I think it's Sunday???

Sorry - I forgot to say Happy 4th of July to everyone back home! You kinda lose track of the days when you're on this journey.

Today we visited the Banyan Buddhist Temple, which is very old and beautiful. We were too close to the tower for me to get a good pic. It had another 2 levels below what I shot. There were many people there lighting incense and praying to the huge Buddhas in the temple. I believe the guide said the Buddhas weigh 10 tons and are 6 meters tall. If you look in the lower right corner of the Buddha picture, you can see one of the priests. It gives you an better idea of the size of the idols. Very impressive. There are 800 Buddhas - only 1 is female. Outside the temple grounds were some men sitting along the sidewalk with live turtles suspended with straps from the ends of long poles. They didn't want their picture taken. We supposed they were maybe selling endangered species for turtle soup? We then went to the Chen House. It used to belong to a very old and rich family, but the government took it over and turned it into a school/art museum. Our guide said it was better that way, since it was very expensive for the family to keep, and now everyone could enjoy it. Somehow I doubt the Chen family felt so good about that deal... But it was very beautiful and very detailed. It is undergoing renovations now.  The rooms are large and very open with a huge courtyard in the center.

All over Guangzhou there are a zillion apartment buildings of all sizes. Many of the buildings are very old. They look very crowded and everyone hangs their wash out to dry on their decks or in their windows. The pictures aren't the best, they were taken through the bus windows, but it gives you the idea.

Enough of the travel-log. Back to the purpose of the trip. Ke Xin. She is absolutely precious!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I have said before, she LOVES Debbi and Olivia. All she has to do is look at them and she dissolves into giggles. What about me? As Borat would say, "You... not so much." But I think she is starting to come around. She's always lets me hold her and feed and change her. But, no smiles or laughter. Today at lunch (yet again at Lucy's) she fed me! And she laughed at me! Yeah! We're making headway! She was so cute! She was trying some different foods. She likes hamburger and french fries. She decided to use my cast-off onion garnish as bracelets. She was very proud of herself and she had everyone laughing. She seems to be the happiest toddler around!!! With strangers she is very guarded. If she doesn't get her way or she feels stressed, she pulls the neckline of her shirt up over her mouth. But mostly she struts around and has the biggest smile on her face. She only has to see something done once or twice and she remembers and does it exactly. She imitates Olivia like crazy. They get along like 2 peas in a pod. Olivia is great with her and Ke Xin can MORE than hold her own against her big sis. They had a great day and crashed tonight around 7pm! (Debbi was playing a game with Olivia after we got back from dropping off our wash. It was the "how long can you lie still" game. Olivia actually fell asleep. I guess that means she wins.) Tomorrow we go to have Ke Xin's TB skin test read. Hopefully that will be the end of the medical stuff. Her arm looks good to me, so I don't expect her to have to have a chest x-ray (I hope... I hope... I hope...).

The last 2 pics are out our window looking onto all the lights across the river. It's beautiful! The large building in the last pic has lights that change constantly from the top to the bottom and on the sides. The 2 daytime pics I had of the river view aren't all that great since it was cloudy, but we have learned that in Guangzhou it can rain one minute and be sunny the next. Anytime we look across the river, we can see rain falling somewhere in the city. It's kinda neat.  

In some of the pictures you may notice some red blobs around Ke Xin's left eye. She had bug bites when we got her and they proceeded to become infected. They were nasty!! But when we arrived in Guangzhou and she was zonked out, I popped them. Needless to say, it was like something out of The Exorcist (sorry if that's too much detail...). Eeeeyyeewww. Now they are finally healing up. She should look beautiful by the time we arrive home. I know she feels better!

I dropped the disposable cameras the orphanage sent with Ke Xin at the photo shop. It will be exciting to see what's on them. She keeps pointing to the cameras and saying "Mama!" and "Mung!" (what she calls her foster brother). They're going to make double prints and a CD for me. Since we couldn't visit the foster mom, I'm hoping there will be something there for Ke Xin to have of them.