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The weather in Meili's city has been nice. All of the kids were outside enjoying the cooler weather and eating cookies when we started talking. Meili kept getting distracted by the kids and wanted to go back outside, so we talked for only 5 minutes. She can now go from a sitting position to standing by herself and is almost walking independently. She babbled in a mixture of English and Cantonese. She waved bye to us as we ended the video chat. Two more weeks until we meet her in China...
 
Wednesday, October 5
Depart USA to China.

Thursday, October 6
Arrive in Hong Kong. Check into Hong Kong hotel.

Friday, October 7
Visit Victoria Peak in morning. Visit Victoria Harbour and watch light show in evening.

Saturday, October 8
Arrive in Guangzhou from Hong Kong by train. A guide receives the family at Guangzhou railway station and helps them check in at the Victory Hotel.

Sunday, October 9
Meet Meili at the Guangdong Provincial Adoption Center in the afternoon.

Monday, October 10
Complete the adoption proceedings at the Adoption Center in the morning.

Tuesday, October 11
Complete the medical exam at the clinic in the morning. Apply for Meili’s Chinese passport at the police station in the afternoon.

Wednesday, October 12
Visit Chen Clan Academy.

Thursday, October 13
Visit the Yangchun Comprehensive SWI (approximately 3.5 hour drive each way).

Friday, October 14
Receive Meili’s Chinese passport in the afternoon.

Saturday, October 15
Visit Safari Park and have a Chinese lunch.

Sunday, October 16
Visit Yuntai Garden.

Monday, October 17
U.S. Consulate appointment at 8:30 a.m. to submit paperwork and complete oath-taking ceremony.

Oct.18
Receive Meili’s U.S. visa at the U.S. Consulate in the afternoon.
Depart for Hong Kong by train.

Wednesday, October 19
Fly back to USA.
 
She was quite active - all over her caregiver's lap and the desk. She has started talking. Her first recognizable word for us was 'baba'. This is dad in Mandarin. Give her a few days with me and I'll make sure that she knows 'mama'. LOL!

Travel plans are coming along - slowly but surely. I still have to find a hotel for Hong Kong. We're spending 2 days in HK prior to traveling to GZ. Ben wants to take the tram to Victoria Peak and I want to see the night laser show in the harbor. I figure that these two activities will be enough as we will be exhausted from the jet lag and 13 hour time difference. I have been looking for a hotel in the Kowloon section of HK. I'm sure that I'll eventually find something. We will stay in HK for one night prior to flying back to the USA. I've already booked the Marriott adjacent to the HK airport. It has a free shuttle that runs like every 15 minutes.
 
I'm really disappointed that we're not leaving next Wednesday for China. And with the way things have fallen, we won't be going to Beijing. National Day is October 1. The holiday is celebrated for several days. Many people flock to Beijing to see the sites and visit the capital. If we wanted to fight the crowds, we could go to Beijing and see the Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc. If we wanted to take Meili, we could go after Guangzhou. Ben and I talked about it at great length last night and decided that we'll for go Beijing. Ben is very upset about this decision but does agree that we'll be too exhausted at the end of the trip. I think we're just going to fly into HK, take the train to GZ, complete the adoption, take the train back to HK, and fly home. We'll also be in GZ for a few nights during the trade fair.

While I would love to sight see, there are quite a few factors at play - a holiday, increased cost due to the trade fair, Ben's work schedule, and my class schedule. We'll get to tour a few places in GZ - probably the Six Banyon Tree Temple (I think it's called that), the Chen Clan Academy, Safari Park, various shopping places, and a night cruise on the Pearl River. That's enough. The reason why we're going to China is to adopt Meili, not sight see. We can do a homeland tour when she's older and see all the cultural sites that we missed on this trip.
 
she's going to the SWI to get her passport photo taken at 3:00 pm China time. This is 2:00 am USA central time. Hopefully, this means we got a confirmed CA for the last week of Sept. They usually get the passport photo taken when travel is imminent. I guess we're imminent - Woohoo!!!
 
Our TA finally arrived today. My agency called me @ 8:30 am at work. I requested a CA of the last week of September or the second week of October. At the earliest, we could leave next Wednesday. I'm very excited. Ben was in disbelief about leaving as early as next Wednesday. Whatever happens - happens. I can wait another 4 weeks for travel. I don't want to but I can. Much prefer leaving next Wed though.
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