I don't even know what day it is, but here's my blog...

Can you tell I'm really tired and definitely haven't been in the mood to blog so far on this trip? I don't know why, I wasn't like this last year, but I just haven't felt up to it lately. It's Megan and my current joke about asking if I've blogged for the day yet or if I was ever going to. I told her I was just gunna put her blog link on here so you all could just read hers ;) but I know in the long run it's really nice to be able to go back and read past posts. Also I know there are people adopting from Chenzhou etc. reading this to hear about their kids and such....so therefore I am sitting here and making myself try to remember what happened today so I can blog about it....hmph

So this morning we went to breakfast as a team to our usual place on the 3rd floor of our hotel. I must say the whole waking up at 6AM thing is getting pretty old, even if it is 6PM at home! Anywhoo, breakfast was delicious, as usual. After breakfast we took all of our donations that we have for the orphanage and brought them downstairs for the director to drive over to the orphanage for us. (There were about 5 big suitcases full.) This morning we were only allowed to visit the orphanage for half of the day so we visited the older kids all morning. We had a ton of crafts and toys for them to play with since we haven't seen them much so we were quickly switching from task to task to get as much done as possible.

The first thing we did with the kids was play with play-doh. The nannies were kind of hesitant at first because they were scared we were going to eat it, but after we reassured them it was safe to eat (I ate it and I turned out just fine;)) they were fine with it. The kids really liked to roll it into as many little balls as possible and then mix all of the colors. So after about 5 minutes with that we were onto the next activity. Tammy had made little picture frames from popsicle sticks and we brought foam stickers so they could decorate them. Earlier in the week Tammy had taken pictures of all of the kids and then got them developed so they would be able to have a picture of themselves in a nice frame. After that was done we started doing face painting for the kids..later they started painting us...and letting them decorate white crowns with markers for them to wear. It was so sweet, one of the little boys (he's about 6 and only has one eye, has down syndrome, and his left arm doesn't work properly) started parading around the room like a king once we put his crown on for him. :) After that was all said and done we took the kids outside to blow bubbles, draw with sidewalk chalk, jump rope, play hopscotch, and have a parade with instruments & balloons. Most of the kids really enjoyed the bubbles and jump ropes, but they were a little hesitant on the side walk chalk at first. I think they all liked the parade though... maybe even a little too much. The whistles and jingle instruments got really loud really fast! haha. Before we went back inside we got to get a group picture of all of the older kids so that was really cool, and then we went inside to do balloon animals and trace their hands for our personal shirts. That's when things went haywire and they started getting outta control.. but we still decided to give them candy?? :) Whatever, they enjoyed it, and we enjoyed spending time with them!

We left the orphanage at 11 and came back to the hotel to rest until the orphanage director came and picked us all up for lunch and shopping. We got to go to McDonalds and I had chicken nuggets, fries, and an oreo mcflurry (yum). After lunch we all went into the nice part of Chenzhou that none of us knew even existed and went shopping for jade jewelry, pearls, silk embroidery (Hunan is famous for their embroidery & it was absolutely amazing to say the least), and an air conditioner and computer for the orphanage as our donation to them.

For dinner we went across the street again to a historic restaurant in Hunan that is known for their dumplings. It was really good, but I was just too tired to eat a lot so I just had steamed bread, pork, and some dumplings. I'm now sitting here FINALLY typing this blog after procrastinating all day during my free time and in about 30 minutes we're meeting in Shannon's room for our devotion time.

Tomorrow is our last day in the orphanage, so we'll probably spend the morning with the babies and then in the afternoon we're throwing a little party and getting a cake and everything so that should be fun! And on Tuesday we leave Chenzhou for Beijing! I promise I'll blog tomorrow, it'll probably just be posted late at night.. or morning for all of you! Talk to you all soon, xoxo

Day 3 & 4 at Chenzhou SWI

Yesterday was a good but not very eventful day... We woke up around 6:30 and then headed to breakfast with the team. We ate at the restaurant in our hotel that comes around and brings you options then you choose what you want to eat. So that's fun, plus whenever you eat in China as a group it's all family style. There's a lazy susan (spinning tray in the middle of the table) and they put the food on there then we get to grab what we want.

