Consulate Appointment and Last Full Day

Early this morning Annie and I traveled to the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to apply for her visa. It's a very DMV-ish experience. You take a number, are called up to a window to hand in paperwork and answer questions, and you have to take an oath that all of the information on the visa application is correct. Annie was a little cranky, since we had to leave before breakfast, and she was playing with the fingerprint scanner in the office, despite my requests to leave it alone. I was glad to get out of there without causing an international incident. :-)

For the rest of the day, we sort of relaxed, did a little shopping, and walked around Shamian Island a bit. It is SUPER hot--we are all pouring sweat after being out for just a little while. Annie had a little eye irritation from swimming, so we are skipping the pool routine for the rest of the trip.

Tomorrow we leave for the airport at 8:00 p.m. and we have a 1:40 a.m. flight home! We arrive in NY on Friday morning at 5:15 a.m., and Annie becomes an American citizen automatically as soon as our plane touches U.S. soil. Can't wait!! As with my trip for Ellie, I have loved China, but it's time to go home and start our life as a family!

Next blog update will be HOME SWEET HOME!!!