CA and Safari Park

We had to meet at the White Swan this morning at 7:10 a.m. to get on a bus for our Consulate Appointment at the U.S. Embassy, which is no longer on Shamian Island.  No cameras are allowed there, so there will be no photos of this momentous occasion--you know, the one this entire process was focused toward, the date we couldn't wait to add to our forum "signature."  We were all there together, all the Holt families, and it felt like just another hoop to jump through.  A long wait in an un-air-conditioned lobby, then a short wait in a line, then another long wait in the slightly cooler embassy waiting area, a visit to a squatty potty, and then a "regular" potty, waiting for our name to be called, the group oath.  I don't at all mean to sound cranky, or like I don't get the significance of this day.  I do.  But it's interesting, and perhaps profound, the way we've already assimilated these children into our lives.  So there we were, trying to keep the kids happy, feeding them juice and cheerios, just ready to get on with our scheduled day--in this case, a trip to Safari Park.  And in other cases, fitting them into our shopping excursions, our meet-ups with other adoptive families, our dinners out.  Pretty much "real life," huh?  Except for the part where we don't live on an island in a tiny hotel room and eat Thai food every night for dinner.

Here's a funny photo from inside the building, but before we passed through security where they took our cameras.  We tried to guess what it meant.

Our guide told us it means "no loitering." 

After our CA we took a long bus ride to Safari Park, the largest zoo in China.  I'll try not to bore you with a million photos of zoo animals.  The pandas were about the cutest things I've ever seen, and the zebras gorgeous.  And there were some hilarious signs!  (If you can't read the text, try clicking on the photo to see it enlarged.)  It was mind-numbingly hot today...but we survived.  'Cause we're a bunch of troopers.

Oh, Ting Ting.  How embarrassing.

This sign promises that we will experience wildlife friends "most wildly and primordially."  It also says children and the elderly (those over 70) should be accompanied by a family member.

Mama Z nursing her baby Z.

Me and two of my Holt lady-friends:  Janet and Donna

Hey, guys.  What's up?  (He talks just like Jiushu.)

Eating a carrot

Just a few flamingos