After breakfast we went downstairs and begun our 10 minute walk to the orphanage. We're allowed to be there from 8:30-11 and then 3-5. During the mornings we usually just go spend time with the babies because the older kids are in school. They go to school practically all year, 6 days a week.

The nice thing about the babies & toddlers is there is enough for all of us to have our own. We've developed really good bonds with pretty much all of them, but even if some of us don't admit it; we all have our own baby that is our favorite. My baby is the one that I met last year, he's a blind little boy with no eyes that is almost 2 1/2 years old. He is still quite small and isn't very far along like most other 2 1/2 year olds. He can't stand on his own because it's very hard for blind babies to find balance. So he also can't walk on his own and he can't talk, only little noises. One thing that broke my heart yesterday is when he is just sitting on his own (usually banging his head against the wall if no one is with him because he gets bored) and making noises he started to say da-da-da. I know he doesn't know it's like saying daddy, but it just breaks my heart knowing he will probably never have someone to call dad (or however you say it in chinese:)). It's so sad because he is one of the sweetest, most playful, and calm little boys I have ever met. He never cries, and he laughs all of the time! I love just tickling him so I can see his sweet smile and hear him laugh... Can you tell I REALLLLY want to bring him home with me?! :) By the way, his name is Chen Liao Wan (Chen is like their last name, all of the babies in the orphanage have that in their name). So I decided Wan is like Juan, which is translated into John in English...therefore I call him John or Johnny... I know genius. So from now on I'll refer to him as that, and lets be honest, I'll probably talk about him a lot....

While we were there in the morning with the babies we decided we would have like a little circle time with them and sings songs and get them interactive. So we all sat in a circle on the ground (of course John still wanted to play, so he was the only squirmer...all of the other babies were perfectly still) and sang songs like Itsy Bitsy Spider, Patty Cake, If You're Happy and You Know it, etc. John did enjoy trying to sing along, regardless of him moving in my arms every other second.

Before we knew it it was time to leave again, so we headed back to the hotel. Megan, Tammy, and I all decided to go to the market, and Tammy also wanted to go to the mall that is underneath the grocery store, so we went by there for a little bit. Megan and I went upstairs to go get some food and Tammy stayed downstairs to look at shoes (she LOVES shoes) :).

Megan and my main mission was to find food...including gross food to bring back home to people! hehe. So we went upstairs and headed straight to the Pringles. I am now bringing home Hong Kong Fish Balls Pringles... yum...and I also got seaweed but the cashier lady couldn't ring them up because the price wasn't showing up and we had no clue what she was saying! So we're gunna go back tomorrow to get some seaweed flavored Pringles!

Yesterday was definitely one of our best lunches yet. Fung (our guide) has really gotten us some yummy food! Also, yesterday was Amy's 20th Birthday so Fung got a cake from the bakery for us. It was actually really good. It was vanilla with a light whipped vanilla frosting with white chocolate shavings and fruit filled icing in between the layers. There was also fresh peaches, cherries, and pineapple. We were all kind of surprised that it was so good because most Chinese don't like a lot of sweet foods, so we didn't know how sweet and like home it would be!

After lunch we came up to the room and layed down.. I of course postponed blogging, like usual.. hence why I'm typing this the next night! At 2:45 we headed back to the orphanage. First we had to go to the toddler/baby playroom for about 45 minutes and then we got to finally spend some more time with the older kids. We played with beach balls and showed them how to use silly string. At first we all sprayed them but they didn't enjoy it much when THEY got sprayed... however they did like when Megan sprayed covered Katie in silly string. Then they just enjoyed sitting in a circle spraying it onto the floor and watching it come out. Also we brought some silly putty and the goo that farts, hahah. They liked twisting the colors together and smooshing it on the floor!

