It is Saturday morning now and I am posting some of yesterday's sights from Kunming. It was our last morning there and so Yami and I walked around and took in the pulse of the city. At 3:00 we headed off to the airport bound for Guangzhou, the place where all American families who adopt do the American piece of the adoption and get their child's visa. We were very lucky in that Silin's passport arrived yesterday afternoon as we were a day late submitting the paperwork -- our guide literally brought it to us at the airport so that we could check in....phew....
On my flight to Guangzhou there were about 7 other families who had just adopted in Kunming. I knew of this group but when we were in Kunming we did not see them at all. In fact, I did not see any other adoptive families in Kunming and very few Westerners (walking on both Thursday and Friday, we saw not a single Westerner in all our hours walking-- it was an interesting experience to be such a minority and certainy we got a lot of stares from people looking at us with Silin).
When we landed in Guangzhou, the guide met me as I came out of the baggage area. Yami had flown in an hour earlier (we never fly together when the kids aren't with us) and he came and found me and the guide. A driver and van was waiting and we were taken for the 40 minute drive to our hotel, The White Swan, the first 5 star hotel built in Guangzhou. Smelly and tired from the long day, the arrival at that hotel was a great relief (especially b/c Silin was on Yami's lap the whole time-- no car seats in China). The hotel is luxurious, on the Pearl River, on Shamian Island here in Guangzhou. Guangzhou is something like L.A., huge, trendy...the highways are big and completely modern....this city makes quite an impression. But Shamian island is quaint and small and lovely.....I am looking forward to spending the week here.
Today, we go for Silin's visa physical. I don't know why but I'm a little worried. Silin has some hyperpigmentation in her eyes which we were unaware of....we did know that she had a large birthmark which covers her entire back - we think that its just a Mongolian spot but we will bring her for a complete physical when we return to the States. Whatever it is, we will handle. She is our daughter and she is perfect for us.....whatever we need to do for her, we will do. Yami said yesterday that the adoption doesn't really happen until she chooses us as her parents. And I think I see that starting to happen. When she gets hurt, she is starting to come for us for comfort. She is able to walk away from us for a few seconds but then turns around to make sure that we are still there. These are good signs. We want her to attach to us, to not turn to any random stranger to have her needs met, she needs to know that there is something special about a mommy and daddy; we are not shift workers, we will be there for her for the rest of our days.......
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Lilly also has pigmentation in her eyes. We recently saw a specialist about it and she said it is typical for Asian children. Its like a birthmark, and doesn't affect her eyesight in any way...don't worry....and the White Swan is as close to home as you can get in China...Almost there!!!!
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