Saturday,
October
30, 2010
We had very little official business today so after breakfast we
headed out into the streets to poke around in the shops again.
Our first stop was "A Gift From China" (www.agiftfromchina.com).
We've really come to love this shop because all of their profits
go to charity. As such, it's the one place where you don't do
any negotiating. Their gifts are all pretty much handmade and
tend to be higher quality and completely unique. They have
everything from clothing to artwork and we've spent a fair
amount of money there on our visits. It's well worth the
expense. This time around we just picked up a few Christmas
ornaments for the tree but I'm sure we'll be back later in the
week.
Gemma seems to have shaken off any ill-effects of the
immunizations she'd gotten yesterday because she had plenty of
energy and a good disposition. The last couple days she has
taken to eating only a light breakfast rather than the usual
pile o' food she'd been getting. We're not sure why, but
Catherine intervened to make sure she's eating more and not
asking for snacks all day long. (heck, all our kids have done
that so it's nothing new anyway.)
We headed back across the Greenway to stop into Jordon's yet
again. Along the way we stopped by Starbucks for our first time.
In all the days we've ever been in Guangzhou we've never stopped
there for some reason. For a few minutes we felt like we were
completely at home back in the U.S., enjoying the familiar
ambience that Starbucks is known for. Inside there was a cute
young Chinese girl that really took a liking to Gavin. She was
smiling and giggling at him and pinching his cheeks. At one
point she even gave him a big ol' smooch on the cheek. The other
day a bunch of local girls told him he looked like Harry Potter,
so maybe he's just reached start status around here. Whatever
the case, we were snapping pictures as best we could but the
lighting wasn't quite right and we couldn't adjust in time. It's
just as well because Gavin didn't want any of those pics posted.
He did however agree to at least one picture, where he and the
girl just stood side by side. That one we were able to get. She
was adorable and reminded us so much of our beloved exchange
student "daughter", Emily. She and Gavin even exchanged emails
so we could send the pictures to each other. That's my boy,
promoting world peace one cute girl at a time.
It took what seemed like forever to get one tall cup of Pike
because they had to brew it, but finally we were on our way and
met back up with Leda at Jordon's place. Gavin and Gemma got a
couple more small items and we bought some cheap badminton
rackets to play with in the park. Gavin and I played badminton
for about 45 minutes or so, finally just realizing that we'd
never be any match for the locals who play this day in and day
out. We gave up and played hacky-bird but not really feeling it,
we just re-joined the others at the playground. Gemma and Faith
were doing their usual giggling and squealing.
Settling back in the room, there was still quite a bit of time
before our official business, which was just to meet with
Catherine and the rest of the Holt families to get our paperwork
together for the the Visa appointment. I managed to get a nice
run in while April and the kids just relaxed in the room. I ran
a couple laps around the island and mapmyrun.com still said it
was only about 3 miles.
Once at the paperwork meeting it took about an hour or so to get
everything together. It was slightly easier for the I-800 Hague
families than it was for the I-600 families. When the paperwork
was done, we set to work planning some tours as a group for the
remaining days we'd have here.
Immediately following the meeting, Todd Perry and I joined
Catherine in the Holt Office to figure out arrangements for an
orphanage visit. We called our wives down too and discussed
options. Because our girls have different situations, we had to
figure out separate solutions. It took quite a while to get a
plan together for both families. For our part, we will be
visiting the orphanage on Monday via a hired Lotus driver
immediately after the TB check at the international clinic. From
there, we will walk over to Gemma's school to get a firsthand
look. With any luck there will be one more very special meeting
that I can't go into detail about here, and following that, we
will visit her finding spot near Nanfeng (pronounced "non-fong")
hospital. Miraculously, all of these places are located on the
north end of town so we won't have to run all over and will
actually get back in time for a relaxing river cruise with the
group. Catherine counseled with both of the girls to gauge their
reactions to our plans. True to form, Gemma was mostly
indifferent about the plans, just citing that she wanted to make
sure she saw two best friends, Bei Bei and Di Di. These two are
apparently soon to be adopted and have been returned to the
orphanage to wait out the final weeks. We will track down their
adoptive parents in order to keep them all stay in touch once
back in the States. Catherine is also helping us to track down a
younger foster sister of Gemma's that went to the U.S. last year
after being adopted.
