A visit to an old friend

Saturday evening we ventured onto the subway with another family in our travel group. They are from Iowa so this was the first time on the subway for the both of them. Our destination was Shamian Island to see a shop owner that we got to know real well the last time we stayed on the island for two weeks. It has been about two and a half years since we have seen her, but have been able to keep in touch by skype and email. As we were walking down her street, she recognized us and gave Tamra a big hug. The island used to be a mecca for American adoptive families. As a note, all Americans adopting children from China have to exit the country via Guangzhou. The immigration paperwork is processed at the US Consulate in this city. The Consulate was previously located on Shamain Island along with some hotels that catered to westerners. The Consulate has long since relocated to another part of the city and some of the other features that attracted westerns to the island are gone. All that being said, some of the shop owners well known by adoptive families have closed down due to the lack of foreign tourist on the island. So it was good to see our old friend still in business. After visiting with her for a while, we had dinner at a place named Lucy’s, which is a western dinner themed restaurant, also well known by adoptive families.




This was a picture of Elsie from our last visit to the island

The following morning, a number of adoptive families went back to the island and attended the Mandarin/English church service. We met up with our shop owner friend and sat with her during the service. What an amazing God we serve. We have brothers and sisters in Christ that can be an encouragement to us half a world away.

The rest of the day was spent shopping on the island (more squeaky shoes) and in the pearl and jade market.

After dinner with our entire group, we came back to the hotel and gave Sophie a bath. This is the first bath in which she did not have a fit. She is making great progress in being comfortable around us, which has been a joy.