On to Guangzhou

We arrived in Guangzhou last night after a rather difficult flight. Abbey was on her worst behavior, probably due to the lack of a nap and some trepidation about her new role in the family as big sister and no longer as The Princess. Poor Alex's ears hurt so much as we were landing in Guangzhou, we were afraid his eardrums were rupturing. It was pretty traumatic. He cried harder and fought harder than I thought any 20-month-old could. He is one strong and strong-willed little boy. When he's particularly angry or uset, he throws his head back as hard as possible, not really caring whether he hurts himself or the person behind him.

I've decided we misnamed him. Instead of Alex, perhaps we should have named him Allen, which is the patriarchal surname of Gayle's family. He is much like the men in Gayle's family: large head, built like a linebacker, strong as an ox, and doesn't say much but grunts a lot.

It's like heaven here compared to Lanzhou. Those who have adopted from China will know what I mean. Guangzhou is wonderful, especially this time of year. It's probably 80 degrees and humid this afternoon. This morning we shopped at a government-owned market and then went to the Guangzhou zoo. The kids are napping now. Shortly we will make the 10-minute walk to get Alex's required medical exam and visa photo. We have a free day tomorrow to go shopping and maybe even take the kids swimming in the White Swan Hotel's outdoor pool.

Last night I wrote a lengthy and rather critical post about Lanzhou's polluted air and the obvious lack of joy in its people. It disappeared from the blog after a few minutes, making us wonder whether the Internet police had intercepted it. This morning we determined that Gayle had inadvertently removed it. Anyway, it taught us a lesson about being a bit more discreet, so I'll e-mail it once we get home to anyone interested. Darned shame. I was pretty proud of my writing on that post.

-- Tony