We met the two other families from our agency to go to the Chen Clan Academy. We’ve been to enough temples at this point that we decided this one wasn’t the prettiest one we’ve seen. Temple snobs we have become! But the weather was nice, the kids had fun running around and after yesterday’s boring day, I was happy that a morning was planned for us and we just had to show up at the appointed time. Plus, I love meeting other adoptive families and two from our agency with us in Guangzhou this week are super nice.
Afterward we stopped by a shop that sells traditional tea sets and other higher-end souvenirs, along with the usual postcards and t-shirts you’d expect. I saw t-shirts that said “Little Brother,” “Little Sister” and “Big Brother” in Chinese I wanted to get for our kids. However, they’re probably not used to seeing many three- and five-year-old big brothers, because they did not have any t-shirts that came close to fitting Oliver and Soren.
Although I had earlier said that we aren’t big on buying souvenirs, we decided we wanted to bring something home we could use when we celebrate Chinese holidays or other special occasions, so I bought two matching tea sets. Now we just have to figure out how to get them home!
Guangzhou is famous for pearls, hence the river that flows through the city is called the Pearl River, so our final shopping stop was at the pearl market. Despite not being a jewelry person, I like the traditional look of pearls and would have at least liked to have taken a look inside the market. Unfortunately, it was already lunch time and Matteo and Kiera did not look like they were going to make it, so our van dropped us back at our hotel and went back to the market to meet up with the rest of the group. Unfortunately, again, our toddlers who had looked like they could barely keep their eyes open in the van, did not nap. They laid down obediently in their beds only to get silly once we closed the bedroom door. They were laughing at each other and passing books and stuffed animals back and forth and up to who knows what else. By the time we gave up on the nap, it was time for me to meet our guide to finish paperwork for our consulate appointment on Tuesday, so Chris had the challenge of wrangling overtired kids.
While we were doing the paperwork, I asked our guide why Matteo’s passport had been issued in September if we had to wait five days for it in Hefei before we could travel to Guangzhou. I was shocked to learn that the passports are indeed ready before we even meet our kids because the orphanages apply for the passports well ahead of time so that they’ll processed in time. When I asked why they don’t give us the passports when we finalize the adoption the day after we meet our child, she said they hold onto them to make sure we’re going to stick with the adoption. She said there are families who change their minds even after finalizing the adoption, but it still make me frustrated that the process is unnecessarily dragged out. If they’re concerned families will back out and 24 hours isn’t enough time to get to know our children, why do they have us finalize the adoption after only 24 hours? For those of us who never questioned whether we want to complete the adoption, after finalization, the only reason we remain in province is because we’re waiting on that passport.
To kill time the rest of the afternoon, we went with another family to the Guangzhou Zoo. We had been with Matteo, but not yet with Kiera. The zoo is located two stops away on the subway. A round-trip subway ticket cost us less than 75 cents. Then it was back to the hotel for a pit stop before heading back out together for dinner.
The other family was adopting their first child, which I kept forgetting was the case because they looked like naturals around their daughter. I was only reminded of their new parent status when the wife turns to me and said, “I keep watching you to learn how to be a mom.” Well, I’m glad looked like I knew what I was doing! As nervous as I was to meet Kiera and Matteo, the one thing I wasn’t nervous about was being a parent. That part honestly is natural to me because it’s all I know right now. I have trouble remembering what my life was like before I was a parent.
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