Saying goodbye to Nanning

Today is our last day in Nanning and Guangxi province. Last night, we all tried to soak up the entire experience and Rachael and I went on our nightly walk outside this time down by the bridge by our hotel.

It has a waterfall that runs off the sides of it and is illuminated by brilliant colored lights in ever changing patterns. She finally fell asleep and we enjoyed our last evening here. Today, we go to the airport and fly to Guangzhou where we begin the worst of the paperwork. From what we hear, it’s a major stack of stuff we have to do. But we will get through it.

As we leave here, we are all somewhat preoccupied with a sense of sadness. We very much like this area and want to spend more time here, but that's not mostly why there is a bit of bitterness to it all. Rachael is leaving here and coming with us. We rejoice in that and her new life with us in the United States. But her culture, her bloodlines, her birth family are all here and we have suddenly been very cognizant that we are taking her away from here...far away. As far away as she can be. And it is not just the distance. It’s also the radical different culture. While we will keep her in touch with her county's culture and history, her life is going to be radically different than it otherwise would have been living with her birthparents in China. I can't really express it clearly and I don't expect anyone to really understand it. You can't unless you experience it for yourself. It feels like we are having to leaving something behind and taking something away all at the same time. Complex to say the least.

But tomorrow begins a new adventure. I will drop a few lines as soon as I can in Guangzhou when we check into the White Swan hotel and get settled in. Until then, 73.