Seeing Asa's Orphanage

Hi, this is Annika, and I'm telling you about our adventure at Asa's orphanage.  The drive was kind of long, and I got kind of tired of driving by the time we got there.  The place where the orphanage is isn't as crowded as it is at the hotel.  It looks like it is in the forest a little bit.  When we were walking down the path, we walked by a place that looked like a big pasture.

Along the way, we saw trees with green bananas that weren't yellow yet.  We were pretending to try to get to them.

This is us standing by the gate to enter the orphanage.

This is a picture of the map of the orphanage.  You would think that an orphanage would be only one building, but Asa's orphanage is lots of buildings close together.  There was a hospital and different buildings for different ages of kids.  About one thousand kids are still at Asa's orphanage.

 This is the play room that Asa used to play in with the other kids.

 This one is the dance and music room.  We met Asa's teacher for his preschool and his nanny.

 The lady in the middle is the nanny, and the one on the right side is our guide named Kathy.  Asa got a little nervous when he saw the orphanage because he didn't want to stay there any more.  He hung onto Mom the whole time and wouldn't get down from her arms.

The orphanage people didn't let us take pictures of the kids, so that's why they aren't in any of the pictures.  We did take pictures of the rooms though.  Here is a picture of a bedroom.  Each bedroom had many beds very close together.  Cayanna is standing next to Asa's bed where he used to sleep.

 I'm glad I could tell you about our trip to the orphanage, and I'm glad we went.  I hope you're enjoying your spring break.  We are flying to Beijing tomorrow.  Zai Jian for now!

Here is a short video of a panda at the safari park chewing bamboo.  I think they have strong teeth, and they are not quiet about eating.

Birthday and Safari Park!

Hello, this is Cayanna!  I had a tremendous birthday!  My cake that I already showed you was delicious.  My mom's friend, who is also here adopting, came over with her children, and shared the birthday cake with us.  After I had birthday cake, I opened presents.  I received two Chinese zodiac wall hangings, a jade bracelet, a huge scroll that you hang on your wall, my name painted with animal letters.  It's a kind of Chinese folk art.  My new friend, Leila, got me a red dragon.  I also went out to dinner at a place called Lucy's.  It was a birthday that I'll remember forever.

Today we went to a place called the Safari Park.  It's a sort of zoo, except you get to ride in a little train and ride through where the animals live.  They are behind electric fences, so they can't get out.  It was very interesting.  Two of my favorite animals were the pandas and the giraffes.  There were so many of them!  Here are some pictures of the pandas we saw and also some red pandas.  I felt really lucky to see real live pandas up close!

 This panda was eating a stick of bamboo.  He was really loud when he crunched down on it.  I imagine that his teeth could really hurt if he bit you!

 

This red panda was up in a tree.  Red pandas are really cool.  They look like a mix of a panda, a raccoon and a fox.  They look cute and cuddly, but I bet they're not!

This one was washing himself.  I love his tongue!  I also love his long bushy tail!  Don't you think it looks kind of like a raccoon?

Probably my favorite thing to do was feed the giraffes.  They were in a big sort of pasture thing, and you could buy branches of a certain tree that they liked to eat.  The branches were 15 yuan each.  Then you held them over the fence, and the giraffes would come right up to you and eat the leaves off the branches.  If you weren't careful, they'd pull the branches right out of your hand.  They're very strong!

 The giraffes were also pretty gentle.  When they were bending over to get the leaves, you could pet them.  Here are pictures of my sister and me petting the giraffe's nose.  It felt kind of like a horse's nose.

You can see my little brother in the corner of this picture.  He laughed and laughed at the giraffes.  He fed them a branch too.  It was a fun day at the safari.

I hope you are enjoying your spring break, Classmates.  We have been really busy the last two days, but we will blog as often as we can.  Annika will blog tomorrow morning for us, so it will be tonight for you (Sunday.)  This time thing is confusing!  Zai Jian for now!

Birthday Blog!

Hi, this is Cayanna.  I'm going to blog about my birthday party, but here's the problem.  I won't have had it by the time you're reading this.  So, you will have to read it on the weekend.  You can see a picture of my cake though.  It has tons of fruit on it.  Check out how huge it is!  Zai Jian for now!

See that white fruit that kind of looks like kiwis?  It's called dragon fruit.  We saw a rickshaw full of them in the spice market the other day.  Check out what they look like before they're peeled.  Cool, huh!

