Another market...

First of all, sorry it has been a while since our last blog...lack of sleep and a bout of strep put a little damper on things at the Grossman household for a while. Yes, I guess God thought I needed strep in order to catch up on my sleep. I could think of other ways to fix that problem, but oh well...I am feeling much better- thanks to all of you who prayed me through. I hope I never have that again!!

 

One of our last days in China included a visit to the toy market. This market was 9 levels and was packed with every toy you could think of and other misc. items. It was a great place to be if you were Christmas shopping, but not if you wanted to find souvenirs. We didn't find a lot, but we did find a few more things to pack into our suitcase!

 

another taxi ride

Walk in the Park...to being lost in the city!

 

When we completed our family/group pictures on Wednesday, we had the rest of the day to ourselves, so we decided to go back to Yuexiu Park, which is where we enjoyed the huge amount of people playing Chinese Hacky Sack on our last visit.  Unfortunately, we didn't run into any hacky sackers, because it wasn't in the morning, which is when a lot of Chinese people do their exercises, dancing, etc... We walked and walked, following the signs of course,  to find the 5-ram statue. Neither one of us remember having that much trouble finding it last time, but it was good exercise! There were some shops at the bottom of where the statue was, so while Roger walked to the steps to take pictures, I decided to spend some more Chinese money! :)

 

The best part of the day was when these Chinese ladies caught Roger taking a picture of them, then they wanted to have Roger in their picture. Then as he met up with me, we got caught by another group of people who wanted pictures with us. I bet we got our picture taken with 10 different groups of people. And of course as you are getting your picture taken, then other people come over, then they want their picture with you. It was tremendous as Roger puts it...it definitely puts a smile on your face. I still don't know what they find so interesting about us Americans!!

 

The worst part of the day was when we went out a different entrance of the park and turned the wrong way to go back to the hotel. Instead of turning right, we turned left, then walked probably 3 miles in the wrong direction. After great stupidity, we finally showed some security people our paper that has China Hotel written in Chinese, and guess which way they told us to go...yep, back in the same direction we just walked!!! We walked all the way back to where we started, then realized if we would have turned the other way, we would have been back to the hotel in just a few minutes, instead of 2 hours later.  Lesson learned: ask for help after the first block, not the 3rd or 4th!!! We also figured that we had lost some weight that day- it was so hot and humid!!

 

 

You could take these boats out for a small fee.

Roger's group of ladies :)

5-ram statue

the day we became famous!!!

U.S. Consulate to get His Visa..or at least try!

Most of you by now have heard that we are still waiting on Oliver's visa. The U.S. Consulate in Washington D.C. is having computer issues and haven't been able to issue any visas or passports since Tuesday. Could someone who knows what they are doing go fix the problem please? Although we are really frustrated, we know that God is completely in charge and we have no control over any of it. We are not the only ones, there are many, many families who are stuck here. So we sit and wait. We decided that if we are going to be stuck in China, then it might as well be here in Guangzhou, one of the best cities in China.  Please pray for the situation and mostly for Hannah back home. She is anxiously waiting for us and expecting to see us on Saturday, but that isn't going to happened. We have not told her yet, but will plan to tell her Friday night, so please pray that she takes it the best she can. We know that she is having a great time with everyone she is staying with, but we also know deep in her heart, she misses us tremendously. And we miss her too!

The pictures below are from us at the U.S. Consulate. We were not allowed to take the camera beyond the security point, but we took the oath and promised to never abandoned or abuse Oliver.

 

This fogginess of this picture shows you how hot and humid it really is here.
I couldn't keep the lens clear to take a picture.

Selfie with the U.S. flag in the background!

Since the White Swan has been closed for a while now, the traditional family pictures on the red couch can not happen anymore, so we take them on the red stairs instead. :) As you can see, Roger decided to buy some Chinese silk too, which in turn guilted me in to buying one too.  You should have been with us when we were buying our outfits. Roger struggled to find a shirt that was big enough, but the Chinese store owner was determined to find a shirt that fit. He spent probably an hour in a little store on the island...the little lady was not going to let the business go elsewhere!!! Then when I was trying on dresses, she kept getting me ones that were too tight for my hips. She felt they were fine, but I said, No, too tight. They wear there dresses and skirts tight here.  After another 15-20 minutes, we finally found one that I liked and that fit comfortably. The only thing I didn't like was the slit on the side, it was a bit high for my comfort!! :)

Complete...missing Hannah of course.

