Consulate Appointment Day

It may look like Paul is just using his laptop. Look again. He's drying his sock with a hair dryer because our laundry from a few days ago is still not dry. So so humid here. 

A couple nights ago, we saw geckos on a lit billboard on our way back from dinner. Last night, I caught a shot of this little guy. Made me miss my boys. 

Today was Consulate Day. I wanted to get a picture of them before breakfast, just in case they got messy. But thanks to bibs, they stayed clean. 

The American consulate is on the 5th floor of this building:

I felt uncomfortably privileged to totally bypass all the Chinese citizens hoping to get into the American consulate today. 

Security is tight here, and we could not bring any cameras or electronics upstairs. In fact, our Chinese guide could not even accompany us through security, which is much like that of an airport. 

So what happens inside this mysterious building?  We turned over Katie and Luke's passports and submitted final paperwork for the kids to obtain citizenship once we reach the USA. We also swore an oath that all the information we submitted regarding these adoptions was true to the best of our knowledge. Tomorrow, we get the passports back with the all-important US visas inside, which permit the kids to travel to the US, so that we can go home on Saturday. 

After the appointment, I went to take pictures and caught Katie girl mid-yawn.

This is the face we see most of the time. Smiley, happy girl. 

Waiting for our guide to bring the car around. Glad to be one big step closer to home. 

After the consulate, we went to Guangzhou's largest bookstore. I heard our guide say that, but it didn't kick in until I asked to see children's books and we went up, up, up, up, up the escalators through floors and floors of books, music, and movies. 

We did another wee bit of shopping, but since the kids are reading the blog, that's all I have to say about that. ;) 

After the bookstore, we came back to the room for lunch and naps, and finally we have a free day tomorrow!  Aside from packing and receiving the visas, we have no plans yet. Maybe we'll hang out in the hotel playroom, or maybe we'll walk around and take pictures, or maybe we'll swim, although, I hesitate to swim, knowing our suits won't dry before we head home. I'd hate to have them mold. 

Oh yes, there was one other thing we did today. Our guide drove us by a fire stations so Paul could take a few pictures. It's not like home, where you can visit the fire station, and firefighters patiently let you see the equipment and answer questions. Here, firefighting falls under the army's jurisdiction. This is as close as we got, and that was from a rolling vehicle. But I was happy Paul got to snap these.