Faith Enough To Fly 8/28/2009

Today was supposed to be Todd's Happy 40th, but I'm not sure how happy it turned out. The good news is we made it to Guangzhou and are now at the White Swan Hotel after an early dinner at Lucy's. In the adoption world of China most every story includes this hotel and restaurant (hamburgers and fries that taste like home) so we are happily adding it to our story as well. I (Nikki) woke up this morning with the worst vertigo I've ever experienced. This hits me a couple of times a year and this one had me so I could barely walk. I tried showering and when I went to wrap my hair in a towel I can't believe I didn't fall over. It made me so sick I started throwing up, which I've never done before. I know I wasn't sick from food or anything else, it was just the worst feeling non-alcohol related hang-over ever. We were supposed to be flying in a few hours and never thought we'd make it. I took some medication, prayed like never before, and received strength enough to get through this day. Todd helped pack up everything and we headed to the airport. Our guide Hannah sat behind me in our van and rubbed on pressure points she's learned to do to help her own neck problems. She is a fantastic guide, but I'm wondering if she shouldn't be a masseuse instead. I learned that angels come in many forms, and mine today, was Hannah.

FuJiao was so excited to be going on an airplane and was so good, knowing I didn't feel well and couldn't carry her, which she likes me to do. She loved the flight, getting crackers and did pretty good considering she's prone to motion sickness as well. Lucky Todd,sitting between 2 potential pukers! In China they have this motion sickness patch you put over your belly button, which we both used. She was all smiles, although she didn't love staying buckled. We've heard stories of children not understanding seat belts, so we had Hannah explain before we left.
We met our new guide Sarah at the airport and it took about 40 minutes to get to our hotel. We all dozed a bit in the van. I think we have all over done it some and were extra tired. You can tell the city is huge, and we were amazed at how there were so many buildings the entire way here. Our view is beautiful from our hotel window--even though it is city, it's along the river. We got checked in, ate lunch and came back so I (Nikki) could try to rest, which I did for a couple of hours. FuJiao was dad's buddy while I slept. He entertained her in our room with cartoons, coloring, the computer, and throwing fishy crackers in the air and catching them in his mouth.

Sarah, our guide, surprised Todd with a birthday cake for us to share--sad to say that was the extent of his birthday celebration. FuJiao did tell him Happy Birthday in mandarin and english--and she said it happily and would stand by him for pictures (I guess that was his gift!)

So that brings us to this evening. I'm still a bit dizzy, FuJiao seems happy, Todd is 40 and we are heading to the medical exam in the morning. Hopefully we will be up for a little exploring tomorrow in our new area!