Journey to Juan - Day 11 {Consulate Appointment, Pearls, and a Commercial!}

Tuesday, May 8, 2018~ 

We had an early breakfast and left the hotel by 7:30 for our Consulate appointment this morning.  At the US consulate, we took an oath confirming all of the paperwork is true and accurate and then they process Juan's visa so she can become a US citizen upon her arrival in America.  It's a pretty easy appointment as we had already applied for the visa prior to travel, but there's always the possibility of mix ups (like with our first adoption) so we are thankful it was straight-forward this time.  We met another family with our agency while waiting. They were incredibly sweet and their new daughter (#10 for them) is adorable!

We pass by this beautiful bakery case on the way to breakfast.

No cameras are allowed in the consulate so this is our only photo from the appointment.

Once we were done at the consulate, our guide took us to the pearl market, a 5 story mall full of shops selling pearls, jade, and other jewelry. She took us to the same shop that our guide had chosen on our 1st adoption trip.  We picked out some strands of pearls for special gifts and watched as they strung them right in front of us.

It's so surreal to me to be on the opposite side of the world and yet feel at home. We remembered the shops as we exited the pearl market, where certain restaurants were on the busy pedestrian street, and how to get back to our hotel where we stayed in 2012.  At first, our guide wanted to walk us to the island, but she quickly realized we knew exactly where we were going and after we offered some reassurance, she left us to venture ahead on our own. We didn't visit this area when we were here the last time, but many fond memories from our first adoption trip came flooding back.

Pedestrian Street

Holiday Inn Shifu where we stayed when we adopted Brielle.

Then we walked through the Pet and Medicine markets on our way over to the island. I knew the girls would love this area and they did.  They took lots of pictures to show our animal-lover Beilyn.

Brynna said it had "a lot of smells!" ☺

We walked across the bridge over to the island and showed the girls some of the beautiful bronze statues that are scattered around.  Lots of adoptive families attempt to get a picture of their new child with the one below. Our other girls screamed and didn't want me to put them down, but Juan loved it. She posed and smiled for us, which made the old ladies standing near us smile too.  

Unfortunately, we didn't have the opportunity to attend church here this time since we were traveling on Sunday. 

-White Swan Hotel on Shamian Island-
The US Consulate used to be located on the island so most adoptive families stayed at the White Swan in the past. Even after the consulate moved, many families continued to stay there but then it closed in late 2011 (shortly before we traveled for Brielle) for renovations.

Large ship carved from jade in the hotel lobby.

The red couch...what we had ventured in to find.  Back in the 1990s, the adoptive families who stayed at the White Swan began getting group photos of their new babies lined up on the red couches around the hotel. The tradition continued until the hotel closed for renovations. The hotel saved one of the couches. ♥

We were doing a little more souvenir shopping when a woman approached Alex and asked if our family would be willing to participate in a bank commercial. They shot some video of us walking/talking along the street. The girls thought that was pretty cool.

Then it was back to Lucy's for dinner. We loved watching the people play hacky-sack.

Poor Juan. She wanted to eat so badly but threw up everything she tried. You can tell she's used to it because she throws up and then asks for more right away. (It's really not vomiting as it never gets to her stomach but that's the best way to describe it. She tries to swallow food but it gets stuck in her tiny esophagus and comes back up.) She continues to smile through it all.

Brynna went into the 7 Eleven to buy a drink all by herself.

One of my favorite shops. This couple is so sweet and I've shared about them before. Michael is an artist who creates chops (stone stamps) and artwork for his shop. We bought the majority of our souvenirs here.  

Someone already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger.

We saw them transforming the huge lobby this morning but came back in the afternoon to see it was for a cooking competition. There were chefs from all over the world there. 

Alex went to 7-Eleven to pick up our daily cokes/sprites and Snicker bars while us girls took Juan back to our room for a nap. We have walked a lot on this trip, but we've eaten way more treats than normal too! Braylee worked on homework, Brynna browsed Pinterest (one of our crafty-girl's favorite things to do), and then they tried out the hacky-sack we bought on the island. It was sprinkling while Juan napped but it cleared off around 6:30pm so we climbed back on the subway and went down to the Canton Tower on the river. Then we finished the evening off with ice cream as usual. ☺

I love that she's a snuggly baby.♥