Made it to Laibin!

After an okay nights sleep at the Victory in Guangzhou, we ate a fantastic breakfast and met the Millers...another Hope For Children family (we will be able to spend more time with them when we return to Guangzhou on Friday). The Millers had their new little girl, Sarah Beth, with them already and she sure is a cutie! Her older brother (Noah) and sister (Abby) were all about holding her! Sarah Beth was enjoying all of the attention! At 5:15 am, my friend Donna knocked on our hotel room door to introduce us to her daughter, Shelby. Donna and her family were all packed up and ready to leave China for their return home! Shelby was a little doll - our prayers go with them for a safe trip home! After breakfast we were able to have a video conference with our little ones back home (we used Skype and it worked wonderfully - just a little advice for any of you planning a trip over here - and computer to computer is free!!). Anyway, we enjoyed talking to Stephanie and Liz - they seemed to be doing fine - Stephanie is the one who cried, and Liz just kept dancing for us! Go figure! I was more worried about Liz (2)!! We were so grateful to receive a comment from Ms. Frankie, the girls' preschool director, telling us that they did great in school. Thank you Ms. Frankie - you are the best!!
Okay....on to travel tidbits. We ate our first McDonalds at the Guangzhou airport before we left for Nanning - it was very good, the real thing! After an hour flight on a Chinese airline (included drinks and a heavy snack...NWA didn't even give us peanuts on the way from ATL to Detroit...if you wanted a snack you had to pay for it!)....we arrived in Nanning, where I had my first encounter with a squatty potty and I am very proud to say, without incident! Well, now we had to figure a way to get to Laibin..by train, bus or car? We first tried to rent a car/driver - too expensive at the airport. We then decided to go by train (since a car/driver was too expensive). So we grabbed a cab and CRAMMED all of our stuff into it...barely. All the cab drivers were making fun of us for being so packed into this little car. Steve asked the driver & he responded he had never carried a larger load of people/stuff. On the way to the train station, Meg, Steve's sister and our guide at this point, talked our driver into calling one of his friends to drive us to Laibin in their own car (2.5 hours), and thank you, God, it happened!! We got here (Laibin) at about 7 pm, checked into the Laibin International Hotel, and then ventured out to find dinner. Meg took us to a restaurant and ordered for us a huge traditional dinner. And you know what...it was excellent!! We had so much food and it was all so flavorful and delicious!! We had duck soup, whole boiled chicken (served in a bucket with the boiled, bald head staring at us), a thin, flaky type bread, cabbage, spinach, rice & a root made into a special dessert (Steve described it as carmelized Dunkin Donuts Minchkins covered in honey - Meg gave Steve a hard time for saying Dunkin Donuts - living in China she misses certain things from home & didn't appreciate being re minded of them). After dinner, we came home and crashed - I slept from 9 pm - 5 am solid...Praise God!! Let me tell you though...we are in REAL DEEP REMOTE China. No western style anything, no McDonalds...nothing!! This is all China. We got a whole lot of stares walking down the street. Laibin is not a tourist attraction. People are not used to seeing foreigners. Meg says they think we're Russians. Oh, and yes, we had to cross a street a couple times. For those of you who have been to China you know what I am talking about! There are no cross walk signs here - you cross at your own risk! We weaved in and out of bikes, scooters and dodged cars...in the dark!! A little unnerving, and if I had to go by myself, I would probably still be standing on the corner. Now, it wasn't as bad as Nanning or Guangzhou, but running out into the middle of traffic goes against everything I had been taught!! And I am sure that we will have to do it again many times, unless we only go places on the same side of the street as the hotel! Today, we are going to explore Laibin, talk with the Laibin people who are willing (through Meg) and see Danielle's finding spot. I will definitely post again about everything that we see - and by then, I should have some great photos! Thank you for all of your prayers and support - all is going well so far and in about 48 hours, we will be getting ready to go and get our little princess!! We can't wait!! Our love to you all!!