We all knew that they kids' picture would be a disaster for some
and as you can see, Oliver was a complete disaster!!

More shoes to add to our photo book...

These are my favorite..

Returning to Shamian Island

 

When we realized that this trip back to China was actually going to happened, we envisioned going back to Shamian Island where we stayed in 2010, but we weren't sure it would actually happen. We had kind of hinted at Jason and Paul, our guides, that we would love to go back to shop. Well we went to the Pearl Market in the morning on Tuesday, then as we were heading to jump in a taxi to go back to the hotel, Jason looked at us and said, "Would you like to go to Shamian Island?" , and of course we said, "YES!" So us and a few other families headed to the island in another taxi.  Again, not so bad, as long as you don't pay attention to what is in front of the car. :)  We spent about 3 hours shopping on the island and eating lunch at Lucy's Café, a very Americanized restaurant! As you can see below, we totally ordered American food!! We can actually say that we have eaten at Chinese restaurants about 6 times and surprisingly have loved all of them, but it was definitely time for a cheeseburger and fish.  But we will also admit, that we have had Pizza Hut, Burger King, KFC,  and McDonald's. We have had many more options as far as food this time, because of where our hotels have been. We are pretty sure that we have gained 10 pounds each this time, instead of losing. Although with the heat and humidity, maybe we have stayed the same.

 

The Famous White Swan Hotel- home of many Adoptive families for 6 days

 

 

 

The best part of Lucy's was our waitress understood English and the Menus were easy to understand!!

I didn't have to work hard to get a sprite!

 

Oh so good!!!

 

Roger thought this shirt was a little silly!

Here is another reason why we should appreciate the work of the Chinese, even if we do get tired of everything being made in China.  While we were shopping on the island, three men began to put this scaffolding together with bamboo and strings. They started at the bottom and just kept adding to make it where they need it to be. You see no machines or heavy duty tools, just hands and mind!! Wee were completely blown away how simple they made it and in so little time.

 

 

 

Our boy did really well shopping the whole time, and
 this is what happened on the way home!!

In the evening, we went to another Chinese restaurant called Macau Street Restaurant.  We will admit that it was one of our least favorite ones, but mainly because we didn't get to order our own food. Our guides ordered it for us, thinking we would be brave and try new things.  Well...we tried most of it and the dishes that got eaten the most was the fried rice and noodles.  The pork was ok, but a little fatty, and the dish that you see below was supposed to taste like a big mac, but it wasn't quite the same.  We made it through though and had a good time with our families.

 

Always family style with a turntable in the middle. We are thinking
about getting one for our family gatherings.

The dish that was supposed to taste like a big mac.

Just chillin' - he has been a great eater throughout this whole trip!!

 

Crab anyone????

 



Visit to the Pearl Market

 

Today we got a chance to do two things we did not do the last time in China! We rode in a taxi, which was not so bad, and we went to the Pearl Market.  If you have ever heard our stories from before, traveling in China can be a little dicey...doing a U-turn on a red light in a bus can get a little crazy- that was last time. This time traveling has been surprisingly calm, that is as long as you don't pay attention to what is in front of the bus. :)  In order for us to go to the Pearl Market, we were thrown in a taxi without any thought about it. It was actually pretty safe, although the taxi driver did insist that Roger put on his seatbelt, since he was in the front seat. :)  We spent just a few hours at the Pearl Market. Advice to you, when your guide says that the building is air conditioned, don't always assume that it is cool. I have never sweat so much while shopping inside!!  The Pearl Market was 6 floors and packed with little shops owned by different people. So many different strands to choose from...totally overwhelming. Since I seldom sit down and make jewelry anymore, I didn't really want to buy strands, so I just purchased a few of the cheaper, but still pretty pieces of jewelry that were already made.  What an experience...

 

Bars between the front and back seats makes you a little nervous.

Six floors and totally packed with pearls, crystals, and silver!!