Now in Beijing!

We made it to Beijing, but for a while, I wasn’t sure we were going to make it at all. We flew from Shangri La to a bigger airport in Kunming for a 3-hour layover. No problem. Well we get on the plane headed for Beijing and wait and wait and wait for an hour sitting on the tarmac with no water and no air!!! It was incredibly hot and one member of our group started to pass out!!! They finally tell us Beijing has shut down due to the weather, so we get of the plane and wait. Then they get us back on the plane just to wait another hour and a half with no water and no air again!!!! We finally got to Beijing at 2am. When we get there our driver is a no show, so we rent taxi’s and get to the hotel about 3:30am!!

It was all worth it though when we went to one of the Heifer Int’l villages yesterday. Wow, is all I have to say. The village met us with drums and dancers and led the way announcing we had arrived as we marched into the village. When we got to the top, the entire village was there to greet us. They were ecstatic. They showed us their schools, their homes, their land, and truly opened their hearts to us. The school children were all lined up and singing for us when we arrived. I’m sure none of you are surprised that I cried a bit. I just can’t describe the overwhelming feeling of gratitude, humility, thankfulness, and awe that these people gave to me. They have so little while we have so much. It was truly a life changing experience and one that I want my family, students, and children to experience for themselves. Now I just have to figure out how to show all I have learned and experienced here back home. I’m still trying to grasp all of it myself.

Tomorrow we go to the Great Wall, Saturday we go to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and then Sunday we come home!!!!!