Friday July 19,2009

Friday was a LLLLOOONNNNNGGGGG day! We spent the entire day in the hotel. At 5pm, we left for the airport, and on the way to the airport, we stopped back at the Civil Affair’s Office to pick up the baby’s visas. The purpose of staying in the province is to allow regional government to gather paperwork, culminating in the picking up the baby’s visa’s for travel within China and paperwork which goes in the brown envelope. The brown envelope contains information from the United States and China and is carried by hand into the United States by the adoptive family.

We reached the airport after riding, once again, in our unairconditioned vehicle. This time proved to be a bit more treacherous for Tom. It seems riding sideways while reading pertinent documents in a vehicle that was probably 100 degrees was a bit too much. Tom looked for lack of a better phrase, green around the gills. When he reached the airport, I was certain he was going to puke. He managed to pull it together while using the restroom. I thought the sight of a regional bathroom might have the opposite affect, given the unhygienic conditions.

Sidney took her first airplace ride to Guangzhou. The Chinese side of the adoption was complete in the province. Guangzhou is the home of the United States Consulate and the location where the American side of the Chinese adoption is finalized. First, we landed quite late in Guangzhou, because the paperwork in Changsha was not ready until 5pm. An 8pm flight was a bit late for Sidney and the two other children in our group under the age of 4. This hour flight was a great test run for our 14 hour flight. Sidney was quite active and acted like a typical one year old during the flight, getting into everything. It was one of my proudest moments. In that span of time, I realized her adjustment to Tom and I was going well. She was acting like a typical one year old. I told my mom during the course of this trip that when she is naughty it is a different feeling, she is behaving normally and is comfortable around Tom and I! No, this does not mean she will get away with everything!