rhinos and fried frogs

Today was the zoo.  Let’s just say it was a memory.  It did have some great animals but most were looking fairly scrawny.  However, the rhinos were not looking so scrawny – they were huge – and they were 3 feet away from us!  All that was between us and mama rhino was this little wall which Eric said they could not jump over but I am not so sure.  A little frightening if you ask me.  We saw the panda and the Chinese golden monkey and an 8 year old girl pulling her undies down to pee on the sidewalk.  Just another day in China.  What is up with people thinking it is okay to go to the bathroom wherever? 

 

We headed back to the hotel and had Papa Johns for lunch.  It doesn’t taste exactly the same but it is close.  Then Lydia and I hit the sack for about 3 hours while Eric did paperwork with our guide.  Lydia is a great sleeper.  This morning she didn’t wake up until 8:30 (which is a problem when you are counting on her to be your alarm clock and you have to be somewhere at 9:00!)  She seems to be able to sleep through a lot which will bode well for her in the Sanzone home!  This evening we spent walking around the little island where we are staying.  It is called Shamian Island and is separated from the main city of Guangzhou by the Pearl River.  I think somewhere back in history it was occupied by the British so the architecture of the buildings is very Western which is sort of funny since it is in the middle of China.  It reminds me of New Orleans actually (in terms of the buildings, that is).  It is where all adoptive families stay so almost all of the businesses cater to the adoption community with children’s clothing, shoes, and souvenirs for sale.  But the Chinese live here too so there is an elementary school and lots of dwellings.  Tonight we went to a local restaurant for dinner and had some more sweet and sour chicken.  We opted not to order the crocodile claws or the fried frog.  Lydia is a crazy eater.  I have never had a kid who would eat absolutely anything you give her.  It is so nice!

 

She continues to do great.  We just keep counting our blessings.  I started thinking today that maybe she was doing too good.  That she wasn’t grieving which would be an indicator of a lack of attachment.  But then I just have to go back to the miracle that she is and what God has done to get us this far.  I think it is all part of the miracle and I have to rest in that.  You could make yourself crazy with all of the what if’s of adoption so I keep going back to the source of this whole crazy journey and counting on Him to make things right.  It is interesting to discover little things about her each day.  We have come to the conclusion that she has probably always been fed, which would theoretically indicate a very attentive environment that she was in.  At mealtime she always waits for us to feed her.  The most we have gotten her to do is eat some Teddy Grahams from a bowl.  And she will hold a piece of an apple and bite on it.  But other than that she wants us to feed her.  And when we were at the restaurant tonight we gave her some chopsticks and she had no idea what to do with them.  The other thing we have discovered is that she loves to be carried.  She hardly ever wants to walk.  I am not sure if that is because she is wanting to be close to us or just because that is who she is.  It is possible that she is used to being carried everywhere – she is definitely delayed in the walking department.  I would say she walks more like an 18 month old than a 2 ½ year old.  She has the skill down, just not very fast on her feet.  And if she is sitting in the room and wants to get to us she just holds her hands up; we have to coax her to actually get up and walk – which sometimes she does and sometimes she will pout until we pick her up.  It will be interesting to see what she does when she is in a house full of kids running around.  My guess is she will catch right up with them pretty quick!  Last night we gave her a little phone the kids had picked out for her and she was babbling away in Chinese.  It was so cute – I think Eric got some of it on video.  And then in the bathtub (which she loves) she was playing with the little toys and talking away in Chinese.  She clearly is talking in a little kid sort of voice but it is Chinese so the combination of the two is so cute.  I hope we can capture it just a little bit at some point. 

 

Tomorrow we are going to visit the orphanage that she was in.  She was there for about a year before going to the foster family and then for 3 weeks before coming to us.  It will be good for us to see her environment so we can tell her about it when she is older.  I don’t know that we are allowed to take pictures – the Chinese government is very particular about documenting the orphanages.  Nevertheless I think anything we can garner about her past will be helpful.  And we hope to be able to go see the place where she was abandoned.  We have the address of an intersection in the city so maybe we can go take pictures of that.  Eric is hoping we get McDonalds for lunch – It’s been a long time since we were cheering for McDonald’s food!

 

I’ll leave you with a quote from Eric…”This weather has to be a result of the fall.”   100 degrees today with 90% humidity.  Outside, doing nothing but standing, and quite literally dripping with sweat.  It has been a long time since I have been this sticky and hot, definitely brings me back to my days in the Philippines where we always used to say there were 3 seasons – hot, hotter, and hottest.  And for all that the Chinese are good at; they are not so good at air conditioning!  Somebody needs to let them know that the air condition generally is more effective when you close the doors. 

 

Happy 4^th – and thanking God extra much for our country,

Ashleigh