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Friday, November 11, 2011

Goodbye Chengdu

Tonight we are saying goodbye to Chengdu and flying to Guangzhou. I'm excited to move onto city 3 of 4 in our China journey. We will be in Guangzhou for 4 nights, Hong kong for 2 nights and them we fly HOME!!!

Last night we went to the Sichuan Opera. Tina said there are 3 things you need to do in Chengdu - see a panda, eat Hot Pot and go to the opera house. So, to complete the list we headed for the opera last night. It was very fun. It was in an outside theatre with these beautiful red lanterns. It was very pleasant weather, so it was nice. It was more of a variety show than a traditional opera. Some people played instruments, there was some dancing, a very strange puppet act, a cool finger puppet act,a comedy act (in Chinese) and then it ended with the traditional Sichuan opera changing masks and costumes act. In this one the Chinese dudes dance around and then their outfit will all of a sudden change colors, like from green to black then red. Then they are wearing masks and the masks will change from color to color. It was very cool. We were sitting slightly to the right of the stage, and at one point we saw the dude pull a cord on his costume to make the mask change. I'm so sorry if I just ruined the mystery of it for some of you who may get to a Sichuan opera one day. The boys loved it and thought it was very cool. Even though Chris and I knew the secret, we really enjoyed it too. But, no one enjoyed the show as much as our little Hannah! I wasn't sure she would sit quietly for something like this, but she was memorized from the very beginning through the entire hour and a half show. She sat with Chris the whole time and I can tell you that snuggling with her was his favorite part of the opera. After that we headed back to the hotel and threw the trio in bed!!! Chris packed and I totally crashed!!!

I'm so thankful that despite a roughy start we have had the chance to see so much of Chengdu. One day when Hannah asks us about this city, I will feel like we saw some of the the things that make it special. It was cool to see so much of it with her and her brothers. I know she won't remember seeing it, but I like knowing she got to go to these special places. Her brothers will remember and they will be able to attest to how cool her city was.

This morning Chris went back to the civil affairs office and the notary's office with Tina to pick up all of our paperwork. Of course with Tina there were a few hiccups, but we are used to that by now and just expect it. There weren't more hiccups than expected, and we have all the right paperwork, so it was successful. Today we got Hannah's Chinese passport, and a bunch of other official documents we need for her. While Chris was away we did day 4 of hotel homeschooling in record time. After that the boys, Hannah and I ventured out for lunch. Chris met up with us at McDonald's a bit later.

At McDonald's we ran into another Chengdu adoptive dad. I had emailed his wife Paula a few times during this process as we both had little girls here in Chengdu. They were also staying at the Crowne Plaza, so we met up with them for a little while this afternoon. They just got their little girl Faith yesterday. It was fun to actually meet them. This one meeting is all we will have as we press onto Guangzhou. They will arrive in Guangzhou the day after we leave. Anyway, it will be fun to compare notes and follow each others blogs as we come home with these little girls and integrate them into our families.

Now it is onto Guangzhou to take care of all of the US stuff. The us consulate is in Guangzhou and that is where we will need to get the us visa for her passport. We will post more after we are settled in Guangzhou!

I've included some pics from our night at the opera, meeting Paula and her new baby Faith, Hannah's passport, and sleeping beauty herself. Enjoy!!!Blessings from Chengdu!!!!

Chris, Amy, Travis, Chase and Hannah

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