Day 14 – Thursday, December 1, 2005 – Guangzhou

Our last day in China. We are sad - but yet happy to be getting home to real life and much better bonding time with our Juan Juan! Ben rises first in order to get to breakfast and then go to his scheduled meeting at the Fisheries. He was able to meet with 3 Chinese fishery scientists and discuss acoustic surveys of fish and zooplankton in the South China Sea (I don't know what that all means, but it seems like he had a good visit!). The girls and I head to breakfast and we have the good fortune to see Erin and her kids with an empty table right next to them. We slid the two together and enjoyed helping many kids get food into their tummies. J This is our last morning of delicious breakfast buffet (thank goodness, my pants are all getting a bit tight!). Tomorrow our guide is getting a breakfast packed for us since we leave the hotel at 5:30 am. Most of you know I am not an early morning person. I am not looking forward to rising so early - especially after not getting much sleep tonight because I am up posting and packing. After breakfast we head out on our shopping mission with Erin. As we are heading out the door of the hotel, Ben comes in from his meeting and we arrange to meet at the wonderful charity shop I shared about yesterday. We also run into a family we met in Changchun, Jilin. We say our farewells and turn to walk away - at that point in time the grandpa stumbles and falls to the ground! We wonder if he is having a heart attack or stroke - but quickly realize he has taken a bad tumble. Erin is able to offer her beautiful Chinese diaper bag for a pillow as he lays on the ground waiting for his son (who is a doctor) to come to his aid. We stand around him as human traffic cones trying to ensure that he is not hit by any motorists. With help he is able to get into a hotel wheelchair and he is wheeled into the hotel. We hope and pray that he is doing ok and that they family is able to travel home without delay! Off we go to shop. We collect our final purchases at varied stores. We could stay for many more days and shop and shop. But the treasure hunting must end at some point. Juan and Lilla are enjoying riding in their strollers and playing with Erin's kids. It is fun to have 2 little girls! We eat Odwalla Bars for lunch and Ben, Juan and I head off in a 2 bus caravan to the US Consulate in Guangzhou for our ceremony where we swear that all the information we provided is true. We now receive our children's Visas so that tomorrow we can fly home to the US! Our children become citizens the moment the touch their foot on American soil. Their Certificate of Citizenship will come automatically in the mail after we get home. We enjoy meeting several other families while at the Consulate. It is so special to see all these little children who are about to head to their new homes! Emma and Lilla stay at the hotel so that Lilla can get her afternoon nap. She sleeps the entire 2 ½ hours we are gone! We are so blessed to have Jie Jie Emma who takes such good care of her little sisters and loves them so much. Packing begins when we get back to the room. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to reach Danny's Bagels via phone, we head out once again to the Deli at the White Swan for Chinese food and yummy meat buns. Juan is over-tired and both girls are starving! They are crying and unhappy and it feels like everyone is staring at us. Not a good feeling. After getting a bit of food into their tummies, they calm down. I run off to pick up some ordered items at several stores. While shopping I hear a major fireworks display begin. I go back to the outdoor dining of the deli and help Ben and the girls get to where they can see the fireworks. We are so wishing we are in our hotel room because we would have had an amazing view of the fireworks! I'm betting most of the little babies at the White Swan are now up and screaming with all the booming of the amazing fireworks display. A bit more shopping ensues after the fireworks have all fizzled out. A few photos are taken and then we head up to the room to finish our packing and prep for travel. I'm not sure we'll sleep more than 3 or 4 hours tonight. I hope we feel rested when the alarm rings at 4:00 am! It is a long journey home. But the fact that we are going home will keep us going (and we'll be helped a bit by the caffeine in our coffee and tea). As I look out at the lights across the river here in Guangzhou, I wonder when I will be back in China again. When we left in January 2004 after Lilla's adoption, we never anticipated we'd be back again so soon. But this is our daughter's homeland and we feel a special connection here. We hope that it won't be too long before we are back again in China. We will miss the people, the food and the friends we have made. This has been an amazing journey! But the exciting thing is that the real journey is just now beginning. We are blessed to have a new daughter, Clara Li Juan, and we ask that you continue to keep her and our family in your prayers as we continue to bond with her and continue to earn her trust. Thank you for sharing this journey with our family. This journal has been a great means to share with so many and to document for our daughter the events of her adoption. It is time for the laptop to be shut down and time for the last minute packing to be done. Please come back one more time to read our update when we get home with Juan Juan! 

Blessings, 

Lisa, Ben, Emma, Lilla and Juan Juan ><>