2nd Post for Today!

Well, tonight was a good night.  It all started the other day when I met a lady at breakfast who has a southern accent (which immediately got my attention)!  After speaking with her, I found out that she and her family are retired military and live in Huntsville, Alabama.  Greg and Kim are sweet, church going people who are originally from Arkansas.  They are here adopting their second child from China, a 4 year old boy named Grayson.

This afternoon, while David was taking Madison for a walk around the hotel, he ran into them outside and they invited us to go eat dinner with them on Shaman Island (a centuries old part of Guangzhou that used to be owned by the French and British).  This is where the White Swan Hotel is that everyone talks about staying at when they come here to adopt.  Since it's being renovated right now, most families are staying here at the Marriott.  Don't get me wrong, the Marriott is a very nice hotel but there is just nothing to do around it.  No shops, good restaurants, or anything familiar looking except for the 7-11 and Starbucks.  However, Shaman Island is like a little self-contained city within the city, and it has everything you could ask for! After 8 days, I have finally found a place to do some shopping for the girls back home, for Madison, and for our families. If we were staying on the island like folks normally do, this trip wouldn't be half as bad because you can at least walk around and feel safe, do some shopping, and enjoy the water views.

We also ate dinner at a very "Americanized" place called Lucy's, which had some wonderful sweet iced tea.  Not as good at the sweet tea at Chick-fil-A (Hey, Jeff and Linda!), but after 10 plus days of nothing but water and soda, it was wonderful.  The tea is actually unsweet but you can pour liquid sugar into it to make it as sweet as you like...sooo good!  After dinner we went to just two shops because our group is going back to the island tomorrow as a part of our "tour."  We found lots of neat stuff!

It was good being with some other families today and talking with someone who has been down this road once before and is right back in the thick of it like we are now. Madison did very well at dinner and walking through the two shops.  Of course, she grabs and wants everything just like any child does at that age!  But overall, when we said "no" or "don't touch" she listened and obeyed, which was great.  Luckily for us, Madison loves riding in the stroller!  That will certainly come in handy as we lug her and our luggage on the train ride back to Kowloon, the taxi ride back to Hong Kong, and through three airport terminals in HK, New York, and Tampa. That is going to be quite a challenge...especially with the masses of people who are rushing around everywhere!

So, another day down and only 5 more to go.  David has been looking forward to Monday because that is the beginning of the end for our last week here.  Continue to pray for our safety, health, the language barrier, and for all of us to sleep well.  Good night from China and thanks for praying for us!  

(The video below is of Madison playing a computer colors game that I downloaded.)

Melissa