"Ell-o...NOW!"

This morning M went to his session and I took off with Meghan and Tracey for a walk to Lama Temple and Confucius Temple. We thought we'd walk over there then take a cab back. An hour and a half later we made it to the first stop, Lama Temple. It really is beautiful, but all the buildings we're seeing are starting to look the same! We enjoyed just being out and walking though we do feel as thought we've been left with many, many eye prints. The people here are not shy about staring! I've had my picture taken a couple of times but others, especially the girls with blonde hair, have been bombarded by those wanting to take a picture with them. It's really kinda crazy.

When we got to the Lama Temple it was across the street from where we were and there were not any 'Run For Your Life' signs to help us cross the street. Eventually enough people gathered around us and we made it across in the pack. But on the way back we waited to cross the tw0-lane street for a few minutes and didn't think we'd ever make it. Finally a nice man came up beside me and said, "Ell-O". I looked at him and smiled - kind of leery until I noticed he was looking at all the cars. Just as I realized what he was doing, he barked, "NOW!" and took off into the street. I yelled "GO!" to Meghan and Tracey and we jumped out into the street next to the man. He practically stopped traffic (cars and bikes) for us to cross with him. Once across we thanked him and he just said, "Beijing bery busy". Then he said, "Confucius Temple" and pointed down the street for us. What a nice man!

I will say that with all of the walking we've done around the city I do feel very safe here. I won't be wandering down alleys and I still watch out for my bag, but for the most part people just want to stare at you.

This afternoon I took M back to the Silk Market. He was quite impressed with my skills. He'd want to bargain a certain price and I'd get them down 50 RMB from that. I was cracking up inside because I could see him just staring at me from the corner of my eye. I'm a little disappointed with the purses, girls. The fakes look really fake. But I'm still looking. :) The vendors will tell you what you want to hear, that's for sure! Yesterday as we tried on jeans they told us all that we "have nice bums". The funniest part was when Meghan threw out her price, the vendor said, "You think China stuff cheap?!?!" Well, uh...YEAH! :) We laughed about that the rest of the day.

Tonight we're off to see an acrobatics performance. More pictures later!! I'm loving your comments - makes me feel like you're with me. :)