Travel Journal - Day 9

Tonight we left Jiangxi. It was emotional leaving Abby's province. This is where she was born, and where she has spent the first 10 months of her life. This place is a part of her, and it becomes part of your heart - I can't think of another way to put it...I regret not being able to do more in her province, but the babies are all sick, and the weather wasn't too great the 5 days we spent in Nanchang, and we didn't want to run the risk of making them worse. Someday we'll go back...

We had to go and pick up her birth certificate, abandonment papers and her Chinese passport today. It was a tough read looking at the abandonment certificate...but it did give me a valuable piece of information about the woman that was her foster mother - her street is listed - it doesn't give a house number, and the area is somewhat rural from what I understand, so it gives me hope that someday I may be able to find her foster mom. I'm going to try and send a letter once we get home. Can't hurt to try. I want to thank her for the love she gave Abby her first few months. I forgot to mention that we did find out that the babies were in foster care until they were 4 months old, and then they were brought back to the orphanage. So, Abby spent the last 6 months of her life there. As were were packing to leave the hotel, our local guide, Maggie, came in with little bundles wrapped in red cloth with a ribbon. It was some soil from the orphanage. It was emotional getting this little bundle of dirt - I cried - a piece of Abby's history. I want to pick out a tree for her in the spring and plant it and we'll use that dirt to put in the hole.

So, our flight out of Jiangxi was a late one, and of course it was delayed on top of everything else. The babies were amazing on the flight - not one peep out of any of them the entire flight - it was only an hour, but it was good practice to see how they will handle the long flight that's coming up. We got into Guangzhou around midnight. I slept a bit on the bus, but it looks fantastic. We are staying in the famous White Swan Hotel and we're all excited for a change, and the weather will be better too. All families that are adopting from China must go through Guangzhou as the US Consulate is here. They process all the babies' paperwork, and then issue them visas to come into the US. All of the babies in our group will become US citizens as soon as they touch US soil - except Abby! LOL She comes in to the US on a different visa, since Scott was not able to come to China and actually see her in person. We will have to re-adopt Abby in New York State. Basically it means alot more paperwork (whatever - I'm so used to it) and more money. Whatever. LOL

Before I forget, the massages were amazing!!!! They were the sweetest couple - married 40 years. We felt like a million bucks, until the next morning because the matresses in the hotel are like sleeping on a piece of plywood with a sheet on them - and I'm not kidding either. But it was great while it lasted!

I'll write more tomorrow and post more pictures of our first day in Guangzhou. Love my boys at home and miss you like crazy. Hugs and kisses galore....

xoxoxo Mommy and Abby