.We flew this morning and arrived at 11am in Nanjing, China. Nanjing is the capital city of the Jiangsu Province and where we will receive Eva!! We were met at the airport by our guide and transported to the Nanjing Grand Hotel which we will call home for the next 5 days. The first thing we noticed upon entering our room was a crib! So very exciting!!
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The hotel is located in the downtown area next to the Nanjing Normal University. We were all starving since we missed breakfast this morning so we walked around the block and found a restaurant named "Tacos". It advertised as Mexican Cuisine but the menu was about 20 pages long with only one page of Mexican food. Dawn, Noah & I had cheese pizza, Nicholas had noodles with shrimp and David had a beef tenderloin quite an ethnic mix! It was some of the best food we have had since arriving in China. After lunch we crossed the street and had ice cream for dessert at McDonalds. I have a feeling these two restaurants will be seeing a lot of us this week!
The hotel is located in the downtown area next to the Nanjing Normal University. We were all starving since we missed breakfast this morning so we walked around the block and found a restaurant named "Tacos". It advertised as Mexican Cuisine but the menu was about 20 pages long with only one page of Mexican food. Dawn, Noah & I had cheese pizza, Nicholas had noodles with shrimp and David had a beef tenderloin quite an ethnic mix! It was some of the best food we have had since arriving in China. After lunch we crossed the street and had ice cream for dessert at McDonalds. I have a feeling these two restaurants will be seeing a lot of us this week!
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We met with our guide, Fred, in the room this afternoon at 3pm to discuss the adoption proceedings and plans for the week. The most important piece of information from that meeting is that he will be picking us up tomorrow at 9:30am to travel to the Civil Affairs office where we are to receive Eva at 10:00am!!! In less than 24 hours we will have her in our arms!! Please pray for her travel; it's about a 2 hour drive from the orphanage to the office.
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After resting for a while, we ventured out again. Different from Beijing, Nanjing is less crowded and less noisy. The city is not as clean with a strange smell in the air. None of us were hungry so we just walked around. We immediately notice that we are the only Americans here. Accorinding to Fred, we are the only family here adopting a child. This province only does about 300-400 adoptions a year where others do over 1,000. We are getting lots of stares and we know they are talking about us...I'm wondering if we should be glad to not be able to understand what they saying?!
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We're going to turn in early tonight; hoping for a good night's sleep (yah right!) to be ready for the day ahead!! Thank you all for following along, your comments, emails and especially your prayers! We are so happy to be able to share this special time in our lives with you all!! Can't wait for all that tomorrow brings!!
We're going to turn in early tonight; hoping for a good night's sleep (yah right!) to be ready for the day ahead!! Thank you all for following along, your comments, emails and especially your prayers! We are so happy to be able to share this special time in our lives with you all!! Can't wait for all that tomorrow brings!!
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Ready for Eva!
Gifts for Orphange Director & Caregivers
I don't know if you can read this now but I am loving your post. I almost feel like I am there. Thanks so much for the detail! I can't wait to read all about Eva. Alyssa had a friend over this week...her Gotcha Day just passed. She has been here 5 years and cute a a button.
ReplyDeleteI am just breathless with anticipation to see pictures of Eva and hear of your 1st meeting. What a special moment it will be. I am praying for you guys and EVA!
ReplyDeleteWe are all very excited and can't wait to see the pictures of ya'll with Eva. Praying for her and her safe travels. We know it will be a blessing to finally see and hold her.
ReplyDeleteUncle John & Aunt Cathy
Jeremiah 29:11
You are SO close! Can't wait to see pictures and read about how your day went! If it was anything like ours, we really had to force ourselves to get on the computer to update! SO I would totally understand if it doesn't get done :) I think you all are probably in bed right now so when you wake up, it'll be TIME to get her! I am excited just thinking about how much she is going to change your life... So excited for you and praying for you!!!
ReplyDeletesounds like you all might lose a little weight while on this trip... just a few hours!!! WooHoo!!!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the first family picture. So exciting!
ReplyDeleteI have butterflies in my stomach for you all!! You're SO close to Eva! So exciting!
ReplyDeleteI keep checking to see if there are any pictures!! I'm not sure if I'll be able to go to bed!!
ReplyDeleteKathryn S
I just read your post to the Suzhou Adopt Yahoo Group. I pray that your Gotcha Moment with your daughter is filled with joy and peace and wonder, at the marvelous works of God. Praise Him for bringing you to this day. I look forward to seeing pics and reading your post when I wake up in the morning. We adopted our son from Suzhou in July 2007. We will be returning to China this Fall for our second son.
ReplyDeleteSo excited for you. Can't wait to see pictures and read about your sweet girl. May God bless your first moments.
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