US Consulate
Tuesday, October 24th and Wednesday, October 25th
Visa application is pending!! Yesterday we made an appearance at the US Consulate in Guangzhou to apply for Luke's visa in order to fly home. It was surprisingly easy (thanks to all the paper work done on the front side) and the "interview" conducted by the immigration officer was much less intimidating than expected (oh, all the expectations we had going into this have been wrong...). So with that last appointment, we were 48 hour, the time it takes to process the visa, away from being able to leave the country.
We found ourselves trying to stay busy for 2 days in order to pass the time. Yesterday we walked. And walked. And walked some more. Just exploring the city. We walked a few miles down to the Pearl River and then walked along the river for a while. Once our attempt to eat dinner down by the water failed (we opened the menu only to see sea urchins and sea horses and decided we'd wait to eat elsewhere), we tried to catch a cab back to our hotel. Not surprisingly, the taxi drivers don't speak English so we showed him a water bottle from our hotel. The bottle had something written in Chinese on it under the English name of the hotel, but evidently it was only the word "Marriot" because we ended up at another Marriot across town. And this is a town of 18 million people, so across town is FAR. Let it also be known that when I questioned the direction the taxi was going in, Kanhka reassured me I was being paranoid. Luckily we weren't being kidnapped for ransom, but it did take us an hour to get back to the hotel.
Today we ventured out to Chimelong Safari Park , which is not to be confused with your average local zoo. This particular park is famous for white tigers and their recent addition of panda bear triplets, but it is how you experience the zoo that is so different from the US. We rode a train and a gondola through the animal exhibits. You could also walk through them like a normal zoo, but unlike our zoos in the states, the enclosures are small and the animals are up close. You could even feed the animals. No joke. Not only the tame animals like the giraffes, but you could also pay to buy raw meet and feed the lion cubs. PETA would be livid.
Luke seemed to love seeing the animals on the train ride. However, after we walked through the Jurassic world, which had surprisingly life like replicas of dinosaurs that moved and made noises, he was terrified of every other animal exhibit. When you see him pointing in the pictures, he's pointing towards the doors, asking us to leave. We should have known that the kid who was scared of a pint size dog on the street, and has probably never seen any animals before last week, wouldn't like the zoo. By the end, the poor guy was tuckered out.
We pickup Luke's visa tomorrow morning and head to the airport at 9pm. If I don't have time to post again tomorrow before we leave, look for us in the good ol' USA Friday morning! (And pray for the 16 hour plane ride with a 2 year old!)
Visa application is pending!! Yesterday we made an appearance at the US Consulate in Guangzhou to apply for Luke's visa in order to fly home. It was surprisingly easy (thanks to all the paper work done on the front side) and the "interview" conducted by the immigration officer was much less intimidating than expected (oh, all the expectations we had going into this have been wrong...). So with that last appointment, we were 48 hour, the time it takes to process the visa, away from being able to leave the country.
Today we ventured out to Chimelong Safari Park , which is not to be confused with your average local zoo. This particular park is famous for white tigers and their recent addition of panda bear triplets, but it is how you experience the zoo that is so different from the US. We rode a train and a gondola through the animal exhibits. You could also walk through them like a normal zoo, but unlike our zoos in the states, the enclosures are small and the animals are up close. You could even feed the animals. No joke. Not only the tame animals like the giraffes, but you could also pay to buy raw meet and feed the lion cubs. PETA would be livid.
Luke seemed to love seeing the animals on the train ride. However, after we walked through the Jurassic world, which had surprisingly life like replicas of dinosaurs that moved and made noises, he was terrified of every other animal exhibit. When you see him pointing in the pictures, he's pointing towards the doors, asking us to leave. We should have known that the kid who was scared of a pint size dog on the street, and has probably never seen any animals before last week, wouldn't like the zoo. By the end, the poor guy was tuckered out.
So close!!! Cannot wait for the pictures of the family all together! Tearing up just thinking about it all! Much love and safe travels from the Willetts!!
ReplyDeletePrayers for smooth travels! I know you cannot wait to squeeze your other two 💗And we are all eager to welcome you three HOME!
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