Guangzhou Market

Nina and I went into the local market which is fairly close to The White Swan.   The market comprises several blocks of buildings. Vendors are found on the ground level selling all sorts of goods from turtles, scorpions, ginseng root, eels, and the worlds largest mushrooms. Samwise Gamgee would have been thrilled.  Photo Included.

We then also entered into the Cultural Park.  This was a beautiful park area that seemed very popular among the older generation here.  There were several groups of people practicing their Tai Chi and also western ballroom dancing.  Some of them were very good.  Hacky Sack is also a very popular sport among the locals except they use something that looks like a home made shuttle cock for

badminton.  We bought one of them to bring back.  The air here is a bit grungy.  My asthma did not seem to act up but I can definitely tell that over the long term it would be aggravated.  The temperature is fairly warm, about 82 degrees, and about as humid as in Virginia during the summer.   

Tomorrow we will be taken on a tour by Bob, our tour guide.  We plan on going to a shrine devoted to Huang Fei Hong, one of China's most famous martial artist.  He is humorously portrayed in Jackie Chan's movie Drunken Master I and II.  We will also be visiting some very old kilns that have been in operation since the Ming Dynasty.  Hopefully we can find some nice pots to bring back.  

Now we are off to dinner for some local cuisine.  More updates to follow tomorrow.

Jesse and Nina

Here at last: Guangzhou Day 1

We arrived in Guangzhou at 9:00 PM local time. At the airport our nice adoption guide, Cathy, whisked us off to our hotel on Shaimen Island.   At the hotel we got everything unpacked and realized to our horror we left behind the most important thing, Desitin butt medicine for Leia. There are several stores nearby including a trusty old 7-11 so I am sure we will find a store that will sell any forgotten items.  Later we will be taken to the Chinese equivalent of Wal-Mart.

Waking up at 5 AM local time we fuddled around the room for a few hours and then headed down stairs to the hotel's buffet.  What a buffet.  Uncle Jack you would have wept when you saw the spread before us.  The french toast was 2 inches thick an arrayed like gold ingots on a silver platter.  The hearty crispy bacon and Canadian ham were still sizzling when we put them on our plate.  It was a real cornucopia of deliciousness.

After breakfast we went outside real quick to hit the local 7-11 for some bottled water.   Bottled water here is the only way you can drink water.  Even the hotel says the water is not potable in their literature.  Knowing that we bought about 2 gallons to last us the next few days.   

I noticed when we walked to the store a few people stared at the red haired foreign devil with the big nose.  Everyone here though is so polite and nice.  They have helped us out immensely and we appreciate it.  I try to speak a little Mandarin when I can to pay some sort of respect but for the most part everyone we have encountered can speak a little English.   One of our books on touring China mentioned that using hand gestures is considered rude.  It is a hard habit to break when you try to explain some things you are trying to do using charades.

After writing this Nina and I will head on out and walk around Shaimen Island to absorb some of the local color.  Nina will also continue to agonize over whether or not she should take her anti-malaria pills.  For my part, I have taken mine which have some of the worse side effects for any of the malaria pills.  Some of the side effects include mental illness, vomiting, vivid dreams, and extreme diarrhea.

Hope all is well at home.

Jesse and Nina

Flight To Guangzhou: Boarding 35 Minutes

We woke up to the sound of frogs softly humming a wake up tune from my cell phone's speakers.  Today is the day!  I got about 2 hours of sleep last night in the 250 thread count bed sheets.   I kept thinking about the big day.  My heart rate was a constant 72 BMP.  

Like responsible travelers we arrived at the airport hyper early to be informed our flight had been cancelled at 1:30 AM in the morning.  Luckily another flight was scheduled to leave two hours later on a larger air craft.  With that awful feeling in your stomach. "I am not going to get my baby!"  we assumed the worst and began to panic in the only kind of special panic that two hours of sleep can deliver.  After being told to check in three hours early, we had barely two hours once we arrived at LAX to get off the plane,  run the mile long corridor like OJ Simpson, all with Nina carrying a laptop, backpack, polar fleece, tickets, passports, etc...

The nice lady at the China Southern counter quickly processed our tickets and sent us on our way through security.  We made it!!!  No.... at the security check through we encountered a security drill where everyone had to freeze in place like the game red light green light.  Once the entire airport had checked in with their radios we were free to go on our way.  We are now sitting at ease at gate 114 almost confident they we are cleared to get on the plane.    Updates to follow.   

Night In Dulles

We just came back from our overpriced dinner at the local hotel The shrimp in a martini glass was simply delicious.  I never thought a flavor like that would ever touch my palate.  But there they were, three drunk prawns jumping out of sea of cocktail sauce served in a glass favored by Britannia's most famous secret agent. 

With our flight set to leave for LAX at 6:00 AM, I set my cell phone and hotel service to remind me that at 3:00 AM Nina and I will be making a paradigm shift into another life.  As if we are going to get much sleep.  If we have the fortitude we may stay up and watch Thursday's episode of LOST. I figure by the time we figure out the secrets of Benjamin Linus' island we will be paid a courtesy call by Mr. Sandman.  

Nina and I are really excited.  There is not much more that can be said.  After 27 months we are finally going to become parents.  We wish to thank all of our family and friends who have been supportive of us during that time.  I hope that we will become as good a set of parents as ours were to us.  Thank you.

Baby Shower

Yesterday most of our family and friends came together to throw us a baby shower at my Aunt's house in Woodford, Virginia. It was a great time. We ate lots of good food and sweets, played some games(Salene and I came in second in the baby scramble, being out witted by our cousin and his fiancee Elly.), and opening lots of great gifts for Leia. I was particularly happy to receive so many books. We plan on reading alot to Leia.

Our flight leaves in a few days. Right now we are just wrapping everything up. Installing baby gates, removing swallowable items from ground level, and cleaning out the basement. Currently I am in a war with the local mouse population. I keep setting traps near our basement door and every morning a poor mouse has taken the bait. I hope I can get most of them before we leave.

Plans are set.

We are getting ready for our flight to China which is set for May 1st 2008. We will be flying from Dulles to Los Angeles and from Los Angeles to Guangzhou, China. Total trip time will run about 22 hours. In preparation for such a long trip I bought a portable movie player and loaded the entire Lord Of the Rings Trilogy on to it. About 10 hours worth of movie time. That should keep me occupied for a while.

Nina and I are also going to complete all or most of our packing today. We want to be able to run right out the door and not have to worry about if we left something behind. Packing now will give us the two weeks to ponder any missing items needed for the trip.

We will be there a few days early before everyone else. That should give us some time to recover and see some of the sights. One of the more interesting sites we plan to visit is the shrine devoted to Wong Fei Hung. He is often portrayed in movies by Jackie Chan.

Only 14 more days! Hopefully there will not be any SNAFU's.

JPB

A Good Friend

Charlie, our good little buddy of 13 years passed away today. Our hearts are heavy but we also remember the happy days we had with him. The hikes at the park, listening to his howl at the sound of fire truck sirens passing, and his happy go lucky attitude. He would have been a wonderful dog for Leia and I am sorry she will never meet him. You will be missed Charlie. Hope you are some place happy playing with Tazz.

Jesse and Nina.