Monday, July 19, 2010

All clear on Ava’s TB test results this morning.

By 11:00AM Michelle was delightfully up to her whazoo in beads. Beads of all sort, size, shapes and materials were strung and stacked in booth after booth side-by-side for a ¼ mile stretch at the Pearl Market. It was difficult to settle on just a few strings, but she was surprisingly selective and conservative, although she did say to me at one point “go away over there with Ava…oh, but give me your wallet first.”

After shopping, our next stop was a visit to the Guangzhou Liu Rong Temple where we received a family blessing from a Buddhist monk. The Liu Rong Temple was founded in the Song Dynasty (AD 420-479). We wandered throughout incense filled ancient banyan tree landscape and chased Ava whenever she bolted on a whim. It was a mix of tranquility and impromptu sprinting.

Back at the hotel, Richard and I met for about an hour to go over paper work and forms he needs for the US Consulate appointment tomorrow. We do not need to attend the Consulate appointment tomorrow, but do need to appear in person to take an oath of some sort on the 21st.

It’s about 4:30PM now and Ava just woke up from her afternoon nap. Michelle is taking her down stairs to the Swan Room where children can play together with toys and such. Later this evening we’re going to head out for dinner and a stroll around the Island.

10:30PM now. We had a nice dinner and a stroll across the bride to the Pearl River boardwalk. There are many foreign embassies located in this part of Guangzhou, thus many paramilitary police. We licked ice cream and watched on with interest as they exercised and went through tactical drills in formation.

And now a news story of interest for our friends in the Pacific Northwest. From the Global Times of China:

CHINESE SASQUATCH SUSPECTED

July 19, 2010 - Hubei Province - Bears or Bigfoot? That’s what villagers in Shennongjia, Hubei Province are wondering ever since one man named Ding Fei, 33, found mysterious thick curly hairs with transparent roots on July 9 at a location called Swallow Hole on a local mountain.

After Ding reported his discovery to the neighborhood committee, some professional researchers found additional hairs and a 30-centimeter-long footprint at the same place on July 11. According to their research, the hair isn’t human or livestock, but the possibility of bears could not be ruled out.

Good night from Guangzhou.

Daryl & Michelle