Shamian Island Rocks!!

Greetings from Guangzhou! This city is in the very southern part of China, very near Hong Kong. We are in a section of the city called Shamian Island. We love it!! Our hotel, The Victory, is very nice and there are tons of little shops all around the neighborhood. I love to barter and I am getting better every day! We took our scummy clothes to a nearby laundry yesterday afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised when we picked them up this morning! All pressed and individually wrapped. And it was cheap!!! Can I take a Chinese Laundry woman home as a souvenior? Do I have to declare that?

There is an awesome Thai restuarant next door called Cow and Bridge. Dude! Fresh snow peas in garlic sauce and all kinds of neato fresh fruit drinks. Jude likes the watermelon juice best! But I think the banana is mighty tasty. He is helping me to improve my chopstick skills. Today we got him a stroller(which he loves!), even though I think my poor back has already formed a hump!! Loves to be carried and I have a hard time resisting the chance to squeeze my peapod. Right now he is napping. We went for a walk this morning and saw a group of ladies dancing in the park. Jude loves to dance so he joined right in. That kid can really get his groove on. Gets that from his mama (a shaker from way back). Everything is lovely on the island and many people speak english. We miss our guide and driver from Shenyang, but we are doing okay on our own. There is a guide from the agency to help with paperwork, thank goodness! Tomorrow morning we are going to the electronics market to spend some yuan(as in "yuander where it all went) and then in the afternoon we will be going to the Amercian Consulate for the swearing in ceremony. :) I was told that there are no pictures allowed during that. Jude will likely be pleased with that as I am sure he is sick of posing. Several families from our agency met today at the famous White Swan Hotel for the traditional kiddo photo on their red couch. Well, after a billion photos, JUde was overwhelmed and headed for the hills. He sat in a corner and rocked himself, scared to death. But Mama fixed it all with several hugs and kisses. The agency reps then really put the pressure on to finish the photos and I had to put the "smack down", so to speak. I said if he wanted more pictures then fine, but if my kid was gonna freak out then forget it. Jude comes first. Not somebody's scrapbook!! I finally agreed to sit behind the red couch and hold his hand. After 60 seconds he got up and ran around to me. I said "That's it." We packed up and headed out. I mean, really, does the kid need any more issues to tell his therapist about in a few years? With me for a mother, he will have plenty of issues already!!! :) Don't mess with my boy. I am one tough mama. ;)
Well, I think I will try to shop just a bit before the monkey wakes up. (Don't worry, Poppy is watching him.) We decided yesterday that not only is he a poppet and a monkey, he is POPPET MONKEY. That is the most rare kind of monkey, you know. I had to come half way around the world just to find a poppet monkey of my very own. :)