Something, Something, Something... The Sequel

Four Hours – The Sequel…


After a hard night’s sleep – emphasis on ‘hard’… The bed was something akin to a wood box with a sheet on it…. We politely asked Verena in the morning if her bed was as “firm” as the hotel’s. She informed us that her bed at home is even firmer – made of bricks… They use bricks so they can heat the bed at night with coal or some such combustible… The bricks are also supposed to help make your back straight and strong according to Mao… She was not convinced of this :).

After we checked out of the hotel we drove to the Datong Social Welfare Institute to see where baby Dan Dan spent some of her life. We were well received by the orphanage workers and were allowed to take pictures and video of the rooms and Dan Dan’s friends and caretakers . We have a fair collection of pictures and some nice videos of her and the nannies and her friends… Something we hope she can enjoy in the future. The pics here are the ones mostly of the orphanage – no kidlets or nannies (well, aside from ours of course :)… )

After the orphanage we headed back through Datong, which got me some more shots of some of the history of the city with the old walls, towers and the like – Right in the middle of the city… Did I mention that this place was old? Then the gravol express started up again, and we were off back to Taiyuan to try and get back to some “comfy” beds… (I will use comfy loosely – I had a great sleep on the box, but Joyanne, not so much… You know how it goes… Happy wife… blah blah blah… :)

Made it back to the hotel and got everything (re)organized for the next couple nights. We are going to visit the Shanxi Provincial Museum tomorrow (Thursday) and get a look at some more of the history of the province. The girls survived the trip pretty well, and were glad to get out of the van… Stayed in our hotel room and played for the remainder of the afternoon/evening… Did a couple laps around the block, but it is a bit chilly for walking (about 0-5 degrees or so, but windy…) Stay tuned…

Something, something, something… You know – The Sequel :)

(…At least Kev will get it…) :)

Still so serious... as Sylvie tries to put herself into a drawer... :)

Taking a little time out to colour...

Peek-A-Boo... Sylvie still loves mirrors...

A view of the orphange from the roadway - The red roofs in the forefront on the left

Mary Dan Dan in her old bed (and helper behind as you can see...)

Some colour-coodrinated eating options...

One of the play rooms in the facility - There were several different areas that the children would play/practice/learn

Outside is a courtyard... Seems to be a little green space.

The common courtyard between all the complexes

This is where the older children live at the orphanage.

This is a mural on the wall that is outside...

 I tried to get this to reflect right in the picture - I think it speaks for itself

A fast shot of one section of old wall that is in the centre of the city

Children's Gravol ad #1....

 ...and ad #2... :)