January 18, 2015

We were up bright and early this am.  Luggage out by 6am and meeting George at the lobby at 630 ish.  I think most of us were dragging this am and down at breakfast for a quick bit to eat before having to leave. George actually came to get us so I'm not really sure what time we left the hotel.

We got to the airport and nervously waited to see if/who would have luggage that weighed more that what was allowed. Us and 2 others did so they had to hurry over to a special counter where you paid the fine.  THEN they could come back and  get our boarding passes. Flights in China only allow you 44lbs, in the US it's 50lbs.

We all said Goodbye to George, boarded our flight and headed to Zhengzhou. The flight was pretty short and the airline was awesome.  Large spacious seats, aisles and headroom. The food was really good too.

Welcome to China Southern.

The large roll had some sort of meat paste in it,
 not sure how it tasted since I didn't eat any of it!

 We made it to Zhengzhou, got our luggage and quickly found out guides Yisha and Vivian.  We also met the last couple in our group of 8 families/couples. Yisha went over our itinerary for the week and especially what we would be doing today once we got checked into the hotel. There was a lot of construction at the airport so it took a little longer to get out and to our hotel. On the ride there we got our beloved red lanyards with our CCAI info on them, and the most up to date information on our kids. Once we were all checked in we headed to our rooms to relax a bit before meeting for lunch.  We were greeted by a nice letter, a record able monkey, fresh fruit, a 77 degree room (which drove Joe's allergies crazy), and an awesome site to see - a grib! Nian would never use it but it made a good non screened window blocker, and catch all. And of course the bathroom had a window in it!

We met the group downstairs to head to the hotel next door for lunch. Everyone raves about the noodles but I wasn't too impressed with them.  side note- as I was looking over our papers to update this post I noticed that my note prior to travel was about "made to order" noddles.   Wish I had remembered that before going as I'm sure I would have liked them much better!  After lunch 1 of us had to meet in the lobby to head to the bank to exchange money.  Since it would be a much larger amount the exchange they all went to the bank.  I elected Joe to go for us and he was gone a few hours.  I think maybe I'll go next time around just to experience it. Joe said it was a slow process since they had to split the group and only 2 people could officially be listed as getting the money.  Then they had to write down the serial numbers of our money and theirs before the transaction was complete, along with getting copies of everyone's passports.

Later we headed down to Walmart to get some items for our little ones. We had our most up to date list of what foods/formula Nian was use to, what types of food he ate, and what size he was. It was a trip in itself to say the least.  I think we were there a good 2 hours or so.  We found Nian a cute little potty that I really wanted to bring home with us, the puffs that all the kids like, his formula, some fruit, more coffee cuz ya know I need my daily coffee fix. The coffee was actually really good for instant.  We also got some pop, which does have a different taste to it, and some snickers.  We also got Nian a nice Mickey Mouse bowl to use when we eat.

Walk to the left of the darker brick, and scooters to the right.

Intersection crossing.

The carts were cool they moved in all directions.

Escalator was magnetic

Walmart was a little hike from our hotel but not too bad.  CCAI now uses a hotel that is much closer to the store, AND the Starbucks which is awesome.  Further from the park but they have a great bus system there so I'm sure we'll try that next time.

The area around Walmart had lots of shops and stalls. It seemed to be the place to hang out at night as it was really busy.  The lights everywhere were pretty neat.  Bright and all over the place. 

Today is Gotcha day for those in China right now.  I just saw pictures of Heather, Henry and their daughter Abigail. She looks so happy with her mom and dad.  We continue to sending our blessings and prayers out to them. 

Blessings to you too!