Exploring

Unfortunately our bodies didn't realize that they were in a different time zone than back home. We didn't sleep much last night, even after getting to bed around 1am. At 5am we were both up and ready to go! I'm sure the fact that the beds are so hard you could literally dribble a basketball on the mattress - no kidding! The beds feel like plywood covered in a sheet!

After a nice hotel breakfast, we had an orientation meeting with our Bethany Christian Services guide. She lives in China but has studied law (if I remember correctly) in the States. She's been doing adoption guidance sine 1992 for Bethany, so she knows what she's talking about! She talked about everything from emotional state of the babies the first few days to safety in China.

Then the group walked over to a local grocery store for water and snacks for the room. It was quite comical, seeing fresh fish leap out of tanks and on to the floor as workers scrambled to wrestle them back into the tanks! Imagine that happening at Pick-N-Save! The store was very bright and colorful - the Chinese use quite a bit of 'loud' packaging to make their product stand out from the others.

After dropping off the groceries, Bill & I headed to an authentic Chinese restaurant with Jen & Jason from Minnesota. Thankfully the restaurant had picture menus, and we just pointed to what looked good. The food was awesome and we had a lot of fun with Jen & Jason.

Later in the afternoon, the group went to a Chinese Acrobat show. The show was very entertaining with lots of strength and flexibility feats.

We were pooped out after the day with very little sleep. China has a very distinct odor and feel to it. The people seem quiet and always seem to be moving with a purpose. It is very fun getting to experience Ella's birth country. Even though we've only seen a few square blocks of the area around our hotel, it has left a lasting impression on us that we will never forget.

Oh, and only 2 more days until we get our sweet Ella!

If you'd like to view more pictures of our day, click on the link at the top right corner of this page entitled More Pictures. Then choose Day 2 - Friday.