Monday (10/5)

Elsie has made tremendous progress and is breaking out of her shell. We can get her to laugh and giggle quite a bit and even see glimpses of her character. She now says mama and dada and points to us. Kind of neat. Elsie spent almost the entire afternoon in a baby bjorn strapped to Tamra. After seeing more brides taking their wedding photos then we cared to, we decided to venture out to Baiyun Mountain (white cloud) and Yantai Gardens. We had to get on the metro (subway) again. The station is about a 1/2 mile from the hotel. After making one transfer to another subway line we got off and hailed a taxi. We have been told that some taxi drivers are from the rural areas and the best thing you can do is bring a map along and point to where you want to go. It worked for getting there. Getting back was a different story. Anyways, the garden was amazing, lots of vegetation all around. Afterwards, we took a gondola to the top of the mountain. I realized why the locals called it white cloud mountain. All you can see when your at the summit is the city enveloped in a white haze of smog. So we had to take a taxi back to the subway station. I found a taxi and pointed to the subway station on the map. We got in and I thought everything was going smoothly until the cab driver stopped and motioned that we arrived at our destination. I was kind of concerned and asked him where the metro station was. He ran his hand back and forth as to indicate that is was near, maybe right under us. We got out of the cab and realized we were not in Kansas anymore, wasn’t even sure it was China. I've heard of enclaves in the states like Little Italy and such. Well, we were in Little Africa or more precisely Little Nigeria. Every other person was African. OK, did not expect that. I asked a police officer (for there were many) if he could direct us to the metro station but he brushed me off. On a side note, Tamra has been really surprised how quickly I ask for directions since we have been in China Went down the road a little further and asked a shop owner how to get to the metro station. Within a few seconds, a crowd had converged on us as if we were some kind of freak show. I have been known to block out all sorts of things around me that concern Tamra. Well, as I am trying to communicate with this guy I feel this tap on my shoulder. Tamra is white as a ghost and tells me we need to keep moving because we are attracting a crowd. I look up and say, "Yea.... yea, your right, lets keep walking." So after about a brisk 10 minute walk we finally see the metro escalator. That was a good feeling.