Day 13: Guangzhou: Consulate Appointment (4/17/12)

Today was the all-important appointment at the U.S. Consulate here in Guangzhou.  We took a large tour bus with a bunch of other families from several different agencies to the consulate for a 10:00 a.m. appointment.  We all gathered in an office upstairs, past a point where our guides could accompany us.  The consulate clerk took roll and one family was missing but showed up shortly after.  An official at the consulate then came to the window and we all stood and took an oath on behalf of our children.  After that, each family was called up to the window one at a time to have the submitted paperwork reviewed.  That was it.  No cameras or cell phones were allowed at the consulate, so no photos folks.  But here is a photo of Tam in the breakfast room before we went:

We then headed back to the hotel.  We were planning to check out another park which is in walking distance of the hotel but the weather was not looking cooperative.  Our guide Kathy is trying to help a friend's daughter improve her English.  The daughter, Lily, is 16 and is planning to go to Florida for part of 10th grade on an exchange program.  Kathy did not have a lot of time so she thought it might be nice to have Lily escort us to the park so that she could practice her English with us.  Instead of the park, Lily escorted us to the local market, Carrefour, to pick up some baby food and a few other items we wanted for the last days and trip home.  Lily was very nice to help us out but she did not think her English was very good and did not seem confident in trying to converse with us.  We thought her English was just fine and tried to ask her questions.  We got our items and Lily appeared quite relieved when we told her we did not want to do the park in the rain and she went on her way.

The baby food section was pretty small and we did not find what we were looking for.  We bought some but it was very thick mixed foods and Tam wanted no part of it.  Oh well, we gave the rest to Kathy to give to one of the orphanages she visits.

Tamasyn in the hotel room



The hotel has what basically amounts to a mall of shops and restaurants on the ground floor.  One of the more economical restaurants is called "Food Street" and has a large selection of menu items including the guy above.  He was not included on our order:

We enjoyed the food very much but we went for an early dinner and the restaurant was not busy.  As a result, we had 3 staff members basically staring at us as we played with Tam and ate our food.  Neither hubs or I said anything but we both felt the same way.  Tamasyn fixed it for us by being a little fussy and then urping on the me and her.  We retreated to the hotel room to get cleaned up and hubs got the food packaged up so we could enjoy it in our hotel room without the prying eyes. 

Afterwards, Tamasyn was in good form again and had a nice headbutt session with dad.  Need to get the kiddo a helmet!