Fun in GZ 6/29

Today we had to stay in our room from 10 until 11:30am. So after breakfast we came back and waited out the time. Even though it was our consulate appointment, our guides are the ones who take care of this in person with the officials. So we waited and no news was good news. Pretty much our case was presented from what I understand and we were approved if we got no call. Not sure what would go wrong at this point but we sat and waited as patiently as we could. Good thing we had this wired kid to keep us all entertained. Shiloh continues to be a joy. We are still calling her Hongmei as it is the only way to get her attention but Shiloh will come. Once we reached 11:30 we waited a few more minutes just to make sure and then we headed back to the island by taxi for shopping. I think our guides have all been concerned that we have ventured out so far on our own. I guess most families do not do this and just stick to the touring that is set up. We do not want to sit in our own hotel morning, noon and night, so all we do it catch a taxi at the front of our hotel-the door man tells this taxi to take us to the White Swan hotel and then later at the white swan we catch a taxi back to our own hotel. It isn't too expensive and not too hard. Of course when the taxi driver knows a short cut, we realize we are not returning the same way and we kind of wonder, but so far we just use the legal Guangzhou taxi's and it is fine. It is amazing to take a look at how folks live here. High rise apartments row after row, street after street. People hang thier wash to dry on thier decks or makeshift lines. People must go to market daily or every few days. The streets are always busy. We finally got Shiloh to stay in the stroller some of the time. She would also let Chuck hold her a bit and Poppy was good at entertaining her while we looked in a few shops. It is kind of addictive and fun to shop when the prices of items are so good. One place we visited last night and again today was Jenny's..a very nice lady and good prices. Chuck and I got a traditional chinese tea serving set today, which is a very unique pot and 4 small cups for $75 yuan which is about $17 US....the deals on some things are amazing. The funny thing is that this woman Jenny gives us a small gift every time we go in, a bracelet or a necklace. Today she gave Shiloh a little bubble ball that lights up and she gave Chuck and I each another necklace. Right next door was another shop where we waited to find some pajamas for Chuck's mom. The sales clerk, I and Shiloh were the only ones in the store and so she and I talked with her broken English and my broken Chinese...it was fun. She said she was surprised I knew so much. (I have spent 2 years listening to a CD for adoptive families, and a CD on quick Mandarin...still I can only remember a little...it is hard, but we had a great time.) Later on, we caught up with our friends from Hohhot and had lunch at subway....not sure we got all we ordered but finally by sign language we had lunch. We then shopped at Jordan's...which we have heard is a Christian man who owns a shop. We actually met him in the street in passing and followed him right to the shop. He made our families names in Chinese letters and I will have to frame these once home, and he does this for free! Of course I bought a few things from him, but we ordered etchings of both girls from him that we will pick up on Thursday. (Kathy we have your two on order as well!) Chuck mentioned to Jordan that we were Christian and had heard he was and he became so excited. He wanted pictures with us and then as we left he placed all our hands together like when a ball team chants and said "Amen". Really cool in this place where Jesus seems to be far away. I no longer take for granted my right to worship freely. We saw some soldiers at one point and school children in uniforms. So we lost Poppy somewhere along the way but found him chilling out in the White Swan and then made our way back to our hotel. We ate at one of the hotel restaurants which has really good food and little bit finally sat in a high chair for a little while. (Poppy bribed her with Oreo cookies and it worked!) Then Chuck and Shiloh headed to the pool while Poppy and I took pictures and video. She was not too sure about being in the pool, but it was a hoot watching her run and splash Chuck and hurry away as he splashed her. She laughed and giggled so loud that it was intoxicating for us. She had fun throwing the beach ball into the water for Chuck to get. If he splashed her face, she ran to the chair and hit her face on the towel several times and then went right back to splash Chuck. The video will be priceless on this. Suddenly after about 40 minutes of hard playing she got in my lap and started her pretend crying that I think helps her get to sleep. We brought her to the room. I showered her and Chuck got her to sleep. We then Skyped Dakota and let her look at her sleeping sister. Dakota's face is magical while looking at Shiloh. We cannot wait until the 3 more days it will take to get these two beautiful girls together. God is Good!!!