Guangzhou

Guangzhou was a real bother for internet access. It was either very expensive in the hotel, or very third worldish on the rest of the island. With the limited amount of contact I had with my son I asked him to post so everyone would know we're ok. The last post was his contribution. I hope you enjoyed it.

Now this is what I wrote after the first day. I'll update more about life at home when I get a little more time. (It's time for a bath for a very tired little girl)

Guangzhou, Day 1

We’re in Guangzhou and I feel like we’ve been busy since we got here. We’re on an island and it’s beautifully green in the midst of the water and concrete of the city. The hotel is full of Chinese people, Americans with Chinese babies and children, and many internationals. It’s huge. We have a floor attendant who directs us to our room when we get off the elevator. When we walk out of our door she pushes the elevator button for us and shows us to the one of the six elevators, which is lit to go down. Our room is made up two times everyday; they make the bed in the morning and pull down the covers in the evening, taking care of trash and dirty towels both times along with the general cleaning in the morning.

It’s taken a while to get this posted because we no longer have free internet access in our room. It would cost 300RMB ($37.50) to use it for the time we’re here so will take this to the Blendz coffee shop in town and send it for the cost of a cup of tea:o)

We had an illustration of the Chinese concept of space this morning on our way to breakfast. Our elevator was fairly full at our floor (14th). At the next stop were two Indian men with a small rolling carry-on. They decided not to get on because it was too crowded for them. At the next stop were 2 Chinese people that entered. At the next stop were more Chinese that got on – five of them! The breakfast room was something else. It’s a buffet with a LOT of good food. But it is very difficult to have a relaxing meal because there are so many people and babies. They put us at a table for two. That didn’t make it with all the plates we go through trying to find something that Katie will eat. She never eats the same thing two days in a row, except maybe boiled eggs, and usually shakes her head and waves her hand no at most of the things we offer. Today Jim brought an egg back to the table for her. She started to crack and peel it open (she’s very meticulous about it) and found that it was soft boiled. That was the end of that. She ended up with lots of fruit and Cocoa puffs!

Kerry and Carlo Nuss are here with all three of their girls; the youngest is Katie’s age. We got to see them but did not get a chance to talk very long this morning. They were on their way out for a tour. This afternoon Kerry, Katie and I shopped a bit and then met everyone else for lunch. We sat Katie and Marissa together and they started to get to know each other. Carlo took a picture. I’ll see if I can get it posted on this for you. When we prayed together my heart melted with the thought of all these girls together, One American, 2 Chinese and 1 Indian, all together in one place and will be together at home in WV, learning about the Lord together when most of these girls would not have had the chance to hear about Him where they lived. God is so good!

There’s lots of great shops with the typical Chinese vocal enticement to come into their shop and then to bargain. The girl at the shop where I took my laundry asked Katie her name. So every time we pass she calls to her in her Chinese name. Of course Katie turns and smiles :o) As Kerry and I were walking near the park one woman started to talk to us quite a bit. After a few minutes it started to feel very “Leoish” (Read my post from Beijing, if you haven’t, to find out what that means). Sure enough she gave her pitch for her shop. And we walked down to it with her. She had some very nice things and I may go back. I’m hoping to find some traditional clothes to fit her now and then for Chinese New Year next year.


I just found out that Carlo’s camera is not digital so I can’t post that picture. In fact, our digital fell on the tile floor in the room and is not working! Unfortunately that means we can’t send any more pictures. We still have our film camera but Katie will be very disappointed when she can’t see her picture immediately. That is something she’s done since the first picture.

We just ordered out from Danny’s Bagels. They only deliver. I got Linguini with shrimp because I thought she would eat it. In fact she loved it. After each forkful she would rub her stomach and say with a laugh, “mmm, good-a”, Danny only gave us one fork and knife, so I used the knife to eat. I can’t wait to see her try to eat with her knife at breakfast tomorrow!