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:)
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