Sunday, November 9, 2008

Sunny Day



As you can tell from the pictures it was a Sunny Day today. We love Guangzhou. After 6 cloudy, rainy days a little sun can go a long way. The temperature is in the low 70s.



We got up and went to the Fabulous breakfast buffet. Then Noah met Avery. Three families we meet in Beijing went to different provinces to adopt special needs children and rejoined our group yesterday. Avery was adopted by one of these families. She is five and they are staying in the room next door to us. She and Noah were fast friends. He has been doing great but, has really missed his friends. They went with Mark and Mia to the playroom while I got our room situated and turned in Mia's Visa paperwork.



We then headed by taxi to the Electronics Market on a mission to find a camera battery. We got a battery and a cord to charge our camcorder. The Market is HUGE and I am not exaggerating. It is almost like an antique mall where different people own a little section and display their merchandise. Most people specialized in one thing, cell phones, ipods, speakers, cameras, video games etc, but, some sell several things. Speer and Uncle Doug and any one else who loves electronics would have been in heaven. It is in multiple buildings and even more across the street (like Christmas Village). We only walked through part of it. Noah got tired and we decided we should go after we did not buy him a remote control helicopter (which was really pretty cool). Mark may go back later in the week by himself.



We then went with our group to Sun Yat-Sun Memorial Hall. We took the subway. Here is Noah with Elsie one of our guides.















Inside the hall is like a big auditorium. They were having a convention. But, part of the program was some performances of music and dance. We quietly went into the balcony and watched part of the show. Noah did not get to see much. There were about 8 teenage girls sitting in front of us. They all had to take their picture with Noah. Many of them did it four of five times. We should start charging a fee.










This is our group. A few families stayed home for naps. Behind us is the hall. Sun Yat-Sun is considered the father of China or the 1st President (after the last Emperor). He took power in 1922 and made it the People's Republic of China. On the building it has four Chinese characters : sky, under sky, for and people. Meaning everything under heaven is for the people.






After Memorial Hall we went with our guide and a couple other families to a restaurant for dinner. However, Mia pooped through her diaper and I did not have a change of clothes for her. So, I walked her back to the hotel and gave her a bath. I was not too upset because .... When I went to the restroom (all the public restrooms have squatty potties ---- which means they are a hole in the ground and you stand to go ---- they do flush and a few of them have toilet paper) I saw a guy washing glasses in the bathroom sink. Considering, I have been boiling water to wash all of Mia's bowls, spoons and bottles I was a little concerned he was using tap water. Then our guide told us that the empty bowl on the center of our lazy susan was for dirty water, I got more concerned. Apparently, the Catonese rinse there dishes with hot tea before they eat. I guess tea is made with boiling water so if you rinse with tea you wash off the tap water used to clean the dishes????? Mark and Noah ate and said it was very good. They brought me leftovers and I ate some. I hope no one is sick tomorrow.
Here is my beautiful family. Tomorrow we have Mia's medical exam in the afternoon.

3 comments:

Tricia said...

You DO have a beautiful family. I love reading your posts...they make me smile. :) Can't wait to see all of you!

Love you, Tricia

Erika said...

Your family is beautiful, your posts are wonderful and we miss you terribly! So glad you had a beautiful day of weather and got some gorgeous pictures. Thinking of you....Erika

Unknown said...

What a blessing to find all those electronics! We were worried you would be without your camera for the remainder of your trip.
We agree 100% that your family is bea-u-tiful! I love the last picture...everyone is so smiley and happy!