a day of weather delays

Friday May 8^th.

Shaun was up early again, around 4:30 waiting for the sun to rise.   Robin managed to keep him busy and let me sleep a little while.  After breakfast we managed to chat with a couple of friends, two of our sons and our girls.  Then it was out for a walk through the neighborhood.   We went up some streets we had not been on before and then down to the river and walked in a section we had not seen before. 

We looked for a good take out place for lunch but none had take out so we stopped at a “family market” and picked up some sweet bread and some steamed buns for a snack before we had to head out.  

We ate back at the room and Shaun found Frozen playing on the TV movie channel so he started watching that as we finished packing and preparing.   At about 12:45 we met Ming Ming in the lobby to check out and head out.   We had to stop at the notary to pick up our documents.  We then started toward the airport and traffic was terrible. It took about an hour to get there.  We learned that Shanghai has 2 airports, the international airport where we arrived last week and the local airport for in country flights which is right near the orphanage where Joshua lived. 

We made it to the airport around 2:15 for our 3:55 flight.  Ming Ming told us that we would be delayed due to weather in Guangzhou.  So we said our good byes with her and went through security.   We were able to scope out a section of the large airport on the way to our gate.   The flight kept getting delayed and delayed.   People were angry.  We went to McDonalds to pick up some food since we just snacked for lunch.   Then after more delays we walked to Subway to get drinks and chips to hold us over and kill time.   We picked up some neat Cheetos that were Fried Chicken flavor, these were really good, I hope they get these back home.

The boys did pretty good with the delays and played and watched DVDs for a while.  I finally had a gate agent help me call Jack our guide to tell him where we were.  He was monitoring our flight and assured me that he would meet us at the airport when we get there.  Every time you would ask for an update the guy at the gate would just “No Time”, the gate agents here tend to be rude in my opinion.  I managed to connect with a well to do lady from Uganda who had here Nannie with her and a Chinese friend that spoke good English.  She was good to give me updates.  I also met another man who spoke excellent English and he was good to give me updates,m he ended up sitting next to me on the flight.  He did not understand why we would want to adopt so many Chinese children, I tried to explain but he did not get it.  Flying in China can be one of the most frustrating things ever as they do not give updates or any information.   They did give out something that looked like food but we opted for McDonald's instead.  We just tried to go with the flow.  I have to say I have probably flown near a million miles and the 3 worst delays I have experienced have been here.

We finally got the boys to sleep around 9 pm, Shaun on a bench and Josh in the stroller.  Well after many delays with the monitor only saying “DELAYED” we finally got an update at 10 pm, when they said boarding and everyone ran to get in line.  Robin was at the restroom so I woke Shaun up and got everything ready to roll.  We got in line and boarded the big plane.

It was 10:30 before we took off and I fell asleep immediately.  I was sleeping fine and they woke me up to see if I wanted a drink and dinner.   Great dinner at 11 pm.  I of course said NO! went back to sleep and slept until the wheels hit the ground in Gugnazhou. 

When we got on the plane one of the stewards put our stroller in a front closet and guess what they parked us short of the gate and were going to bus us in and we exited via the rear door.  The stewards had to go through the crowd and get the stroller while we waited at the top of the stairs.  We were on the very last bus to the terminal and baggage claim.  The good news is that most of our bags were going around when we got there.

We gathered up all of our bags and made our way out to the terminal.   We did not see anyone with a sign, finally this guy in shorts and flip flops walked up and said “Hi I am Jack are you Forrest?”  So we found our guide.   He explained that many were delayed worse than us and that we were lucky to get a flight in.  One family that is adopting a boy from Shaun’s orphanage had a flight cancelled and are having to take a train today, we have done that before, not fun.  We look forward to meeting them tomorrow as we will share Jack as our guide.

When we got to the Marriott it was around 2 am.  I showed them my Marriott credentials and asked for an upgrade.  The lady was insistent that we needed double beds so Shaun had a bed.  Jack helped me convince her that he would sleep on the couch in the suite.  So finally a room. But we had to wait for bedding and a crib so about 2:30 boys were bathed and beds made.  Now time for mommy and daddy to clean up.  Finally at 3 am we turned off the lights and went to sleep.  When we checked in we were told that 12 guests had still not checked in for that evening.  We met many of these today at breakfast some did not get in until 5 am and had to be up early for physicals.  At breakfast we struck up a conversation with a couple at the next table and quickly learned that they are from our state (about 3 hours away), small world.  Their little boy is a heart baby and it was nice to visit with them.

Wake up call for Saturday at 8 am so we could go do our medical physical.  Jack wanted to delay it until Monday but I insisted that we do it Saturday so we had buffer in case of any issues.  Without Consulate approval we can not return home with Joshua. He has to be seen by doctors and tested for communicable diseases like TB etc. and we need time for these results to come back.  Pray that everything comes back clearly.

Saturday morning we grabbed breakfast and headed to the physical with Jack, still in his flip flops and now with a hat,  He is a great guy but looks like he is ready to go surfing.  The physical place was packed with families that were doing the same thing as us.  Jack handled everything wonderfully and got our paperwork in place and got us in line for the first station.  As we would complete a station he would get in line for another one.   The first for us was ENT.  The lady pulled out her otoscope and quickly realized that there was nothing to look at since Josh has no ear canals.  Interestingly enough he responded to the hearing test and showed us again just how well he is hearing through his skull.   He seemed worried as he saw other kids crying but he kept a good attitude.  Every other child came out of the blood draw room screaming and Josh came out with a smile on his little face.  We ran into one other little issue when they tried to take his temperature with an in ear thermometer but that won’t work so they had to go get the under arm unit and take it that way. 

It is the rainy season here by the time we finished the physical it was pouring.  The driver met us right at the door and took us back to the hotel.  We had to make a 711 run to get water and soft drinks for the room and figure out what was for lunch.  The boys ended up having noodle dishes that we had purchased the other day (just add water) and once again Robin and I had McDonald's.  I never eat at McDonald's at home but have had it several times while here just because they are everywhere, reasonably priced and the food is OK.  With the rain pouring it was the only place close enough that I did not get soaked to the bone.  However I got wet enough that the MCD bag tore apart but no worries the food was saved from falling.

Jack arranged to have our laundry picked up to be done.  The hotels are very expensive for this service but there are local shops that are cheap.  The guy picked up at our room and said it would be back same time tomorrow.   Not bad!  We have done no outside laundry since leaving home over a week ago so really needed to get a few things done.

I guess that is it for now.   Tomorrow is a down day and a visit to Shamain Island and lunch at Lucy’s (adoptive families you will appreciate this).  Signing off for now, R and the boys are sound asleep getting a well deserved nap while I write and work a bit.

Here is the link for the full photo show.   http://s168.photobucket.com/user/factech1/slideshow/2015%20China