Monday, August 22, 2011

The Consulate

Today was a big day, the last of the bureaucratic requirements. Out of the hotel early to get to the US Consulate for our 8:30 am appointment to apply for JMX's US visa. They see 24 families a day, two appointments of 12 families. We were in the first group today.

This is the one thing that determines when a family can travel. An adoptive family's entire trip is planned around this appointment. The sooner you can get it, the sooner you meet your child. The sooner you meet you child, the sooner you should be able to go home as a family. Did I say this was a big day? This is a big day!

I won't bore you with the details, but things work pretty much like this. Go to consulate, get to the appropriate office with the other families, take oath, have paperwork reviewed by government clerk, and hope everything is in order. And that was pretty much how it went. We were fortunate enough to be called first, so we were finished first. The whole thing, minus waiting for the office to open took about 10 minutes. We were back at the hotel by 9:05 am.

Our guide will pick up the visa and associated documents for us tomorrow and we are off to Hong Kong by van on Tuesday afternoon. Flight back home on Wednesday.

JMX has continued to bond with both of us, and we cannot believe how fortunate we are. She and I spent playing together the past few days, and where before she was previously a bit stand offish, she now smiles and laughs, and even squeals with laughter! And aside from food, the only thing that makes her happier than me, is Kay!! And that is how it should be. Aside from the food part, but we will work on that.











Later in the day we went to a nearby park, where we were almost overcome by fumes. The adults were coughing and gagging, JMX was smiling at the funny sounds we were making. Gotta love the demeanor, but gotta work on the "big picture" view!

Aside from the fumes, the park was nice. Some water features, a few amusement park rides, some sculpture, and of course, the mistranslated warning signs.







"Don't hurt me for your pretty" equals _________?

We had dinner in the hotel steakhouse with two other families, at a big round table in a private room, and swapped stories and reflections about the past couple of weeks and what the future holds. And these people, smart, funny, warm, and determined, who endured six years of unexplained and probably unnecessary delays, who traveled across the world, who shared this experience, each now have a beautiful child and a more complete family. And these families are part of a global community that is defined by the children and what each of these children has experienced. And we are proud to be part of that community, and we look forward to the support structure that comes from that community.

Off to Hong Kong tomorrow!





Location:Renmin North Rd,Guangzhou,China

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