We made it to Guangzhou this morning around 6:30 a.m.  Boy was that a long flight.  We left Los Angeles at 11:50 PM after having a great dinner with my cousin, Johnny.  He lives in LA and was kind enough to drive an hour to the airport and take us to dinner.  Johnny, we loved seeing you.

Once on the plane, I took an Ambien and was out 10 minutes later - I even don't know when we took off.  LOL  We were in Premium Economy which is something like Business class.  The seats were good but did not have foot rests so we could not lay down.  There were about 15 people in our whole section so I ended up moving to two other seats to try and lay down across two seats.  Mom and I slept on and off for the 16 hour flight.  They never turned on the lights inside the plane as everyone tried to sleep the whole way.

At one time I got up to use the lavatory and while I was on the "seat" the smoke alarm went off.  Only me!!!  The flight attendant had to come in while I was still seated and turn it off.  Who knows!  LOL

Once we landed we met Rebecca, our guide from our Agency.  She took us to the White Swan Hotel and checked us in.  It is just beautiful here - a 5 star hotel - and we have a room with a river view.  The Pearl River is just beautiful and the weather is just cool enough to enjoy walking around.  Mom unpacked while I went out to find the 7-11 for some bottled water and a few items for the room.  They brought the crib in right after we got here.  It made my heart beat faster and mom cried!  I cannot believe I am finally about to have Maggie in my arms!

After a well needed shower, we then headed out to roam the Shamian Island and to find some lunch.  So many of the buildings on the island are being renovated due to the upcoming Asian Olympics in Guangzhou.  We passed Jordan's, Michael's, Jennifer's Place, found Starbucks and Lucy's. These are all the places I have read about for years.   We decided on La Dolce Vita, an Italian restaurant for lunch.  It was so good.  Who goes to China and eat Italian?  Me and mom!  Mom doesn't like Chinese, I do but I'm not quite up to some of the "delicacies" of Chinese food here.

Back at the room, I blew the fuse 3 times but luckily I watched how the hotel maintenance guy fixed it and was able to do it myself the next two times.  Note to self, don't always trust the adapters that say China on them.  The ones I have are not correct.  They are to be 3 prongs and the ones I have are only 2 prongs and will not work.  The hotel is awesome and brought up a surge protector for us that works beautifully.  But I probably have a red flag against my name as a trouble maker!  LOL  I also called down and asked for more towels and another comforter for our beds as the beds are hard as rocks.  They didn't quite understand the comforter request and brought up 2 tubes of body soap.  Oh well. 

There is a new time for me getting Maggie.  I thought I was to get her on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. local time but it is now going to be Monday afternoon at 2:30 local time.  That will be Sunday morning at 2:30 a.m for your guys on Central Time.  I'm a little disappointed but understand that my original time was a best guess.  Please keep those prayers for the original time and now add some more for Sunday before you go to bed!!!!  Mom and I are planning on attending the English speaking church on Sunday at 11:00 a.m.  We will then meet the other 2 families that are with Rebecca for dinner.

I found out how to say Maggie's Chinese name.  Sheng is her name but the nannies speak Cantonese where she is living not Mandarin.  So Sheng in Cantonese is pronounced Sung.  So she is probably known as Sung Sung and I will just add Maggie to the end of that until she gets used to it.  I think it is just  a beautiful name.

So sorry for the dissertation but I am trying to keep this as a journal to share with Maggie throughout the years.  Mom and I are doing well and having a fun adventure!  Please keep those prayers coming.  Love to all,

Tricia