A Cultural Day…
December 1, 2005

If you looked at our itinerary at the beginning of this website, then you totally wasted your time.  Since we've arrived at Guangzhou we have pretty much thrown our itinerary out the window.  Mostly it has to do with the fact that since our girls were "special needs" (now they're just special), we have not been traveling with a big group.  Normally there would be around 20 other families with us on this journey, but instead it is just us and the "Pauls" as we call them.  At first we were very sad about this; we thought it was unfortunate that we would not be able to bond with these other families.  But the entire process has been streamlined for us since we are a group of 2 rather than 20.  For example, yesterday we had to take the girls to the local clinic for a brief physical examination in order for them to receive their Visas.  It took about 15 minutes for the two of them to get checked out.  Image how long it would've taken if there were 20 other families who had to go through the same thing?!?  It would've taken 2-3 hours!  The same is true for taking Visa pictures, the interview process, the consulate appointments, everything.  So although we would have liked to met new families, we are glad in some ways that it has just been us.

Today we spent the morning at the Guangzhou Cultural and Art Museum.  That was great!  Although Kevin and JacJac played hide and seek most of the time, I really enjoyed looking at the different types of paintings, embroidery, sculpting, and general artwork.  The Museum is a renovated temple where the Chan family used to worship their ancestors.  Although I'm not too into worshipping great-great-great- great grandparents, it was fascinating to be in a building that has such history.  As Americans, our sense of history is somewhat short since our country is relatively new.  But here there is a sense of history that spans thousands of years.  I was standing in a building that existed before the United States even began…

JacJac continues to do better almost hourly.  She still loves Kevin, but let me reiterate that not having to entertain a child and hold her constantly does not make me sad.  More time and energy to be spent on shopping!  I know JacJac will come to bond with me in time.  A couple months from now she will love me just as much as she loves her Daddy (well, maybe that's a stretch!).  She's already figured out that I'm the one with the food and juice and comes to me whenever she's hungry or thirsty.  Isn't she smart?

Our email is now officially broken, so if you sent an email in the last 24 hours, it did not make it through to us (Charity, yours was the last – thank you, it was beautiful).  Our computer tells us how many email messages are waiting, but won't open them.  So email us at: kjcrouch@infionline.net if you need us.  We truly appreciate your emails.

Blessings,
Kevin & Janie