Hey, friends! So, we've had a productive couple of days here in Guangzhou!
Monday morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed downstairs to meet a tour guide who was going to take us to the Guangzhou Zoo. He was the sweetest man named Raymond, and he not only was a total gentleman, but he knew A LOT about Guangzhou history that he shared on the way there. ;)
Mr. Independent leading the way. ;)
The entrance.
This was the closest I ever will be and ever hope to be to a lion...he was pacing back and forth and actually growled a little bit...we were terrified...
Can you sense how THRILLED Brooks was with all the animals?!! #exceptnot
They were doing quite a bit of construction in the zoo, so we didn't get to see the whole thing, but we saw monkeys, birds, lions, tigers, and a panda from afar. Good enough for me!
In the afternoon, we came back to the hotel for lunch and naps and then ventured out to the grocery store. Ohhhh, what a disaster! Our guide had written the name of the store in both English and Mandarin on a piece of paper for us to show the taxi driver, but instead of taking us to Aeon, he took us to a Circle K convenience store. We got out of the cab thinking surely it was around the corner or something, but we were lost in the middle of Guangzhou and instead wandered aimlessly for about 15 minutes. Eeek! We got the courage up to try again with the next taxi we saw, and thankfully, he took us to the right place. We were petrified there for a little while! The grocery store here was three levels and QUITE the experience.
(No pictures because we were so freaked out and out of place that we didn't snap any!)
We had a low-key night at the hotel, and then woke up this morning for our Consulate appointment! The BIG day! This appointment would issue Brooks his visa into the United States and is the document that gives us permission to go HOME.
No cameras are allowed inside the Consulate, so we had to grab a family pic after.
How cute is my little man in his bowtie?!!
It typically takes about 24 hours to process and issue the child's visa...but, of course, we were informed that there is a little "communication glitch" between the Consulate here and D.C., so they are hopeful that we will get it tomorrow afternoon but aren't guaranteeing it yet. Friends, if you're the praying kind, PLEASE PRAY that we get our visa by Thursday. We have a flight out of Hong Kong Friday afternoon, and we need to get HOME to our big kids!
Thanks, friends! More tomorrow!
Aaron slept through the entire trip to the Guangzhou zoo! Completely missed it! It must have a soothing effect?! And I was overwhelmed by Aeon and how you had to pay for clothing in each department!- Praying for the VISA!
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