A Walk In The Park

This afternoon, after Tenley's nap and before dinner we went for a walk in the very large park next to our hotel. This park has three huge lakes, two very large restaurants, a Tai Chi area, an Exercise/Dance area, a pool, a kiddie amusement park (think fair rides) and tons of walking paths.

We took Tenley out for a spin in her new cheap stroller purchased at the Friendship Store just for this trip. It was warm but not too hot. But it was humid. Ten feet from the hotel door and I looked like I had just run a marathon. Of course to get to this park you have to cross the street in an underground passage and on our side there is no escalator, just stairs. Even umbrella stollers are heavy when you have a baby in them and you carry them up and down 200 stairs.

But I digress...the park, it was lovely. We strolled through all the areas looking at all the interesting things and people. But the people were the part that caught our attention the most. The looks they gave us ranged in everything from "What are you doing with one of our children" to "I know you are not good and loyal members of the communist party". I'm not kidding here it was hysterical. One lady was giving Michelle such dirty look that she almost fell off the approaching curb. That made us laugh. Most looked at us and then looked at Tenley with a confused look on their faces. If Michelle was by herself they might make the assumption that she was a nanny or babysitter. The looks were really funny.

When we got to the area where the dance class was going Tenley was fascinated by the women dancing with large fans. The music was nice and the dance was really beautiful. In this same area there were several couples, old and young, who were playing Hacky Sack. As we were walking we ran into a family out for a stroll with their pet bird. Apparently here in China it is Standard Operating Procedure to take the family bird out for a walk once in a while. Cage and all. This is hysterical and I hope to get a picture of it soon.

There was another area in the park where there were seven ping-pong tables set up and people were playing with bright orange paddles and balls. Most were older and they seemed to be having a really good time. It looked like a lot of fun. As we went through the park many people stared at Tenley. One family who had a little girl with them came right up to us and they were telling the little girl that this was a baby. Tenley stared at the girl and the little girl touched Tenley's very long eyelashes and then point to her own. All was well until she tried to touch Tenley's plastic keys. Well that just wouldn't do. Tenley snatched those away and moved them to the other hand away from the little girl. The older ladies laughed and said goodbye as we walked away. They were really nice.

Norman had told us a long time ago that foreign adoption is not spoken of in China so many people do not have any clue why a bunch of white people would have Chinese children. Here in Guangzhou, with so many adoptive families coming through, you would think people would be used to this by now. I guess not.

When someone gives us a dirty look or says something as we pass by we just smile knowing that our little girl will have a better life in America with her new mommy and daddy!