living up to your name

hey! we have internet in our room. woo hooo. amy kept saying she felt like we were going to disney world. and this place really is a whole other world compared to changsha and especially compared to yuanling. the island we are on, which i've only seen one tiny bit of as we drove here from the airport, dates back to when guangzhuo was called canton and was a colony of, i'm guessing england? the buildings look like they were designed in a different era and in fact were all used for embassies back in the day. amy made a trip across the street to 7-eleven and down the road to get joy a couple more outfits in her size but otherwise we've seen very little of the island or the city. guangzhou is an 11 million person city and you can immediately tell. there's a highway system criss-crossing the city. the buildings are many and they are huge. funny how relative things are. 6 million used to seem like a really large place to be. this city is also known as the city of flowers because it is green and in blossom year round. tomorrow we'll take a tour and do some shopping for their famous jade. life on the shaimen island is going to be fun. it's not nearly as intimidating as changsha was - and i haven't even left the hotel yet. if this is any clue - we had pizza delivered to our rooms for dinner tonight.

and joy continues to live up to her name as well. every day she becomes more familiar with her new life and her new family. her and amy are getting along much better and actually fell asleep on amy for the first time since we've known her. they are both passed out on the bed right now. i'm not too far behind them.

i haven't found a fix online for my iphoto woes. teach me not to bring the install discs . . . so flickr is the best place to see pictures of the whole adventure. i'm getting ready to upload pictures of people dancing in the parking lot next to the hotel in changsha this morning. chinese culture is to get out around sunrise and exercise - dance, tai chi, etc. the local aunties loved joy. but they were a bit too free flowing with the advice on how to hold her, etc. so i was happy to head in for breakfast. and you'll also enjoy pictures from dinner last night. careful, craig.

it's good to be here. it feels that much closer to being home. it's amazing how much good it will do you to have at least some familiar surroundings, pizza, 7-eleven, internet access. but the i think what is really behind the euphoria we're feeling tonight is that one week from today we'll be home. the flickr link can be found to the right.

much love.