Monday in Guangzhou

Follow up from yesterday... Lauren and I were on our way back to the hotel in a taxi. The taxi driver was reading his newspaper and driving too fast at the same time... it made me a little apprehensive. All of a sudden he started speaking very rapidly and looking in the mirror at me...I knew instantly that something was wrong, but I had no idea what. He pulled over to the curb and started motioning for us to get out. I didn't know where we were but i knew it was still a long way from the Hotel because we hadn't crossed under the freeway yet. He finally convinced me to get out of the cab and he went up front and raised the hood to show me that he had a busted water hose and the engine was overheating. He motioned for us to walk from there... when I asked about another taxi he made all kind of motions and talked for a full minute but I understood that in this spot our chance of catching a taxi was very very low.

Lauren and I walked a few blocks, found the freeway, crossed under it and my good sense of direction (or more likely an angel) told me to turn right...after we walked a few blocks I saw the small medical clinic where Lauren got her very quick exam 4 years ago. I knew we were on the right track...a few more blocks and I could see a tall building that had letters on top that I had seen the night before from our hotel window...we turned and walked a few more blocks to Shamian Steet and found our way down to Lucy's. Lucy's is a very familiar American adoption family hangout in Guangzhou near our hotel. Lauren and I stopped there for lunch...A PBJ sandwich and cheeseburger! A nice way to top off our adventure. Lauren thought the whole thing was great fun. I had enough exercise to do me for a couple of days.

Today, we took Lili to the same medical clinic for her examination. All went well and this time the young doctor could speak some english. He said Lili was a very pretty girl. We have had a lot of the Chinese people stop and tell us how beautiful she is. This afternoon we went shopping near the hotel. The weather has turned cold... the high today was 53 with wind and some light rain....now the sweatshirts feel pretty good.

Tonight we went over to Pat Dexter's home and had dinner with Pat and family. They are missionaries that have lived here for 3 1/2 years. Pat was in Lori's original Novy group when we were adopting Lauren...and they have been communicating via email ever since. Pat and her husband and children are really wonderful people... It was nice to finally get to meet them. She had a great meal prepared and we had a very nice visit.

Tonight when I left the room to come down to the business center, Lori and Lili were laying in bed singing. Lori has a Chinese lullaby song that she has been singing to Lili every night and tonight Lili decided to sing with her....it was so sweet... I will never forget their two voices together and the big smile on Lori's face. There are so many concerns and so many precious moments on this journey that your emotions are on somewhat of a roller coaster... but then you know....I've ALWAYS loved roller coasters! Tomorrow we have a day to rest, relax, shop, and then on Wednesday we get the travel visa and start our long trip home on Wednesday night. I'll try to get Lori to come down tomorrow morning and post some more pictures. Please keep us in your prayers for the flight home...I expect it will be trying for us all...especially Lili and Lauren. Thanks again to all of you for your love and support. We are truly blessed. Rick.