Wow. It was so difficult to say goodbye to our kids on Wednesday morning before school. Much more difficult than we imagined....much harder than in 2006 when we came to China for Ava. at least it is already May 11th here in China and we only have 17 more days until we see them again. My parents drove us to Chicago and dropped us off at the airport. Knowing how hard it was to leave my children at home, I know that even though I am grown, it was just as difficult to for my parents for me to leave the States. We then went through all the craziness of checking in and security. It was so nice to then finally meet one of our travel mates that I had been talking to over the phone and emailing the past several months. Lisa and Ross are from Michigan and this is their 3rd China adoption. They are also a wonderful Christian couple that we are so happy to be on this journey with. They are 1 of the other 11 families we are on this trip with.
We then boarded the plane for our 13.5 hour journey across the world, and you know, it was not that bad! I am so thankful that we upgrades to Economy Plus to get the extra 6 inches of leg room because it really does make a difference. I watched 4 movies on my individual screen, they fed us 2 meals and a snack and gave us drinks the entire time. We got up and walked around and hung out in the back of the plane chatting with others. All in all , good flight.
Arrived, went through customs, met our guide and a few other families(all of us would be arriving on flights from all over the U.S..from Seattle to New York and in between) We then left for an 1 hour long ride to the hotel in the WORST traffic I have ever seen...and you all know that I am from Chicago!!! An interesting thing our guide told us as we left the airport. We passed a beautiful building with red flags all over it and the flag of China. This was Terminal 1 of the airport...only used by the Chinese government. It was so nice! As we drove through Beijing, there were tons of buildings, highways, people and cars, but in the midst of it all would be a beautiful green and lush park. Reminded of when I have pictures of Central Park in New York. People flying kites higher than you can imagine.
We arrived at the hotel and had been up for over 24 hours. We have a yucky smoking room, but they will change it for us on Friday. We walked around outside a bit, Skyped with the kids and went to bed at 8pm. Woke up at midnight and then fell asleep again until about 4...I would guess I got about 6 hours of sleep...Eric a\got a little bit more.
So it is now 5:30am on Friday, May 1llth. We are going to go down for breakfast in a bit..and will get to meet more of our travel mates. Several of them have brought their children. 2 families have 4 children, 2 have brought 1 child and not sure about the rest yet. We will all meet our guide Cindy (I wish it was my BFF Cindy Lustfeldt) at 9am for our day of touring today. So excited to ride on a Rick Shaw!! So we will post again tonight and attempt to put pictures on.. Please continue to pray for us on this trip...especially our health.
.......LISA
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