We're in Nanning![;'jm

We finally made it to Nanning. Our flight was a piece of cake and actually much more comfortable than our international flight. As we were waiting to board our plane in Hong Kong, there must have been 10 adoptive families waiting at the gate with us. They were from a different agency and were all heading to Nanning to adopt their children. It was great sharing stories, pictures, and just plain chatting. A couple of the families had been to Nanning before and gave us some great tips on local restaurants and shops.
As we flew into Nanning, the view of the Chinese countryside was just beautiful. It's so lush and green here and the topography is extraordinary. We were expecting to arrive at a large airport, considering Nanning is a city of over 2 million people. We were quite surprised to arrive at a tiny airport in a very rural area. Our guide, Hannah, and our driver were waiting for us at the airport. As we drove about 20 minutes to our hotel, we couldn't believe how quickly rural became "hustle and bustle" city life. All of a sudden, we're in traffic surrounded by people, tall buildings, and bikes everywhere. Our hotel, "The Majestic", sits close to the city center and is surrounded by activity. We actually ventured out for dinner tonight at a local place just adjacent to our hotel. Fortunately, our waitress was so patient and knew enough english to help us order (even the picture menu was confusing).
Our hotel seems nice and is equipped with a computer and internet access in our room. What a great convenience! It's a hotel that caters to adoptive families, so were bound to run into many families with their newly adopted children over the next 5 days.
We found out from Hannah that we head out to meet Kai at 3:00p.m. tomorrow. Please think of Kai tomorrow as he is picked up at his foster home by the orphanage director and nanny, taken from the only familiy he has ever known, driven 3 hours to a government building, and pushed into the arms of complete strangers who don't speak the same language or look anything like him. We know that tomorrow will be such a joyous day for us, yet such a day of loss for Kai. Let's hope it goes as smoothly as possible.
By the way, Maya has been an absolute star during this trip. She's been such a trooper and is always ready for anything and everything. Even though she was absolutely exhausted today, she never fuss
ed and always managed to put a smile on her face. We just can't say enough about our favorite girl. She told Hannah today that she was going to share all of her toys with Kai and teach him how to "go potty". As we were discussing how we should refer to Kai (wondering what name his foster family uses to address him), Maya told Hannah that Kai could call her anything he wanted.
Well, I've rambled on long enough. I hope to post tomorrow after our very emotional and exciting day.

Take care...