I'm in Xi 'an

It's been a long time since my last blog but I haven't wanted to pay for internet access and have wanted to go out and explore rather than mess with email. Our trip started out a little rough. We had a layover in Chicago which was supposed to be 2 hours. It was actually 6. When we boarded the plane at 2:30 we didn't leave until 4:30 b/c of "technical issues." Not really what you want to hear about your plane that you are gonna be on for the next 14 hours. The plane was a lot harder than I thought. I was shocked that only 3 hours had gone by... then 6... went to sleep... then 3 more. Because we were so late getting into Shanghai, we missed our flight to Beijing. We went to a hotel for the night. It was very nice. The next morning we flew out to Beijing. We had to wake up at 5:30 so I was very exhausted and my days/nights and meds were all out of whack. UGH. One good thing about all the hotels here is that they serve American breakfasts. For breakfast I had eggs (YUMMY), bacon which seemed to be boiled and not fried, toast, and OJ. We had a very long day. We went to Tiananmen Square and took pictures in front of the famous Mao wall. We also had a group photo done there and all bought the souvenir books. We then went through the Forbidden City, which is the biggest palace. It is all so beautiful. I really enjoy watching all the locals and how they interact with each other. One thing you notice immediately is all the people. MOST use bicycles to get around and the traffic isn't really backed up but it is very fast paced and there aren't really any stop lights for intersections. It's crazy. I'm glad I don't have to drive! We also went in to the Temple of Heaven. There were so many locals just enjoying the day. They play cards, bad mitten, a game like hacky sack, a game like checkers, sing songs, dance, etc. They are really neat and fun to watch. I was tempted to jump in the hacky sack game but I suck too bad! It was really cute too b/c some of the songs they sang were songs we sing like Are You Sleeping Brother John, etc. so I knew the tune!
Our hotels have all been very nice. The beds are very hard though. I'm talking FIRM. You can't even imagine. I love the hotels b/c they have toilets. Most of the places we've been to will have some squatters and some toilets. You never know what you'll get. We always have to take along toilet paper b/c it is not provided very often. In Beijing we also saw the Peking Opera. It was very cool but different. We were allowed to take pics of the performers while they got ready putting on their makeup. In the show there were 3 scenes. The third was the best and had more dancing and gymnastics. The next day we went to the Heifer Project. This is something my director is connected with and is a really neat project. It's where a village has received aid from Heifer International and the family has been given animals to use for money. We got to go in the house of one of the families. It was so incredible how simple they live. It really opened my eyes. We (most Americans) have no idea what it's like to live simply or in poverty like this. They had a very small house with no bathroom or washing machine or stove, etc. I will post pics when I get home. The one thing I always saw from them was a smile and how proud they were of what they had. They had a two room (8 x 10 rooms) house with basically dirt floors where 6 people lived. They had saved up enough money to buy a fridge and tv! I really feel I've made some connections with the people here. After that we went to The Great Wall. It is INCREDIBLE!! To get to the top, first we rode in a cable car, then took another ride up to almost the top. We then have to take stairs to the top. It was VERY steep. There were sherpas, which are local farmers, that will fan you, hold your hand and help you, etc. in the hopes that you will buy items from them. They were different from all the other vendors though and were very sweet. Every day they WALK up to the top, through the mountains, bringing a bag of goodies to sell. They wait for people at the second ride and walk with them up the steep steps and all through the hills and stairs of the wall. They take pictures for you, etc. and become a real friend. It was weird. If they sell all their goodies, they go back down the hill to get more. The amount they walk is unreal. Fast forward... another flight to Xi'an. This has been my FAVORITE place so far. We have bargained with the locals and bought many gifts. Yesterday we went to visit the Terra Cotta Soldiers. It was indescribable. I can't imagine the work that went into it. Yvonne and I went out one night to the local "disco" and met a couple Chinese men that spoke little english. They bought us Corona and we danced. Their clubs are way cooler than ours. Five stories. Lots of cool stuff. The Chinese food has been pretty good actually. We had a dumpling dinner last night. I wasn't excited about it but it turned out to be really cool. Each one (20 different kinds) was made in the shape of the food (chicken, walnut, etc) and they were pretty good. While here, we also went to a Muslim Mosque and through the Muslim Quarters. We ate some chicken with curry which was really good. Yvonne tries everything and I try most things. I know I don't like vegetables so I stick with the meats and noodles. The meals are different b/c they put everything on a lazy susan in the middle of the table then bring out dishes which are passed around to everyone. You take a little of each as they are brought out so you eat very little of everything and more of the things you like. I could definitely survive over here more than I thought. I've only had McDonald's once and I'm thinking about Pizza Hut tonight but we'll see. Oh forfot- We drove by the Olympic Stadium and took some pictures. EVERYTHING here is to make the city more beautiful. TONS of flowers. I have loved everything. Tomorrow we are going to a school. I'm really excited to talk with the teachers and learn more about the way they do it. Then we fly out to Kunming the following day. More later... IT'S AWESOME here and so much more than I ever expected. I absolutely love it. KG