Monday, December 18
I was out at daybreak again with the exercise/meditaters. Here’s a picture of one group.
First order of business on Monday was for Susie to call Kay Collins and wish her a Happy Birthday on Sunday afternoon, still her birthday, in Albuquerque. After that we headed for a market area, just across the canal from our hotel. We thought it would be a general market, but this was all foodstuffs, all dried-foodstuffs sorts of things – grains, nuts, flakes, bundles (dried seaweed?), etc. and there were dozens of booths all selling apparently the same things – large bags, barrels, and crates of it. We didn’t see much buying going on, but deliveries were being made.
Monday afternoon was picture-taking time. An adopting parent from another group had contacted Jeff about taking some pictures, professionally, so we met with him in the riverside park. We took the opportunity for a candid shot of Malia and the Easterling grandparents.
Oh, I don’t think I mentioned this before. It’s one of Susie’s favorite China-related stories: When I was a student at Oklahoma State University, a few years ago, I got a call one day asking if I might want to join the Chinese Student Association. Easter-LING – get it? So far, no one here has asked me if I have a Chinese heritage.
Following our own picture-taking session was the traditional “red couch” pictures in the White Swan lobby. Every adopting group gathers for single-family pictures, then a group shot. Here are the 10 little girls in our group – Malia on the left of the picture, on the red couch, looking toward Momma. (I have a cropped version of this, but couldn't get Blogger to accept it. This gives you a little more sense of the scene, though.) After 10 days of acclimating the girls to new people and surroundings, this had the potential of being trauma-inducing, but our group of young ladies handled it quite well. But, if you were in the crowd of parents and families, trying to elbow in for a clear shot, it was tougher.
After this was over, the whole group walked a couple of blocks and had a nice dinner at a Thai restaurant.
Tomorrow a city tour. Stay tuned.
Also, we’d love to hear from you via e-mail or blog comments.
Cheers.
Rob and Susie
2 comments:
Hello,
I'm trying to picture you out there doing the morning exercises. There were several Chinese around NCSU that would still do the morning group exercises outside.
Some times Jason's seems to really understand that you are around the world and other times he seems to think you are right around the corner. We told him that grandpa is going to pick him up at school today and he said "Which one?" Other times he'll talk about you being on the opposite side of the world, he knows what time it is in China, etc. Funny kid.
I enjoy reading both blogs daily. So, Sue Jen Easterling? Do they think you are a native? Malia is really cute. Love, MSV
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