Day 7- Medical Exam

Well, we made it to Guangzhou. It was way past everyone's bedtime when we got here, but it feels like we're in heaven compared to where we were! We are at the China Hotel Marriott and it is soooo nice. Our last hotel in Guiyang was most likely the best for that city, but Guangzhou is probably what I would picture Vegas to look like. Everything is big and lit up and it's so clean. They have warm weather year round, so all the flowers are in bloom and smell great. Everyone is Chinese, but they speak very good English. We are in good company as there are tons of American families here completing their adoptions. Needless to say we are much more comfortable here with these surroundings. There are plenty of Western restaurants to eat at and guess what the best part is? There's a Starbucks in the hotel! Yes, in the hotel! All we do is go down a few floors and place our order.

So today was Maggie's medical exam as well as the other children in our group. We were taken to the Guangdong International Travel Healthcare Center. Let's just say it was more of a nerve racking experience than a medical exam. There were masses and I do mean masses of people there. About half were Americans with their Chinese children and the other half were all Chinese. The actual "exam" consisted of a check of height, weight, vision, hearing, listening to heart and breath sounds and a TB skin test. So here's how this went....we were herded in like cattle to different stations where all these "tests" were done. Height and weight were taken so quickly I don't even think it was accurate. They told us she weighed 24 lbs. which I find unbelievable. She is tiny and I mean a tiny girl. The vision check was shining a regular flashlight in her face to see if she turned from it, the hearing check was a woman squeaking a toy to see if she turned toward the sound and the Dr. listened to her chest, measured her head and looked over her skin from head to toe. The last thing was the TB skin test which we go back to gave read on Monday. You know what my girl did at all of these stations? Screamed her head off! She did not want to be taken from me for one second. She thrashed and screamed so much for the nurses trying to get her weight that the girl finally had to weigh herself and then weigh again while holding Maggie. And yes, she had everyone's attention that was in our group. I hated that she got so upset, but I am glad to know we are attached. Even when the Dr. did her exam and tried to soothe her with toys, nothing worked. The poor guy just shook his said and said, "Ohhhh". Lol. We've seen so much of her personality come out. She's very shy for the most part, then again she's got a stubborn streak! She's precious no matter what. When she plays with her toys or when we're walking somewhere she sings to herself. I have no idea what it is, but it's heaven to us. She is more of a typical 2 year old than I thought she was at first.

After our exams, the guides took all the families in our group to lunch at a Cantonese restaurant. For us, and most everyone else, it was not good. We all were polite of course. I'm sure they just wanted us to try something out of the ordinary. Maggie pigged out! Evidently she is used to most of the food they served us. Hopefully she'll take to mashed potatoes, chicken and some Uncle Ben's when we get home! So tomorrow we go to Shamian Island. We've heard so much about it, so I'm really excited. We also get to attend a Christian Mandarin-English church service. I'll be sure to post on what that's like.

So here's a pic of some of our snacks. I just think the Chinese labels make it look kinda cool.