0 for 2

0 for 2...I'm talking coffee here. Our first try was on the airplane between Los Angeles and Guangzhou. At about 13.5 hours into the 15 hour flight, we were served breakfast. Linda and I both ordered a cup of coffee and it was poured directly out of the thermous with both cream and sugar in it. I have a technical term for this..."yuk!" Once we arrived in Guangzhou, we had another layover prior to our final leg to Nanchang. As we were walking to our gate I looked up and saw those beautiful green block letters on a store that said "coffee." I immediately said, "Starbucks." No such luck. It was 'SRS Coffee' complete with a Starbucks look. The iced lattes we ordered (in photo) left a whole lot to be desired. The coffee was poured from a pitcher (who knows when it was brewed?) into some really rich milk-like-substance. The good news is, it was better than the first cup on the plane. The bad news...well, we're 0 for 2. Tea anyone?

Yes, we made it! Nearly 20 actual hours of flying, about 7 hours of layovers, and 15 hours of time change got us to our destination without delay and with no travel glitches. Not only were our bags were timely and in tact, but our guide, Sally, was there at the Nanchang airport to fetch us and deliver us to our hotel. Sally is a very sweet 26 year old who serves as a guide for adoptive families full-time. In the last year-and-a-half she says that she has seen 200 families come and go with babies. Wow. She'll be with us for our week in Nanchang.

Because we left LA at midnight (and because we took sleeping pills), we were able to get some shut-eye on the plane. We flew tourista class, as I call it, so it was croweded and snug, but we did fine. A couple and their three boys from Utah sat in front of us on the trip -- they were heading to China to pick up two 3 year old twin girls.

After getting settled in our room, taking showers, having our baby crib delivered, along with a spare bed for Levi, we took a stroll in the nearby shopping district. Nanchang--at least the part we've seen--is typical to my experiences in China: a lot of people, a lot of poverty, and a lot of filth.