Thurs/Friday wrapping up in Nanjing

So, Thursday we actually had a day with no required visits. After our big Orphanage visit day, it was nice to recoup with a lesisurely morning. I think it was good for Josie too.  She relaxes the most when we are just having down time in the hotel room. It is fun to see her explore and engage in games with us. There are surely times of sadness and even fits of being mad. But who can blame her? What a transition she has had and will continue to have. We just try to be attuned to what we think she needs, we stay in close proximity and remind her she is safe.

We were able to find more of her favorite milk.

Despite the face in this picture, she really enjoys the aquadoodle.

She's been a great napper, so usually she will fall asleep on my chest after some protesting and be out for a few hours. Upon waking, we did go out with Nancy, our guide, to visit one of the remaining city gates in Nanjing. Another city with a rich history.

The gate was 4 gates thick. We are standing in front of two of them. If the enemy charged, the front gate and an inner gate would slip down through the arches, trapping the enemy before they entered the city.

The Shonghua Gate was built 650 years ago during the Ming Dynasty. Men were required to create each brick according to strict specifications and imprint their name and date on each brick they made. Apparently, if you were building the city wall, and made a mistake on your brick, you were basically expendable. And I don't mean losing your job. It meant losing your life. Feeling grateful for your job today?

Can you see the name imprinted on the brick?

We also visited a Fabric Museum. I'm forgetting the style of weaving, but something like Broque? I took this picture for my mom, who is a quilter. She is always looking for beautiful fabric. The store at the museum was selling this fabric, which is hand made and takes about 8 hours to weave 5 inches. And it can all be yours, Mom for only $2526.31 US dollars per meter.

Our guide, Nancy. She is a thrifty lady and was beside herself at the cost :)

This fabric/artwork museum was right across the street from the memorial of the 300,000 Chinese people killed during the early days of WW2 by the Japanese. It was called the Rape of Nanjing.  The memorial is very large, taking up what seemed to be a city block or two. It is built on the site where much of the event took place. I have a picture on our other camera of the statue in front of the memorial. It is of a parent holding their child who has been killed and the parent is weeping. It is a hard statue to look at, for the grief is so well represented. Kevin, TJ, Josie and I are in our own little world here on our China trip, removed from regular life for a time. But I was just reminded, how there has been such national pain and suffering along with personal pain and suffering in this country. And in every country around the globe. I just had a moment of thankfulness that it will not always be this way and that Jesus offers hope through His redemption if we allow it. Nancy tells us many young people are turning from Buddhism and believing in God. She says "the Christian God". In a time when the name "Christian" carries baggage and many of us do not represent Christ very well at all, I am hopeful God can overcome our bad example and reach those hurting with His forgiveness, grace and mercy.

We realized Josie had been moving a bit slow all day, and she ended up coming down with a fever later in the day. We settled in for the night, but not until we decided to quick hit Pizza Hut for dinner. It was time for some familiar food. TJ seemed to get a kick out of it when my water was refilled and I said in "hello" instead of "thank you" in Mandarin. It takes a lot of concentration to try speaking another language. I seem to be running out of concentration.

Thursday was also a big day because it was the first time Kevin didn't sleep all afternoon! Yay! He has picked up his pace. Although TJ now has started in on a cough/runny nose and we already shared about Josie's fever. So, the health battle is not quite over yet. 

Friday morning was another lazy day where we wandered around the city a little more, stocked up on a few of our favorite snacks and packed our bags for the airport. 

TJ and Kevin in front of our hotel.

TJ with a little boy who thought he was really cool.

Trying not to get run over by bikes and scooters is a goal when walking about.
So far, so good. 

It was a late flight from Nanjing to Guangzhou and with Josie not feeling well, we were just ready to get through it. She snuggled up close in the pack as I carried her. Shortly before the flight, she perked up. TJ walked to the windows to check out the planes. She seemed to think he was too far away. She mustered up enough courage to head over there with Baba close behind. After spending 4 days glued to my side out in public, she seems to be slowly realizing we are all part of her clan. She'd turn around periodically just to see me watching. We got your back, Josie!