Observations on China

We are in Guangzhou now. The train trip was nice. We loaded up all of our luggage (and with our suitcases, carry-ons, and 3 bags of humanitarian aid, there is a ton!) to head to the train station. We had to split between 2 taxis to get there. (Kailey and I counted our different vehicles we have traveled in so far: 3 planes, taxis, a double decker bus, a tram, a ferry boat, and shuttle buses. Quite a good list, wouldn't you say?) We had to go through customs and fill out paperwork to actually enter Mainland China. They wanted to know, in part, if we had bird flu. Hong Kong may have been returned to China 7 years ago, but it still feels different and acts differently.

As we rode, we kept waiting to get to the countryside, but it was never quite there. Hong Kong was sky scrapers as far as the eye could see. Kowloon wasn't any different. The train station was in Kowloon where our hotel was. The buildings never really stopped. They have apartment buildings that are 20-30 stories high all over the place and continue to build more. You can tell the difference between an apartment building and an office building by the laundry. Everyone hangs their laundry outside their windows. Every window of every building is decorated with clothing of all colors. Many of the balconies are covered with plants too. All along the way were factories, apartments, offices, and shacks. There were pockets of good sized gardens that were either community gardens or farmers' fields growning produce. There were squatters' villages with corregated metal shacks on the hillsides. There were fish ponds growing commercial fish. We saw no animals, which I found odd.

There were people riding bikes and motor bikes. I was surprised to frequently see 3 people riding a motor bike at the same time. There were even people wearing the traditional cone shaped straw hats. That surprised me too.

One observation I have made is in the lack of small children out on the street with their families. We have seen lots of kids maybe age 5 and up, all well dressed and cared for, but no kids younger than that, and no babies. That is, until this morning. Mom and I went to buy tickets for the train. We had to walk several blocks in Kowloon to the travel agent to buy them. We arrived promptly at 9, when we were told it opened. The man there told us they sold no tickets until 9:30, so please to have a seat and wait. As we waited (while he did nothing but wander around), I noticed maybe a half dozen couples carrying their bundles of newborn babies upstairs. We do not know for sure, but we think that is where they had to go register their new babies. We saw lots of children Saturday in the late morning as the schools let out. They all wear school uniforms and look so cute.

We arrived safely in Guangzhou. At the train station, Dad had to give up the banana and 2 apples he had purchased in Hong Kong since it is illegal to import fruit, even from Hong Kong. Two baggage handlers took our great load of bags, but also made it clear that they expected to be tipped. They made the international sign for money to Greg (rubbing their fingers and thumb together), and then stopped at the money changing counter and basically told us to change some money to RMB so we could pay them. It sure felt like extortion: if you want your bags back, you better pay us.

Our travel coordinator Leila was waiting for us downstairs. We felt badly, because our original plans were to arrive in Guangzhou at 10 am, but we changed it last Thursday to 2 pm. It would have been difficult for us to get to the train station any sooner. Leila had not gotten the message, though. She had been waiting there since 10. She is a very sweet girl who will helpo us jump through all the hoops to finish this adoption.

She told us that we still do not have an exit interview scheduled, but that we would be receiving Elijah ZuBin on November 7. We will receive his passport on November 13, so hopefully our appointment to exit will be able to be scheduled shortly after that. She is going to put in a request for us to visit his orphanage. This may even be able to happen before we get him, which is actually our preference. We will not be taking him with us on an orphanage visit (to hard and confusing on him), so if we can go before we get him, we do not have to split up the family.

I need to go so I can get some sleep. Justin fell asleep at dinner tonight (6:30 pm here). He had been up since 4 am. I know he was awake at 4 because I was awake with him. I can barely keep my eyes open, so I will go crash.

Please keep praying for those dates!