The Zoo and other things

We have had several interesting things happen so far.

• We went shopping at the local Carefour store, a French version of a Wal-Mart, and were checking out when the alarm went off. We had purchased bottles of water at the Garden before we went there and they tripped the alarm. Well, it's not easy to explain to people that speak nothing but Chinese. I immediately told Amanda to get Kelly, our guide who is Chinese. While she was looking for her, I was diligently trying to explain that we had paid for them at the garden. No luck. Flashes of a bad movie start going through my head. I've got to quit watching those Bourne movies. Kelly showed up and explained what happened and all was OK.


• We have met several young ladies working in the local stores. They have such an interest in the US. They all know the exchange rate and can see me calculating in my head whatever number they gave me divided by 7.25 . One asked me about "Friends" saying she loves that show and wanted to know what percentage of the US lived like that. It gave me a chance to talk with her about the US being a Christian nation, Christmas, the Bible (and how it guides us in our lives) and more. I did acknowledge that there is a percentage of the US that does live that way but she could obviously tell from talking with me that all men are not young and handsome like Chandler but she did have a problem understanding the difference between Charleen and Jennifer Aniston (I should get some points for that one). It is sad to think that with the West influencing the Asian nations more and more that a 22 year old thought we all lived like that. A friend of hers had gone to NYC and came back to tell her that we all live like the cast of "Friends." Another young lady told me she got saved 2 years ago after someone gave her a bible. We all had good conversation with her.


• One day, a bunch of the couples in our group were in the play room together where you have to take your shoes off. Later in the day we were at the doctor when Jason looks at me and said "I think you have my shoes." They looked a lot like mine and I took them by mistake. Needless to say, my girls and the rest of the group have been riding my case about that ever since.


• Carlee is such a joy. She is definitely 2! She is sooooo cute. I started playing with her right away after we got her. One of the things I did was when she reached up and grabbed my nose I made a honking sound. She later grabbed my ear and I said "hello, hello." Well, she thinks that is hilarious and now wants to play that game all the time. I'll be walking with her, her head down on my shoulder, thinking she is going to sleep when her little head pops up and she grabs my nose. Charleen is about to stop letting me try to put her to sleep as it doesn't work well when I do it.


• Some of the families that initially flew to other provinces showed up today. They had horrible stories to tell of what it is like in those areas. One of the babies ended up in the hospital as she had pneumonia. The stories of the hospital with it's filth and much worse living conditions than Guangzhou made us feel fortunate that Carlee was here in a good orphanage and that we had good places to eat this past week. Those stories are the ones where the people see the conditions and want to take all the children with them. Each recognises that they are saving one more life (hopefully for eternity) by their actions.

We have one more week here and will be hearing more from those that just jointed up with us again. I'm sure I'll have more stories to share. Hope all are doing well back in the US. We are getting emails at jdb113@gmail.com. Thank you all for your continues prayers and support.

Waiting to see Dr. for medical approval. All went well.

Carlee Mei with her hands full. Like most 2 year olds, she is exploring a lot and anything within reach becomes her newest item to examine.

Shopping downtown in Guangzhou.

Carlee Mei with Ba Ba

Carlee Mei is in to everything. We are definitely going to baby proof the house as soon as we get home.

Normal apartment living in Guangzhou. There are older apartments everywhere like this. It's normal to see clothes handing on the porch, drying.

Then to the Rolls Royce dealer.

Charleen, Amanda & Jamie outside of Lucy's, a restaurant just outside the hotel that specializes in American food. Except for the fact that all of the employees are Chinese you would swear that you were in a local family restaurant in the US.

This is a familiar scene in Guangzhou where a nice looking building is constructed next to something that looks like it's about to fall in. Guangzhou has a lot of new construction taking place replacing these old buildings. Another common site is the multi story buildings that are partially built and abandoned. We have seen several of these

Scaffolding on the side of a building built from bamboo. It's amazing to see buildings 30+ stories high being built with bamboo scaffolding. But it's the norm.

Panda Bear at the local Zoo. A Panda Bear here is the equivalent of seeing an alligator at the zoo in Florida I would think.

Amanda with the kangaroo. She's the only one I could get to pose with it.

This is a Camel (duh!)

Jamie behind the aquarium

Carlee Mei enjoying the zoo. She knows when it's time to go as she climbs up in the stroller and sits patiently.

Inside a local McDonald's. It was time for a fountain Coke with ice in it, something you can't get anywhere else. Primarily because the water system here is not great so you can't drink the water, resulting in them not serving ice in drinks.