From China...

So, we've made it here. As I write this, we are sitting in an internet cafe on the streets of Beijing. We arrived after about 24 hours of travel--I guess a couple days ago, it's hard to tell, really. I think it was Thursday afternoon. We're about 13 hours ahead of home, CDT. Our flight was looooong, but we arrived safely. I think I watched Enchanted at least 3 times, as it was one of the only in-flight movies available. Not bad.

There are three other families with us, which is great. These are families that are adopting through our agency, and we have been communicating with some of them since we have been DTC. Two of the families are here on their 2nd adoption, and we've gotten some great advice on this whole thing. There is so much that can be unexpected that I appreciate any help that I can get.

Highlights: yesterday, we walked past Tiananmen Square but were not able to go closer than across the street, as it is not open to the public at this time. We walked through the Forbidden City, which is enormous. Quite a bit of history there. I think one of the best parts of the day was taking a rickshaw into the hutong neighborhood, which is an older area of homes throughout some narrow streets and alleys (actually, the rickshaw ride was cool, but the driving here overall is, uh, uncomfortably close). Anyway, we took a rickshaw to a local family's home for lunch, which was delicious. We enjoyed meeting the local people in addition to doing all of the "touristy" things.

Today we visited a jade factory where I think a clerk was hitting on me. He was actually just trying to make a sale, I'm sure. I think the line went something like, "you look like an actress I saw in a movie this weekend, uh, I can't remember her name, though. You're beautiful," until Russ pointed out that I was his wife. He replied "you are very handsome, too!" He got the sale.

We also went to the Great Wall, which was amazing. My legs are still feeling the climb, but it was so worth it!

It is such a fascinating place to be: the people, the food, the culture in general is so very different to that which we are accustomed to. I am trying to soak much of it in so that we will be able to relay this someday to our son.

Speaking of our son, we meet him the day after tomorrow! Tomorrow we will fly to Lanzhou, about 700 miles from here. We are scheduled to actually meet him on Monday, but have been told to prepare for anything. He could be brought to the hotel tomorrow after we arrive, who knows.

I am going to attempt to add some pictures here, but I don't know if it will work. I'm actually unable to see the entry after it has been posted, so we'll see what happens. Here goes!Russ at the Forbidden City

Rickshaw ride

The Great Wall!