Byron composing today. Tuesday night brought some very strong winds and a little bit of rain in front of Typhoon Hagupit. Nobody here seemed to be too worried about it though. Well, I looked out the window of the hotel on Wednesday morning, and what did I see? Water everywhere that the streets should be...
Basically, there was a storm surge, that along with the tides caused the Pearl River to overflow and cover most of Shamian Island in 1-2 feet of water. Most of the shops on the island had water in them. We talked to some and asked them how often this happened. It sounded like this is only a once every 4-5 years type of deal. Fortunately, all the water had receded by the end of the day yesterday. Unfortunately, the nice pool here was filled up with the not-so-nice water from the Pearl River. Kirsten went and looked at the pool today and it was drained and being washed!
Despite all the water on the island, we were able to go with our group to the Chen Family Temple. It rained a lot yesterday, but we were able to stay covered most of the time. There is a lot of great carving and artwork to see there.
This morning was our appointment at the U.S. Consolate, which, ironically, we don't actually go to; our guide does. However, I did have to wait by the phone while our guide was there in case there were any hang-ups with our paperwork (there weren't). While I waited, Kirsten and Emma with the ubiquitous Ryan and his family to a gorgeous park, that I call the five rams park (because of the huge statue of five rams), but that's not the correct name.
I tease about Ryan, but it has been good having a friend for Emma here. Emma cried today at lunch because Ryan and his family are leaving tomorrow morning. There are a few pictures here of the kids at the park. The other little girl in the pictures is Ryan's new little sister, Ella. Ella has had a much harder time adjusting, but is doing better every day.
Claire continues to do great. We let her eat way too much strawberry ice cream too close to bedtime last night and she had trouble getting to sleep. But, as you can see below, she's a pretty happy girl.
We are of course missing Benjamin and Katie very badly and cannot wait to see you all when we get home.
2 comments:
Wow!!! What a lot of water!!!Claire looks great(and so does Emma)!!Can't wait until you are home. I have a ton of questions for you. Say a prayer that we receive our LOA SOON!! I will let you know if I hear anything!!! Kathie
Wow! your adventure just continues! Counting down the days. (PS your kids are doing great! I asked Mr. B who he was looking forward to seeing most and he said, "well, maybe Mom...and Claire'' He is excited but is a trooper.I also asked him what kinds of meals he wanted me to tell people to bring and he said "we love macaroni and cheese." I can handle that one!
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