Saturday, February 23, 2008

Guangzhou!


We are finally in Guangzhou! Another step closer to bringing Jeremy home to America.

The day started out drearily in Changsha, with rain falling as we made our way to the airport. Quite a difference from the sunny warmth of yesterday. At the airport we said our goodbyes to our driver Ben and our wonderful in-province guide, Jacky. Jacky was just super all week long, especially with Jeremy. He greatly eased Jeremy's transition to us by talking with him at length and translating for us. Jeremy really bonded with Jacky, calling him "Uncle" all week. Before we left, we got Jacky's e-mail address and plan to maintain contact with him.

Jeremy then bravely climbed aboard his first ever airplane. He was kind of quiet and leaning on Mary a lot, and then the plane lifted off. Jeremy had a window seat and was intently looking out. As we gained altitude, he looked over at Mary and I with a very large grin on his face. The ride to Guangzhou was only about an hour, and Jeremy soon drifted off to sleep. Upon arriving in Guangzhou, the weather was very warm and muggy. We gathered our luggage and met our new guide Connie, as well as two other families with CHI (Children's House International-- our adoption agency for this adoption) . We all bused into the Victory Hotel together. After a traffic delay, we finally arrived and checked into our room and were quickly off to Lucy's for lunch and a tall iced tea! It's very comforting being back on Shamian Island. We know our way around; most shop owners speak english; there's a variety of food options; several of the shopkeepers remember us; the waterfront is beautifully lit up at night. For dinner, we ended up back at Lucy's. We enjoyed sitting outside for both of our meals here today.




Tomorrow is Sunday and our plan is to attend church at the Shamian Christian Church, just as we have for each of our other three adoption trips here. The CHI group consists of 11 families, and we are planning a group dinner tomorrow evening.

We will post again tomorrow. Thanks again for your prayers and the many e-mails/comments we have received.

J&M

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you're having fun! Thinking of you...
-Larry

Angel said...

YAY!! I am so glad he liked the plane ride. I bet you let out a sigh of relief when you saw that smile!! I know I did when we brought home a seven year old. She seemed terrified to get on a plane but once we were in she loved it. Gods grace for mommas. Hee hee.. Angel

as written by Barbara said...

We're so glad you had a good flight, smiles, nap and all. Hope Jeremy likes the sights with the new places to run and play. Oh dear, what did I say? :-) Poor tired John and Mary... just kidding...
Barbara Lyman (WCF)

Anonymous said...

Dear Mary and John,
I know your time is valuable right now. I just wanted to let you know how blessed I have been reading your blog! We are waiting for our TA...it seems everyone else has gotten theirs but us! Your words on God's time have been extra valuable. I just wanted to let you know how the Lord has used you, not only for your precious Jeremy, but in this "desparate" mommy's life as well! TCIGT (Is that it? Thanks for your example!

Loads of Love
Tricia Otto (Mom to a Jeremy also! and soon to be mom to Rebekah Faith)

Anonymous said...

We followed your steps every day, and so touched by your posting. Thanks for all you have done! We will pray for you. Thinking of you...

-Yan

Anonymous said...

We had Connie for our guide about in 2004. We just loved her. She is great.

Have a great trip.

Lori