We're still here...

We're still here... And we're in Guangzhou, in Southern China, to do the American portion of the paperwork. It's been an interesting two days, to say the least...Our flight from Zhengzhou to Guangzhou was scheduled to leave at 5:00 pm on Friday, but the Chinese governement decided they needed the China Southern planes to move troops to the western part of China where the riots are going on, so the entire flight schedule got messed up. We arrived at the airport at 3:00 pm, checked our luggage and found out that our flight was delayed. Great. So now we are stuck at the Zhengzhou airport wher basically no one speaks English and we are quite the main attraction. Yisha, our guide, recommended that we got to a new hotel across the street from the airport. God bless that hotel staff. 8 American families invaded their nice, new coffee shop. They were very gracious to us, and we were able to get something to eat and hang a bit before going back to the airport. At 7:00, we headed back. Yisha checked and they told her that our flight was leaving at 8:00. Wonderful, just in time. We go through security and are on our own only to find out that our flight is NOT leaving at 8:00. They have no idea when it will leave. So we decided as a group to crash in a area near a play area for the kids. We waited, waited and waited some more. No flight. Don't worry, we were told, it will come they were just no sure when. Kids were getting tired and cranky, parents were getting tired, cranky and stressed. Finally around 11:00 pm we found out that the flight we were taking was leaing Shanghai and would be to our airport around 12:00 and we would leave around 12:40. We finally did leave, but not until 1:00 am. Kendall fell asleep about 1 minute into the flight and Rob and I were soon after that. We slept the entire way to Guangzhou, getting ot the airport at 2:45 am. Until we got our luggage and our bus to the hotel, it was 4:00 am when we arrived at the hotel. I think we fell asleep around 4:30 and had to be up to be at the medical exam for Kendall's visa at 10:45. We had no crib in our room and twin beds, so Kendall and I slept together. The kid is a bed hog just like her brother. But at least we made it here, finally.We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, on Shanmin Island in Guangzhou. The island used to be a European area, and the influence can still be seen here in the buildings. The island is very nice, with tree lined streets, with very little traffic. There are lots of little shops that cater to adopting families, since this is the place where most families stay when adopting. The hotel is beautiful, with a big koi pond and waterfall in the lobby. The hotel sits alongside the Pearl River and you can watch boats floating by on the river while you eat breakfast in the coffee shop. Our room faces the river, which is very cool because at night all the buildings on the river are lit up with bright flashing neon lights. Kendall enjoys watching the lights and baots.She is doing well. Her personality is coming out more and more. She is quite the bossy and demanding little thing...quite the emperess. But she is cute which is what saves her. I'll write more about her medical exam and our day today tomorrow. The little empress needs a bath...