China - Day 3 — This Gathered Nest

We both kind of had a rough night of sleep, we got moving around 7:30am. We made some coffee and oatmeal in our hotel room, it was nice to eat something warm! We then packed up and headed down to the lobby to wait for a shuttle to the airport. It was so fun to see that it was snowing just a little when we left Beijing!

The Lobby of our hotel was gorgeous! As is almost everything we've seen in China so far!

We did finally make it to the airport, got our boarding passes, made it through security and even had a little time to spare! The airport wasn't too hard to navigate, we did have a moment of panic when we discovered Ashleigh left her wallet at the ticket counter. Thank goodness it was still there when we went back!

We got settled on our flight, it was a huge plane and wasn't nearly full! They allowed NO electronics what so ever, so we played Phase 10 :) Then, they brought us a hot meal!!! No airline in the US does that free of charge! The chicken and rice really hit the spot, our energy was renewed!

Once we landed in Changsha, we made our way down to the baggage claim and found our bags. We realized then, that we were the only white people anywhere to be seen. And that hasn't changed so far. I saw a middle eastern man on the elevator, but otherwise, everyone we've seen has been Asian. Many people stare at us, I don't mind really. You can see that they are curious. They have all been kind and welcoming to us so far. We both are really loving our time here!

Anyway, our guide picked us up and drove us to our hotel about an hour from the Airport. The drive was nice, we got to see some farms and then the hustle and bustle of the city! They building here are SO TALL, like nothing I've ever seen! From what I can tell, most of them are apartments. Changsha has a population of 7 million!!! No wonder the traffic is so crazy here! (Still nothing compared to African traffic)

Once we checked in to our hotel, our guide helped us cross the street (run and pray you don't get hit) to the market! We grabbed some snacks for Rosie, noodles for us and bottled water. Ashleigh got cabbage leaves, the guide thought she was nuts ( nursing moms know what these were for )

Our guide and I walking around the market!

We also hit up the Starbucks before heading back to our hotel! Ash and I are trying hard to reset our internal clocks. This jet lag stuff is HARD!!! I feel sleepy ALL.THE.TIME.

We went down and exchanged some money, we will need to exchange more tomorrow to pay the fees in province. I really like Chinese money, it's quite pretty, I must remember to bring some home too!

More pictures of the lobby.... just stunning!!!!

My only complaint about our room is the bathroom. There is a HUGE mirror in the shower.... ummmm no thank you! I don't need to see all that while I shower! LOL!

Another busy and awesome day in the books! We have everything ready to go for the morning, we will meet the guide at 9:45am to head to the civil affairs office to pick up Rosie! I can't believe it's finally here, the day I've waited 8 months for! I've been told by Orphanage staff that she is ready for me too, I'm not sure exactly what that means, but hopefully she'll do okay tomorrow. Her whole world is changing, please keep praying for her!

That's all for now folks..... Tomorrow is ROSIE DAY!

Blessings,

Angela

China - Day 3

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