Consulate appt: wet docs and throw up

The day after we arrived in Guangzhou, we met with our guide, Miko, and spent a good hour going over the official documents that would be submitted to the consulate today.

Once we were done filling out and compiling the necessary paperwork, we were to place everything in a plastic envelope, place in the safe and NOT open again. Easy enough...AKA these are very important. DON'T TOUCH!! This much I understand!!

We were also instructed to put child's snack and water in a clear plastic bag. No watches, bags, cameras, or purses allowed in the Consulate. 

It was raining today, so I got the bright idea to put EVERYTHING in our plastic ziplock: official docs folder, snacks and water bottles.

We got to the lobby after jumping puddles and dodging umbrellas only to find that Ava-Yin's water bottle had leaked, in its entirety, all over our official docs. They were dripping wet. We called Miko over so she could assess the situation. Lee, Miko, and our traveling buddy, Jeff, grabbed tissues and start drying off the water. Patting. Not wiping. We wouldn't want to smudge the ink!!

Meanwhile, Ava-Yin is not willing to unleash me since we are outside of the hotel. So I'm knelt down holding her when Miko points and says 'she sick?'

You got it. In the midst of frantically trying to spare our consulate papers, ava-yin throws up in the lobby. Thankfully, it wasn't a lot and I was able to clean us up with baby wipes.

As with everything else in China, we were in a time crunch. Miko put our docs back in correct order, stuffed them back in the plastic envelope and off we went to the consulate. Wet and smelly were we.

Finally, it was our turn at 'the window.' I decided there really was no point in launching into a huge explanation of what had led up to the baptism of our official papers. So I basically handed them to our officer and said, 'ummm...these are wet.' He looked at us with a questioning glance and then began pealing our papers a part. He was very nice, and thankfully the most importance piece of paper was fairly dry, and so he pushed our paperwork through the process.

Miko assured us we are the first family with this issue. She will, from now on, advise families not to place their docs in the same bag as the sippy cup.

Ava-Yin has not thrown up since.