Monday, March 10, 2008

Well today we woke up to a not so normal Guangzhou morning. As we look out our windows from our room, we can't not see the beautiful city, because it is so hazy. It looked so cold, yet it was still a wonderful 77 degrees. We are scheduled to go the "Chen Family Academy" today and we are suppose to leave at the usual 9:30 in the morning. Before we go to the Academy we make a quick stop at what they call a Wal Mart, we are out of diapers, formula, and I needed a few more T-Shirts because I did not pack enough short sleeve shirts. After our quick stop we arrived at the Academy, and Rebecca gave us some of the history behind the place. They started building it in 1890 and finished in 1894. The Chen family was a very rich family and they built this place for a school for their children, only the Chen family could go to school here. Pretty spoiled if you ask me..... lol It was kinda turned into a museum know and there was many sections to explore the history of China. To start with the pictures below are of carvings in the actual building, the building itself was a piece of art, but the carvings were remarkable, and very detailed. The first picture is a carving on the top of the building, which went around the whole building, the carving was out of porcelain, and the second picture is a carving out of brick, it was in the center of the wall and about 3 foot long. They were scattered around all the outside walls. The third picture is a carving of a screen completely made of wood, it was in the center of the main entrance to the academy, and blocked the view of the school itself.We then were taken to a room filled with porcelain vases, which were not for purchase, Rebecca said we could order one but usually the VIP ordered them..... Not sure what she meant there, were we not VIP.From there we were taken into a room that displayed the furniture of that time. Rebecca told us that they laid on the bed without a mattress. In the summer they would put bamboo on it and in the winter they would put wheat on it to keep them warm. But that is not the kicker, notice the pretty blue porcelain boxes on the bed, this was there pillows. OUCH! You would not get much sleep would you.Outside of the furniture room were some beautiful Bonsai trees. Rebecca told me I could not have one, because she had tried to take care of 2 of them and killed them both. I told her she new my green thumb abilities all to well. They had many varieties of different trees but these two were my favorites. At the end of the tour we encountered this beautiful Magnolia tree. Rebecca was excited because she said "Oh yeah it in bloom". We tried our hardest to get a close up of a bloom, and was not successful until we stood on a near by seat, and pulled the blossom down to us. After we realized there was a lot of people staring at us. Connie said it was not because of the tree..... :)
After the tour of the Academy, we were scheduled to have lunch with an adoption family from the same adoption agency. We had lunch at the COW AND BRIDGE (very good), and really got to know them. It was a lot of fun, and they were really excited because today is their "Gotcha Day". The "H" family were off to Civil Affairs around 2:3o. Later in the afternoon Rebecca called us to the play room, to pick up some stuff that Rebecca picked up for Connie. Much to our surprise there was the "H" family with there little "M". He is so cute, and I send thanks to them for letting me post the picture of them. He is precious, Gods little treasure.

Oh yeah, I wanted to let you know that we have to do laundry too. It is not a complete paradise..... lol Love you all and talk to you all soon.

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