Last Day in Nanning

We've had another busy day. This morning we went to a Buddhist temple on the highest point in Nanning. Everyone was lighting incense and bowing, there were other statues of Buddha's students from the stories and legends. Jimmy went up to a monk with Glenn, he requested him to bless and wish the remainder of Burge's ashes a safe journey, wwhich he did; he said a prayer, rang some bells and blessed him with something like holy water. He also patted the picture and gave Jimmy the Thumbs-up sign which was a sign to Jimmy himself because Burge always did that. They had beautiful things for sale, there was a lot of incense burning, we were not allowed to take pictures as it is bad luck to take photos of the Buddha and considered disrespectful. We climbed the tower at the highest point, but it was a cloudy morning so the views were hidden. Then we went down the hill to a beauful park, where strolled around. Jimmy had fun with some old chinese ladies, posing for pictures with them. They seemed thrilled and smiled the whole time. We saw children in a huge plastic bubble, like a gerbil ball, actually out on the water, seemed like fun but must have been hot in there! From the park, we went to lunch. It as one of the first times we were in a restaurant with a lot of other people. There was a lot of staring. At the end of the meal, Sandra, or "Peeps", and Jimmy decided to try some of the local delicacies; scorpions, worms, ants, bees, and Jimmy's favorite, big crunchy black beetles. Yummy! Then we went on to the famous Nanning Market, a large area of vendors selling just about anything ; trinkets, bunnies, birds, dogs, jade, coins, plastic junk, lots and lots of beaded jewelry, everyone picked up some treasures to help us remember our time here. Our suitcases are definitely going to be over the weight limit! I will be adding some photos later on today. Laina seems to love the outdoors and just coos the whole time we are strolling and everyone wants to hold her, which we allow since she doesn't mind. She has started clapping, and is smiling a lot more. Tonight we have to try and pack to head into Guangzhou for the final visas for the babies. We'll stay at the White Swan Hotel for two nights, which is a beautiful place that really caters to the international adoption families. We'll have pictures with the whole extended group, do any last-minute shopping that we can and will have a couple of appointments to complete Laina's documents. For some reason we could see the blog today, not sure why.Thanks for all the great comments! It was the first time since we left that we could read them. I have edited a few things, Laina only weighs 15 pounds by the way, I blame my mistake on the anxiety and sleep deprivation from the first night! There is the Prime Minister staying here so a lot of bigwigs are around the hotel, and there's a red carpet in the main lobby that no one can go on but him. We just met a nice family in the gift shop who will be getting their baby tomorrow, amazing to share these life-changing times. We cannot express how polite and friendly the Chinese people are here, we feel very welcomed and do our best to be as respectful and kind as they are. Tonight is our last dinner with Glenn, it will be sad but also celebratory of all that he has shared with us. Not really looking forward to getting on a small plane with kids and luggage tomorrow, but it's only an hour flight. Our Laina is usually a very content baby but we will give her some drops for ear pain just in case.Getting up early so the next post will be from Guangzhou, hopefully we can figure out a computer set-up. Can't believe we'll be heading home in less than a week, everything seems surreal! Oh, also wanted to mention that not one person in our group has been sick at all, we just don't drink the water. We are now sleeping well as are the babies, and the food is great so we are eating well too. Really didn't need all the snacks we brought and they will probably be left behind to make room in the bags, among other things!