temple time

yesterday Jen and I decided to jump on the metro and try to find a few Buddhist temples we had found online. this was a TRUE adventure, because other than knowing the metro stop, we had no clue where to go next.
our first visit was to the Jade Buddha Temple. As we step out of the metro tunnel, we have absolutely NO idea where to go. So, I called my friend Amanda and she got out a map of where we were. Thank goodness, or I would have had to try my less than beginning skills of asking "Where is the Jade Buddha Temple?" which i don't even know how to say at all, except "Zai na li" which means "Where?" Jade Buddha? That would have been in English... yeah, we would have been screwed. We finally found the street and proceeded to follow some other westerners closely, assuming they were heading in the same direction :) We walked through a pretty rural part of China. There were people pulling their children in old shopping baskets on the ground... really sad.
But, we made it!

reclining buddha- not THE jade buddha, but one of them

the temple

feeding koi for good luck

Then, we made it to Jing'An Temple, easily! Literally, it was right off the metro and we found it with ease. It was made out of BEAUTIFUL wood. I was so amazed!

Jennifer at the temple

HUGE silver buddha - my favorite of all!

In other news, my cold came back with a vengeance :( this whole time Jennifer has been here I have been blowing my nose and coughing hard core. i am not happy about it. i hope i am better before teaching because frankly, it really sucks.