Bye Bye Beijing, Hello Chengdu!

****My thoughts of meditation today have been: "If the Lord be God, follow Him",  and "Who do I fear most, God, or the unknown?"  Make up your mind Mary......who you are going to serve?****

 

Our morning started off very early.  Our jet lag had us in bed by 7pm and wide awake at 4am.  I had woke up at 12:30 and it took me another hour to go back to sleep.  Our flight to Chengdu was uneventful....thank God no one threw up!  We hated to say goodbye to Alison and the other families, but we will meet them in 5 days.  We all prayed together this morning and tears were flowing.  Alison pushed her way right up to the counter at the airport and got us checked in asap and off for our flights....she is a God sent.  A Helping Hand is very blessed to have her working with them.

 

Lily met us right at the exit and she is a cute little thing.  She is very kind and really seems to know what she is doing.  I could see all kinds of notes that she had been taking on our schedule.  So far, we are very pleased with her.  She loves to talk and seems to respect what we are doing and wants to help us in any way she can.  We meet her tomorrow at 2pm to go meet Yi Lin.  Just thinking about it makes me tear up....I gotta get it together!

 

Lily got us checked in at the Yin He Dynasty in no time at all and we sat in the lobby for about 15 minutes and she explained what would unfold tomorrow.  Our rooms are side by side.  They are small and will work just fine.  I've stayed in worse, that's for sure, and I have stayed in better.  I will be grateful for what we have.  Ian will stay in my room tonight, and tomorrow night, Marshall wants to stay with Yi Lin and I.  I think I will have a crib brought up for her and we will see how she feels about it.  If not, Marshall will have to stay in Jeremy's room. 

 

We walked to the Pizza Hut after Lily left and wow!!!! what an experience.  Everything I've read on the other blogs just didn't prepare me for the task of Sunday afternoon in downtown Chengdu.  It is packed.  The streets and the sidewalks are full of people and cars and everyone pushes past you.  We found the Pizza Hut with no problems and it was even better than home.  We then tried to ignore our bodies need for sleep and tried to find a grocery store.  It didn't go over very well, but finally, we stumbled in one by accident.  We had to have bottled water (and coke) but didn't want to pay $4 a bottle for it at the hotel.  I have a new appreciation for drinkable water....I'll never take it for granted again.  Chengdu is very foggy, or smokey...no sure which one.  I can't say that it is beautiful, because all I see are older tall buildings, lots of cars and people, mopeds, and bicycles.  I am sure there is more to it than that, but I haven't seen it yet.  Most of the ladies here do not dress modestly...and how do they wear such high heels?  We are not the only red heads, alot of the ladies here dye their hair red.  I still can't get use to the smells.  Even in Chengdu, it smells funny....and not funny good either.  Lily told us today that the children here study very hard...14 hours a day to try and get into the university.  She said her son who is 2 is in kindergarten already.  That was a very random thought and totally off the subject...sorry.

 

Jeremy is having withdrawals from lack of Mountain Dew...there is none here, only Coke and Sprite, and Pepsi in some spots.  The boys are doing well.  We really need to do some math and Language, but we are so tired by the time we settle down.  We will give it a try in the morning after breakfast.

 

I hope to post tomorrow evening about this time....so hopefully when you all get up Monday morning, you can see Yi Lin too.  We don't have internet in the room, but I can get it in the lobby with my lap top.  However, I can't use my VPN, so I can only access Yahoo and am having to post via my email....I am grateful that I can still do that or else the blog would be a no go.  Keep the prayers and emails coming.  They are encouraging us and lifting us up.  I need to wash some clothes in the sink and take a shower so I will say goodbye for now.......

Oh yes, Ian and Marshall wanted to say hello to their classmates, teachers, and their "special" friends....you know who you are!