Once again the clock struck 5 and we headed back for dinner at the hotel. After dinner we went into Shannon's room for a devotion and worship time which is always nice. Shannon's younger brother who lives here and his girlfriend Elisa came the other night to visit us and help at the orphanage so they joined too. We also inviting Fung (who isn't a believer) to come and she did, so that was pretty cool. Then we all went back to our rooms and went to sleep!

Okay, now for today... can you tell that I really don't enjoy blogging right now because I'm so tired?? It's 9:45PM here right now and all I want to do is fall asleep.. so sorry for all of the errors, I hope it kind of makes sense and you can get the gist, even if it is kinda boring and un-detailed! haha

This morning we woke up and headed down for breakfast.. it consisted of most of the same things: noodles, steamed bread, fried egg, dumplings, pumpkin bread, croissant type bread, spring rolls, sticky rice, and some other things.

It was drizzling this morning so we all got to sport our nice umbrellas on the way over to the orphanage and maneuver our way around the puddles and mud! The morning at the orphanage was pretty much the same as usual, we played with the babies for awhile and got to do our circle time. Then a little bit later we got to just go play and do whatever the older kids wanted to do. It was nice just to spend time and laugh with them. At about 10 though the older kids left and went on a field trip with some other Chinese volunteers that were visiting the orphanage, so we said our goodbyes and went back to the babies. We fed the babies then put them to sleep and headed back to the hotel.

For lunch quite a few of us just went to KFC because eating all of these huge meals 3 times a day gets quite filling, and I think most of us were getting kinda sick of all the Chinese food. When we went to KFC it was POURING. Like no joke, the roads were flooding. KFC is right across the street from our hotel but we had to walk about a block just to cross the street because most of the crosswalks were flooded. There was at least 5 inches of water that had who knows what in...so we obviously didn't risk walking through it, especially in our flipflops!

And in case you're wondering...no we didn't get anything stolen from us this time we went to KFC;)

After lunch we all came back and took naps..except me.. I said I was gunna blog but I read instead, whoops! haha, but at least I am now, right??

The second half of our day was kind of disappointing. We had hoped we would be able to see the older kids since we haven't seen them a lot, but when we got there they told us they were downstairs with the other volunteers still. They did tell us we would get to see them tomorrow morning though. (We're only going for the morning tomorrow because in the afternoon we are going shopping and taking the orphanage director shopping with the money donation we brought. I think she decided they wanted an air conditioner and a computer so they can do the adoption paper work.) However, we did get to see our sweet little babies. Of course it was nice to see John and his sweet smile. I must say today he was so giggly! I have a ton of pictures and video of him just lying on the floor laughing at himself. I'm going to smuggle him back to FL with me, no doubt about it...he'll fit in my suitcase without a problem. Plus he never cries so he'll be fine;)

For dinner we just ate at the hotel. It was quite yummy, but I still wasn't that hungry. All of this food makes you so full, and by that time at night I'm so tired I don't even wanna look at food! After dinner we went to Shannon's for devotion and worship and then we took all of our donations for the orphanage out into the hall and put it into suitcases so we can bring it to the orphanage tomorrow. I think we had a total of 5 big suitcases full of clothes, blankets, toys, crafts, bottles, formula, wipes, etc. !

Okay well I better go take a shower and get some sleep! I promise I'll try really hard to actually get a blog up tomorrow and not procrastinate! I love you all and hope you have a good day :)`

5 Planes, 2 Buses, & 1 Train until Chenzhou Part 2

Once we arrived in Chen Zhou the assistant director came to meet us and we took a bus to our hotel. We were able to go up to our hotel room, unpack a little bit, and then we headed down to the lobby for dinner. Most of us were just really tired and wanted something fast...well at least we had thought it would be fast...so we ended up going to KFC right across the street.

Let me tell you, KFC in China is quite different from in the states. No biscuits, good mashed potatoes and gravy, the chicken is pretty spicy, and it isn't white meat, it's dark meat. However, they did have some pretty good french fries & a lot of us enjoyed those! :)

At dinner I sat with Katie, Shawn, Megan, Makenna, and Shannon (the rest of the team was at another table). While we were all sitting down Shannon went over to talk to the other part of the team about plans for the morning. Then an old Chinese lady came up to us, walking with a crutch. At first we didn't think anything of it because most people in Chenzhou have never even seen Americans so we just figured she would come and talk to us in Chinese like we knew what she was saying, just like everyone else it seemed like!

