Hong Kong

Posted on Mon 7/27/2009 2:35 PM

Thursday, July 23, 2009

This is our last day in Guangzhou. We need to pack and have our bags ready outside our room by 2 p.m. We will then meet Lineker, Amy and the remaining families in the lobby at 3 p.m. to take a bus to the Consulate office for the oath-taking ceremony. This was a special day for us with Sophia and it will be a special day for us with Avah.

We cannot bring our cameras inside the Consulate so we will need to keep a mental picture once again. During the ceremony we will be asked to swear and affirm that all the statements we have made and documents we have submitted to get Avah's visa are true and correct.

The adoption officer said that since the China program began over 70,000 babies/children have been adopted by American families!! During the ceremony, she recognized families who have previously adopted from China and announced those children with July birthdays. After the ceremony we were given Avah's passport containing the visa and a sealed "brown envelope" that contains original documents required by immigration officials when we arrive at the first airport (Chicago O'Hare) in the US. We CANNOT (I repeat CANNOT) open this envelope. We need to hand carry the brown envelope and give it to the immigration officer at Chicago O'Hare airport.

After the ceremony we went back to the bus (it was pouring down rain) and headed back to the China Hotel where we boarded a private bus that would take us to Hong Kong. We actually grabbed some McDonald's before boarding the bus. The bus trip took about 3 hours. When we arrived in Hong Kong, we needed to get off the bus, collect ALL our luggage and go through customs. This was a huge pain because there were no luggage carts and we just couldn't do it by ourselves. Fortunately, other families helped us with our luggage and watching Sophia and Avah. Sophia REALLY had to go to the bathroom so when we cleared customs I ran to someone behind this desk to ask where the nearest bathroom was located. He looked at the girls `holding themselves' then went to get a female co-worker and before I knew it she was escorting us to their "work" bathroom! This was great because the bathroom I was supposed to use was all the way outside on the other side of the building. Thank you God for little blessings along the way. We spent the night at the airport hotel. We ordered room service for dinner then took baths and went to bed.