Even though I protest learning on my vacations... 1) this is NO vacation and 2) the temple and the true story of the Baogongci Judge from over 1000 years ago were fascinating.
After another good night, we woke up (me at 4am again, more on that later) and had our favorite meal of the day: Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Downtown Hefei Buffet. It really is yummy and is our biggest meal of the day. I didn't even have any normal breakfast food today. I had my usual large serving of broccoli, then added a leek dumpling, my fav candied nuts, a spinach and bok choy fried thingy, beef noodles with onions, pears, pineapples and apple juice. I feed Fu Mei all of that as well, plus some congee or rice soup. She is a VERY neat eater, which I love. She takes her napkin, folds it in half, and wipes her mouth when necessary. She still won't accept the chopsticks but she does very well with a spoon....from her left hand! She seems to eat mostly with her left but uses both hands for all the dexterity tasks. She wrote on paper today (my first love note) and she used her right hand! Anyway, we were going to allow Fu Mei to sleep in as late as possible before waking her up (she does NOT like that) for breakfast but the stench coming from the corner of the room woke the whole floor, I think! Yep, we've had the first blow out! Now skip to the next paragraph if you are queasy or not interested in the comings out of a newly adopted child from China who has probably never had broccoli or skittles before!! All of the 4 children our group just adopted have had BM issues...in that, no one has pooped in over 3 days!! Michelle told us this was very typical and to go ahead and give them the pedia-lax strips that I brought with me. Well, it worked! And how! She was able to tell us yesterday that she had to go to the potty (and Julee asks her sometimes instead) and she had her first BM. We were all clapping and so proud. Remember those days? Another one came later in the evening before bed last night, so I was feeling pretty confident that the poor thing had finally gotten some relief! Hence, no pull up!! Back to the stench this morning.....oh lordy, it was ripe! And she was still asleep! So, Tricia, Julee and I got our plan together. I ran the bath, Julee got the clean clothes ready and Trish went in for the kill. Lots of tears and screams for "MaMa" but I managed to get the clothes off and the giant turd in the pot! She pushed me away throughout the whole bath; who could blame her? I wouldn't want to be woken up and thrown in the tub even if I KNEW the people taking care of me! It was a quicky tho and soon she was dressed and smiling at Julee. Bless her heart!
So off to the temple by bus. It is still dreary, gray and damp. But the faux temple and gardens was actually halfway pretty. We learned about the fascinating life and story of Baogongci and how he was the only Judge who told the whole truth in the land. The Buddha looking statue was so large and gold in color, quite pretty. There was incense burning and Michelle told us that symbolized honor and respect to Baogongci. Trish and I explained we use incense in our religion as well and she seemed surprised. She thought only the Chinese used incense for religious purposes. Also there is the story told in beautifully dressed wax figures about an emperor named Chen Shi Mei whose wife supported him and took care of the family while he went away to study at an elite institution for higher education...and when he got back, he up and decided to take a different (i.e. younger) wife and leave his old wife! Well, Baogongci judged this sinful and the term "Chen Shi Mei" is still used today in China....we know it as the age old "man leaves wife for younger woman." 'Nuff said. We did buy some souvenirs here so we can remember Hefei and Anhui for Fu Mei. I wish we could see more of the city when it is green and pretty, but we really have been lucky to have been able to tour and learn so much about her area.
By far the funniest thing so far happened today at the temple and gardens. Beginning yesterday, Fu Mei has started actually talking to us and telling us things. Most times, she just gives a facial response which are fairly easy to read. But she is getting more comfortable (as are we) and so she is beginning to respond to us verbally. When Garrett and Julee are making her laugh, she will say something to them in Chinese. What I wouldn't give to understand it? She has the sweetest voice, too. We try to repeat her response back to her but we usually can't make the right sounds. Even tho Michelle is at our beck and call, we can't exactly have her living in our room to translate every word Fu Mei says! Julee and Garrett try to out-raspberry each other to make her laugh the loudest! You know, when you put both palms together to form a V and put them over your mouth and blow hard to make the raspberry noise??? They do it constantly and we have begun to hear the same response from Fu Mei each time. I can not say it but Julee can almost say it and can definitely recognize it from other things she says! So today, while were waiting for others at the gift shop, Garrett was making the raspberry sound to Fu Mei and it was making her laugh and respond! Abbey (a new big sister too, age 6) brought Michelle over to hear Fu Mei and Michelle knelt down and heard it. She laughed out loud and looked up at us!??! We said, "What is she saying?" Michelle said, "You fart!" That is what our sweet, innocent Fu Mei has been saying to Julee and Garrett since yesterday! The whole group was dying laughing. Michelle could not believe it! I believe the CCAA has indeed made the perfect match for us!!
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