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July 21 (pre-Amy)
July 21, 22
July 23
July 23, 24, 25
July 26
July 26, 27
July 28, 29, 30
July 31
August 1
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hello everybody -
Mark and Amy were still sleeping last night when I returned to
the room and seem to have both caught up on their sleep deprivation
as of now. We hung out in the room and played a bit, as well as
ordering room service. I've been sticking with Chinese food but
Mark was hankering for a cheeseburger (!). We were quite surprised
when it came steamed on a sweet bun. He ended up finishing my noodles.
We also watched Monsters, Inc. on the hotel movie channel. Every
15 minutes or so a message went across the bottom of the screen
- "This is a screening copy. Do not use for public viewing." Quite
amusing...
Amy slept hard last night and woke up bright and cheery. She relaxed
for a while as we had a later start this morning. We met the British
tourists at breakfast, so I haven't had to use the German translation
yet. We went to the Guilin Elephant Trunk Park to see the sights
- it's a park on the Li River that has a cliff shaped like an elephant
with a trunk (you have to look at it a while to get that, squinting
the whole time). We got together for a group shot and the photographer
turned from 1 to about 15. We had lots of Chinese people taking
pictures of all of these big noses with Chinese babies. We also
got stopped a lot so people could practice their English and to
have pictures taken of us with them. Sleeping Amy will be in people's
photo albums around the world. (She finally went in a hip carrier,
so I don't have to hold her. We haven't tried the Baby Bjorn again,
though)
 We
then went to an art school gallery with lots of scrolled art
work and a
calligrapher who wrote out Amy's Chinese name. We bought
a couple of scrolls and an 18 Buddha chain. It has glass beads
with Buddhas painted on the inside with teeny tiny brushes
through top and bottom holes.
Then we went to the South Sea China Pearl Shop and bought a bit,
including pearls to give Amy on significant events (graduation,
her wedding, etc) The guide said we were making China green with
our dollars. Very green.
We returned to the hotel and ate lunch and napped. We're going
to repack today (we're flying in China and the weight limit on our
bags is 40 kG each - with a charge of one yuan per extra kilo. We're
making China green with our overpacked bags.) and are giving some
extra baby things to the Guilin orphanage. We're going out to dinner
tonight as a group and will walk along another shopping street.
We're going to try to find some Chinese cartoon DVDs or tapes for
Amy as she loves them.
Wake up call tomorrow is 5 am, so that we can make our 8 am flight
to Guangzhou and get to the baby's medical exam on time. I can't
wait for the White Swan...
The babies are all really liking us now. There were a few bonding
issues that have happily resolved. Everybody's pooped (some in the
toilet!) and everybody's healthy (knocking on wood). Lots of people
here ask to hold the babies. We generally let them (travelmates,
the group photographer, the guides, the bus driver, the ladies at
the pearl shop, the waitresses). Amy will go, but she makes sure
we're always in sight and she doesn't stay too long. She raises
her hands to come back to us quickly. Apparently, Amy is known for
her coordinating outfits, which are quite stylish. What else were
we supposed to do during our wait...
Tomorrow will be the last leg of the China part of the trip - and
we can't wait. Until next time, signing off at 4:15 pm Friday China
time, 3:15 am CT Friday.
Beth, Mark & Amy |
