Village tour

(recap of Wednesday, March 3)

When dawn finally appeared on Wednesday morning Ian and I were so relieved.  Caleb had been up through the night with an hour + coughing spell.  Ian took him into a steamy shower, but that didn't seem to do much.  We also knew that cold night air would help, but with the warm, humid air in GZ, we knew going downstairs to go outside would be a wash.  So finally we moved the girls into the bedroom (where Ian went to sleep as well) and shut the door and cranked the air in the living room as cold as it would go.  I bundled up under the covers and prayed for my little one (and had family and some close friends praying here at home via email) and finally he began to breathe easier.  We've dealt with croup type stuff before, but somehow those things are easier to cope with in your own home.

Anyway, we weren't sure if we would be joining our group on the local village tour, but eventually we decided that sitting around the hotel room would make us crazy.  So we hurried through breakfast and headed out.    And I'm so glad that we did!  All of our time in China to date has been spent in large cities with populations over five million ~ Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Hangzhou ~ with the exception of a day trip to Xianning City (Caleb's home town) which was still a "city."  (This series of pictures is especially for you Laine since you guys had to pack instead of joining us)

This venture outside the big city provided a glimpse into what life looks like for many.  And yes, I know that there is also "country village living," but this was "city village living" and was still drastically different than the pulse of any of the big cities we've spent time in.

 

 A man selling starfruit and some folks who had stopped to chat for a while.

 An opportunity for another family picture.  Two "overachievers" in the smiling department and one who was obviously "not in the mood."

 A dried out canal ~ supposedly able to support boat traffic during the rainy season.

 Exploring together.

CNY couplets framing the doorway of a family home.

 Just an interesting alley. 

M

More CNY couplets framing a "rich person's house."  (Obvious because of the private courtyard we caught a glimpse of).

An oyster shell wall on one of the homes.

A look at everyday life.

The corner store.

Community gathering.

 The restaurant opens.

Caleb "disrespecting" the village temple urn.

Kylie found a spot to relax for a few minutes.

Darcy with our guide Mico and travel-mate Liem.

 Had to document my boy getting lost in time over a leaf...

And then shortly after we got back to the hotel our group began to disband.  Two families took the train to Hong Kong while a third had a late flight back to CA.  It was that afternoon that I started to feel "not so good," but I pushed on in order to enjoy one last dinner with part of our group at the Banana Leaf.  By that point I was so done with noodles and rice and would have loved to order in from Danny's Bagel, but it was the last chance to hang with Lyla's family and with Janie's family.  And my children dancing with the wait staff made choking down one more noodle worth it...