We had a more relaxed day today. We did a little site-seeing in the morning. We went to a Buddhist temple called the The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, which was originally built in AD 537. This one is a popular tourist spot and photos are allowed- this is not the case for all temples. Next we went to the Old Chen House which is now a museum of the arts and crafts of the region. It’s a beautiful compound full of elaborate carvings of ivory, wood and stone and other artwork like paintings and calligraphy. The Chen Clan has passed down their expertise and we were able to have a scroll made by Mr Chen that has a Suzie’s Chinese name, along with her new name and the date that she joined our family. Many families also had name chops made. We were gifted one for Suzie from her orphanage. It is basically a hand carved stamp that has the traditional symbols for her Chinese name. A snake is on the top as she was born in the year of the snake. It’s very special!
After we finished the tour, we returned to the hotel and relaxed a bit then had to meet to gather & organize all the papers for Suzie’s visa appointment later this week. Brian went to that since I can’t leave Suzie. I left for a few minutes to make some copies in the business center while she was playing with the kids and came back to a scared, crying girl. I wasn’t gone more than 15 minutes and just needed some alone time. I felt awful that she had broken down but I won’t lie- the time alone was glorious.
Brian is trying so hard to get Suzie to trust him. We saw some progress today and she actually interacted with him a little. It’s like she wants to trust him but she just can’t. She will smile a bit and then suddenly be overwhelmed and shoo him away or start crying. The longer this goes on, the harder it is on Brian. The rejection really hurts - he’s used to kids loving him and his clownish behavior. Meanwhile I’m physically and mentally exhausted from being needed all the time. We are both getting crabby and moody. Mason had a breakdown tonight and just wants to be home. I think we all do. We have Suzie’s Visa appointment on Tuesday and it takes 2 days to process it. We should get it Thursday and fly back Friday. Just 5 more days! We’re trying to enjoy these last few days as we know it’s such a gift to be here and need to soak in as much as we can.
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| ivory carvings |
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| Suzie waved and said "Ni hao baba (daddy)" |
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| trying a rambutan |
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