Another exciting day!

Hola,

First things first.  I must introduce you to my new love.  My bike.  It has all a boy could ever want.  It possesses a basket, tall handle bars, a bell, a tall seat, spray painted imperfections, and a sweet rack on the back that can transport a small Asian friend for a short distance.  I am becoming quite attached...

Sophia took us out to dinner last night and out to downtown Guangzhou today.  She took us on the metro.  It is the cleanest easiest to use public transportation that i have ever seen.  I have only used New York's, Italy's, and the poor excuse for a public transportation system that LA claims to have.  It was clean, effective, and air conditioned.  Our first stop was The Guang dong Museum of Folk Handicrafts that was housed within a temple.  It was filled with many little shows of sculpture, embroidery, and ceramics.  I was more taken by the temple itself than the artwork.  These temples possess something i have never experienced before.  Coming from a Mexican-American background i have experienced Catholic and Christian places of worship.  Although Europe had some breathtaking churches, none of them compare to this.  They were vast and housed some of the art that i can only dream of creating, but this temple touched me in a different way.  I felt a nostalgia for something that i never actually experienced, nor comprehend, or ever will.  I know those are awkward abstract words that don't even begin to verbalize my feelings, it is just difficult to describe the serenity and perfection of this place.  Nature and vast earth creations have the capacity to do this to me, but i have never been moved by architecture before.

the entrance

I make friends everywhere i go

intricate beauty everywhere i looked

the gang: Sophia, Jessica, Ying, and Luis

a building beside the temple...gorgeous

We then went to The Museum of the Nan-Yue King in the Western-Han Dynasty.  It was full of ancient relics and excavated tombs that we got to see inside of.  After that we went to "Old GAFA.," which i believe was the former location of our school and now houses GAFA's graduate program.  We wandered through the campus and saw they're huge sculpture garden.  There was also a show going on in their three story university art museum.  It was the 1st Grand Exhibition of Primary and Secondary School Teachers Art in Guangdong Province.  It was a beautiful show and i took many photos of the work.  After that we accompanied Sophia to buy some books then headed back to GAFA.

the street with the book shops

I am really enjoying it here.  The living conditions are good, the food is great, the people are wonderful, and now i look forward to the education.  One of the few things that strikes me time after time is the stares i that get.  It is slightly awkward and entertaining due to the fact that everyone does it.  Not just children or a few curious people, but everyone.  Definitely pins the foreigner sign on my forehead.  It really exemplifies that in California we live in a rich diverse area.  Perhaps we take that for granted?  I am an alien here, an oddity.  I am this because of my ethnicity, my height, my beard, and my willingness to put myself here.  

hasta pasta