The Great Wall, Jet Lag & Culture Shock

Sunday was an amazing day for site-seeing in Beijing. Our group travelled to one of the famous gates in the Great Wall and had 1 1/2 hours to climb around. The stairs climb up at very steep angles at times and have guard houses every so often. Our guide said most people try to get to the 2nd guard house so you can get a certificate saying you climbed the Great Wall. She said a few go to the 3rd or 4th if they really try hard and you would have to be crazy to go to the top. Harry and I turned to each other, our eyes met and we both thought the same thing, "We are so crazy enough to get to the top!" Without words, we just nodded at each other and started up. It was really crowded as today was Chinese Dragon Boat festival so many people are on vacation. It was also really hot and the steps are uneven. We took frequent stops and climbed slow and steady but we made it to the top. Later, we visited the Summer Palace of the Emperor and took a ride on a Dragon Boat.

By this time I am completely exhausted and ready to fall over. Harry, however, is feeling great. Harry is blessed on how he handles jet lag. He sleeps a lot on the plane. When we get to the hotel late at night, he sleeps 8 hours. He sleeps on the bus rides, he takes nap anywhere and feels prefectly fine the first day out. I, on the other hand, normally sleep poorly on the plane, sleep a few hours here and there during the night or naps and generally am a mess. It is going much better this trip but it is still really hard to switch your internal clock 12 hours quickly.

Today (Monday) we have an easy day. The rest of our group is leaving at 9:30am to go to their individual provinces to meet their children. We will miss them as we have already made friends in just a few days. Our plane does not leave until 8:30pm so we have the entire morning to ourselves. We are thinking breakfast, workout, massage - it's our last baby-free day. We then go to China Care with our new guide, Shirley. Shirley will then travel with us to Taiyuan City. I asked her if she had ever been there before. "No," she said, "but you will be safe with me!" (Uh, eek?!) Earlier, our guide Catherine told the group that going to the provinces is good because you get to see the real China. She said especially the Shanxi group(us)will have good dose of culture shock. We have been preparing for this and plan to really enjoy Shanxi with God's help. If we expect Lyra to adapt to our culture, we must certainly try our hardest to understand hers.

Prayer requests: Please pray for Lyra as she is taken from foster care in the days leading up to Tuesday's adoption and pray that my body will get some sleep so I can help Lyra through her transition.