Good evening from the Crown Plaza in Zhengzhou!The lack of sleep from the flight was just what we needed to sleep on box springs disguised as beds. We awoke refreshed and had a great breakfast at the Jianguo Hotel in Beijing. While Jennifer was brushing her teeth our guide arrived with the vans to bring the group to the airport. I had to run to the bathroom and yell her name so we wouldn’t miss the bus.
Traffic to the airport was minimal, excitement high. A man was preparing to relieve himself by the hotel and horns blared as pedestrians and fellow highway travelers sought to get by. It’s difficult to criticise the chaos when we see overturned cars and accidents constantly in Atlanta and have not seen an accident here.
A brief, uneventful flight (my favorite kind) brought us to Zhengzhou. Jenn was the first to encounter the Chinese toilet at the airport. Imagine the toilet as we know it had never been invented. Instead a hole in the ground was developed into a flushing receptacle with non-skid pads on the side.
The bus we took to the hotel stalled every time it came to a stop. Jennifer saw a woman holding a child sitting under an umbrella in the middle of the highway. Unbridled construction was never out of our field of view.
We walked to the local Wal-Mart and spent nearly half an hour trying to figure out what size diapers to get.
Reminder to self-study metric before going to a foreign country. Back at the hotel we’ve spent time getting to know the other families, going on trips to the bank to exchange money, and eating Italian food. I’ve had ample opportunity to brush up on my Mandarin. I say one thing and people think I’m fluent.
And finally, we get our little girl tomorrow. Or should I say big girl. Paperwork we received from CCAI today said her nicknames are “small eyes girl” and “little pig”.
Thanks,
Jeremy & Jennifer
