Saturday, November 10, 2012

Catch-up...this and that




Well our VPN stopped working on us and we were blocked from most of the internet sites we have been using to connect with the US.  We have been pretty busy with transitioning from Chengdu to Guangzhou, but when I had time to think about it, I was very disappointed that we wouldn't be able to continue blogging while we were here.  As you can see, we are blogging...we were going to have my sister Melissa try to help us get a new VPN (thank you for being willing) but it turns out you can still find some that aren't blocked and you are able to download from here.  Paying a little extra, but it is worth being able to communicate!  Things are more tense than usual around here (all of China) due to the "elections" this week coming up. 

Things are going pretty well.  We have gone from a mostly grey, cloudy/smoggy Chengdu that was around 50 degrees, to hot, humid, and tropical Guangzhou.  We all just about melted when we got off the plane.  We also went from the personal attention of one amazing guide, to a great guide...but one we share with 5 families...so as you can guess most of his attention (of course just this is based on only one day with him) is spent making sure we get all our paperwork just right, and we all get to the next place on time, and so on...  So we feel very blessed to have had the one on one time with Emily to help us translate and connect with Ershu. 

This is Hannah Ershu our last day in Chengdu (Friday morning), at breakfast.  She is so cute in light pink!  She loves the headbands with flowers on them that we brought.  She loves to color coordinate each morning with her outfit.  She wears it about have the day and then it annoys her and it either ends up in her purse or on Daddy's neck.


 We spent Friday morning packing up and then we had a late checkout.  We had a few hours to spare before we needed to leave for the airport so Emily came and shopped at the grocery store so we could stock up on some of the peppers and spice that Ershu (and Josh) might miss.  Before Emily came we got to meet with some special friends of friends of friends...:)  It is a long story, :)  but I can say it was a sweet time for Ershu to hear about someone very special in her own language, in her first country!  Thank you God for working this out!  It is so amazing to meet kindred-spirit people across the world! 

Here we are at the airport...Ershu getting ready for her first airplane ride!

 She did great on the airplane!  She was so tired because she and Mateo did not get a nap in.  We though she would fall asleep on the 2 hour flight, but she was so excited that a short rest was out of the question.
Here we are absolutely melting as we had just walked a very long way in a hot humid airport, and were now outside in worse heat waiting for our ride.  And yes that is a sweater I am wearing!
We had to pick up another family at a different terminal, so by the time we were checked into our room it was after 10:30pm.  We are at a 5 star hotel... and it is the complete opposite of where we were just staying!! It is huge and so fancy.  Downstairs has 4 or 5 restaurants (there are more upstairs too) and probably just as many or more shops (very classy- high end stuff)  It is practically a mall!  I will have to take pictures and share...but it is nice to have some space.  (we have a suite)

This picture is us in one of the gardens after breakfast for a short time before we were to meet everyone in the lobby to leave.  The koi in this pond were almost as large as salmon!!  They are huge!

This morning (Saturday) Hannah (and the other 4 families) had their medical check up and tb tests.  She did great and was very brave when she had to have 3 vaccination shots along with a tb prick.
 Such a sweet picture.  They are playing some game together, while she waited her turn for one of the 4 doctor visits she had to make.

 This is a family I had connected with on facebook, when we figured out we were with the same agency and going to be in Guangzhou on the same days.  Her husband is deployed right now, so she is here with her mother-in-law, while her other 2 children are home with her mom.  (Hannah Ershu had just got her shots, and she came and sat on my lap for a while :))
AND THIS IS THE MOMENT SWEET, PATIENT MATEO HAS BEEN WAITING FOR, THE WHOLE TRIP....

 I had to go meet the guide and the other families and spend an hour and a half working on gathering and organizing paperwork for Tuesday, while the rest of my family went to the pool and had a blast.  :) I am sorry I missed it, but it sounds like they both had sooo much fun, and I am glad Josh took pictures and some video.
And this is a picture Ershu took of Daddy...isn't he just the cutest too? :)  Good picture Ershu!!

Well, tomorrow is a free day...and we have so many choices that we can't make up our mind...it is harder with a group like this, because we either have to do what everyone is doing, or we have to venture out on our own without any help.  We don't mind some venturing out...so we will see.

2 comments:

  1. Maria and Josh,

    Your posts are just precious. I wept as I read your post about Hannah's finding place. Having been to Larissa's finding place, I can relate to all the emotion, but adding the annotation from Hannah is just so unimaginable. My heart hurt reading that post and yet God's plan for Hannah and your family is so perfect. Thank you for your candid posts. Praying for you as your journey continues.

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    1. Tim and Monica Kane,

      Thank you for following our blog, and thank you for the kind and encouraging words! We will have to get together some time when we return.

      Thank you for praying!
      Maria

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