Update

Hello All!

Sorry for the silence the last couple of days. I've been checking e-mails but haven't updated the blog.

 

We have been very busy.  on Wednesday we visited the Panda Breeding Center. It was kind of like a zoo just for Pandas. They were mostly inside due to the heat. They are used to being in the mountains so the humidity and heat in the summer is not good for them.

Wayne got some great video footage of the adult Pandas. We also saw many red pandas that are smaller and very racoon like except they are red :-). Samuel seemed to enjoy the trip as well.

 

Yesterday, Thursday, we visited the silk brocade factory and shop. This is an amazing skill that takes years to learn. They have huge looms that are operated by 2 people.

 

We also visited the place where he was found back in March of 2002.  It is near the center of Chengdu at what used to be the railway ticket office. the offices there have since been torn down and it is a construction site.  We took many pictures of all of us there.  The new city center is very beautiful with many fountains. They are building subways under it all. Emily,our guide, said it is likely he was from a rural family that couldn't afford medical care for Samuel as he was a sickly child when he was found. He was brought to the police station by a man name He Yu and then brought to  the orphanage. 

 

Samuel is doing fine. Chengdu and the hotel in particular are not very kid friendly. We are longing to get to a park and playground where we can just let him run.  We've been rather confined to our room when we are not out touring or shopping or eating and it has been hard on all of us. He likes to watch us in the pool but doesn't want anything to do with getting in himself.  He likes to splash us from the side though.  I think Franklin Park Pool will be more to his liking, he'll be able to stand in the water.

 

Samuel is quite the ladies man.  He has made friends with all the young ladies in the hotel;calling them Ayi (auntie) and giving them little gifts like pieces of paper from the panda center. He especially loves our guide and we are very grateful to her and our driver Philip who has played with Samuel while we shopped at the brocade factory.

 

Emily has made it easier for him to understand us and us him. She says he is trying to speak clearly but he definately has trouble with his speech. I've noticed that words with sh,s, th or other sounds that the tongue on the roof of the  mouth are needed are especially difficult for him. He says Samuel "amuel"  just  like Ruth says Sam "am'. so I guess they'll be getting similar speech therapy.

 

We leave for Guangzhou late this afternoon and are very much looking forward to being with the other families and being near a park and finishing up all the paperwork so we can come home.  It's been very different in many ways than our trip to bring Ruth home. But it has certainly been memorable.

 

That's all for now thanks for following our journey. I hope to maybe get some pictures up in the next few days.
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Martha