Before we could start playing, however, we had a little bit of business to take care of. First stop, Visa photos. Each child in our group had to get his/her photo taken for the paperwork we will submit to the U.S. Consulate. Jack was more than happy to do this, and I must admit that I was a little bit worried he might put his fingers up in the "peace" sign once he realized there was a camera. Luckily he did not, and his photos came out great.
Next Jack and I had to report to the health clinic for his official medical examination. This sounds kind of impressive and like a big deal, but it is pretty much just one more hoop we have to jump through to get his U.S. Visa. The clinic is a rather small building, perhaps the size of the ballroom in a U.S. hotel, and it consists of a front desk/reception area and several smaller offices and waiting rooms.
The physical examination required for Jack involved four stations – a temperature/weight/height check, a general wellness check, an ear-nose-throat check, and a TB shot. Well, I guess I should say it was supposed to involve four stations, but that didn’t include the extra station we got to visit when the general wellness doctor (who decided to show up for work today in his lab coat, polo shirt and shorts!) freaked out about Jack’s scabby knees and elbows and demanded to know what was wrong with his skin. (FYI - Jack’s scabs are a result of his documented skin condition which should not have been a problem at this point.) Luckily I had gone one step more than just following CCAI’s directions and brought all of my medical check-up paperwork for Jack, not just the latest report sent to us as apparently all of this Chinese writing didn’t make much more sense to the shorts-wearing doctor than it does to me. After sifting through all of my paperwork, however, the doctors were finally satisfied that Jack really did have all of his medical paperwork in order and we were swept away to the next station. I would like to interject at this point that while in this next station (the ENT spot) our guide asked me if I wanted to take pictures of how well Jack was doing stating that “He is the best behaved of all of them.” Proud Mamma I am my only response to that is, “Well, of course!”
Our group had traveled to the clinic, which is located on Shamian Island about 10 minutes from our hotel, by bus but we were given the option of returning by bus at noon or staying on the island to shop and walk around and taking a taxi back later. Katie and I had decided early on to stay and shop so after Jack and I finished our business at the clinic we headed out to do some shopping. Several families joined us on this jaunt and it was fun to be back on the island again, my first time being in 2004 when Dan and I were here with Jolene. It is funny how little things have changed, but the overall island looks pretty much just the same.
Well, after a couple hours of walking and shopping we decided it was time to eat lunch. Being that we were feeling quite touristy we decided to eat at Lucy’s a small diner specializing in American food. This turned out to be a good choice as my sandwich was quite good and Jack had his first hamburger – which he loved. Once we were finished eating we headed over to the White Swan Hotel to visit their red couches, watch the fish and use their restroom since Jack is apparently already westernized enough to refuse the usage of any public squatty potty. Along the way we stopped to listen to a recital in the park as an elderly woman was performing with what we suppose was her "band". Jack seemed to enjoy this, but I'm still not quite sure what the actual event really was. It was an entertaining stop on the way over to look at the boats on the river though so all was well.
After spending some time enjoying the fish, the birds and the view provided by the White Swan we headed back outside to do a little more shopping. (We tried to get a good picture of Jack on a red couch, but he really wasn't into it, looking at the river was far more what he had in mind.) At this point Jack had pretty much had enough and we had our first bit of a meltdown when Mom repeatedly said “no” to touching things in the store. That inspired us to go ahead and call it a day so after stopping at 7-Eleven to get some cold water to drink we headed back to the White Swan to catch a cab to our own hotel. I figured Jack would fall asleep on the way, but he surprised me by toughing it out.
When we got back to our hotel room he surprised me again. I came in and laid down on the bed hoping that he would come join me. He did. And as soon as he got up on the bed he wanted to get under the covers. Then he wanted me to get under the covers too. Then he wanted me to turn on the TV. Then he wanted to watch car racing. Ugh! This was definitely not my choice of relaxing television, but it sure seemed to work for him. After about 10 minutes he thankfully had pity on me and we switched over to the National Geographic channel to watch Tiger Man of South Africa, which as weird at is sounds was simply a documentary type show about a man who lives with tigers… okay, that just made it sound even weirder… But Jack really enjoyed it and I’m always game for some big cat viewing so we had a nice peaceful 20 minutes or so before it was time to head out to dinner.
Dinner tonight was a “Group dinner” which was really fun. We walked a couple blocks from our hotel and ate at the Macau Street Restaurant which strangely enough specializes in Cantonese and Portuguese food. I’m not exactly sure how those two things go together, but I do know that the food was really good and the company was great. (Be sure to check out the Cheesy Beef in the forefront of the picture below.) Jack packed away quite a bit of food as always and we all left quite happy and with big smiles on our faces. That said, we did feel the need to stop for dessert at McDonald’s on the way home so Jack not only had his first hamburger today he also had his first strawberry sundae which he ate with a great pleasure.
I hope you got some good sleep:)
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