Wednesday in Nanning

It is 3:46 in the afternoon... Lili and Lori are napping, Lauren is watching cartoons (thanks to portable DVD players), and Wanda and Megan are shopping in the mall near Walmart. Lili did very well thru the rest of the night last night and got up smiling this morning. After an early breakfast, we went to the country outside of Nanning about 20 miles. We saw some very pretty mountains and stopped in a little village and walked thru it (mud and all) to see some of the people who live there. In China it seems that everyone that lives in the country is called a "farmer". The average person in the rural area earns about $400 per year... in the cities that jumps to over $1200 per year. We saw cows pulling wooden carts, a lot of very old trucks, and many bicycles and 3 wheeled motorcycle vans... no tractors. These little vans have a driver up front on a motorcycle seat and then a box built on the back that can hold 6 people uncomfortably... but there were often many more riding in them. The country roads thru the village were all mud (March is the start of their rainy season here). All through the village you could see stacks and stacks of small tree limbs and roots that had been gathered for fuel. These are used for cooking and warmth. The village had electricity for lighting but I didn't see any other modern conveniences. We saw several women carrying corn and vegetables in large buckets... one on each end of a long stick that they rested across their shoulders. Cows and calves were tied here and there...no fences. Chickens walked around freely, but the pigs were held in very small smelly pens. We saw a lot of the women at a pond washing clothes by hand...after they washed them they would rinse them under running water from a mountain spring. We also found a group of about 12 to 14 men visiting under a large tree... they spoke to Hannah and all of them laughed...I don't think we want to know what they said. Surrounding the village were several acres of lettuce and other vegetables. We also walked by an elementary school and the kids were outside (their lunch break). They came over to the fence and yelled hello to us and waved so we walked up close to them. They were smiling and really enjoying getting to see something a little different from the ordinary. Lauren had her picture taken standing by a few of them. We had lunch at McDonalds... wow the Golden Arches looked pretty good... a much better experience than KFC last night. Lori and I are both so pleased, impressed, and love-stricken with little Lili... she is wonderful. Lauren has been the perfect big sister. Megan and Wanda have been an incredible amount of help... they have both taken turns with Lauren and made her trip so much better. Lili really enjoys them too and I'm pretty sure that Grandma Wanda is crazy about grandchild #10. Keep the prayers going. All is well in Nanning. Rick.