When we were in the Houtongs in Bejing, we made an unscheduled visit to a kindergarten/nursery which was not what I would call the top of the line in schools, and wouldn't you know that Mother Nature decided to pay me a visit! I had no alternative except to use the only available facilities, and you can see in the photograph above what it looked like. After I had rolled my slacks up to my thighs so they wouldn't get "splattered" and assumed the "position", I could hear my knees creak and snap and before I knew it, I was playing the game pretty well. Now ... after finding my Kleenex packet in my pocket which had also changed positions since I started this bit of gymnastics ... they do not provide paper, I tried to stand back up but nothing happened. It was not a good position to be in, literally speaking, especially if I had to call for help! As a last resort, I grabbed on to the plumbing and nearly pulled the pipes out of the wall as I'm no lightweight! Fortunately, I didn't break the pipes, and luckily returned to an upright position. I only had to use a Chinese toilet twice on the trip. Praise God! Don't know when I last prayed so hard!!!
The little babies there were adorable and I have included photos of the teacher's transportation (a LOT of people ride bicycles in Beijing) as well as a photo of us after the bathroom incident.
When I made reference to it being advantageous to be a cripple, they most always have a handicap toilet which is "Western" style, so old people like me don't have to play squat tag . I have many more stories to tell and photographs to send out, but right now I'm trying to play catch-up on my sleep and get my days and nights straight after being up for 37 hours. I took over 6,000 digital images that I have to sort out. I was working with three cameras, so it will take a while. I will probably have enough photographs to work from and paint from for the rest of my life. Everything was both interesting as well as beautiful. I'm going to put together a DVD and feature the highlights of the trip for us. That might take the rest of my natural life as well!
I can honestly say that this was the most wonderful and exciting trip that we have ever taken, and we've been to many many places in this wonderful world of ours.
We loved the people, the culture, the history and the country and feel very blessed to have been a part of their community for a short time. Three and one half weeks was not nearly enough time in China but we are grateful for every minute of it. Stay tuned for more reports later.
XOXO, Pcasso