Later we found out she was begging for money and going around asking people. So after we figured that out we told her boo and boo-yow, which mean no and no I don't want, get away type thing. So she ran off into the bathroom and then came back a little while later to ask again, except this time Shannon was back. We shooed her off again and thought nothing of it.

The rest of the team decided to leave a short while after and head back to the team, as well as our guide Kita a little bit earlier. Megan and I went to go get some vanilla soft serve ice cream...sooooo good! and the rest of our table waited for us. It had only been about 5 min since the rest of us had left when Shannon came over and told us that her purse was missing. We all freaked out right away and started looking for it. Keep in mind we have no translator and are in KFC trying to communicate with the workers and anyone else that may have spoken a little bit of English.

Eventually we met some students that had told us, "We just graduated from school today, we have already had fun, so now we can help you!" They were all so sweet and helped us anyway they could...even though they did think the whole situation was so funny and amusing!

While we were thinking of where it could've been we remembered the lady that had came by begging for money when Shannon was at the other table. We immediately found her in KFC and saw that she had a big shopping bag on her knee and a purse on the table. So we thought that she could've grabbed it when she walked by, so we just hoped she wouldn't leave.

Long story short..as I'm sitting here typing this about to fall asleep...we had to call the police, which I must add are so calm and relaxed! They must not get much action because they come in to KFC in flipflops, on a scooter, and all laughing at us! Anywhoo, they went and looked at the cameras in KFC and asked Shannon what she had lost (KIta had come back by now to help translate). Shannon had in her purse: passport (which later she realized was left in her room, huge relief!, about $500 of her money, a small digital camera, and an international phone that she had gotten here.

A couple of minutes after we had discovered Shannon's purse had been stolen, Katie & Shawn went back across the street to the hotel to find Kita. While they were there the bellboy at the hotel gave them Shannon's purse and said that some man had given it to him to drop off at the hotel. So they came running back to us at KFC to show us they had it, but when we looked through the bag, everything was gone.

Finally the police saw the tapes from KFC and a lady behind our table had grabbed the purse off Shannon's chair when she wasn't there and then handed it to a man that left the KFC with it. Later that night, Shannon, Makenna, and Kita all had to be taken to the Chenzhou Police Station so that they could get fingerprints, signatures, etc. for the records. We haven't heard back anything about the belongings, but they did tell Shannon that they're looking for a girl with dark hair and about average height.....that shouldn't be hard to find or anything...so regardless, please keep all of what has happened in your prayers and hopefully Shannon will be able to get her belongings back soon!

After that very eventful night we woke up, went to breakfast at the hotel and headed to the orphanage with the assistant director. When we got there all of the directors met us there and talked to us for a little while. Afterwards we got to go play with all of the babies and toddlers upstairs. It was so cool because all of the nannies and directors remembered Megan and I and we got to talk to them a little bit and give them hugs.

The second I walked into the toddler play room I found one of the only little boys that had been there last year that absolutely stole my heart. He is blind and doesn't have any eyes. I think he also has some brain issues because he hits his head so much and it doesn't even phase him one bit. However, he is the sweetest little boy ever (he's probably 1-2), he has the biggest, cutest smile and he loves to laugh. My mom and I had wanted to take him home last year, so I think I just am going to this year (ok mom?) :)

Once it was 11 we had to go so that all of the babies could have their nap times, and we would come back again at 3. Once we got back to the hotel Shawn, Katie, Megan, Makenna, and Shannon all went to the grocery store right next to our hotel. It's always an adventure in there, but we went and knew exactly what we wanted. Our list consisted of: waters, mango, guava, and orange tropicana juice (you can't get it in the states, but it the most delicious juice EVER), Dove milk chocolate, chocolate & peanut butter oreos (in the same oreo, they don't have those in the states either), and some Mento's gum that they only sell in China as far as I know as well.

