Free Time in Guangzhou

Sorry to say that I have no current pictures to post today!  We don't have free internet in our rooms at the China Hotel in Guangzhou, so I have to go down to the pool for internet access.  By the time I got down here today I realized that I left the camera in the room.  Drew and Joe are napping in the room so I will just post a few pictures that we received from the orphanage.

Since the medical checkup, we've had lots of free time.  Joe found some Nutella at the hotel market. So we gorged ourselves on animal crackers and Nutella!  I think I am surviving mainly on the breakfast buffet and junk food on this trip.  On Sunday, we took a taxi with some friends to Shamian Island.  It was a great day!  I wish I had some pictures to post, but I forgot my camera (obviously having some issues with that!)  We bought some interesting souvenirs at Jenny's Place.  Joe and Drew waited outside and made some friends from the store next door called Sherry's Place.  He spent a couple of hours teaching English to Sherry and her sister Cindy while we shopped.  Chinese people are generally very friendly and ask lots of questions!  And Joe likes to talk to strangers apparently.  Who knew?  We also ate at Subway.  It was very similar to the US Subway except for they had Grey Poupon instead of honey mustard.  One of the ladies who went with us to Shamian Island is a single mom.  She adopted a 5 year old little girl.  She also has a 7 year old daughter who was adopted from Thailand.  It has been really fun hanging out with them because the girls remind me of my girls!  Last night we ate at a traditional Chinese restaurant.  Thankfully our Holt guides ordered for us.  It was very good. 

Today, we decided to just rest at the hotel.  Drew seems tired and like a two year old who is out of his routine - which he is!  He has had a few more tantrums in the last few days.  When he gets mad, he stands straight up, throws his head back, and then falls flat to the floor, hitting the back of his head first. This does not seem like a good survival instinct but he has done it twice now.  So we are learning to prepare for that!  He is a very indendent child, and like to do things for himself.  He has gotten mad at us for not letting him eat out of the trash, and I think he holds onto a grudge for a while!  Overall, though, with sleep and food in him, he is a very happy child.  He has enjoyed playing on the hotel playground, has figured out how to use the hotel remote control (even though I haven't), and is bonding well with both Joe and I now.  He eats well as long as we let him feed himself, and he loves taking a bath.  He enjoys being around other children as well.  Although he is missing some fingers and his toes are webbed, those things do not seem to slow him down.

I am so thankful for how things are going.  I think that God is taking care of us on this trip.  Such a big change is hard for all of us, and I felt anxious about how Drew would adjust, about plane flights, and about being in a foreign country.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers, for our visa appointment tomorrow, and especially for our flights home! 

Love the tank top and the mohawk!

I guess he has been on a slide before!