Funny thing happened this morning at breakfast. Greg was wearing a grey tee shirt that said Baseball on it. This American guy walked up to him and asked, "You are an American, aren't you?" Greg said yes. The next question was, "Great, so who won the World Series?" He had been in some rural area in the west of China adopting and had been so out of touch that he hadn't heard.
We struck off on a new adventure today. Greg and I took the kids off on our own for the first time off Shamian Island. In case I haven't been clear, we are staying on Shamian Island. It was originally where the Chinese allowed the westerners to settle. The Pearl River runs along one side and they dug a canal on the other to separate it from the rest of China. They then posted guards on the bridges to shoot any foreingers who tried to cross without permission. Most of the buildings on the island are western style architecture. It is expensive to live here for the locals. One family we have developed a relationship with (they own The Shop on Stair, which is just that, a shop that goes up a flight of steps with goods on both sides and ends at the door!) pay RMB1500 to live on the island so they can keep the shop open later. If they lived across the canal, they would only have to pay RMB400 for a similar apartment. The US Consulate used to be here, but moved to the northern part of the city for a more secure facility. Many of the locals speak at least some English, most of the people here are business travelers or adopting Americans. The shops on the island are geared towards adopting little girls. At any rate, we left the island without a guide or my parents for the first time.
We asked the front desk to write the characters for the Guangzhou Zoo down on a card to show a cab driver and off we went. The Guangzhou Zoo is an interesting place. It is very much in transition right now. It was built in 1958 and is working to transition from caged animals to more open habitat enclosures. It is a beautiful place, but still needs a lot of work. The best feature is a new building called Ocean World. It was an amazing aquarium, similar to our Newport Aquarium. You enter down an escalator that descends through a fish tank tunnel. There are skates, sea turtles, crab, sharks, penguins, seals, and many animals I had never seen before. The kids would ask what something was, but we couldn't tell them since all the signs were in Chinese.
They did a dive show with 2 ladies dressed as mermaids who swam around in the big tank with the skates and other assorted fish. Then the diver went in to feed the skates. They flocked to him and covered him like a blanket looking for their share of the fish. It was very fun to see.
We ate a quick lunch--another noodle bowl. Cheap and filling. Then we went to the dolphin show. They started with a very fun sea lion demonstration. Then they moved on to the dolphins. Kailey and Justin got to go pet the dolphin. Then they brought out 2 trained beluga whales. Very impressive.
After the show we wandered the zoo. We were shocked to see the Chinese children throwing candy to the bears and no one stopping them. This must be standard because the bears seemed to expect it. There was trash in the cages that people had thrown in. They do not have the buffer zones like we have. The animals cannot get out or reach the people, but they are right under where people can stand.
One funny thing we saw was at a gibbon hill. Three workers were in the enclosure cleaning it out with lots of gibbons running around. One of them had a spray bottle that you pump to build pressure so that it will spray continuously. He had dropped the nozzle and one of the monkeys had grabbed it and run off with it. The zoo keeper was chasing him trying to retreive it, but the monkey was hiding from him. The monkey would spot him coming and would take off, across the enclosure and up something high. Then would take off again when the keeper would get close. The chase went of for quite a while, drawing quite a crowd of laughing spectators. The monkey finally dropped the nozzle and the keeper was able to retreive it and get back to work. Greg wondered who the bigger monkey was.
We left the zoo, caught a cab, showed him a card from the hotel telling him where to take us and returned safe and sound.
I should get to bed now. Tomorrow is a big day, and I want to be well rested for it. Before I go, we would all love to hear from home. We have already been gone for 13 days and we will not return home for another 12. I think periodic quick notes from home would make each of us feel more connected to our friends and family. We know you are there, reading our entries and praying for us, but we'd all love to hear from you. Thank you, and good night, all.
No comments:
Post a Comment