Sunday 11pm
In talking to many parents around here a common theme has developed. We all have kids that have a stubborn streak and want to exert their independence. Okay, yes that describes Kara's mother, but that is beside the point. With the kids feeling more comfortable with us they are starting to push the boundaries. We were told by Shiyan that the kids have lived a very militaristic lifestyle in the orphanages. Now that they have much more freedom, they are testing how far they can take it.
I just know that when we get home Kara and Micah are going to be in cahoots with one another to see what they can get away with. Kara has decided to get herself in trouble in the same area Micah gets in trouble: pulling things out of the wall socket. I'm convinced they are communicating telepathically. She also likes to play at bedtime. I was having a very difficult time (and was not successful) at keeping a straight face the other night when Kara was supposed to be going to sleep. First she would be playing with her feet, trying to rid herself of invisible toe jam. Then we would see feet coming out of her mini-crib (the hotel provides a small crib, if Micah were here he would have catapulted out of that thing long time ago…hopefully he doesn't send that message to Kara). Then both legs would come out. Then we'd see her sitting up with a blanket on her head. If she had toys in there we know they would go flying across the room. I don't know why, but our guide keeps looking at us when she talks about the "long and difficult journey home with your children." We went off the island today (I know all you "Lost" fans are already thinking of funny comments to make) to visit "Chen's Ancestral Hall" built during the Qing dynasty (1888-1894). Within the rooms of the "hall" are displays of folk art from around the country (ivory carvings, paper cutting, glass etching, wood carvings, embroidery, porcelain and pottery). The buildings themselves were amazing, and the art work was very impressive. I felt genetically inferior once again. Even though they were selling ivory works, there was a big sign that said you cannot take any ivory out of the People's Republic of China without permission from the government. We figured we are already going through a lot of trouble getting governmental approval to take a 21lb export out of the country, we'd best not push our luck.
After our visit to the Ancestral Hall, we went to a park that houses the very famous statue of five goats (which half our group thought was the "gold statue" instead of the "goat statue."). Apparently if you have a picture of you standing in front of the statue, everyone will know you were in Guangzhou. On another level of the park were other sculptures. Here is a bit of the explanation from the plaque: "The sculpture with the artistists technique of fiction and actuality expressing the mythology of the five rams in three pictures that is: "The God's Descent" "Giving Grain to the People" "Labour and Harvest." "It is so magnificently conceived and lively shaped making you feel that you was in the fairly tale." We got a picture in front of the statue which was undeniably a statue of five goats. The foliage was beautiful at the park and we would have loved to look around more, but frankly we were "sweating fat" and opted to go back to the air conditioned hotel, because you could "boil a kettle on my head."
As we gathered in a group this evening to go to dinner an older man came up to me and started speaking Chinese. I said my "Ting bu dong" twice and even "duibuqi" (I'm sorry) and he kept talking. Finally I called Shiyan over to talk to him. He wanted to know how much it cost to adopt Kara. He is from Indonesia and he has a relative that would like to adopt. Shiyan told him that no one from Indonesia can adopt from China because there is no agreement to do so between the two countries. He asked again about the cost. I told Shiyan to tell him that it "costs a lot." Then he asked where Kara was from. When Shiyan told him she was from Beijing, he said, "Oh, she must have been more expensive."
I've discovered I am an unintentional haggler. It is commonplace to haggle about the price of things, something at which I fail miserably. I just feel bad for the people trying to eke out a living which I was just telling some friends at dinner. We did do some shopping after dinner (paying full price) and James decided to head back to the hotel with Kara, regretting that he ever decided to go shopping with me. I paid for our stuff and started walking back to the hotel. On the way I saw a store that had t-shirts. There was a particular one I had seen that I wanted for Kara. I asked the storekeepers (who spoke very good English as do most shopkeepers on the island) how much for the shirt. The lady said "25 yuan." I said, "Hmm, okay well I'll come back tomorrow because I don't really have much money with me." Apparently I uttered some code phrase as the young man said "It is a little more expensive because it is well made." I said, "Okay, well I'll come back tomorrow." The lady said, "Okay, I lower the price. 20 yuan." I thought, "Wow, that was easy." I didn't expect the price to drop and really was planning on coming back the next day. I said, "If I come back tomorrow can I still have the shirt for 20 yuan?" She must have thought I was trying to be a hard sell because she then said, "Oh you killing me! You take my salary! Okay, 15 yuan. You tell your friends I give you good price and you come again." Not wanting to repeat this scenario again, I dug into my pocket and had the 15 yuan for the shirt (to calculate about how much things cost, you divide the amount in yuan by 7). After I paid, I stayed and chatted with the two shopkeepers who were very curious about me. The guy asked where I was from. I said, "California." He looked at me curiously and said, "California….United States?" I said yes, wondering if there was another California I did not know about. He looked at the woman and then asked, "So your parents were born in China?" I then explained my ethnic background and the whole "Ting bu dong" deal at which they laughed, thus confirming that my Chinese is pretty sad. So, what does Kara's t-shirt say? "Made in China."
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