Friday, June 5, 2009

A New Day











Wow! Seeing as how difficult yesterday was for YunLong, I had no expectations for today to be much better, if not quite a bit worse. I was incredibly (and thankfully) wrong. YunLong woke up, knowing that today we'd eat breakfast and then head to the zoo, since our guide had explained that to him before bed last night. He woke up amicably enough, and I had him choose between his new clothes what he would like to wear. Bo, XiaoMei, YunLong, and I then headed to breakfast. Breakfast was fine, no incidents, and then it was time for the zoo.
We spent several hours at the Kunming Zoo, and had so much fun! This zoo would never be allowed in America. Besides the fact that many of the walkways were stone walking paths (definitely *not* ADA approved), there were steps and steep ramps everywhere. And the displays were so much closer to the animals than we are used to at home. The kids were quick to take over with the camera and the flips (video cameras) so we have MANY, MANY photos and videos! Everytime we got to steps or ramps, YunLong took off running up them, always waiting for us at the top though. He led us from place to place, and was familiar with the layout of the zoo.
The part that clearly let you know we weren't in Kansas anymore was the lion display. For around $1.50 each, the kids got to have a bamboo rod with string attached. On the end of the string was about a quarter of a chicken. They could dangle it over the lion, and tease it, and get it to jump after it, till it finally was quick enough to grab the meat. Course, for $12, we could have thrown a live chicken into the cage! (Really!) YunLong informed us though that it's cheaper to buy a chicken in town, just about $3, so we should get one there and bring it to the zoo!
After lunch at McDonald's (YunLong wanted it, and asked XiaoMei if we could have that), we went back to the hotel. The kids watched some Tom & Jerry, and YunLong set up ramps and tunnels for his remote car. Then the jumping on the bed started! After that, they looked at pictures on the computer. YunLong took over the clicking and picking what he wanted to see, also allowing XiaoMei to have turns choosing photos and clicking. I showed them the iVideo on my computer; you just click it and the built in camera can film you in front of it. Then....the BOOTY DANCE! YunLong is a total ham, and as soon as he saw he was on the computer screen, he jumped up on the bed and proceeded to act like a monkey, make faces, and the icing on the cake was the booty dance. There were even some "Walk Like An Egyptian" type moves at one point! XiaoMei and I were cracking up! (Bo was asleep in our adjoining room, so he missed it, but got to check out the video later.)
Dinner was at a local Yunnan style noodle house, complete with entertainment. YunLong did get reprimanded a little though when he went and unlocked windows. We took a stroll afterwards around Green Lake Park, which is beautiful. Tomorrow we'll go back in the afternoon and rent a little boat.
The most amazing part of the day though was when we got back to the hotel this evening. Jane had talked with YunLong about his foster family and what he knew. He didn't want to write down the address, although he knew it, because he said it was in his head. We wanted to let him call his foster family though, since he hadn't been allowed to say goodbye. Sure enough, he did know the phone number. Jane spoke with his his foster mama first, making sure it was okay, and then he got to talk. His foster brother and sister came home while they were on the phone, so he got to talk to them, too. I can't share much more on here about that, but suffice it to say it was a positive thing for him.

5 comments:

Angie said...

Praise God he got to say good-bye to his foster family! I was haunted by the fact that he would've left China without closure. What a huge praise!

Connie J said...

Praising God who is good all the time! What a good report!

Kevin, Debbi and Sarah said...

Wonderful!!!

Wright Family said...

your story is amazing ! thanks for sharing it....Catherine

Mary said...

I just found you blog. Congratulations on your two new gifts from God!
I just wanted to tell you that we have contact with one of our daughters' foster family, and it has been wonderful. I hope you are able to foster this amazing relationship.