Today was a productive day. After another amazing breakfast at the hotel, we met our group and headed to a public medical clinic here in Guangzhou. The busy, crowded clinic actually had a set of back rooms set aside for adopted children, and three of the families (including us) sat on metal benches and took turns with our children having their height, weight and temperature taken, their mouths examined and a rudimentary physical exam performed. Then the children took turns getting a tuberculosis skin test, which involved putting a substance under the skin with a small needle. We tempted Matthew with a piece of candy while his was being done, and he cried, not because of the needle stick but because he wasn't sure if we were going to give him his candy!
We headed back towards the hotel after this was done, but Sarah and I asked to be taken to a store similar to a Wal-Mart to purchase a stroller for Matthew (since our hotel has not had one available for us since our arrival). We spent the better part of an hour looking for a stroller in this store (we were told by our guide that they had them) and asked three people before one of the workers finally tried to help us, unsuccessfully. We then went to a large department store close to our hotel where we knew we would find a stroller, and we did in fact find a large selection, on the top of seven floors... ranging in price from $80 USD to over $500 USD. We opted to continue to carry Matthew – tiring, but much less expensive – and by the time we returned to the hotel we were sweaty and exhausted. After a pricey but delicious lunch buffet we headed to our room and took a nap, opting to skip the outing planned for our group this afternoon.
Tomorrow we are scheduled to visit Liuhua Park here in Guangzhou in the morning, which is reportedly quite pretty. We are counting down the days remaining for us in China... we return to the clinic on Wednesday to get Matthew's tuberculosis skin test read, then we apply for a visa on Thursday to allow him to travel to the USA. We get the visa on Friday and head out that same day to Hong Kong by train and spend the night in that city. Then we catch a plane on Saturday headed for Chicago... and then home.
Joe
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