We went to lunch after we came back at the hotel and we finally got our steamed bread and sweet & condensed milk (I think I'm happy enough for the rest of the trip just because of that)! We did have lots of other yummy food too :)

At about 2:45 we headed back to the orphanage to spend time with the older kids. Today we gave them paper to put little cut-outs on, glue cotton balls on to the paper, and sprinkle glitter on it as well. They LOVED the glitter and cotton balls. It was so awesome, yet sad at the same time, to see lots of familiar faces that we had met last year. I must say though, they have calmed down a little bit as they got a year older!! Before we knew it it was time for us to go back again at 5 so the kids could have their dinner and go to bed.

We came back to our hotel and then our new guide (we had some miscommunications with Kita and we're having some trouble, so sadly she had to go... we will definitely miss her though!) Fang, Fung or something like that.. she tells us to call her Fun...took us to dinner at a historic restaurant in Chenzhou right across the street from our hotel. It was definitely the best dinner we have had. We had homemade pork dumplings, beef & celery, green beans, eggplant, rice, pork ribs, chicken & mushrooms, and last but definitely not least, steamed bread with sweet and condensed milk. :))

After dinner we came back to the hotel and we had a devotion with the whole team and Fun came as well. Katie, Shawn, and Shannon all kinda chipped in for the devotion, and Francine and Christy did a worship music type thing. It was awesome and I think it was just what we needed after this hectic week so far. We had had devotions before but this certain devotion just fit everything we have been going through so perfectly. It was a great end to the night and now I am laying in bed about to fall asleep! So with that I will go, and I promise to be more diligent with blogging since I finally have a constant stream of internet and we aren't moving cities everyday! And I promise for no more crazy long blogs like these past two!

Please continue praying for our team and the people we have impacted. Also, that we would remember the reason we are here, to spread God's love through our actions, and that we would be flexible and adjust to bumps in the road or obstacles we may face or have faced.

I love you all and can't wait to see you soon! Until next time..

Elyssa

5 Planes, 2 Buses, & 1 Train until Chenzhou

Let me start off with I'm sorry I have not been blogging... like at all. This trip has already been such an adventure I don't even know where to begin. We are finally in a hotel for more than one night so it is very relaxing, and I feel like I now have time to blog.

So, I will start from the beginning.. It's a very long story so I'll summarize it and try to remember as much as I can, but if you really would like to know the full story feel free to talk to me when I get home:) I'm also sorry if I repeat myself with stuff I have already written in previous posts, but I honestly don't even remember what I HAVE blogged about!

After an 11 hour flight from Vancouver, Canada, to Beijing, China, we were finally here. We arrived at around 3:30 and didn't get back to the hotel until around 7. Keep in mind we had 13 people, about 48 bags of luggage, and no idea where we were.

We finally got through customs and went to baggage claim to get all of our checked bags (we were supposed to have 24 but somehow ended up with 25... we took some man's on accident, whoops! we did return it the next morning though!) we met with our guide Kita. Kita is from Beijing but she goes to Ohio State University for school during the year and comes back to China during the summer. After what seemed like hours of each taking our full carts of luggage up & down elevators we finally got to the vans to go to our hotel. The bus ride there was about an hour and traffic wasn't too bad so that was nice, it was very bumpy though!

Kita checked us into our hotel in Beijing and we got to go up to our rooms for a little bit until dinner time. We were all so exhausted from being up for over 24 hours and I think over half of us didn't even comprehend the fact that we were in China yet, myself included!

It ended up that only about half of our team actually went and ate an authentic Chinese dinner that night because a lot of the team just wanted to go to McDonalds and get something fast so they could get some sleep... little did they know it would not be like home! haha About half the team went to a little restaurant right across the street from our hotel and we had some beef and chicken dishes as well as some different kinds of vegetables like cabbage etc. and of course some rice:)

That night our team leader Shannon, her daughter, Makenna, and two of the other ladies on our trip all went in Shannon's room to divide the orphanage donations up that we had to leave in Beijing for Shepherd's Field. That way we wouldn't have to take all of our luggage on to the airplane that we would be taking the next morning to Changsha.

