Flying to Nanchang

November 7, 2004

We checked out at 8:30 and met the group in the lobby. Our flight to Nanchang is at 11 am and we are arive in Nanchang at 1 pm and are supposed to meet the babies at 4pm. We boarded a bus and left for the airport at 8:45. We certainly arrived at the airport much more quickly than it took getting from the airport to the hotel. I guess there was less traffic.

Since our luggae was taken last night, it was already checked in for us. Our boarding passes were ready so we did not have to do anything except go through security. I made sure that there was no metal whatsoever on my person and our sunglasses were in the carry-on bag. We sailed through without a hitch.

We boarded on time, but we were not able to sit next to each other, so that was lousy. AT least we were sitting with others from our group, so it wasn't so bad. I was surprised that I was served a meal because this was not a long flight. I suppose it was becasue it was near lunch time? It wasn't a vegetarian meal, so I ate some rice and watermelon. I wasn't hungry anyway. All I could think of was meeting my baby!

We arrived at 1pm, but had to wait for our luggage to come from the plane. We then hopped on a bus and started driving towards the hotel. The city was much different from Beijing. It was very rural and rice is the main crop grown. We passed lots of rice fields.

It was unbelievably hot in Nanchang too. I brought mostly long sleeved shirts, so I am guessing I will be a little warm here. It was 2 pm by the time we reached the hotel. The babies would not be brought to the hotel. We would have to drive to the Ministry of Civil Affairs office to get them. We were told to meet in the lobby at 3:50. In less than two hours I will be holding my baby!

Our adoption agency assigned our group a local guide. Her name was Mary and she was familiar with Nanchang so she would be with us for this portion of our trip. Sabrina was still with us too. Mary had checked us all into the hotel and gave us our room keys. We were staying in room 4111 on the Gloria Hotel. Our friends from New Hampshire were also on the same floor.

One of us had to start doing adoption paperwork, so I went to do it while AR checked to make sure the video camera was ready. We were so hot, but we couldn't even change clothes because our luggage had not yet been delivered to our room. We were hoping to change into the shirts we had made especially for this day. It was a February DTC Lovebug shirt that had a little car driving on the map of China. We both had one and thought it would be cute to wear for when we met our daughter.

I checked the adoption paperwork and there was a Jr. missing from AR's name. Other than that, everything was spelled correctly. They would fix the missing Jr. We needed this for the abandonment certificate that would be issued tomorrow. Even though we are receiving the babies today, the official adoption paperwork takes place tomorrow.

I went to our room and our luggae was delivered. We were able to change into our short sleeved shirts. I also readied the gifts for the orphanage director and the aunties. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the lobby to get on the bus to get our daughter.