Well, today we got out of our cells, er, hotel room, and got to see the exciting sights of Changsha. We were taken to the Martyr's Park and The Embroidery Factory tour. The Park was beautiful and kind of surreal. Once we were in the park, our guide, Kathy, took us up a footpath into the woods. In the thick brush of green Kinko trees (yeah, they copy), there were about 50 Chinese people literally hanging in the trees on hammocks - kind of like sloths! I guess when it's this damn hot, why not? There were also a group of women doing Tai Chi and then a few others playing cards and chess. If you didn't know to look here, you'd walk right by and never know this whole world was going on within the woods. Crazy.
After being sufficiently drenched in our own sweat we tumbled back into our bus and went to the factory. When I tell you it's amazing how they make these crafts, I mean it's really amazing. There are about 15 women all bent over silk cloths sewing very elaborate, vibrant, seamless pictures into silk from free hand. We donated our American funds for a few pieces and back to our cell we went. The afternoon was spent napping, reading, and taking Hope for her first swim. She was very tentative at first but was soon trying to dunk her head in and splash all over. I was entertained by a nice young man, "John, who is from Shanghai, China, a very large city". He said it just like this, several times. He also thought I'd be good prey for him to practice his English on. Soon I found myself correcting his verbs, and he was singing American love songs to me. It was very funny!
Speaking of water we only have one more day in "inland China" and we get to pick up our bags and go to Guangzhou on Saturday. It's still hot and humid, but there is supposed to be an ocean breeze to keep us sane. There is also a few "Americanized" restaurants that we can't wait to taste.
Hope was great today, very cuddly and smiled so, so sweetly when I kissed her. She's starting to really like us! She should, after all, we just pretty much sit around and stare at her, feed her, and spoil her. We can't get enough. Our hearts are really aching though for our Claire Bear and the day I can scoop her up in my arms and hug her so tight I'll never let her go. There are way too many China girls in this place that remind us of her!! ha ha.
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3 comments:
It is so nice to see Hope smile in the picture. She is so sweet. I'm glad that you enjoy the city tour.
It is not rare to see all the misspelling words. I constantly pointed out to the Chinese officials when I was in China.
Have a safe trip to Guangzhou!
Wenguo, Dan and Shuya
I love the recent pictures of her with her hand her in her mouth and her smiling an impish little grin :) Sounds like you won't be missing the weather in Changsha. I hope you get some nice breezes in Guangzhou. You're missing some icky hot weather here in Colorado right now, though at least it's minus the unbearable humidity. None of you look any worse for the wear though-- you all look fresh beautiful in the pictures.
We love reading these updates. Hope is precious, and as Matt says, her eyes are so beautiful and engaging. Can't wait to see them in person! We leave VA tomorrow and will be on the road for a week until getting home to CO. We're thinking we'll need to stop in a coffee shop and try to find WiFi because we can't stand being away from your updates. The pictures are fantastic!!
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