Hello family & friends~Yesterday was an adventurous day in Beijing for us! We began by hiking the Great Wall--Jonathan ended up carrying Jayson in our Ergo b/c the steps were uneven & varied in depth. It was an interesting & eerie feeling to see in real life what we've only seen in books & to be standing in a place where so many people died in vain (in my opinion). It wasn't what I expected, but it was beautiful!
 |
| Ridiculously hard climb & we only went half way! Worth the view despite the pollution. |
 |
| We have a lock in Italy at the "Via Dell'Amore" & now we have one in China at the Great Wall too! Might have to start a new Patterson Family tradition :) |
 |
| We (sort of) met a REAL Tibetan Monk! Ok, he didn't say anything when we asked for a picture but he smiled :) |
Then we ate lunch Chinese-family style & toured the 2008 Olympic area (by bus). The juxtaposition between everyday life in China--the Houtongs that we visited the day before--& the opulence of the Forbidden City & Olympic Park is still surprising to me.Yesterday afternoon we watched one of China's most revered acrobatic performances & it was truly breathtaking! The artistry, music, choreography, & individual skills of the performers was amazing. I also had my first "bubble tea" since arriving in China & it was super-yummy!We said goodbye to our Beijing CCAI reps, Miss Laura & Mrs. Alice this morning. It was bittersweet leaving them as they are incredibly kind women & have welcomed us & nurtured us well. Miss Laura did the honor of signing the boy's 100 wishes quilts in the boy's Chinese characters. Such a sweet moment for me.Last night we packed & prepared for our journey this morning. This morning we caught the bullet train from Beijing to Zhengzhou (pronounced 'Jengjo') which is the capital of Henan province where our boys live.
The city isn't much to look at as there is ALOT of construction everywhere, but our hotel is absolutely stunning on the inside! Nothing short of swanky & MUCH fancier than anything JP & I would have chosen on our own. It feels very over the top, but it's nice to have a nice comfortable place to be as we welcome our boys into our family.When we arrived in Zhengzhou, our CCAI rep, Yisha, met us at the train station & the first thing she did was provide us with an information sheet on each boy. Some of the info was stuff we already know, some of it was brand new to us! The most precious part to me is that Teddy's orphanage advised us that they talk about us everyday & he is curious/interested in our picture. So sweet to this Mama's heart.We are in our room settling in & will meet our travel group@3 for money exchange & a field trip to Walmart :) Because it wouldn't be a family event until we have to go to Walmart! ha. We will be buying bottled water, formula/milk for the boys, & a few small toys. When we get them & know what their sizes really are, we will shop for a few clothes & shoes.Our travel group is fantastic: one couple is from Pinehurst & knows our dear friends Russ & Kristi Russell (from Venture church). Their bio son Rand & Jayson have become big buddies very quickly. Such an incredibly small world & such a blessing in our lives already!Hope you can enjoy some of our pictures. The smog is horrible here so we're praying for good health among the many other prayers we are lifting up!Our projected meeting time for the boys is mid-morning 9-12--this correlates to 9-12 in evening after for you in the States. Please keep us in your prayers!!And thank you again for all your encouragement & support!!
No comments:
Post a Comment