Hi!
We just returned from the US Consulate. Our facilitator will be bringing us (we hope) Ruth's visa tomorrow by 5:00 PM. I'm really hoping their printer is fixed as there were 12 families at 8, 24 famileis scheduled for 10 and on throughout the day. It was strange to hear English on the overhead speaker but it was refreshing. We basically promised that everything we had said to date was true. We found out that Ruth will become a US citizen when we land (not when we enter US airspace). She will leave Guangzhou a Chinese national and arrive in LAX as a US citiizen. That was one expensive Chinese passport.
They did say it is technically an option for us to keep and use her Chinese passport but IF we want to be able to avail to her all the benefits of a US embassy abroad, she needs a US passport. Guess what we're going to do?
We have finished our end of paperwork now and have three days to "hang out" on Shamian Island where our hotel is located. Many restaurants and parks. No shopping mall which is a bummer for me (Avisia) - not so much to David. David the last several mornings has taken to doing a run around the island before the rest of us wake up. He is wearing his barefoot running shoes which has gotten a few stares. He has also "run into" the military doing their exercises early in the morning.
We ran into a family from Kentucky that only had one more day to legally adopt their little girl. They are in quick conversation with their senators and representatives offices. So glad that we are not in that situation!
We received the translation from the adoption staff of the questions we sent earlier (as in months ago). We received it when we got Ruth but forgot in all the hubub to get it translated until now. It turns out that her nickname is "JingJing" - and she loves it.
Not really sure where the quiet, shy girl is because at the Consulate she was yelling and whooping it up and dancing - so much so the guards were starting to get annoyed so we had her dial it back.
Yesterday we went swimming on the top floor of our hotel. Kind of surreal to be in a major metro area 10-12 flights up in the air in a pool with a little girl. Traffic was buzzing all around (car - not air traffic). I took many pictures there. We had Ruth kicking and blowing bubbles in the water. She wasn't so fond of going underwater so only did that once. She definitely likes the water and we were teaching her how to splash so she will stand a chance against her brothers at the pool.
That's all for now,
Avisia
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