Yesterday-Day Three of Touring (Old Beijing, Pearl Market, Temple of Heaven) and Today (paperwork)

Temple of Heaven
Tong Tong with his "Aoteman" t-shirt

Old Beijing Quarter house

Entrance to Beijing Quarter house

Well, things have kind of changed and James is trying to find out whether he can trust me, or whether I will leave him like others have. He is no longer going to me and pushes me away. I did know this was possible, but after the first days of doing so well, I was kind of floored by it. I need to keep my emotions in check and remember that God is here, he brought us to this place and will not leave us. One day at a time depending on God. I think what makes it so hard is being so far from home and of course the language barrier. It would be easier if I could understand James better and he could understand us. I am thankful James is attaching to Mike and will now go to him, I can't imagine if it were both of us he was rejecting. James is also doing some testing to see how far he can go with things. The kids are trying to make sense of it all. I am trusting it will get better each day. James has not known the kind of love that we experience when as a baby every need you have is met and the love we receive in a family. In fact he has no idea what a family is. He may think I am just the next nanny and will be here only a short while. He may have pulled away from me because this love I have been pouring into him feels good and he is protecting himself from getting hurt. Thank you in advance for your prayers, we know God hears and answers!

Here are Ali's touring thoughts:

Yesterday was another day of touring. The other famlies had gone to their own provinces to get their children, so so we were on our own with Sherry, our guide. We started out taking rickshaws (which I assure you all is very humane, quite possibly even more humane than those horse drawn carriage rides downtown). It was a really nice way to see the city, very calm and relaxing.

After riding around in the rickshaws for a little while, we got to visit a quarter house (a sort of old fashioned house with a courtyard in the middle) and drink tea and talk to the guy who owned it. He said that during the olympics some friends of the athletes stayed with him, which was cool.

After that we went to a famous resturant in Old Beijing, which was excellent, then to a kindergarten to visit some of the little kids. This was to show us what the orphanage was like.

We also went to the Temple of Heaven, which was very cool. It was less crowded than some of the other tourist sites which was nice. We saw some people dancing and singing in the park...just relaxing and having a good time. I think group dancing in the parks is more of a typical culture thing here, compared to the US.

Then we went to the markets. It was an experience, I'll tell you that! Tong Tong saw a t-shirt that had a picture of "Aoteman", a chinese superhero on it. He LOVED that shirt and pretty much went crazy over it. We bought it for him, and when we got back to the hotel he put it on right away. After that...things got a bit out of control... He ran around, saying, "Aoteman! Aoteman!" for maybe an hour or so. Wow.

--Ali