smokerblog

Feeling Blessed

[GUANGZHOU, 1/22 10:30PM]

No official business today, so we did a little sightseeing this morning. We traveled to the famous Liurong Buddhist Temple with its magnificent 17-story pagoda, where we lit some incense and received prayers of blessing from the monks. Unfortunately, the pagoda was too tall to fit in frame, so you'll have to settle for the pictures of the Buddha statues. There were three statues in the pavilion where the blessing ceremony took place. In addition to the statue pictured, you can barely make out the other two in the background of the self portrait we took.

After visiting the temple, we headed to the modern world's most holy place: Wal-Mart. Except that it wasn't a Wal-Mart, it was a Lotus Superstore, but to American eyes it was exactly like Wal-Mart, right down to the "Everyday Prices" slogan on the signage. It was very crowded and we wanted to keep the group together, so I didn't get a chance to find any picture books for Ben, but I got some water, beer, and snacks for the hotel room as well as some bath toys and more toy cars for about $7.

Now that there's a group of Americans around Ben, I think he's beginning to get the idea that English is a valid means of communication and he's a bit more open to learning some of the words that I've been using around him. Among today's breakthroughs were "thank you" and "nite-nite." Meanwhile, I received bonus points for recognizing before our guides did that Ben needed to use the bathroom at dinnertime.

Everyone in our group is really nice. With the exception of one two-year old and four-year old, all of the other children in the group are infants. Ben does his best to make friends with everyone, especially with the four-year old girl. He's a great sharer, passing out cookies and lending his cars to the other toddlers, but all of his advances have failed to crack through the bashful exterior of his four-year old counterpart.

Only three more days. One more off-day, our only duties are to confirm our flight reservations. Then tomorrow the big visa appointment meeting at the US Consulate, then the next day the flight to Ben's new home.