Guizhou History

Today, we got to go to the Guizhou Museum. There, a tour guide took us through the history of the province, starting with the days when the area was covered by an ocean and sea lillies (crinoids) and sea dragons (semi-aquatic dinosaurs discovered here in Guizhou) lived here up until today. We learned a lot about the local population of the area. You may or may not know that 95% of the Chinese population is one nationality - Han. The other 5% is made up of over 60 different minority groups which are collectively called the "minority people". Guizhou's population, however, is 38% minority and even has an independent region near Guiyang for one of the minority groups. Zunyi, which is the city where Katie was found and raised so far, has a large Miao (pronounced "meow") population. There is no way to know what Katie's nationality is, but there is a good chance that she is Miao. Miao is one pronunciation of the chinese word, another used in other parts of Asia and may be familiar to many of you is "Hmong", The Hmong people in the U.S. are mostly from Laos and Cambodia and emmigrated hear after the Vietnam war. They share a common background and in many ways a similiar culture to the Chinese Miao. Like the Hmong, they do not have a written language of their own, so they use their art to pass on their culture. They are famous for their silver smithing, batik (wax resist cloth dying similiar to the Russian Batik eggs) and embrodiery. It was really interesting to learn about. We bought a couple of items for Katie that represent the Miao culture even though we don't know if that is her nationality, it is a big part of the city where she was born.

We took a walk this afternoon and found a Pizza Hut. It was too early for dinner so we did not eat, but we looked at the menu. The only familiar pizza was a Hawaiian Pizza (ham and pineapple) - everything else was very different. They also offer a lot of other foods - pasta, rice and others. We are planning to try it sometime this week though. Eating dinner at the hotel is a little stressful. First of all, we are staying in the nicest hotel in the city (and it is really nice) so the restraunt is very fancy. Starting at 6 pm, they have a very elaborate buffet which allows us try new foods, but it is very expensive. Also, we have a very active and vocal 3 year old who thinks the restraunt is her own personal dining room and doesn't understand why she needs to sit still, not throw the food she doesn't like on the floor and scream when she does not get her way. Somehow it seems easier to handle these things at Pizza Hut or KFC (these are everywhere, but watch out for the spicy chicken and the menu is in Chinese), than at the hotel. The breakfast buffet is fantastic and is included in our bill so we try to fill up there every morning, have a light lunch in our room and then eat dinner somewhere. We are working on the somewhere.

Things are going as smoothly as one can expect (those of you with 3 year olds - or who have had one - imagine spending up to 20 hours a day couped up in a fancy hotel room in a foriegn country for 10 days and then throw in the fact that the 3 year speaks a different language and just met you a couple of days ago), but I am really ready to get home and be surrounded by my friends and family (and my own kitchen!). This morning at breakfast, we were trying to strategize the 14 hour plane ride followed by jet lag. It does not sound like fun at all, but I started crying (yes, in the fancy restraunt), thinking about the fact that we would have friends there on the other end. Dean and Kris, of course, are wonderful. Dean is taking on the lion's share of parenting tasks due to Katie not wanting me to do things like bathe her or take her to the bathroom. I can feed her, play with her, button her pants after she is done in the bathroom, etc. in the hotel room and hold her in the elevator, but as soon as we leave the elevator she wants nothing to do with ANYONE except Dean. We are definitely making progress, though. She is very smart, stubborn and independent. I am sure some of the Chinese we don't understand is "I do it myself!". Kristine is busy trying to keep up with school work. It is a challenge not having the benefit of attending class (which, I guess explains why she actually goes to school when she is home), but she is working hard. She is learning what it is like to have her sister get into her stuff and how to share her parents. She is a little overwhelmed at times, but we are trying to get enough sleep so we can keep going. There is a lot of joy in our days as well (in case I sound like I am whining). Katie is very entertaining and being in China is absolutely fascinating. We are learning so much about this part of the world. I am really glad we all got to come and experience this together. I can't wait to share it more fully with all of you when we get home. Keep praying for us - we can feel the prayers.

Karen

Here are some pix I shot on a different camera today that could interface better with this hotel computer. The orphanage director told us Katie was not all that good with chopsticks, but she blew us away when she was playing with cotton balls today (Karen's great idea).

Dean