Grace Finds a Home

We are staying at the Victory Hotel on Shamian Island in Guangzhou. This city of 9,000,000 people is pretty ugly and very polluted...but Shamian Island is a quiet refuge. It's a small island of reclaimed land surrounded by the Pearl River. You can walk all the way around the Island in about 35 minutes. If you were here, I think you'd agree with us that it looks kind of like Savannah, Georgia or the old part of Charleston, South Carolina. The streets are lined with Victorian Style buildings from the 1800's. The walks are framed with tropical Banyan trees that are draped with what looks kind of like spanish moss. The island is connected to the city by several pedestrian and automobile bridges. Stepping across the bridge from the island to the city is like entering another world. In the mornings when I jog along the riverfront there are huge groups of Chinese people of all ages standing in formation practicing the ancient art of Tai Chi. It looks kind of like a cross between yoga and kung fu done in very slow motion. They do it for exercise and for it's meditational aspects. In the interior of the island you'll find many parks and walkways filled with an interesting mix of people. The first ones you notice are the school children in their uniforms. They seem to be everywhere playing badminton or kicking a ball. The second thing you might notice is the large number of western couples (like us) pushing a stroller with a chinese child. We are all here for at least 8-12 days waiting for paperwork and consulate appointments. It's a very quiet and family friendly place. In the 1800's and early 1900's this island was set aside as a place for embassies and consulates and a setting for western business headquarters and offices. That's why all the buildings look European or colonial. If you want to find out more about this place, there is a great article on wikipedia.com. Just search for Shamian Island, Guangzhou.

Yesterday and today we were busy with paperwork and touring. I won't bore you with the paperwork. It's the cross that international adoptive families must bear. But it's worth it! The touring is what gives us respite from the paperwork. Today we went to a Chinese Folk Arts Museum. It is housed in the 100 year old home of the wealthy Chen family. The house itself is a work of traditional Chinese architecture. Inside they have exhibits of Chinese painting, reed fan making, sculpture, ivory carving, and embroidery. Since pictures are worth a thousand words, check out the ones I have posted.

We have gotten acquainted with several other adoptive families. Each one has a story. Rob and Debbie Barrie traveled with us in Beijing. They just arrived here after picking up their daughter Molly from another province. Molly has big brown eyes and her cuteness stops the show wherever she goes. Molly's special need is that she is deaf. Rob and Debbie have learned sign language to communicate. When they get home to Huntsville, Alabama they'll be blending Molly into their family which also includes two boys age 5 and 7. Their hearts are huge.

Several of the families we have met are back here adopting for the second or third time. We have met a couple of families who have adopted children from Ukraine, like us, and are now here in China to expand their families again. It's easy to get acquainted with these folks because we all speak the same language and have so many shared experiences...we all kind of belong to the same club.

Grace continues to be a neverending source of entertainment and joy. She has really attached to her Mom. She likes to play with Dad and Bradley, but if Mom gets too far away she gets a little nervous. As we've talked to several other families, we have heard the same story. So many of the nannies in the orphanages are female, that sometimes it takes a bit longer for little girls to attach to men.

Only six more days before we fly home!