February 06th, 2018

Mountain, Embassy, Pet Store, Flower Shop, group photo,and dinner

Yesterday morning Conner, Emily and Christian went with Kai’s family to ride cable cars up the nearby mountain. Again they had some amazing views of Guangzhou. Sophie and I went to the Embassy to apply for her visa which will take 2 days to receive. It will be ready for pick up on Thursday. Because Chinese New Year is in a few weeks the embassy was packed. There were more than 12 families in the room at the same time. We were the only family from CCAI who had an appointment yesterday. The rest of our group have theirs today. ThWhen we first arrived Sophie needed a diaper change. I was thankful we were at the embassy with western toilets and a changing table! Sophie once again had a mini meltdown. Where she cries hysterically. I can’t quite figure out the triggers but it could just be grief and loss and fear all wrapped up in not having any control in this whole process. Since I was the only one with a hysterical child I felt like everyone was looking at me, but I just did my best to reassure her and she did calm down and even fell asleep on the 30 minutes bus ride back.

When I got back the kids were here and we headed out to lunch and to the pet mall and flower mall. It was a 30 minute taxi ride. There are literally millions of fish in all sizes and colors. They are in giant bags, small bags, little bowls, big tanks. It was like a giant flea market for fish and aquarium supplies. It was way better than the actual aquarium. In another section there were frogs, and every king of turtle you could imagine. Some for pets and many perhaps to eat. In the very back there were kittens, cats, dogs, puppies, rabbits, bunnies, hamsters, rats, mice, tarantula’s wolf spiders, snakes and hedgehog’s. Emily wanted to bring home a husky puppy for Juliana. They were super cute and better cared for then I might have expected. We were told by one of the locals that because it is the Chinese New Year the year of the dog that everyone wants puppies. We did not see any puppy sales but saw a police officer buy 2 turtles and two children each get a bunny. Right next to the pet section there was every kind of flower, tree, plant, succulent you could imagine. We met a sweet young lady who spoke English and we bought two plants for our guides and were able to share our family photo and the Kiara gospel card with her. She was very appreciative.

It took us 45 minutes to get back to the hotel and Sophie napped. We then had group photos and a group dinner at a Portuguese and Cantonese restaurant. We loved the beef and pepper dish and the excellent donut type dessert. Lots of fun eating with the other CCAI families.

A quick swim before bed. Another full day and a another day closer to being home. Thanks for your prayers.