Thursday, July 12, 2007

GZ: The new Vegas

Being in Guangzhou is like being in Las Vegas. It seems like there is one purpose for each city... Las Vegas is to gamble, and in GZ it is to shop. And there are similarities between the cities:
  • Ungodly hot
  • No clocks, so you have no idea what day or what time it is
  • Lots of people whose purpose is to keep you on task (gambling or shopping)
  • Easy access to food so you can quickly be back on task when you need a break

Our official business in GZ is now complete - that of receiving our children's visa's into the United States. I processed through on Weds with about 60 other families. A similar number processed through yesterday from what I understand. The hotel (White Swan) is a 5 Star hotel that has a new second purpose in the last 10 years - hosting the American families who are waiting to bring their children home. It was convenient - just a few blocks to the consulate. However, the consulate moved a year ago, and we still have the WS as our base - I think because it would be too hard for all the businesses supporting the adoptions to move to another location. And, here on Shamian Island, we are nicely isolated from the rest of this 14M person city.

Earlier in the week when we arrived (last Saturday - egads, it's almost a week) there were probably over 200 families here at the WS (not counting those who hang out at the Victory). Now there are very few families left, people like me who could not get flights out. Starting today and tomorrow next weeks batches of parents and their kiddos will start to arrive. Thankfully, I get to leave on Sunday and I'm beyond thrilled. At this point, all you want to do is to get home. Three weeks is a very long time - and while I'm still hopeful that the wait list will pop my name onto it, I don't think that it is going to.

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