Hello again from Nanchang. We have been busy passing the time waiting for Iris's passport and other paperwork to be completed. We have one more day here and then we fly to Guanzhou on Tuesday to start the U.S. immigration process (which takes several days).
We continue to have some problems posting updates to our blog (http://irischina.blogspot.com/) but check it anyway (and please let us know the latest update). I have been able to upload a bunch of photos to flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/15142220@N00/) although I still need to add some description which I'll try to do tomorrow sometime (Monday).
Iris continues to do well and we are adjusting to each other and figuring out how to do this parenting thing! She is eating and sleeping well and is mostly happy when she is awake. We have made some food mistakes and paid the consequences for that but no damage done. She seems very interested in whatever is going on around here and the daily trips out and about Nanchang seem to be most stimulating for her (and of course for us). We are enjoying the time here but I think are also starting to look forward to getting home and establishing a routine.
Nanchang continues to amaze and we learn more about it and the Chinese people daily. Today we took a trip just outside of Nanchang to a somewhat rural village. The living conditions are very poor but the people seem relatively happy and were very friendly toward us (especially the older women present). At this small village (photos on flicks site) there were mostly kids and older people. Apparently all the working age people are away from the village in the city working. Some of the people in our group took candy for the kids which was a bit of a scene! Also driving just outside the city we have seen what a toll the large population has taken on the environment. The land has been severely damaged near the city. I have been very surprised to see very few birds anywhere except just a few in the People's Park. It would be interesting to see what it like farther outside the city. (Also as I think I mentioned before the smog is quite bad here, ironically the increasing standard of living has much to do with this as there are many more cars on the road now.) Some others of our group went to Yujiang today, the rural town several hours from Nanchang where the orphanage is located, and we are interested to hear what there experience was.
A few other items of interest. Today is October 29 and yesterday the 28th, both lucky numbers in China and so there have been many marriages going on around town. The are often announced by large strings of firecrackers being lit off and we have seen many wedding groups around (including in our hotel). Also Nanchang sees relatively few westerners and so we draw crowds many places that we go. Some people want to practice their English and others just want to take pictures or have their pictures takes with us. In general they are very friendly although we do get some odd looks (perhaps of disapproval) and occasional clucks from older women if any of the babies in our group have any exposed skin. Also they think it odd for some of us to be wearing shorts in "winter" although the highs have been in the mid 70's the past few days!
Well I guess that is all for now. We'll try to post more photos as we can. Deb's email is not working well - send messages to Charles' gmail account below.
chaetura@gmail.com
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