Well, today was a big day for us. It began with Mommy feeling pretty bad, so she skipped the morning group outing. Andrew and Althea went
to the Chen Family Academy with a small group of parents, led by our good friend Wayne. The pictures are (1) a fellow enjoying his breakfast with some philosophers and (2) Wayne with the school's "door guardian." The school was set up to educate members of the Chen clan from all over the region. They boarded there and prepared to take the civil service exams. Next, you'll see Andrew trying to reach the door knocker. Cute little guy, isn't he?After waking up mommy to have a tasty lunch (see nice picture), and a nice nap of course, we
went to the US Consulate to apply for Althea's visa. We weren't allowed to bring cameras, so you'll have to use your imagination. We arrived there with the entire group of about 35 families. We went up and up and up and up many escalators to a fairly serious inspection check point where you had to have your US passport and get searched. Then we went into a big room to wait. Then they called us up one by one to verify both parents' U.S. Passports and our baby's Chinese passport. Whew!Then we all had to stand up and raise our right hands for the oath. (Althea had a teething biscuit in hers, but she held it up!) We swore or affirmed ( I later learned from Andrew that as Christians we "affirmed.") that everything we had said or written during the adoption process was true. And then they handed out the visas. And there was much rejoicing! Yeah! This means we go home tomorrow!
