Off To Guangzhou for “B’s” Visa ( 2.7.15)

Reflections from Saturday 2.7.15: 

Today we left this morning for Guangzhou, where “B” will have a medical exam by the U.S. consulate and eventually receive her US entry visa for her passport if there are no issues.  We had our bags packed and "Bri" was ready! (well, except for this was her bed head and it needed a little taming... and ya'll think I'm joking, but this is seriously how she woke up with it- wild hair!) 

We left the hotel around 9am to head to the airport. As we were waiting to leave, families were taking pictures in the lobby with the new Chinese New Year decorations that had been put up. The hotel lobby looked so beautifully decorated for the holiday.

Off we went to the airport and for the first time, these little ones would take their first flight and leave the province that has been the only home each of them have ever known.  I know there were a few anxious mommies and daddies in the bunch to see how some of these little ones were going to react to flying. (heck- I was interesting how this mommy was going to react to flying with a little one on my lap- since I’m not such a big fan of flying myself- you will be glad to know I survived) We had already seen how many of them had done on long bus rides, train rides or in taxis, so the thought of several hours in a plane (which was only prep for the BIG one coming up in another week) would prove interesting. 

As we waited for our flight to take off, I came across a little tea store and come to find out, it carried teas from the very city our daughter is from (and anyone who knows me knows I love tea!) so of course I quickly purchased some, since it originated from Xinyang, so that we can share that later with our daughter.

As we waited on our flight, we suddenly realized it was delayed by over an hour, so needless to say we all had some restless wee ones in the airport who were all ready for food and naps. (thank goodness for snacks!) 

We finally were called to board and everyone settled in on the plane.  I have to say this picture cracks me up as it truly shows the expression of what everyone in our group was thinking after waiting so long to get on to the next location. This photo says it all- lol!  

Our flight was ok, and “B” fell asleep before take off, during, and for about 40 minutes of the 2 hour or so flight.  She did way better than mommy did when we hit bad turbulence. She woke up with about an hour or so left in flight and boy did we see a new side of little one.  She did not want to be on the plane any longer (Yikes, let’s hope this is NOT an indicator of things to come on our first of two flights home)

By the time our flight landed and we took a bus to the hotel, it was around 6:30 and all of the wee ones were ready to be settled in.  “B” had been super cranky until we were in the airport and that’s when Miss Personality came out. She was so happy to have freedom and be able to move around and for some reason everything was just so funny to her. Our group commented on what a change and contrast to what everyone had been seeing for the last 4 days since “Gotcha Day”.  She was all smiles and full of tons of giggles after we got off the plane.

We checked into our hotel for the evening and everyone was quite exhausted.  We actually ordered Papa John’s pizza (yep, it tastes the same as the U.S. and can be found in this city, but with a lot of very strange varieties) for delivery to our hotel (which apparently is a common thing to do here) and enjoyed a simple meal in our hotel room.  We got “B” ready for bed and then crashed. 

Thankfully, we have a low-key day tomorrow so that greatly helps.  We will also do visa paperwork in the afternoon.