Bumps in the Road

Noah and Mama

Noah likes chicken nuggets!

Noah likes raisins!

Nanning People (See the turtle in the mesh bag?)

We've had a few bumps in the road here in Nanning. Last night I was very ill with some gastrointestinal upset. I had Mark pretty worried for a while. I was able to sleep in this morning (Noah is not a morning person!) and Mark brought me some tea and toast to nibble on. I am also taking some "ancient Chinese herbal medicine" that seems to be helping. I am not 100% better yet but at least I am walking around. Also, our refrigerator at home broke down and flooded the kitchen and surrounding areas. So it looks like we will be investing in a new refrigerator.

We took a walk late this morning along South Lake (in front of our hotel.) The dragonboat races are this weekend so the walkway was very active with lots of people and vendors selling food and drink. We saw a grandfather with a little girl. He had a turtle in a mesh bag. We stopped to admire his turtle and he smiled when we took his picture. One of the vendors wanted to try out his English with us. He spoke the few phrases he knew very well and was pleased that we wanted to speak with him. Mainly, we drew a lot of curious stares and finger pointing. We're very used to that by now!

Noah fell asleep on our walk. We came back to the hotel to finish his nap and Mark went to ...guess where? That's right! Wal-Mart! It wouldn't be a normal day in Nanning without a trip to Wal-Mart. We needed more diapers. He also picked up some lunch while he was out.

Noah awoke from his nap upset again. He just cried and cried. Eventually Mark was able to take him for a walk wearing his squeaky shoes (Noah's, not Mark's!) and I spent the rest of the afternoon packing. We leave for Guangzhou (Guangdon Province) tomorrow morning. While in Guangzhou we will receive Noah's visa from the U.S. Consulate to travel to the U.S. Today we were to have received his Chinese passport but the passport machine was broken. Our adoption agency rep. will have someone hand-carry it to Guangzhou on Monday.

We're sorry we have not be able to post more pictures. We are having trouble with the internet connection. We'll keep trying! Thanks for continuing to follow-us on our journey and we appreciate your constant prayers.