Monday 02-27 Pearl/DVD Market

02-27-06 Monday

This morning one of us (me) had to do paperwork for our Visa for Ryleigh for an 1 ½ hours in Jason’s room. It was over fairly quickly.

Meanwhile, Mark took his girl out for a walk around Shamian Island to take some pictures. They had a nice stroll and Mark got some wonderful shots of the local area. The weather today was not nearly as nice as the day before, and it started raining in the afternoon.

We ended up sharing a lazy day in the hotel until around 2pm when our guides had planned a trip to the Pearl Market.

One of the interesting things that I think about China is, that if you want something or need something, say a remote control for your TV, you go to the Electronics Market. Hundreds of booths selling nearly the same thing. That is how the Pearl Market was.

We took cabs over, which, I don’t think I’ve mentioned but I have never been in a cab before except one time in Tijuana with my mom and sister and it was SCARY then. The good thing about cabbing around Guangzhou is, we are squeezed in so tight with babies and Emma (4 years old) on our laps that you really can’t see what is going on around you. So, needless to say, we’ve had a couple of close calls, and the drivers use their emergency brake for their stopping, but we’ve remained safe and sound at our destination.

Before leaving for the Pearl Market Jason explained how to tell if a pearl is real and then suggested a couple stores that we could trust to have nice pearls. This is something that I really wanted to get for Ryleigh as a gift from her homeland when she is 18 or graduates…BUT, there was something even more important at the Pearl Market for the Teague family and that was the DVD store…..now I know, I know, the DVD’s are pirated and since most of them are still in the theaters, not a very nice thing for the US economy, but who can help themselves? Right? We ended up with about 30 DVD’s, all either brand new or Disney from the vault that we don’t have for about $65. We headed to that store first with another couple and the others in our group followed. We were like sharks in a feeding frenzy and the sales people were working so hard to make sure we all got what we wanted. On a side note, they all ended up working except for one: Aladdin.

We did end up getting Ryleigh a very nice bracelet and necklace and a bracelet for me. You buy the pearls in strands, so we had to do something with the rest of the strand. That’s why I ended up with one too. They are beautiful and I hope she appreciates them later in life.

It was raining hard when we left the market and ended up having dinner at Lucy’s by ourselves.

Later, we had a part in the hallway for Brenda Lush. It is her birthday today and Jason and Kathy provided a wonderful cake. The girls all had a blast and were interacting with eachother much more then before. Probably like their lives before. Ryleigh seems to want to take care of the other babies, trying to feed them, or offering toys. We are sure this was her way of getting attention in the orphanage, and it is bittersweet to see her do it now all the time….

Tomorrow we are off to the Zoo….