Almost Home

We've arrived safe and sound in Guangzhou. Keira did fabulously on her first airplane flight. We lucked out and were directed to the back of the plane where there were extra seats, so we had plenty of room for the 3 of us. Hope the 16 hours of flying later this week goes as well. One can dream, anyway. And by the way - K did fly sedative-free. No such promises can be made come Thursday.

It feels a bit closer to home here because....

...there are adoptive families everywhere, (all US families must pass through Guangzhou before going home), so we aren't quite as much of a spectacle as we were in Nanning.

....Lucy's down the street has great cheeseburgers and fries.

....Diet Coke is a bit more readily available.

....we can say we are going home "in a few days".

Still not quite home because....

...ESPN on the TV is actually some British guys giving soccer ("fuut-ball") reports. It should be called ESPN-light or E(as in England)SPN.

....someone makes the bed for me.

....there is a waterfall in the entryway (and no dustbunnies).

It really is loverly here on Shamian Island in Guangzhou. Although the local shopkeepers giving you the hard sell if you even remotely cast a glance at their goods gets a bit old.
The weather here is so fabulous that I still really can't grasp the fact that tomorrow is Christmas Eve! (And Happy B-day today, bro!) Our guide is taking us to a Thai restaurant tomorrow to "celebrate", since she knows that Christmas Eve is a big family day in the US. Christmas Day itself will include a medical exam for the girls....I guess that would be the adoptive equivalent of coal in their stockings. But somehow, I'm pretty sure the parents will manage to make up for it.
Sweet baby Keira is still doing great. She is getting a couple of teeth on the bottom, but that's not slowing her down much. She's laughing and smiling more than ever and seems to have a pretty nice disposition, unless you try to take away food before she's done. I think "noodle" is the first English word she recognizes!

Here she is, wondering.....well, what do you think she's contemplating?

"Boy, that Nanning traffic sure is something!"???"Does the Colts defense have what it takes this year?"????"Who are these people?"???

And yet, another of the faces of Keira (probably after further contemplation of the Colts D or after realizing that she's stuck with us, or maybe.....??)

Unfortunately, our camera is dying a slow death here, so you may have to entertain yourself by coming up with captions for the above photos in the meantime. Hopefully we will have new pix tomorrow, but I'm not pulling a Joe Namath and making any guarantees.
Mingtian jian! See you tomorrow!