Countdown to home begins!

Hi all! I am going to post tonight and Rich will add the picture link in the morning when we get up. We had a little adoption paperwork for me to take care of this morning at 9:30, so Henry and I went to breakfast together a little earlier than normal. "Mommy and Henry time", as he so fondly calls it, is especially nice right now and we had a great time. After the paperwork, Rich, Henry, Mae and I ventured out to the park and got caught in the rain, pretty much a daily occurrence here.

This afternoon we took taxis with our guides, Kathy and Maggie, and several families in our group to the pearl market. We all had a paper with the address written out in Chinese to give the driver and we were all going to meet up at the entrance. Well, the doorman at the hotel only briefly looked at our paper, told the driver where we were going, and we were promptly dropped off at the wrong location. Luckily, we handed the paper to a woman on the street and she pointed us in the right direction. It was not long before we saw Kathy walking in our direction, absolutely worried sick about us. She checked us all over as if we had just been in a car accident and then proceeded to take Henry's hand and lead us all back to the group at warp speed. As we've said before, we are being very well cared for! There is a reason our agency is considered the best!

The pearl market (mostly freshwater) was inside of a 5 or 6 story modern building. Not just pearls, but coral, amber, and many other stones. Not that we saw the other places first hand, as Rich, Henry, Mae and I stayed in one pearl shop the entire time. Valerie did check out a few others. Rich drove a hard bargain with the shop girls, but I left there a happy camper! Bargaining is the name of the game here for almost everything you purchase and Rich is, of course, in his element! The shop partially strung the pearls we purchased while we waited and watched, very cool to see. Henry was surrounded by three of the girls taking pictures of him with their camera phone and then a camcorder! I am wondering if he will show up in Chinese ads at some point!

Tonight we took a dinner cruise on the Pearl River with the entire group and had a great time. The food was awful, but the boat was nice and the scenery spectacular. The city is really beautiful at night and we could not believe how many modern skyscrapers they have. It is a huge city and seems to go on forever. Leaving the boat was quite sad. We were accosted by small children trying to sell us flowers. They were dirty, shoeless, and relentless. Probably all under the age of eight. I couldn't help wondering where they would sleep tonight. Driving back to the hotel and seeing the city at night was thought provoking. What an amazing trip this has been, certainly something we will never forget. None of us can wait to get home, but leaving is going to be bittersweet. We are taking this beautiful girl from her country, a country she will never remember or experience first-hand (at least not on a daily basis). I am trying so hard to live in the moment, take lots of pictures, and write in her journal. I want to be able to tell her about not only the sights, but also the sounds, the smells, and the kindness of the people here.

Speaking of the beautiful Mae, she is doing wonderfully. She is smiling a lot more, still never misses a trick, and is bonding to all of us really well. She has started reaching for Rich and I when the other one of us is holding her, we love that! Just like Charlie, she adores her new big brother. Henry has taken to her as if he has known her forever. Just a few more days and she will get to meet the rest of her family! We can't wait!

I'm the last one up, it's almost 11:30 here. There was just a knock at the door, it was a girl from Lucy's (a shop across the street) with all of our laundry we dropped off this morning. Freshly laundered, pressed, and packaged in cellophane wrappers....all for about 50 cents a piece! Wish we had this service at home!

Rich will add the photo link in the morning....

love and miss you,
melissa

Okay, here are the pictures from yesterday -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/caira/sets/774520/
and here are my 2 cents: The reason I'm barefoot on the stones in a couple of these shots is because those stones are said to be healing stones; if you walk on them barefoot, it supposedly is good for your health. They were formed into a long, winding path, with about 10 yin and yang symbols every 10 feet or so that you walk over. I don't know about their healing powers, but I do know it was torture -- it hurt like crazy! Also, on the way back from the playground/exercise park, we happened across a Chinese movie being made which was pretty interesting. I'm bummed about the buffet last night on the dinner cruise because one of the items was chicken feet and I really wish I had at least grabbed a couple to take a picture of. And I might have even taken a nibble off of one (like a toenail or something) if it was sitting there in front of me. If I have another opportunity, I'll try to remember to snap a shot. They're on like every menu we've seen so far, among all types of intestines, braised pig's neck, ostrich kidney, pig's feet, etc. One of the things I tried on the buffet last night, however, was a tiny little rib that was actually not half bad. Another guy and I were thinking maybe squirrel's rib? Finally, the Chinese character on the shirt Henry's wearing in these pictures means "dragon," which is the sign for the year he was born (2000). We got the shirt when we were at the Great Wall. -- R