We all slept in this morning until 9am. We still wake up utterly exhausted! Everyone went down to breakfast and I bathed you while I took a shower. The showers here are genius... especially for moms. You walk into the door and there is the bath tub and next to it is a shower... all in the same area! So you played while I showered. Awesome! Then , I drained most of the water and started packing while watching you through the glass that is beside the tub. Don't worry, it has a remote-controlled curtain for privacy. You played and played and played with empty bottles in the water and your rubber duck. We all got pretty much packed and headed out on another adventure. We needed to go to Walmart, which is a decent walk with a stroller.. because nothing is made for strollers here? you just have to pick it up and it gets tiring quickly. The Walmart aisles are insanely narrow, with boxes blocking and people crammed into every nook. People do not move here. If they see you in an aisle trying to get around them and let's say.. they're talking... you'll just have to wait until the conversation is over. Ugh. Then, people see a family of 7 coming and they just cut you off. It's each for their own here. We tried and tried to find a specific snack for Joy and you on the plane and couldn't find it in all of Walmart and it is probably the most popular item for small children (and babies). The Walmart is two stories and has some of the greatest finds! We got you two nice books for about one US dollar each and a red rooster stuffed animal that is hanging from a Chinese knot with a suction cup. So cute to remember our year of the rooster! Eli got an army set (army sets are his favorite) and we got some other familiar snacks (Chinese) for you for the long journey home. I also got a few more CNY decorations. I want to be able to decorate each year and then hand these things down to you girls when you're older. This has been a fantastic trip, but today, I'm ready to come home! I will miss China fiercely in a few months and would totally be ready to come back.
And I want you to see the squattie potties that your sister adores. She will literally look to make sure the stalls have them before she uses the bathroom. Lol!
After our Walmart excursion, Anna was ready to go shopping. I wasn't, but I knew Anna needed this time with me. So, I was on my last leg when we headed out. We have taxis lined up at the hotel and the concierge even walks us out the door to them and puts their hands on the door roof as for us not to hit our heads. Wow.. this is service I'm not quite used to. So we get in the taxi and show him the card that says "one link plaza - international toy market". He agrees and off we go. He then pushes play on his iPhone that was suctioned to the windshield as he weaves in and out of traffic wildly. He was watching some Kung Fu movie and when we sat in traffic he would watch and then when it was time to move up 20 feet he would GUN it and then slam on his breaks to get more uninterrupted time to watch the show. Wow.. this was scary. I was cracking up though. I caught myself watching him in the rear view mirror to see how often he looked at the road. Let's just say he has the streets of GZ memorized, which is almost two times larger than NYC! He caught me several times looking and looked agitated. It's my life and my kid's, man! So he dropped us off right on the corner outside of One Link right where I almost died 18 months ago via taxi. Ironic. We shopped and shopped and spent hardly anything at all and got everything we wanted. It seems like we are spending a ton, but tours are inexpensive, hotels that are five star are very cheap and things we are buying are such good deals! I won't buy anything full price ever! The kids worked so hard earning money for 14 months. They've been helping to pay for things for themselves. They've learned how to manage money very well and can also calculate how much things are in USD when they see how much in RMB. I am so proud of how well they've done! They're troopers and fantastic kids.
So, we shop and Anna tried to find a better deal the whole trip on a little bottle that is hand painted on the inside .. we watched an artisan do this in Beijing in the hutongs and bought two Christmas ornaments, but they were small and kind of expensive, but since it was so special for a gift, we bought them. Anna found some at a store at the One Link and wanted to find an even better deal (only 8.00.. and very expensive other places) lol. So we walked and walked and then tried to find the shop again to get the bottle. We walked our legs off. Some of these stores are probably only 5x8' of space! Some are larger, but this place has extremely narrow aisles that people are crammed into. It's hot, you can feel body heat and the aisles aren't just clear (like in the states). People don't move for you, as I've mentioned and you have to be aggressive. You get free body massages here at every corner (bumping against you). So we finally found the bottle (thank you, Jesus!) and we headed out quickly. I knew I had to get a taxi by 5:30. It was 5:20 when we reached the corner to hail one. None were vacant. We crossed the street and waited... none were vacant. We finally started walking down the narrow pedestrian aisle (about a foot) into incoming traffic so that when the red light hit, we could go ask them to take us. We found three and they all said "Meiyou" or "bu Yao" (basically, no!) when we showed them our card that gave the name of the hotel and the address. Maybe they were headed to pick someone up, but the last driver.. I begged.. and a tear fell from my cheek. So tired, so scared , and it was getting dark. So I go back to the corner (yes, I was begging on a corner) and I pulled out Plecco. It's an app I use that doesn't need internet that is a Chinese dictionary. I asked several people if they knew English. One woman came to me with a girl about my age who didn't, but the woman did. She said through very broken English., "Me help!" So I pulled out the word for taxi and asked "how"? She said "no taxi now.... hmmmm... (laugh) how do I say.... hmmmm." They both pulled out their devices and went to their translating apps. They showed me the word for "underground". Oh, heck no! Not this country girl! I rode subways in NYC in 2001 and then four years ago in DC. I couldn't remember even how they worked too much! It took us a while just to find the subway, but we finally made it! So I made it to the ticket kiosk and about had a meltdown. I was done. It was over. I had no clue what all the words written in mandarin were or how to process anything. We figured it out and headed toward the lines. I snapped some pics to show someone where we might be if we didn't come home, but how?