While in the Holt office Gemma seemed to be concerned about
something and Catherine was laughing. Catherine told us that
Gemma thinks we have no money because of April's pants. April
has several pairs of Lucky Brand jeans with holes in them.
Catherine had to explain that it's just fashion and that we're
fine financially. We had a pretty good laugh at that one.
We wrapped up the meeting with Catherine just in time to catch
the last shuttle back over to Shangxia Jiu Lu (pronounced "shongsha
jay-o loo" and known to westerners as simply "shopping street").
We were back for a little American food again with the Perrys
(Pizza Hut this time). We don't even eat this much "American"
food back home, but we're just a little burnt on Cantonese food
and since some of it tastes a little tainted, it's good to go
with what you know.
The Pizza Hut menu was every bit as big as a Cheesecake Factory,
complete with pictures for easy ordering. There are pizza and
pasta choices, but also lots of local dishes. Being the simple
people we are we ordered, you guessed it, pizza. We couldn't
however get drinks. The fountain drinks were made from tap water
and to order water only meant you just got cups of tap water
instead of bottled water. I took care of that problem with a mad
dash to 7-Eleven across the way. The pizza was good and tasted
just like home. Gemma and Faith both had a slice but while Faith
ate it voraciously, Gemma didn't even finish it. We think she
may be starting to show a little grief through her meals and
will be vigilant to make sure she gets enough to eat. All things
considered, the Americans in the group were all feeling a little
less homesick now.
The Perrys headed back to the White Swan and we decided to head
West down Shangxia Jiu Lu and check out the expanse of this
place. We also wanted to scope out the Banana Leaf Thai
restaurant that we've heard so much about but it must be the
opposite direction because we never came across it. Shangxia Jiu
Lu is easily as big as New York Times Square if not bigger; it
just doesn't sport some of the massive skyscrapers in the
immediate vicinity like Times Square does, nor does it have the
Broadway element to it. Mostly it's just a lot of shops and
restaurants and seems to be very kitschy by Chinese standards.
I have never seen so many Chinese people in one place as I've
seen in Shangxia Jiu Lu. The whole city is gearing up for the
2010 Asian Games and there are people everywhere. We walked
probably a mile down this frenetic pedestrian road and then
headed back to catch a cab.
I don't know if it's because we're a minority here or there were
just enough fares to keep the cabs occupied but the cabbies just
kept driving right on by us. We soon figured that it would be
quicker to walk back to the hotel than wait for a cab, so we
headed south down Kangwang South Road for the 15 minute walk
back to the island.
If you decide to do this I have some advice. First, brace
yourself for the most disgusting smells you've ever smelled in
your life as you walk by a seedy, open-air market where vendors
are cooking all kinds of traditional Cantonese food made from
the lesser vermin of the Earth. This market is piled high with
months worth of smelly and sickening garbage. It is a public
health disaster. Next, stash your ID, cards, and cash in your
front pocket and keep a hand on them at all times. Then, stay on
the main sidewalk in the well-lit areas near the throngs of
people. It would not be wise to venture off into the dark hutong
neighborhoods directly behind the main drag. Finally, if you're
carrying an SLR camera, it would be good to keep a hand on your
lens hood to keep it from slipping off, banging into stuff, or
being swiped. I really can't admit to feeling any fear on this
short walk, but I did suddenly have a heightened sense of my
surroundings and took a very pragmatic approach. Walk quickly
and with purpose and you'll be back in no time.
By now it was after 9pm and time to start winding down the
night. We'd worn Gemma out pretty good and she went down well.
Gavin and April were out soon after and I should be heading that
way myself now... |
Gemma tries to explain something as we walk down the greenway
Shamian Island is one of the greatest places for portraits
because of all the colonial architecture. I'm sure that's why
the wedding and modeling shoots are all over the place here.
Banyan trees along the greenway
Ahhhhhh, Starbucks
Gavin meets a new friend in Starbucks. She was SO CUTE! Reminded
us a lot of Emily.
A little like being in your living room at home...
Playing badminton on the waterfront
Another community sing-along
Pizza Hut got into the Halloween spirit.
Pretty much the only
place we've seen that is.
Shangxia Jiu Lu getting prepared for the Asian Games
Typical zoo of a store on Shangxia Jiu Lu
The White Swan at night
First of the hotel decorations for the Asian Games. During the
Olympics every building in sight was decorated somehow. The
symbol represents the famous Five Goats statue in Guangzhou. |
