Update #13: Day 13

Day 13 (Aug 5) – City Zoo and Shopping

 

We went on a morning excursion to the Guangzhou City Zoo with another adoptive family that we had met earlier in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.  The gibbon monkeys greeted us so loudly and shrilly that we nearly needed to plug our ears.  The zoo offered the opportunity to get up close to many of the animals.  As compared to zoos in the U.S., the animals were closer, the enclosures smaller, the number of animals in an enclosure much greater, the habitats were not very natural, and the health condition of some of the animals was concerning.  Among the many animals we saw were a mass of porcupines and swamp rats, majestic lions and leopards, beautiful swans, and cute baby monkeys.  The highlight of the trip for Joanna was being able to hand-feed llamas and large coy fish.  Randy carried her a lot to give her a better view of the animals; she liked it!

 

We shopped for some Chinese-style dresses for the girls.  Oh, and we found out from one of the shop owners that “Wa!” in Chinese basically means, “Hey!”  So, that is what she has been saying to Nathan this whole time…”Hey you!”

 

We often eat at the food court in the mall because of the low price.  The employees find us very amusing and stare and laugh at us the whole time we’re there, which can be up to an hour.  We have found it quite difficult to express our desires in an understandable manner when it comes to what we want in our stir-fry and what we want left out.  Several times, we have asked for NO shrimp.  One day, the manager even came over to help translate.  They have put shrimp in it every time.  Today, we had bits of octopus tentacles in it, too!  Joanna has eaten a lot of seafood on this trip!  J  We are so thankful that God has protected us from illness and allergic reactions.

 

We taught Joanna thumb-wrestling and rock/paper/scissors today.

 

When given a choice, she chose to wear matching outfits with Hannah instead of her “princess” dress that she was wearing when we first met her.  I can tell it gives her comfort to see it hanging up in the closet though.

 

Joanna was exposed to an Embree wrestling match this evening between Randy, Nathan, Micah, and Hannah.  She sat on the “safe” bed with me just watching intently cracking a little smile every now and then.  All the wrestlers restrained themselves a little bit so the match ended in smiles and not tears.  We wanted her to think it looked fun!  J