Pearl Market and Red Couch

Today was busy! First we stuffed ourselves at breakfast, then we exchanged a bunch of money and went to the Pearl Market with Ann. Ann is a wonderful, tiny, energetic woman who runs a Care Package service here in Guangzhou. If you don't trust the mail to get your care package to your child's orphanage (the November pkg I sent must have been delivered to a black hole) you can contact Ann thru her website and she'll put everything together. Sending the pkg from within China has a better chance of making it to it's destination. To get to the Pearl Market, we took our first taxi ride!! After a little bit you learn not to watch where you're going. Zoom! Zip! Swerve! It was fun until the driver decided not to take us all the way to the Pearl Market. He dropped us off with a 10 minute walk to go! Ann was furious and they had a heated exchange in Chinese. He wanted us out so that he could continue straight on the road into a better part of town with higher fares. Eventually we exited the taxi and he took off, picking up another fare about 20 feet down the street. We headed left, with Ann fuming. We made the best of it though. It gave us a chance to just walk down a regular business street, see the shops and people and small and hear everything. Of course we were a sweaty mess by the time we got to the market, but hey - we're used to that by now! The Pearl Market is basically the same as the Merchandise Mart in Atlanta, but the stores are smaller, some are just stalls with no walls, and the pedestrian walkways are smaller. Economy of scale. And there's lots more than pearls - amber, jade, beads, you name it. Shop after shop, floor after floor. We got some wonderful jade pendants for Ke Xin's new grandmothers and then headed for the pearls. Ke Xin had passed out by this time, so we just laid her down in the corner of the shop on a piece of cardboard with a towel. She didn't care. It was floor to ceiling pearls!! Ann helped us fine nice quality strands, then the shop people went to work stringing them. Ann and the girls in the shop kept going on about how pretty Olivia was. They said she was a princess and kept touching her cheeks and giving her little pearls as gifts. Needless to say, Olivia sucked that right up. I had to laugh out loud when she corrected Ann and told her she was not a princess - she was a queen! (No, I didn't let her get away with that...) After our pearls were strung, we headed back to the White Swan. At least this time the taxi driver took us all the way to the door! We would have been in trouble if we had to walk - Debbi found "seed beads" in the stall next to the pearl stall and bought a ton of beads! Now she has to buy another suitcase to get them home because of the baggage weight limits enforced by the airlines. Ha! Seriously!! We thanked Ann and grabbed a quick lunch in our room. Then it was time for the swimming pool. The pool is beautiful! Both of them, actually. We waited to see what Ke Xin would do. She jumped right in! She's not afraid of the water if it is shallow. She's obviously been swimming before. I got a couple pics, but then was politely told to put my camera away by hotel staff. I was able to get a pic of Ke Xin when we left tho - she hoisted both floaties like a pro and took off down the path!!! Almost no one else was at the pool, so she wasn't copying anyone. She's done that before...

Then we threw on our clothes for the infamous "Red Couch" pictures for our group. It is a tradition to take the adopted kids' pictures sitting on the red couches at the Swan. Nice idea, but in reality... there was NO way we were going to get 8 little kids to sit still together long enough to get a decent shot. It was chaos, but it was cute.

As soon the the Couch pics were done, we got ready for the evenings' outing - the Dinner Cruise! (But first I called Continental Airlines Hong Kong and confirmed our flights for Saturday. Yeah, baby!) It was a very nice boat with ok food. The main attraction is the lights on the buildings all up and down the river. They really are spectacular. I didn't capture them well, but they really were impressive and everyone had fun watching them. Some big office buildings have scenes that play out from the ground floor all the way to the top. The colors on the bridges & buildings are constantly changing. Their electric bills must be out of this world!!! The kids had fun going to the upper deck and feeling the breezes. The picture with the tall building outlined in lights is our hotel, the White Swan.

By the time we got back, it was bedtime. Olivia fell asleep immediately. Debbi was telling Ke Xin to be quiet, so Ke Xin put her finger to her lips and said "shhhhhh". She is so smart -  she is absorbing everything she sees like a sponge. She copies Olivia constantly. As another mom said today, "She is a totally different child!" (from Gotcha Day). I think she and daddy are going to have a lot of fun...

Tomorrow is our Consulate Appointment. We don't actually go - our guide does. We have to wait in our rooms for her call in case she needs anything from us. Hopefully we'll get a call that all is clear and we can just go to lunch. I have my fingers crossed. Another family with us hasn't been so lucky. As we sleep tonight, they are working with US Immigration in the States trying to get everything straightened out so they can get their new daughter's visa and leave for home on time. Something went into effect July 1st that has thrown a monkey wrench into their schedule. I'll keep my fingers crossed for them, too.

Barring any problems, we'll be home in 4 days... FOUR. DAYS. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!