Friday

An AMAZING thing happened today. The SUN came out!!!! We all went outside for some photo-therapy. We had heard about these banyan leaf paintings that are only done in Chongqing. S and our friend V were tenacious about finding them. S surfed the internet until he found some phone numbers to call. In his best pigeon-Chinese, S called around. He mentioned to our guide, Xiulan, that he and V were going to the place to buy the leaf paintings and she said they should not go alone. She rearranged her schedule to go along with them. Xiulan helped get a taxi cab because the taxis would not stop for S and V because they were too tall - ha!. The paintings are amazing. We were glad the guys made the effort to find them.

V's wife JB and I went shopping at an area very close to the hotel - it's like a flea market. There were LOTS of folks out in the courtyard because of the beautiful weather. We created quite a stir. People would stop and stare or come talk to the babies. In the flea market area, I stopped to look at an item. I turned around to see a lady trying to take Sarah out of her stroller. We high-tailed it out of there quick! We saw several kids peeing and pooing in the landscaping around the courtyard.