Temple Tour

Today was a great day. It helped that I was able to skype with the
girls at the start of my day. Thanks so much to my neighbors who are
letting them go over in the evenings so that we can skype. Just seeing
their faces makes it so much more tolerable being away from them. But,
even if I can't do it every day just knowing we can do it every few days
helps. I am enjoying my time with Madi. She comes out of her shell
more and more each day. She is talking to me in Chinese a lot and there
are times I get what she is saying and a look of amazement comes across
her face. She is also repeating A LOT of English and starting to say
some words on her own as well. The first words she has spontaneously
said were "eat" and "drink." I am really amazed at how well she is
doing. She did a lot of walking today and her balance and gait seemed
better. I think the better shoes (even though they are ugly lol) are
helping her. She is quite bow legged so I think that is the majority of
the problem. After our tour we had lunch with one of the other families
from my agency. Their little girl is too cute for words. They got to
see the more playful side of Madi as she was much more comfortable in
the smaller group. She tends to get quiet and sullen when we are out
and about. I wonder if she is worried about where we might be going. I
expect that as each day passes she will feel more and more at ease. At
least that is my hope.

Today we went to the oldest Buddhist Temple in Fuzhou. It is over 100
years old. It was very beautiful and the landscape was so tailored and
perfect. The architecture of the buildings are just amazing and much of
the painting on the buildings are done by hand. Our guide, Penny (who
is so sweet--Jolene--you will love her) explained all about each
building and the different Buddha within. She explained that when you
go into the building of the Happy Buddha, you must smile and then you
will be happy. There is a Buddha with many hands. If you feel like you
need help with something, you would go to that Buddha and pray for help
as she has many hands to help you. There were many different Buddha
representing different things. There were many people offering incents
and praying and although it is not my belief, it was very touching to
watch them practice their faith. The outside of the buildings are
gorgeous and the insides are even more beautiful. Out of respect for
the Buddha, one cannot take pictures inside of the Temple. I wish I
could share with you just how beautiful they were.

Here are some pictures of our day. I don't have any idea in what order
they upload so some may be before, during or after our visit to the
temple. I may have to upload the pictures in a couple of separate posts.