passport and we were on our way. At the airport our guide was getting us checked in to our flight, when all of a sudden the agent behind the desk started yelling and stormed off. Our guide pulled out some money and tried to give it to another agent, who refused and started yelling as well. So our guide asked us to wait for him in another area, and I watched as he went back and forth to different agents, calling people on his phone, etc as he was getting our tickets. I have no idea why anyone was shouting or what the fuss was really all about, other than that there was some issue with Anna's passport. Anyway, we made it through security and rushed down to the gate (which was totally unnecessary as the flight was an hour late in taking off). As we were boarding, I went through the line first with Mom following me...when they scanned her ticket the alarm went off. I am waiting...waiting...and finally they wave Mom through. As we are getting seated, we realize the problem - they had booked Mom and I in the same seat. So when we get on the plane there is more fuss...the flight attendants ask for Mom's passport, they look at her Chinese Visa number...lots of discussion. I was thinking how sad I would be to have to leave Mom behind! But finally they gave Mom her passport and ticket back and we were on our way. We flew to Guangzhou with the other sweet family who is adopting a 22 month old girl, so we were all seated together. The girls did pretty well for their first flight, but we were certainly not the easiest folks to sit next to. At one point my "mom" skills were tested as I had to change Anna's very dirty diaper in the plane's bathroom
with no changing table...but we emerged triumphant! It took me quite a while, however, so when I brought Anna out of the bathroom there were about 15 people in line. Serves them right for not having a changing table on their plane!
Our new guide for Guangzhou, Wensi, met us at the airport and took us toour hotel (about 45 minutes away). On the way we asked Wensi about her hometown of Guangzhou (a small town of 13 million) and her family. She told us an interesting story about her family. She said that her younger brother was born after the "one child" policy was put into place in 1978. Her parents, who both worked for the government, lost their jobs and all their benefits when her brother was born. In addition, they had to pay a huge fine for which they borrowed money and had to work very hard to pay off their debts. So she says that in her family they always tell her younger brother how much he owes them since he was so expensive! Wensi told us that three years ago the "one child" policy was changed...so now
if a couple gets married (and they were both only children) they can have 2 kids without penalty. However, Wensi told us that most people think that it is crazy to have more than one child because it is too expensive. I asked her what people might think about a crazy American family who has four kids...and she said people wonder how they would pay for all those kids! Ha!
So now we are happily checked into our hotel, and Anna is screaming and letting everyone know we are here!
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