We had some visitors today. There were some ladies, searching for a job and some other people- former English student of Amanda's and his parents.. The women thought that Mom and I must be very rich since we are from Canada. I guess most Chinese people think we are. There were also a couple of university students there, helping out with the babies.
Lily was totally intrigued by this guy's cellphone. She was playing with it- under his watchful eye- and playing music.
Sarah looked really pretty today, in a nice little outfit. I keep thinking, she's being adopted on Wednesday (Tuesday for you guys). Plus, I may get to see the moment when she finally meets her family. That'll be so happy.
It seems unfair that such a happy thing should happen right after something terribly sad. I can't believe Patrick passed away just like that. My Mom says that his mission on earth may have been to show me how precious life is. And I realize that too. When we went to church today, I dedicated my prayers to young Patrick.
And getting to that, we went to church today. A Chinese church with Mass said in English. It was at 3:30 this afternoon. Mom and I returned from upstairs to have a little down time down here with Brittany. One of the best things about Brittany is she can take my constant chattering. I like that. We watched a video the other night with Erica in it. She is the baby Pat and Cindy want to adopt. Brittany hadn't adjusted the music yet, so it was set on default. It got annoying after a time, but the annoying thing was, it was catchy. Catchy guitar music. Grr! Right now, I cannot help but hum it in front of Brittany just to make her laugh, lol.
Mom and I set off at about 2:40 to the Chinese church. We hailed a taxi and drove down to the old wall where the church was. It cost under $2.50 in our money to get there. Whoa.
Mom set about taking pictures of the church, be it front or back. It was called St. Francis Cathedral. It didn't say a specific St. Francis, so we just assumed it was St. Francis of Assisi.
The mass was beautiful, mom said. I thought the music was wonderful, but since there were men singing, I had a hard time singing along. We sang songs that, strangely enough, are the same as back home. There were songs such as these, 'Sing to the Mountains', 'Shout to the Lord' and 'The Power of Your Love.' It was really nice. The mass was exactly the same as back home. Only difference was the Chinese accents in the priest and reader's voices and the gospel was really long. Today, it was about Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead. Whenever I read that story, I think it's amazing the things He did.
Outside the church, there is a little neighbourhood. Probably for poorer people in China since all the houses seemed rundown and a little battered. The children playing outside look happy enough. There are these two teens playing ping pong using some bricks as their net. It's creative I think.
Mom and I went for a little sightseeing walk after mass, to stretch our legs and get a bit of fresh air. We talked a little as we walked. It was quite enjoyable for me. I got to see more of the poorer bit of the city though. Made me feel lucky to be where I am today.
Mom said as we were walking, "Sometimes I wonder why God allows so many children- thousands- to live without parents, to wind up in orphanages."
"I said, "Well, maybe they're better off in the orphanages because they have a chance to be adopted and have a better life- like me"
"Well, sometimes, I just say to myself, it's God's will," replied Mom.
I am thinking of that now, as I write. Why DOES God let so many kids suffer. Take Patrick for instance. He could've had a wonderful life where he was healthy and happy. But here he is, the poor thing, suffering with malnutrition. But he is happy now. I guess, I've just got to leave it up to God. Besides, he has answered most of my prayers, the ones that matter a lot, and I am happy.
There's this huge square just inside the old wall. It's beside a giant river and in the square, there are tons of people and tons of kites. There are kites everywhere. They seem to light the whole place up with their many colours. There's even some children and adults flying kites. I wasn't really surprised by all this. Kites were invented by Chinese people, right?
Brittany, Mom and I all love this ice-cream shop just around the corner from our apartment. Brittany loves her vanilla ice-cream. There was this guy who told Mom the price of our popsicles. Mom told him, "Tell her the price." She meant me.
The guy said, "Shi san."
I said, "Shi san?"
He nodded and I told Mom, "Thirteen."
When we walked out of the store, Mom said she was proud of me for using my Chinese like that. I said, "Mom, you are proud of me for saying thirteen in Chinese? That was the first thing I learned in Chinese. Numbers."
She kept on though about that at least I had used my Chinese speaking skill. And guess what? She is laughing right now that my first conversation in Chinese was to say, "Thirteen." Huh.
Well tomorrow is a brand new day! Write more then. ;)
Btw, I just wanna say hi to all those St. Patters out there reading this. And a big thank you to everyone for all their kind words and for supporting me here. Really appreciate it. :D
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