Hi All!

Well, one more day less till we get to come home! We are so looking forward to that. Let me tell you this first-time parenting thing is not easy to do in a hotel. It will be so nice to be home with all our familiar things and not living out of a suitcase regardless of how nice the hotel is.

I think that we are fortunate that we are the only couple traveling because we have been eating at the �western� restaurant of this hotel twice a day. Always for breakfast and supper. Lunch is always Chinese. They call it western. However, it is like no western that you or I have ever seen. Let me give you a sampling of what we had for supper on the buffet: oxtail, snake, baby squid�Now, I am sure these would be just fine if I was used to eating them. I satisfied myself with the usual fried rice (breakfast, lunch and supper), lamb meat on a kebob, fried potatoes and I tried some steamed clams. Not too bad. We always have lots of fruit, mostly canned except for the watermelon, grapes and cantalope. In Beijing, we only had western-style breakfast and in Guangzhou this will probably continue.

Today we got up nice and early (Eliana slept through the night again). After breakfast, we met Winnie at 10:00 to go to church. We drove for about 15 minutes maybe and came to a rather poor part of Changsha. We saw the church but after parking the bus near what we thought was the entrance, we found we had to walk around the block to get in. This was a Catholic church and of course we are not used to that and did not know when they would have mass. Unfortunately for us, the mass was earlier in the day. When we finally found the entrance to get in, a little grandmother lady was sitting in a sort of courtyard area talking with another old lady. They both petted and made over Eliana and said what a lucky baby she was. They took into the sanctuary and we did get to pray. The little grandmother who showed us the way had the key to let us in and she prayed too. I was really hopeful to attend a service of some sort�oh well. Winnie had many questions about our beliefs and what the meaning of some words like �amen� were.

Since we could not go to church, we decided to go to a big park that they have here in Changsha. I don�t know the name of the park but it was really neat. There was no entrance fee. In the middle of the park was a tower which was a memorial for all the heros of Hunan province. We walked around the outside of the park looking at all the people. Lots of families came with children. They were sitting on blankets and playing. One little boy who looked to be 2-3 years old was playing soccer in his little split-bottom pants. He was really good! I took a picture of him and hope it comes out. There is a part of the park that has rides that you pay to go on. There is also a lake and boats you can ride out on. At the end of our visit, we walked up to the memorial to have a look. All the time in the park, Doug was carrying Eliana in the little pack thing where she could look out. She likes this much better than the stroller because she is up! Lots of people came up to talk to us. Winnie says we are like �superstars�. One lady made the comment, �Why would someone want to give away such a healthy baby�? We said we don�t know but we are blessed to have her! By this time it was after 12:00 and past time for miss Eliana to have her lunch.

It was back to the hotel for a quick diaper change and to get a bottle. We bought one yesterday and were hoping she would take formula from this one. She did! Yeah! We ate at a Chinese restaurant that is very near the hotel, about a one-minute walk. The lunch was pretty good. We had some kind of fish that I never did find out exactly what kind it was, but I ate it anyway. After lunch, it was back to the hotel for nap time!

After nap time, we met Winnie at 3:30 to go for a drive to the country. This was very interesting. It did not seem like we really went outside the city but suddenly we started seeing garden patches and fishing ponds. Winnie told us that many peasants moved from the area surrounding Changsha to the city to make more money. We saw many people tending the gardens that grew everything from vegetables for the families to trees that would be purchased by the big hotels for decoration. We also saw coal bricks and cement block being loaded for transport. On the way back, we stopped to take some pictures. I got out at one point to take pictures of a duck pond and there were two women, one holding a baby, and three little girls. They were all very interested in me since I am sure they don�t see many foreigners! I took some pictures and hope they come out since the girls were sooo cute! Eliana slept through the whole ride.

Well then it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We gave Eliana a little snack before supper hoping that would be better tasting to her than all the rice stuff she has been eating. She had chicken and vegetables. Smelled gross to me but she seemed to like it. Speaking of Eliana, I need to get back to the room. It�s 9:00 pm and that means bath, last snack and bed for the Little Empress. This is what the Chinese call a spoiled child and we have been teasing that she is already turning into a Little Empress!

Hope you�ll all have a good evening and we�ll write again tomorrow.

Carmi (and Doug and Eliana)