Maddie needed five shots and got them all at the same time…One in the arm and two in each thigh…OUCH!  She did well…but knew something was up from the time we entered the clinic, and then when she saw the needles…it was all over!  She handled it like a trooper, so far no negative reactions.  Her medical clearance is now signed off…and our next stop is to the consulate.  Our paperwork will be brought to the consulate on Tuesday and then we go there for an appointment on Wednesday.  We should have her visa in hand on Thursday, and then the long journey home on Friday.

As we stated before, we are in the city of Guangzhou, a port city, about 75 miles from Hong Kong.  We are staying on an island on the Pearl River called Shamian Island…Shamian is roughly translated as sandy island….  It was the heart of colonial British and French influence, and as a result the architecture reminds you of such.  In fact, many of the buildings have placards stating their original dates of construction and what they served during their original western control.  The island is loaded with American families with Chinese children…In fact, the entire island is like a colony of white mommy’s and daddy’s with Chinese children…The entire island from food, hotels, shops, and everything seems to stay alive economically based on international adoptions…this is predominantly  due to the fact that the American Consulate who handles adoption visas is located here…So all Americans adopting children, must stop here before bringing their new ones home.

We love it here and have really learned a lot about our daughter’s country, but are ready to bring her home…We miss everyone (and our doggies) and look forward to seeing everyone in about 4 or 5 days…

Stay tuned…
Anthony and Rebecca