In Guangzhou

What a great day Friday was for us. Nathan really started to come out of his shell both in the hotel room in Changsha and once we got to our room in Guangzhou. He was walking around and playing with different things that he found. He was smiling and even laughing. It was wonderful site to see. Abby and Micah loved having fun with the little brother and mommy appreciated the relief of not having to hold him all the time. Nathan even slept the night in his crib which gave us all a good night sleep.



We left our hotel at 2pm and went to the train station. This train station in Changsha was newly built in 2008 specifically for the G train. The G train was really cool traveling up to 350 km/hr (which I think is close to 200 miles/hr). The ride was really smooth and for anyone that is not real wild over planes, this is the way to travel. I know they have talked about putting one of these between Chicago and Minneapolis, now I can’t wait. The country side was really beautiful. Similar to what we saw between Nanchang and Changsha, but we saw more hills and mountain ranges. The train route was built right through the hills, so it stayed pretty level. When we got into Guangzhou it was 6pm. We were surprise that Judy Wu met us at the train station. Judy is the lady that arranged all of our travel and everyone always speaks so highly of her. She had met Nathan in the orphanage and talked with his foster mom, so this gave us an opportunity to find out much more about his situation. The foster mom lived only a block from the orphanage and she would take Nathan there many days a week to get some social interaction and play time. Judy recalls her saying that she had 2 biological kids and she thought that they were a bit older although the foster mom was not very old. Judy figured that he was with her right up to the day that we got him.


It took us an hour through the traffic to get to our hotel. It was dark by the time we got in. We are in the Holiday Inn Shifu which is not on the island (like the White Swan), but it is only a few blocks away. This hotel is surrounded by markets which will be nice if we want to do some shopping, but one of those places where you need to hang onto your wallet. The security and policing is extra high right now in preparation for the Asian Games this fall. Judy advised us to always carry our passports in case we were stopped.

This morning (Saturday) we go for Nathan’s medical exam and vaccinations. We got a vaccination book from the orphanage, so hopefully the vaccinations will be less based on what he has already had. Either way we are bracing for the worse.
Abby wanted me to add her favorite memory.  On the way to the train station we saw kids (with their moms) pooping and peeing in the street. Micah and Abby laughed pretty hard over that.


Overall we feel much better with Nathan coming out of his shell. It also feels good to be on the last leg of this journey.  It feels like the weight of the world has been lifted off. Nathan still won’t let me hold him, but I think it is just a matter of time now. Thanks for all of your prayers; they have definitely worked as God is watching over us.

--Craig  (pictures of Friday to follow)