Yesterday, the group of us went to a riverfront park, the name of which I can’t remember, nor spell. The park was a narrow park, maybe 200 feet wide, going down the length of the river. We disembarked from the bus at the main pavilion, which was built in honor of an ancient Chinese poet. The park had several little gardens interspersed along the walkway and there were a lot of people out there, strolling with their little ones for a nice, leisurely afternoon.
Kelly and Nicole stayed behind at the hotel while I went on the tour. During our bus ride over, our tour guide gave us an excellent briefing on some more Hunan province history and sang a very popular, traditional Hunan song, which I was able to videotape. Our tour guide, Daphne, is one very super lady and we are so fortunate to have her as our tour guide and CCAI rep.
Daphne's picture is below.
The tour to the park was about an hour long. While the group was strolling along, several Chinese families came up to us to introduce their children to us and to converse as best they could. The Chinese folks that I have seen really do enjoy ANY opportunity to talk to us, and they had no hesitation in coming up to us while we were walking along the park.
The fellow below was selling bird whistles and little paper birds attached to string for the kids in the park. The whistle he is blowing makes a very neat bird sound and it definitely catches your attention.
Later in the evening we had dinner at the same restaurant we celebrated Thanksgiving Day in. The meal was good and so cheap. Dinner (all you can eat) for the two of us came to $10 USD.
All in all, yesterday was a nice relaxing day for us. We gave Nicole her nightly bath and this time let her stay longer in the tub than before. I was soaked from all the splashing Nicole was doing. She really loves the water. We are starting to see some routines taking place with Nicole which I think is really helping her adjust even more so with us. At night before putting her to bed I sing softly to her. It is so neat to feel her in my arms, sing softly to her, and eventually feel her going limp. Could it be my voice is boring her so much that all she can do is go to sleep?
Today we have a short tour scheduled for visiting a local kindergarten. Daphne thought it would interest us to see some daily life of the little children that attend kindergarten where they are taught gymnastics, singing, etc. Should be interesting.
We are looking forward to tomorrow’s trip to Guangzhou since it means we will soon be coming home.
Our love to all and thanks for the comments you post.
Just a reminder that while the pictures we post are small, you can do a double click on them and they will come up full sized.