Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Jim, Trina, Nick, Jesse, Catherine and Faith!
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November 22, 2006
Not a whole lot to report today. Faith got up at 5:30, but still slept all night, so we were rested as well. We spent a leisurely morning getting her fed, dressed, and showering ourselves. The plan today called for a local tour, including the Guangxi Museum. We didn’t have to meet with Davey, our local coordinator until 10 am, so we had a lot of time on our hands.
Nicholas, Faith loves the mirror as much as you and Catherine do. After she had her breakfast and diaper change she spent a lot of time playing in front of it. We went to breakfast with Joleigh’s family and got diaper bags ready to go.
It turned out that the museum was our only stop on the tour. I (Jim) was disappointed to learn that. I told Trina I’d rather have taken the river cruise in a town near here than tour the museum. Like most things, however, it turned out I was wrong. The museum was great. There are 56 different “cultures” or “peoples” in China; 36 of them live here in Guangxi, which is an Autonomous Region, not a Province. The museum highlighted the cultures of these people. We saw ancient bronze drums, the oldest and largest in the world. There were traditional dress, toys, blankets, displays of courting rituals, etc. Outside, behind the museum, was a beautiful garden with a pond and a recreation of a stage (the people of this region are known for their dancing and singing), a “drum house” used to call the villagers together for meetings, and a “wind and rain” bridge, which has two stories, an upper one for people and markets, and a lower one for animals.
Davey took us to a shop that had better prices than in the museum, and Trina and I were able to get a traditional handmade blanket that resembles some of our handmade carpets from Afghanistan. We both wanted a carpet from China, possibly Tibet, but being able to get this from where Faith is from was even better. We both liked it better than any of the blankets we’ve seen so far as well. We also got some “loving balls” which are handcrafted by the girls as they grow up. During the spring festival, the girls would write down a question and place it in a ball suspended from something resembling a May Pole. The boys would then read the question and then “sing” their answer. If the girl liked the boy’s answer, she would throw her loving ball to him, showing that she would be interested in marriage. If he caught it then he was interested as well, if not then the girl had to wait and look for someone else.
After shopping we grabbed some lunch and went back to the hotel for naps. I don’t think Trina and I will be interested in Pizza Hut when we get home, but it’s a change from the hotel cuisine, and it’s safe to eat. Besides that, it comes with meat on it. I’m still getting ribbed about my “hamburger!” I, Trina used to read peoples postings and judge them when they said they were tired of Chinese food. Now I must ask everyone’s forgiveness because I completely understand. Having Chinese food three times per day for a week gets really old. We usually have it twice a day and something western for lunch. Back home, in England, we have Chinese food about once every couple of months. I think I can safely say we may have our quota of Chinese food for at least a year.
In the afternoon we got together with Joleigh’s family and another lady and her daughter, to go to the People’s Park. This place was huge! We walked around for an hour and a half and didn’t even see a quarter of it. They had a huge lake with hundreds of thousands of koi in it, which we got to feed, and beautiful grounds to walk through. We met a group of twelve girls who were going to college for English Business degrees. They fell in love with Jacob, Joleigh’s 9 year-old brother. One girl remarked that now she would never be able to get married, since he was going back to the U.S. He was shy at first, and then really started to ham it up.
We left the park in time to return to the hotel before dark, and all of us had dinner together. The children are all starting to really bond well to their new families. I know Trina and I are so happy to have Faith. God surely knew what he was doing; every little girl fits perfectly into her new family. Just like Trina and I have read, the girls don’t really seem to want to have anything to do with the Chinese people that try to hold them, they only want us. One family has a little girl that sucks her index and middle finger on her right hand. One of the Chinese officials made a comment that it was very bad for her to do this. Well, after this couple talked with the husband’s mother, they discovered that he also sucked the exact same two fingers on the same hand when he was a baby. This couple has been trying to have children for a very long time and this little bit of information was a blessing. This is just a little example of how great our God is. He knew us before the foundations of the world. Each of these little girls has little quirks that place them in their family. We all would like each family who is going through this know that we all waited 7 months longer than we were told this journey would be. If we had not had to wait that extra 7 months, these little girls would not belong to our family. God is good and his timing is perfect. I remember reading this during our wait and thinking, yeah they can say that because they have their little girls, but I want what God desires for me. This gift is far better than anything I could have imagined.
After dinner Faith and Joleigh had a bath together. Apparently Joleigh didn’t enjoy the first bath she took, on Gotcha Day. Both of the girls enjoyed bathing together. Her parents are now trying to get us to move to Florida so the girls can be close. Trina and I are telling them to move to Oregon. We have the upper hand, because they are into the outdoors, and the scenery is so much better out West.
Faith went to bed at 9 pm, very easily tonight. Trina and I fell asleep as well, which is why this is being posted in the early morning, instead of last night. Today is Thanksgiving Day, and we are so thankful that God has led us on this journey. This morning we are going to Yulin, to see where the girls are from, and to take pictures of their finding places. We’ll tell you all about it tonight.
Nick, Jesse, and Cat, mommy and I miss you so much. We hope you are having fun with Granny, Grandma, Poppa, and your cousins. We will try to call you soon. We love you and miss you. Love, Daddy.
