Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Steve, Allison, Sean, Megan, Ryan and Katelyn!
June 25, 2008
An invisible red thread connects those who are destined
to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.
-An Ancient Chinese Belief
At the start of the second week, we are all home sick and anxious to return to be with Megan and Ryan (we watched a video we made of Megan and Ryan this afternoon and missed them even more...and Katie enjoyed the little production the two of them created on the video).
After breakfast we took a tour of the Qingxiu Mountain Park, only about 15 minutes away, but what a change in the environment up in the wooded hills (not sure they really classify as mountains). After driving up a winding road, we walked stairs and through a series of gates to see the historic nine-story pagoda. Steve and Sean climbed still more steps (seems like a common thing for ancient Chinese monuments...no wonder the Chinese are in such great shape) to see the incredible panoramic view of the Nanning area...we could see the river dividing the urban city from the rural factory and farms, as well as many wooded hills and a few temple roof tops spiking up from the trees. The approaching thunder made the return walk more exciting, and the rain started as we were feeding a frenzy of tropical fish in a large pond. We also saw a brand new Buddhist Temple still under construction in the park. It’s just as glorious as the ancient ones in Beijing, just alot cleaner.
We did some shopping in the city on the way back to the hotel, buying Katie some more comfortable sandals, more hair bows, a new purse like moms (she loves shopping by the way...perhaps a female trait even in China), and a book on the Guangxi Province and one on the architecture of the Olympic Village (Steve was basically dragged out of the book store).
Katelyn Hua is still not speaking (even to the guide speaking to her in Chinese), but we have caught her a couple times softly and quietly saying a few words when she saw an octopus on tv and when she saw men playing basketball below our hotel window. She loves to leave the room and go for walks..even packing her backpack and getting her purse ready to go. She fell asleep for her nap with the now traditional and well known back rubbing from dad, and mom painted her finger and toe nails a bright red (she loves the attention). She insists on bows and clips in her hair, the more the better (this explains why her hair is longer than most girls from an orphanage).
We took a photo in the hotel room near the window, and were surprised by the result...the birthmark is not noticeable at all in the photo, and her true beauty really shows!! She still enjoys mom and Sean’s company, but still not quite sure of this dad guy.
Sean Says:
The excitement of now having Katie makes me more anxious to get back home with her. We got to go up to the top of the Elephant Dragon Pagoda...nine stories in all. Katie is starting to come out of her shell...especially with me. It rained a lot today, so it wasn't as hot. I look forward to the Zoo tomorrow (it sounds more like Sea World with dolphin shows).
