Homesick...

Today we went to park and saw the Five Ram Sculpture. It is the symbol of Guangzhou so our guide wanted to get a photo of the whole group in front of it. Apparently the story is that centuries ago the people in the Guangzhou area were hungry and worked hard but the land was barren. Our guide said the Chinese believe that 5 rams carried in 5 gods who brought rice and harvests of crops from there forward so that the people of the city have never gone hungry again. Each ram stands for something different to characterize the people of the city like being brave, etc but the tall ram they believe carried a god who gave them food from that point forward. Here is our group. 6 less orphans!!!

There is a park surrounding the statue and the landscape is very nice. The guide told us ahead of time that there are always retired people dancing in the park. She said we would notice that they looked young to be retired people and this is because the retirement age here is 50 for women and 55 for men, so they retire at that age and typically spend their mornings in the park, have lunch with friends, and travel a lot. Sadie really wanted to get in on the dancing.

The guy just to the left of the center, in the suit and looks like he is running...we would randomly see
him standing in the middle of our group or next to one of the families, getting someone to take his picture with us.
Then they would laugh and he would run off. 

Next we went to the Guangzhou zoo. The lions and tigers were in cages with iron bars but they did not look super secure and they were looking at us like we were lunch. Yikes.
It is nice to have things to fill the time while we wait for our paperwork/visas/consulate appointment but at this point we are so, so ready to be home.

Looked like this poor guy had just about had it.

Little goof

Today Sadie has been testing us a little more. We are working on setting boundaries with her and letting her know we are in charge and tantrums are not ok while still helping her to grieve and to grow in trust and comfort with us.

Our consulate appointment is Thursday and we go take our oaths and submit our visa documents. Then we have to stay and wait on Sadie's visa and as long as there are no problems with it we can leave the hotel Friday afternoon around 4:30pm to start our long trek home.

I am missing these little rascals like crazy.