The next morning we had a very western style breakfast buffet as well as some Chinese noodles and other dishes. Then we checked out of the hotel and took our carry-on bags onto the bus with us. From what we had understood our checked bags that we had left in our room would be picked up and brought to the airport for us since there was so many. Later we arrived at the airport for the second time in less than 24 hours, and got on our plane to Changsha.

However, we arrived in Changsha and only the bags we had personally checked had arrived with us. There had been a miscommunication and the workers at the hotel and our guide had thought that we left all the bags for Shepherd's Field. Keep in mind that now 3 members of our team have no clothes and most of us don't have anything we need for the night. Including toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, conditioner etc. So you're probably saying well the hotels always have shampoo etc. for you in your room! Oh no... Changsha's hotel are not allowed to give away free disposable necessities! So we once again went out on another adventure that night in Changsha and bought everything that we needed or shared little 3 oz. bottles that other team members had. It was definitely stressful at the time, but now looking back on it it really wasn't too bad.

We ended up getting all of our luggage (that was left in Beijing) driven down by the drivers to us in Changsha by the next morning. That morning we had gone to visit the Butterfly Home, a hospice for terminal children run by an Australian couple. They only had about 13 children at the time (one for each of us:)) because they're previous building was getting renovated by the government for electricity and water sewage. So they were currently staying in the Changsha Number 1 Social Welfare Institute (orphanage) until they could move back to their previous place.

It was so cool visiting there. The children were all so happy, regardless of whether they were terminal or not. The nannies loved them all so much and you could truly see that they cared for them. Most of the children have been able to get surgeries to fix their problems and I think 4 of them were now up for adoption. For one example, there was a little boy that was dropped off there when he was only a day old because he had been born with his intestines outside of his body instead of inside. They got the funds for the surgery and now he is so happy and playful, he's a chunk too. :) He's now up for adoption as well, so it was awesome to see how this home has changed so many lives.

While we were there half of the team, myself included, was also able to visit the Changsha Social Welfare Institute. We didn't get to spend a ton of time with the kids, but we did get to see the building where they all stayed (23 floors!) and visit some of the kids while they were in class. They were so happy to see us and always smiling and laughing!

Later that afternoon when our luggage arrived in Changsha we were able to divide what donations we had brought for the Butterfly Home and send the rest with the drivers to drive to Chenzhou. That way we would be able to take the bullet train to Chenzhou.

After we delivered all of the donations to Lynn (Australian nurse that started Butterfly Home) and her assistant Siusie (translator and helper to Lynn and her husband) we all got to go to a local restaurant in Changsha for lunch together. We had lots of spicy beef and chicken, as well as corn, rice, lotus root (actually was pretty good) and some other dishes. Then we had to sadly say all of our goodbyes and head off to the train station.

The train station was quite an adventure, but we finally got on and let me just say an hour on a smooth 200mph bullet train rocks you right to sleep! And add the fact that it was like a nice airplane with lots of room and we were all so exhausted as it was, most of us went right to sleep!

Part 2 to come later... we are going to the orphanage now:)

Ni Hao Beijing

We finally made it, all 13 of us, our 24 checked bags, and our 24 carry-ons! It has been an adventure in itself just trying to keep track of all of the bags filled with donations for the orphanages.

The flight over actually wasn't that bad. We flew Air Canada and they had personal aTVs on the back of the chairs so we could watch a bunch of movies and tv shows. (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never was on there so I was set) ;)

When we got to the hotel we went to dinner at a restaurant right across the street. It wasn't too bad, but definitely not my favorite.. (no steamed bread yet or man-tow as the Chinese say)

Tonight we get to spend our first night in the lovely rock hard beds, yay......... we are all so thankful and grateful that we got here in one piece and safely that I don't really think it matters to us that much at this point, plus we are all so tired from being up for over 24 hours!

Tomorrow we have to be in the lobby at 8 for breakfast and then we will leave at 9 for the airport. At 12 tomorrow afternoon we leave for Changsha where we will stay for one night and then visit the Butterfly House (a small orphanage there) the next day. Then we will head to Chenzhou for the majority of our trip!

