June 5th- Great Wall and More!

I think we are all officially on China time. Last night we were all in bed by 9 and woke up at 6:30. After a good breakfast we left for the Great Wall. On the way, we stopped off at the Jade factory. I was able to get some earrings and necklace. Rebecca got a jade horse and we got an ox for Meredith. With our purchase, Rebecca got a free necklace which made her day.

In China they have what we call "squatty pottys". The toilet seat in in the ground. Rebecca said she "will not absolutley go to the bathroom underground". Luckily, so far, they have 1-2 american pottys in the back. I have also noticed that the squatty pottys never have toilet paper. It is a whole new world here!

Our next stop was the Great Wall. To call it great is not enough... massive is more like it. Until today I would have thought Beijing was a very flat area, but we found the mountains today!
We walked up a small portion of the wall. It was ALL stairs. My heavens... it was all stairs that went STRAIGHT up and they were uneven steps at that. Jim had to carry Rebecca for part of it. After about 1/4 way up, Rebecca and I had to turn around and go back down, which was not much easier than going up. Jim and some of the other guys went all the way. It took him close to 2 hours to get there and back. While he finished Rebecca and I check out the shops. It was quite an experience. Rebecca said she was scared of the height and of the steps, some of them she had to practically sit down to get down they were so steep. Zumba couldn't have prepared me for this!

After the Great Wall we went to another group lunch. Then we drove to the Birds Nest and Water Cube. WOW! You can't imagine how massive this is. It was awesome to see. We had street vende\rs who bombard you with different items for you to buy. Luckily our guide told us to say "boo-yao" which means "no thanks". She said that if you touch any of the items they assume you will buy them. Not a problem for us, but when they go to Rebecca and offer her something she assumes they are giving it to her for free. So we set a rule... do not take anything anyone gives you!

Rebecca and Mia are getting to be great friends and are fun to watch together. They like to sit in the front of the bus with Sarah our guide and Mr. Pay, the driver. We can hear them talking about boys and who they are going to marry. Sherri, you know which name comes up! It is funny and scarry all at the same time. She tells everyone about how Kyle and TJ always chases her and she doesn't know why. Oh my!

We just got back to the room. We are going to eat at the hotel and then we have to pack up. We leave for Zhengzhou, Henan tomorrow. I can't believe in 2 days we will be holding Meredith. Life is good!