Beijing....

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it."

1 Corinthians 12:27

The leader of our team had led this trip before.  She felt it was best if we spent our first full day in Beijing sight-seeing, getting to know each other as a team, and overcoming jetlag.  We had a day packed full of all the things you picture doing if you go to China.  It was very foggy/smoggy that day, so it was hard to see what was ahead.  If I was a great writer, I could probably draw an analogy here of how that goes hand in hand with not being able to see the path clearly yet of what God had planned for this trip.  How He makes our visibility just enough to see this next step but not the full picture of what lies ahead, but I will leave that analogy for someone that is better with words than me.

The driving in China is different than that in San Antonio.  Apparently, if you honk, you have the right of way.  It doesnt matter if you are turning into oncoming traffic, driving a good 100 yards down the wrong way or even driving on a sidewalk for that matter.  Honking means move out of the way because we are coming thru.  We arrived at the Great wall, and you couldnt even see it from the parking lot.  We headed up to hike it.  It was newer looking than I had pictured it.  I would have  enjoyed some headphones with a person telling me the history behind everything, but I didnt have them or even google to look up the story behind it all, so I just started climbing.  We had climbed several series of steps when we came to a landing that led to more steps.  We couldnt see where those steps ended due to the smog so my motivation to get to the next landing went down.  We passed rows of locks that people had purchased and scribbled their names on for good luck or something....again the headphones or google would have been handy.  There was a little building of some sort and people dressed in traditional attire that I am sure wanted tips for their pictures.  It was beautiful.  I have always wanted to see it, and I am blessed now that I have.

After the Great Wall, we headed for lunch.  Dining in China is also very different from the US.  The food was suprisingly good.  I learned how to use chopsticks and a Lazy Susan while there.  Every meal is family style and all the dishes are placed on a Lazy Susan that people use to get the dish they want.  You use your chopsticks to get the your food from the platter, and there is a little plate in front of you to catch what you drop.

The next stop was Tiananmen Square.  It was surreal walking there knowing what had happened in the late 80's.  There were vendors and families out for the day.  People wanted their pictures taken with us since we were different looking =).  It was a quick stop and then we left for the Pearl Market.

The Pearl Market was a buildig full of vendors that like to barter.  I am not a big barterer.  I will shop around for a good price, but I do not like to haggle.  I bought some jewelry from a lady the team leader had bought from before and knew it was good quality, some souveniers for the kids, and then I was ready to call it a day.  I saw a Starbucks, met up with some team members there, and settled in until the others were finished shopping.

The team leader was correct in her planning for this day.  By the end of it, I was exhausted and ready for sleep and our team, Christ's body, was starting to come together.  I slept well that night and the next day we travelled to the city that houses the orphanage we would be serving at for the next 5 days.