Zoo Day

We went to the zoo today and enjoyed it. Kind of. It is a really nice zoo and the exhibits are big and nice. We go to the San Diego Zoo and it was just as nice. I think it cost 290 yuan for adults and 90 yuan for children. The only problem was that it was about 95 degrees and really humid. We walked around a lot and were struggling to enjoy ourselves by the end. We went with three other families and I think we all felt the same way. I know I would have gladly paid an exit fee by the end to be able to leave and sit anywhere that was airconditioned. It was fun to take the train ride, which has a breeze when it is moving and is great in that you get close to several of the animals. I am not sure how long we were on the train, at least twenty or thirty minutes, and we saw a lot of animals in nice exhibits. It was also nice to see the pandas up close, I think we were about five feet away from a couple of them. The giraffes ate leaves from branches we held for them, which was fun. I would say that if you have a good zoo near where you live, have other things you want to do, or if it is hot and humid here then you could skip this zoo. Some people love it, just my opinion. One good thing is that the snacks at the zoo are not expensive. I bought a cold soda and an ice cream and it was about $3.00. Ray and Zhoa Lei each bought some kind of meat on a stick (four altogether) and it cost about $3.00 as well.
It was also hard because Zhao Lei spent most of the time away from us. She didn't sit with us on the bus or walk around with us while at the zoo. That was okay since she usually spends time with the other kids or with Michael, so she can talk with him. But today, she wasn't ignored us several times when we asked her to do something like sit down while on the bus or not putting her hands on the little children's faces. She either ignored us or said no to us. It was irritating to Ray and I. We understand that some of her behavior is typical nine year old behavior. We also understand that she hasn't gotten enough sleep, has had several major life changes in the last two weeks, is living out of a suitcase...all valid reasons to be cranky and irritable. So we give her a break most of the time and let her get away with it. It makes us feel helpless since we feel like we aren't parenting her well. Parenting a nine year old child we are only just getting to know is not for the faint of heart. And it is particularly hard since we are in a new country, aren't sleeping well, are living out of suitcases, miss our kids at home, and were very hot and a little cranky. We know that in a few days we will be home and on the road to learning how to live together. We just need to make it through a few more days.
We went to McDonald's before we went back to our hotel rooms. I usually don't want to eat there, but I was really hungry and Ray wanted to eat and then hang out in our room. I couldn't get Ray or Zhao Lei to go anyplace afer we got back. I wanted to go anywhere, just out of the room. Ray did call to find out if there was a book store near by so we could get some Harry Potter books and more movies. It was already closed by the time we thought of it. So we have been in he room all evening. It is almost 10:00 pm now and Ray and Zhao Lei are sleeping. She and I looked at her Mandarin/English books and both tried to learn new words. We would run the pen over the English, it would say it aloud and she would repeat it. Then it was my turn to do it in Mandarin. Both of us were having fun when the batteries ran out. Oh well. We had another tea party-Ray, Zhao Lei, myself and her two stuffed animals. It was fun. I helped Zhao Lei take a bath and washed her hair too.
We have our American Consulate appointment tomorrow at 10:00 am! Michael told us today that Zhao Lei's passport arrived at the hotel while we were at the zoo so we can proceed as planned. We are barely holding on. There are plenty of things to do at the hotel, on the island, and in the city, but I have to drag Ray and Zhao Lei out of the hotel to do them. We plan on doing a little shopping tomorrow after we are finished with the appointment. We are in a really nice hotel and we need to take advantage of all of the things to do here too...