 

Asa Stories

Hi, this is Annika.  Today I'm going to tell you stories about Asa.  My brother is a funny and loud boy.  Sometimes he's stubborn, and he can be a pain too.  He screams like crazy when he's tired.  Here is a picture of him when he was feeling upset.  When he is upset, he acts pouty like he doesn't want anything, and he throws whatever is in his hands on the ground.  Sometimes he throws himself on the ground.

  Most of the time, Asa is funny and cheerful.  Yesterday we went to a doctor's appointment, and Asa had to get a shot.  We were riding in a van back to the hotel and Asa and another boy named Benjamin were laughing and giggling and screaming a little too loud, so our guide told them to be more quiet.  Asa had a little pencil that he was pretending to give himself shots with.  He stood up and said, "Who speaks next gets ONE SHOT!"  I thought that was really funny.  Our guide named Kathy started to laugh when he said that.

 Last night, we were at a restaurant called Lucy's for Cayanna's birthday dinner.  We were sitting at a table outside.  We took Asa to the bathroom.  After he was done, he pulled his pants halfway up and took off running through the courtyard speedy quick!  He was holding his pants up with one hand and running and laughing.  We couldn't catch him, and he ran through all the outside tables.  Cayanna finally caught up with him and pulled his pants up.  Mom laughed a lot at that.

I love my brother a real lot.  I'm glad he's part of our family.  That's all the stories I'm going to tell right now.  Zai Jian for now!
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Strange Vehicles Carrying Strange Things

Hi, this is Annika reporting from the other half of the world.  China has a lot of  different vehicles that you won't see in Escalante.  I know probably most of you ride bikes in Escalante and Boulder.  In China not everyone has cars so they ride bikes a lot too.  They latch on a lot of stuff to carry from place to place.  I have seen bikes carrying big water jugs, boards, boxes and huge sacks full of stuff.  Some of the stuff they carry towers over the person riding the bike.

 There are also three-wheeled bikes called rickshaws.  People use them a lot the same way we use pickup trucks at home.  People carry big loads of stuff if they can't fit it onto a regular bike.  Once we saw a huge load of sand in the back of a rickshaw.  We figured out that the sand would weigh several hundred pounds!  Can you imagine pedaling a rickshaw that heavy?

I passed a rickshaw with a man sleeping in the back.  I think he was tired of pulling heavy loads!

The last picture is of a mystery vehicle.  I don't know what it is.  I want you guys to see if you can figure out what it's supposed to be and what it's supposed to do.
 

Zai jian  for now I miss you. 

Foods in China

Hi, Class, this is Cayanna!  First, I'll answer some of your questions.  I like solid sugar cane better than the juice.  Chris, it's a little tough, but I like it because it's chewy, and you can squeeze the sweet juice out with your teeth.  On a scale of one to ten, it would be a ten.  I really enjoy your comments!

Some of the food we've eaten on this trip is just like we have at home.  There are normal things like corn, soda, gum, and french fries.  But, there are also lots of different foods here.  Then, some things are just prepared differently, like the meat.  Have you ever eaten a shrimp with its head still on?  I haven't either, but I could have!  The other night, we went to a restaurant called Lucy's, and my grandma ordered seafood.  When it came, her food was looking at her!

She had a whole shrimp!  I do not like the eyes.  How about you?  Another thing my grandma had on her seafood plate were squids.  They are rubbery.  Here's a picture of some squids on a stick.

  They are the purple wavy things in the middle of the picture.  I think they could wiggle off the stick.

Shrimp isn't the only food that is cooked whole.  We were walking by a nice restaurant.  They had signs that had pictures a whole pig and whole ducks with the heads on and everything!  I don't think that makes people want to rush in.

What do you think?  You might enjoy it.

The market by our hotel has a lot of spices.  There are some things that are familiar and things you've never heard of.  You've probably heard of saffron, cinnamon and ginger.  There are plenty of unusual things too.  At home, we get our spices in bottles and jars.  At the spice market, they come in big sacks.  You tell the shop keeper how much you want, and he will put that much in a sack for you.  The thing that I was interested in a lot was dried sea horses.  There were giant bags of them.

 
Here are some more pictures of the spice market.  Can you tell what is what?

 China is a busy, interesting, different place.  It's fun doing new adventures every day!  Here's one last picture.  It's a dessert that I had for my birthday.  Even the labels were chocolate.

Zai Jian for now!