US Consulate Appointment & The Pearl Rive Cruise

Yesterday we got up early, we had to leave the hotel at 7:40 AM, and went to the US Consulate to apply for Annabelle's visa. There is only one picture of us before leaving for our appointment for the US Consulate because we could not take a cellphone or a camera. We could only take ourselves, wallets, toys without batteries and any other small, limited number of things for our child.

Outside of the US Consulate was a mad house! There were hundreds of Chinese waiting to get in so they could get temporary visas to travel to the US. Our guides said it is like this every day, all day long. We were able to get past the crowd and take an entrance for adoptive parents. We had to go through security, then we took an oath as a group, then we submitted our paperwork and everything was finalized.

Between the US Consulate and our evening activity, Brooke and her friend Dorinda went on a shopping extravaganza with a local guide. But that is a blog post in it's own right and Brooke will post that later.

In the evening yesterday we went on a river boat cruise on the Pearl River. We had Papa John's pizza delivered to the ship and we ate on board. Then we cruised around the Pearl Rive for just over an hour.

Here are some pictures of the scenery from the cruise. The tall tower that is in different colors is a TV tower here in Guangzhou.

Today we will get Annabelle's visa and then we can travel. Late tonight we leave for the Guangzhou airport with our flight leaving at 1:15 AM (Thursday morning). We will arrive in the US (IAH in Houston) on Thursday morning at 7:50am. Yes, we are traveling back in time. 

It has been quite the journey here in China and we could not have done this without our excellent guides and the other families who we have spent our days with here. We will miss all of them.

See you soon.

- Jeremy