Hanging Around Guangzhou With Fiona

We didn't get a chance to post yesterday. We just got busy and before we knew it the day was done and we were too tired to post an update on the blog. Sorry about that!

Yesterday was Fiona's medical exam which was required for her US visa. Sue took Fiona to the examination office with Echo where Fiona went through a series of check ups. Everything seems to be in good order and we got her updated medical records all put together.

The adoption process in China seems to be a series of events that all produce various documents and certifications needed for the next part of the process. While in Nanning, we had to go through all of the various processes for us to officially adopt her and get her passport. All of the activities in Guangzhou have been geared towards getting Fiona's US visa and immigration paperwork processed. Tomorrow we have her Visa Ceremony at the US Consulate office in the afternoon which is the last formality before we can take her back to the states and she becomes a US citizen. Echo mentioned that there are 55 US families that will be at the ceremony for their newly adopted kids. We have also run into a number of families from France and other European countries who are adopting.

It has been interesting talking to all of the other families to hear their stories of how their newly adopted kids are adapting. Each family has their ups and downs with their new kids. One family's little girl that is about Fiona's age refuses to be put down. She must be held all of the time -- day or night. Another family indicated that their new son has fits and will spit on them and even bite them. There are quite a few adopting families at our hotel on our floor and you can walk the halls and hear the various laughing, crying, and playing of the kids. You have no idea what the kids have been through and how they will be when you finally get them. We've all decided that patience is the best solution.

We have been fortunate that Fiona hasn't had too many adjustment problems. She has been a bit cranky, but she is cutting new teeth and her diet has changed considerably from what she ate at the orphanage. The biggest obstacle that we've faced is that she has bonded with Sue, but is a bit leery of me. In general, she seems to avoid contact with males and will create attachments with the Sue, Quinn, and Regan. Her caregivers at the orphanage were all women with one male doctor. We suspect that her experiences with the doctor weren't always under the best of circumstances. We decided that it is important that she initially bond with Sue and that we'll be patient and she'll decide that I'm not too bad after all. Tonight she finally let me get her out of her crib and comfort her. This was quite a breakthrough!

We did some shopping today as Echo ran the visa paperwork between the consulate and other various offices. I started talking to one of the vendors and she and her sister were from the same province as Fiona and are familiar with the Ping Po village where Fiona was born. They provided quite a bit of insight into where she was born and her heritage. The village is quite small and poor and is situated in the mountains. They looked at her and thought that based upon her features that it is likely that she is of Zhuang heritage which is an ethnic minority group in the Guangxi region where Ping Po is located. This group is well known for their embroidery skills. If this holds true, Fiona may be the first one in the family that can sew! The most common name in the Zhaung group is Wei. They also indicated that her village had a population of about 30,000 people and that most of the younger people leave the village to go find work. The main occupations in Ping Po are farming rice or doing embroidery work. The rice farms are mainly on terraces in the mountainside. We did a bit of googling tonight and found some pictures of her village which are quite fascinating.

I also included some pictures of our room, the lounge, and lobby at the Holiday Inn Shifu where we are staying. (There isn't any funny smells in the lobby as we've heard may have existed in the past.) We have been extremely happy with the hotel and the accommodations have been outstanding. There are quite a few streets with vendors right outside of the hotel. The streets range from very modern with lots of neon and lights and upscale shops and vendors to others which contain quite "rustic" and traditional shops more geared for the older Chinese culture. We find that both are extremely interesting and fun to wander through. I included some pictures from one of the vendors by the hotel with Chinese fast food -- fried squid tentacles and snake skewers. We went a little more Western tonight and ordered cheese pizza from Papa John's!

During our downtime yesterday we went to the Guangzhou Zoo with a few other LifeLink families. We had a great time and got to see a Panda! The zoo wasn't crowded and the weather was perfect. Today we had some more free time where we walked to the local jade and pearl market. We were able to use some of our bartering skills that we've honed while dealing with our "good friend" Helen to wrap up some good deals.

Tomorrow is our last day here in China. We'll be packing in the morning and going to the Visa Ceremony in the afternoon. We are anxious to get home, but we are also sad to leave here. Guangzhou has been an enjoyable and a wonderful place to stay. We've been building up for this trip for years and it is sad to think that the end is coming soon. We are also sad to think that we are taking Fiona away from her homeland and culture. Her future is certainly brighter where she is going and in many ways she is very fortunate. One day we hope to bring her back to China so she can get a sense of where she came from.