New! Guangzhou for 3 more days

dead snakes! good for what ails you...
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Highlights:

Don and Leah are the best host's ever! They made it so easy for us and really I felt amost guilty, because I never really had to deal with the language issue. The most I needed to do was to show a taxi cab driver a busines card with an address on it and I seemed to miraculously get to my destinatin.

The first day we were there we relaxed at home for the morning then set out walking  tothe island where don and Leah work at  the The American International School of Guangzhou (AISG). We were armed only with the business card and wewere getting a little lost. Apparently nobody really knows about the school. We walked through the Olympic training camp and saw many athletic looking young kids.

Cool public art: looks like ians stuff!
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We finally made it to the school and hung out with them for a short time before the kids left for the day. they had just finished their "bear time" which is "drop everything and read" with your favorite stuffed animal. sound s nice to me!

This school is set up and partially funded by the American Consolate and is used by all sorts of people who want an english based school fopr theri kids while working overseas.  Anyone can go there except Chinese nationals because the Chinese government doesnt want them to go to a non-CHinese school.  Some people get around this by getting a Hong Kong passport.

very blurry picture of Bela fleck. will send youtube link soon!
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That night we were invited to a very special concert organized bythe Consolate. I had no idea who Abigail Washburn was and I'd never heard of Bela Fleck but Don was very excited and Hillary was beside herself! First we went out to dinner with some of other teachers Saul and his wife Clare some of Don and Leah's best friends. 6 of us plus 3 babies and 2 Aiyees (nannys) in a private room and ate Scheswan (how to spell?) then off to the concert by taxi... every thing by taxi.

Turns out Bela Fleck is possibly the best banjo player inthe world and Abigail organized the Sparrow Quartet which has been touring around China playing a blue grassy type of american folk music (Abigail has a beautiful voice!)with fiddle and cello as well. Abigail also did some songs in Mandarin which she is fluent in. That was unusual. Odd to see a tall blonde woman singiing in chinese. She joked about the fact that she was singing songs that every chinese person learns whenthey are in elementary school. A few times the Chinese inthe audience join in and they werejust tickled.

not sure what this means. look at the fish at the bottom right....
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After the show we got to meet the band thanks mostly to  Hillary's gracious enthusiam.  Bela is a very interested and relaxed person. Very cool. and kinda looks like my uncle Don!

Got to Wrap up China cuz im in india now and it is crazy!

Best foot massage ever: Cost: about 5 dollars for 70 miinutes! a young girl very strong comes out and soaks your feet in a bucket of HOT water while she massages your shoulders and back, then sits you down inthe recliner and massages your feet in the most painful way! Very strong and good massage. WAY too cheap for the amount of work. Dimmly lit and spa like  room is filled with people of all kinds getting massages by girls in blue shirts tvs every where and people smoking and talking loudly on their cell phones! that made me laugh, as well as how hard she was smashing her knuckles expertly into the arch of my foot! ouch!

My Cousin Charlotte AKA: The Ham
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Ask me and I'll give you the card so you can go there! :)

Seeing the largest Gold foil statue in the world (Guan Yin) at Lotus Mountain. (see picture)

Walking the streets of Guangzhou and just being in awe of the teeming crowds.  (BUSY)

baby pee slit: oh yeah, the toddlers  here have clothes with a slit in them so when the kid has to pee (or poo!) they just hold them over whatever.. just on the ground Don tells me sometimes and lets it go. No diaper necessary! how convienent!!

market stall in Guangzhou
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animal market tiger claw : saw lots of Tiger claws for sale . the whole paw but mostly people just cut off one claw to purchase.  Don and I saw someone haggleing over the price and bought it for 80 RMB (about 10 bucks). I thinkit is strictly illigal but they still do it. i have a picture of that butill have to put it up later.

ok next: Delhi makes Guangzhou look like a walk in the park!!

sorry for my sloppy typing!

b