Ok, well I am dozing off as I type this, its 9pm here and we are all so tired!! (I'll apologize right now for any typing or grammar errors I have while posting anything on here while I'm in China.) And sorry this isn't too informative or exciting. I'm simply too tired to blog right now. I'll try to post tomorrow night. Thanks for the prayers, keep sending them our way. I love you all & good morning to everyone in the states:)

(In case any of you are confused, this was written last night, but I didn't get to post it until this morning!)

Email Test!

Ok so I'm finally in San Francisco with the team! I'm currently sitting in my hotel room and figured I should do a test "email post" so I can make sure it's working in case I can't get on to Blogger when I'm in China. 

Well today has been a pretty long day, lots of planes and airports! We have to be at the airport tomorrow morning at 5am then we head to Vancouver. From there we will make our way on to China:) 

I'm so excited! I can't wait to see all of the precious faces and hold the babies. I even kinda miss the smell of China..is that weird? It just has such a distinct smell, and I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't like it, but to me I love it! 

Well I'm about to go to dinner with the team and then I'll probably go with Shannon, our team leader, to the airport to pick up Megan, my roommate for the trip and a girl that went to China with me last year!

Love you all, xoxo

And The Journey Begins...

I'm currently sitting at gate 75 in Orlando International Airport. My plane leaves in about an hour and a half so I figured I'd go ahead and do a blog since I've been so lazy about blogging this time around!

I said goodbye to my dad and brother yesterday and my momma about 30 minutes ago. I must say I'm pretty proud of her, because even though she did say "WHY IN THE WORLD DID I EVER AGREE TO LET YOU DO THIS?!" she didn't really cry...well at least that she let me see! (love you momma) :)

I leave MCO at 11:30 and then connect in ATL at 1:55. From there I'll fly to San Francisco and meet the team. I'll stay there for tonight and then bright and early at 5AM we will head to the airport to go to CHINA:) I must say I'm pretty pumped about the time change because 5AM will feel like 8AM...which will definitely make a difference! haha

Okay, well I better go so I don't use all of my battery before I have to fly all day! I love you all and keep checking back on this blog for posts (hopefully pictures too this time around) and anything else that I feel like blogging about! Thanks for all of the prayers and support, it means so much to me.

Until I'm in China...
Elyssa

10 Days Until We Go Back to CHINA...Whaaat?!

Hi...long time no blog.

It still seems so surreal that we're going back to China in 10 days. I'm going with a new team of about 12 of us. This time, however, I'm going back without my mom!! One of the girls that went last year, Megan, who is 16 was also called to go back this summer. So, with a lot of last minute planning and fundraising we have both decided we are going back.

Here's a summed up itinerary of the trip.

I will fly to San Francisco, CA, on Saturday, June 4. I will meet the team there and then we will fly to Vancouver in the morning all together. From there we will continue on to a 12 hour flight to Beijing. We will arrive in Beijing on June 6 at around 4pm local time (4am EST) and stay there for the night. The next day we will fly to Changsha, Hunan, and while we are there we will visit the Butterfly House which is like a foster home in the area. Then we will go on the bullet train (no 5 hour bus ride again, yes!) to Chenzhou. There we will spend 4-5 of our days loving and spending time at the Chenzhou SWI (orphanage). After our time is over in Chenzhou we will head back to Beijing and spend one day at Shepherd's Field, a foster home in Beijing, and a day and a half sight-seeing. Finally, on June 17 (my birthday) :) we will head home and I will arrive back in the states on Friday, June 17, mid-afternoon!

I know this blog is kinda short and not too interesting, but I figured I needed to do at least one before I leave. Keep checking back for more blogs before I leave and especially when I am in China!

Please keep our team in your prayers, as well as the people we will interact with. You can pray for:
-unity of the team
-safety and health
-children, nannies, guides, etc. that we will meet
- & that we will be used to carry out exactly what God has called us to do

Thanks so much for the prayers and support, I love you all!

Elyssa