Today we visited the Confucius Temple. We crossed over the bridge to give us wisdom. Many students come here before a college entrance exam because they believe that crossing over the bridge will help them get an excellent score on the exam. The best scores get into the best college.
Crossing the bridge.
Confucius statue.
Afterwards we went to the Jile Temple where Jinbao was found at the age of five. It proved to be very emotional for Jinbao. We asked the director the other day if Jinbao remembered being abandoned and she said no. It turns out he remembered it very clearly. He was shaken up by being there but tried not to show it. He told our guide that his father left him there and that it looked different at the time so he does not know the exact spot. She asked him if he cried and he said why would he cry, they did not treat him well. She asked him what they did to him and he said he didn't want to talk about it. Then he walked ahead of us and rubbed his eyes a bit so we walked back to the entrance. Our guide explained to him that we took a picture because sometime later in life he might like to remember this spot. She told him Makenna has a picture of her finding spot and has it in a photo album of her past. He understood. Since it was a temple we took incense and burned it while saying a prayer for Jinbao's heart to be healed and that he will be happy in his new life.
Jile temple entrance
Then we went out to lunch at a nice Russian restuarant. We told Jinbao it was to celebrate his new life. We enjoyed our lunch with our guide, Lynn and our driver.
Thanks for following! Donna
Poor Jinbao, I can't even imagine the pain of being left by my father. I am happy that he has awesome new parents!! -- Dar
ReplyDeleteI love the photo of you walking across the wisdom bridge! Is Jinbao warming up to you Donna?
ReplyDelete--Dar
Hi Dar...he is warming up to me. We had a little spat in the room yesterday when Andrew wasn't here to translate so I had to put him in his place using my translator app. He was testing his limits and getting frustrated with the language barrier. He is doing much better today. He is so silly when he is skypeing with Matt and Makenna! He can't wait to go home.
ReplyDeleteHeartbreaking story, but so glad you were able to do this with him!
ReplyDeleteLet the past be the past, only time, love and care will bring him peace and happiness in the future. Not sure if it's a good thing to try to bring back the past and make him remember. He has a new life now and he will build new memories, new happy memories with his new family. Travel safe....April
ReplyDeleteHow heartbreaking :-( But ya know he is going to have an amazing life now with his new parents and it is all about the future now not the past. xxxxxx
ReplyDelete