My phone battery was on 10% and fading quickly. So, I thought "maybe the subway has wifi." I prayed as I pulled it up and I was so thankful... yes... wifi!" I wechatted our guide, Elsie and all I got from her through a message with poor service was head to Ouzhang. Uhhh, where am I? Where is Ouzhang????? I had not a clue! I find the subway map on the wall and found O, but where was I???????? Panic set in big time. Holding back tears I found a metro attendant. I asked him to show me where on the map we were (he understood very little English and I had to play some charades, but we got it!) he said I was at line 6 at a certain stop. We figured out the map and where to go. (Ok, Anna did!!!!) seriously, this girl is GOOD under pressure!!!!! We got on the subway and I second guessed everything. What if it sent us to the slums and I didn't know what to do? I looked at Anna and said "Anna, I am super nervous.. what if we are wrong????" She smiled and said so calmly "Mama, just wait and see... 2 stops to get off at line 2.. reconnect to line 5?and then 5 stops and we get off at Taojin...number 5-08". Amazed at her poise and confidence is an understatement! We got off on stop 2 and went to go up the two flights of escalators... broken.. up we go manually. Racing. We got on easily after we pushed our way through. So after one stop, more people piled in and it was a can of sardines!!!! I had male bodies pressed on all sides of me. It was unreal and very .... uncomfortable. All the contours.. I could feel... not pleasant! I put my hands in my pockets to protect from pickpocketers, but still was grasping that card with our address as tightly as I could... and tried to balance as it rushed to stops and sped off. We got off after 5 stops right where we needed to be - Taojin! We raced up the stairs to the top and I felt the cool breeze! And I look directly to my right and ..... The Garden Hotel!!!!!! I never realized the subway was directly in front of the hotel since we usually venture out of other entries. I verbally thanked God and praised him with tears. I panted with a dry mouth and was almost dizzy as we reached the revolving doors. When I smelled the floral scents of the lobby, we .were.home. Thank you, Jesus! We got to the room and Justin was worried. You, Joy and the boys came running to me like you thought we were dead. Almost, but not yet! I colllapsed in a chair and felt shaken. Awful feeling. Not many things have ever humbled me as much. We stopped to help some Chinese tourists in Gatlinburg once that were broken down and yet were so thankful. He spoke English, but the wife did not! I remember thinking it wasn't a big deal to help, but he went on and on. I didn't realize that until now. It IS big. Please help people that need help, Evie. Always. It is someone's mother, brother, sister, friend.. and they are YOUR brother or sister as well. I will make it a point to help more! I wasn't seated for probably 15 minutes and we all realized we were starving! (I skipped breakfast and only ate a handful of chips for lunch). We headed out to Oggie's Pizzaria! Pepperonis are nonexistent here, I believe! I've not seen any in two trips! We ordered the spicy salami pizza and the margherita pizza. Joy got some noodles with tuna and things and her favorite coconut milk. That place is amazing! That pizza is handmade right there and it's probably the second best I've ever had! We enjoyed a peaceful dinner and headed back to work on packing some more. At one point you all were lined up on the air mattress in a line - one in front of the other (sitting between legs). You were all riding in an airplane and Eli was the pilot. He gets everyone boarded and says "ok, all aboard!" He puts his hands behind his head, kicks back and turns in auto-pilot." We all got a big laugh!!!! There were lots of laughing kids tonight! Another day in the books, Evie. Tomorrow is another day!!! As I go to bed, I look over at the tightly wrinkled address card that I clutched so tightly today - our lifeline. It was damp with sweat and probably filthy, but it was so precious. I'll keep it forever to remember to stay humble and ... HELP. Our awful journey via subway reminds me of life - a hard, arduous journey full of ups and downs.. you hold on to your free ticket with all your might and when you reach the top of the earth and feel the cool breeze... you're home. What a feeling it will be. I got a minuscule look at that "home" today through thankful eyes. My real home must be much much better! I pray you get your ticket and you keep it clasped tightly. I will work everyday to teach you everything I know about Jesus.
love you, Mama
