Yesterday afternoon we took Anna to the pool for the first time. After her initial reaction to a bath, we weren’t sure what to expect. We are happy to report that she absolutely loved everything about the pool. She was so relaxed and so much easier to carry in the pool! She quickly learned what I meant when I said, “kick! kick! kick!” She wanted to be right in the middle of the games that Pete and the girls were playing in the pool and squealed with delight. I’m sure we’ll be back in the pool again.
We bought her a little doll yesterday. She loves it and was just sitting here dressing her up in the little silk dress that we bought at A Gift From China. Maybe we should buy some more of those, they are much less expensive than American Girl dresses! I think they were only about $5 US. I bought Anna a silk dress yesterday for $4 US. We had been told that clothing was very inexpensive in this province because so much of it is made here. We have found that to be true. Pete wanted me to get a silk dress and talked to one of the store owners about it. He called in his wife and a seamstress and they are making a custom designed silk dress for me for about $20. I have mixed emotions about buying things here. On the one hand, I want to give them business and on the other I feel a bit guilty about it. Pete thinks I am a terrible negotiator. That is true. I can’t remember if I wrote about the silk rugs we were shown up in Urumqi. They were beautiful. We didn’t buy one, but I was struck by these beautiful rugs that we were told take six months to weave and are sold for about $400 US dollars. It is pretty easy to do the math and realize how little these seamstresses and weavers earn. Life is very different here.
Have I mentioned that Guangzhou, a place some have referred to as a village, has a population greater than New York City?
The area around the hotel is very nice and has developed around tourism and the needs of the Americans staying here on the last leg of their adoption journeys. You don’t have to go very far from the “island” to experience more China culture. Last night, we decided we wanted to eat somewhere other than Lucy’s Diner or the expensive restaurants here at the hotel. I thought it best to ask a local expert named Jordan. He owns a nice little store and does not pressure you to buy anything. He speaks very good English. We stopped by his store to pick up a few things and asked him where Americans like to eat. He was just starting to give us ideas when another family walked in and asked the same thing. He decided we should try a great restaurant across the river. Since we were together, he thought we would be safe. We never would have tried it without the other family. He drew us a map, gave us his cell number and wrote out a food order for us. On the way there, we ended up walking down some dark, somewhat scary alleyways past all kinds of interesting little hole in the wall stores. Eventually, we emerged on a bustling, busy street full of brightly lit stores of all kinds, McDonalds and our intended restaurant. In the restaurant, we walked past tanks of all kinds of sea creatures waiting to be someone’s dinner before we were taken upstairs. We attracted a lot of attention in the restaurant, but as usual in China, received great service. The food was very good. As I had heard, the food here is more similar in taste to the Chinese food we have at home. Dinner for both families came to a grand total of about $20 US dollars. I would tell all of you waiting to come here the name of the restaurant, but I only have it in Chinese characters. Ask Jordan and know it is across the street from McDonalds. Here are a couple of suggestions for those planning to come here. My first shopping recommendation is to go to A Gift From China because they have unique hand made gifts, are wonderful people and the proceeds help orphaned children. Other shops we really like are Jordan’s and Michael’s. Both do not pressure you as other shops will do. If you want to shop for general clothing, shoes, etc, the prices are much better at the shops off the Island over where we had dinner.
Anna is such a blessing to us. She has quite a temper, but is also very affectionate to us. This morning, she got upset when the girls tried to get her dressed (she wanted mama to do it) and started calling them some of her mean names. We aren’t sure which one – either “bad egg” or “stupid boy.” She also walks up and gives everyone hugs and kisses too. Passionate personalities tend to go both ways, don’t they? When we were at Jordan’s, we were again struck by her language skills. She was looking at a package of chopsticks that I had given her. They had little cartoon characters printed on the back. She was telling Jordan which one was “lovely” that she wanted me to keep when we opened the package, which one was a “naughty boy” and which one was a “sleeping lazy pig!”
We are missing our boys. A friend sent us some pictures. We miss our friends too. Thank you again for all of the sweet and encouraging email notes.
May you all be blessed today. Much love – The Aldrich Family
Working on my wink!
The pool at the White Swan is almost as nice as Ray and Wendy's!
