Day at the Museum

Thursday, May 19, 2010

I am losing track of the day and dates so it helps me to start each blog with the day and date.  We had a wonderful day yesterday.  It started with a delicious breakfast at our hotel.  At 10:00am we left with our new guide, Lee, to go to the Hohhut Mongolian History Museum.  Because Evan is from Inner Mongolia he is considered to be Mongolian Chinese.  The museum was beautiful and interesting.  The Mongolians are horse people and are very proud of their "green" food.  I have been told by numerous people that they have fresh, organic food that is the best in China.  Inner Mongolia has a large section that is called the Grass Plains.  I have been told that it is beautiful and the people there raise cows and goats.  They feed them natural, healthy food and the cows are raised mainly for dairy and the goats for their meat.  The traditional Mongolian clothing is ornate with intricate design.  We purchased a hat and two vests for Evan to
wear during Chinese celebrations.

The Museum had an awesome exhibit on Dinosaurs.  In 1985 archaeologists found one of the largest if not the largest dinosaur ever found in Inner Mongolia.  I don't know if the dinosaur we saw was the real thing or a replica but it was big.  Daniel was excited to see it and then got scared.  They had many displays of different dinosaurs and Daniel loved running around saying "hey, I found something".  Evan enjoyed riding in his new stroller that was given to us by BLAS (Bridge of Love Adoption Service).  They also had a movie room that showed a movie about Dinosaurs Daniel didn't want to watch at first and then decided that he was "brave" and stayed to watch the entire movie.  After wards he announced to everyone that he was "being brave and watched the dinosaur movie".  We visited a couple more exhibit hall including one about their space program.  They have launched several rockets maned and unmanned from Inner Mongolia and they are
very proud of their program.

After the museum we went to a restaurant that our guide called "very, very special".  The restaurant is in the lower level of a sports arena.  On our way in they had cages of hens that lined either side of the walk way.  I thought that they would probably be someones dinner soon.  We walked in and it was a beautiful restaurant with lots of tables including one table that was a fish tank complete with a turtle.  They led us to our seat and we had to walk over a bridge that crossed a little creek with fish.  It was like a little creek running through the middle of the restaurant.  Our table was a circular booth with it's own roof.  They brought us a leather bound menu that was as thick as a book.  In side were pages and pages of pictures of their dishes.  I was happy to see pictures but some were unappetizing.  On picture showed a cooked bird with a cooked turtle laying on top.  Our guide, the manager and a waitress helped us order a
meal.  I have to admit that it was very good.  We ordered way too much food but it was fun trying different things.  It still is not my favorite but it was nice to find something I could enjoy.  While we were eating we spotted a mallard duck walking around the restaurant.  We also found that some of the table were large bowls with fish and turtles inside that had glass laid on top.  Daniel and our guided spotted these tables and when I walked over to see, the turtles were mating.   Dinner and entertainment!

We left the restaurant and headed to a place to buy traditional Mongolian items.  When we got there I quickly realized that it was tour of a factory.  Our guides were two young women wearing traditional Mongolian dresses.  They spoke little English but had a script.  They were so cute as they tried to read it.  We walked through several rooms that were set up for show.  They make a lot of leather products from Cows that include canteens.  We also saw how they make cashmere.   They also use camel hair to make clothing items.  After the tour they took us through a maze of rooms where you could buy different items.  When I wanted to buy something they would give me a receipt where I would take it to a cashier and then take the receipt to the person who I purchased the item from and then get my item.  It was fun for the first couple of rooms and then it just kept going and going.  We were so tired.  Finally we were allowed to leave
and came back to our hotel.

Daniel and Evan did a great today.  Evan would wave to people and be friendly with the girls that wanted to see him.  He is not as shy as were led to believe.  The orphanage representative said that Evan is not very brave.  After a few days with us, I think he is brave.  He has been smiling a lot and I think that is because of Daniel.  Daniel is very sweet to him and they play pretty well together.  Last night in the tub Daniel took something away from him and wouldn't give it back.  When I made Daniel give it back, Evan started to hit Daniel but looked at me first.  I said no and shook my head and he stopped.  I think he learned some skills at the orphanage!

Speaking of the Orphanage, we are heading there in an hour.  I have to wake up two sleepy heads and get them ready to go!