Monday, November 23, 2015

A TIny Little City in Shaanxi Province

The orphanage was placed in a simple little city in the Shaanxi Province....
 our guide laughed when we called it a city....he said it was just a town.  The population of this "town" is 3,516,300.
 The Eiffel Tower in China, right outside of our hotel window.
 The entrance to our hotel at night....previous trips to China, adoption trips, have left me a bit spoiled.  We have always stayed in great hotels with western foods for breakfast as well as Chinese selections   AND hot bathing water.  We arrived in Yulin to a cold shower with noodles, rice, and the like for breakfast.  By Thursday, we were taking hot showers and eating PopTarts.  On Friday, we had NO water, hot or cold.  
 Everyday in this city that borders Inner Mongolia, Pryce would see "his" tractor.  You would even hear it before it came by our window....twice a day, once in the morning, once in the evening.  I guess we really were in a "town."
 The orphanage was on the outskirts of the actual city.  If the children were to peek out of a window, this is what they would see.  
 We dined at the hotel for breakfast and the orphanage for lunch.  There was a large dining room where the workers and the school children all came to eat.  A cafeteria of sorts.  Most tables in China are large and round with a lazy susan on top.  The prepared food is brought out in stages and the idea is that one person takes a bite and then turns the lazy susan for the next person to dig in.  You "share" your food and whatever comes from double dipping.....there are no serving spoons, it is just you and your chopsticks.  You eat a bite of rice, then a dish of veggies comes your way. You then use your chopsticks that you just ate with to get veggies with.  Repeat.  We have eaten this way in China before but this was new all the same.  We ate this way everyday in China, every dinner and lunch.  Breakfast was the only "single serve, buffet style" meal.  And we drank hot water.  Not hot tea as on previous trips, but hot water from a teapot.  
 We were instructed to eat whatever was brought to our table at the orphanage.  So most days we did just that.  Or we would at least taste it.  Except the one day when we were served Sheep Stomach Stew.  On that day, I am pretty sure even the most adventurous eaters in our group hesitated.  
 Thankfully, we had a resting time right after lunch.  We would all go into a room and share snacks and share stories of home or our morning at the orphanage.  Some enjoyed a little pilates or a nice afternoon snooze.  
 Dinner was held at the same restaurant each night.  And each night ended with a little photography jam session.  If I told you Pryce was bothered by this, lightening would be sure to strike.  
Pryce enjoyed this time immensely and I am most positive that his face can be found on most social media sights in China, along with the rest of our group.  
He was treated like a king at dinner.  Each night, they made this special napkin for him....we assume it was for him as it was the only napkin on the table folded this way.  Everyone knew this was Pryce's seat.
 Shopping in this norther Shaanxi city was scarce.  Not much to purchase close to our hotel so we did not venture out much except to buy water and Coke.  And maybe a Snickers:)  On our last night in there, we found a little market not too far from our hotel.  It was much like a drugstore would be here....kind of a little of this and a little of that for sale.  I snapped a picture of the above item that was packaged so nicely before politely being told that no photos were allowed.  Hmmmm.
 Pryce, always the one to take a leap with the food options on this trip, dove at the chance to eat ice cream treats with Liz.  His description of taste came to "chalky."
 For whatever reason, I loved these cans.  No telling what was offered inside of them but they looked kind of fun.
Jamey.  Jamey was our guide for our entire trip.  One man leading thirteen women, and one teenage boy for ten days.  He went above and beyond his call of duty.  He was our pizza deliverer, our airport deliverer, our translator, and he quickly became a friend who we will cherish forever.  He referred to Pryce as "the little man" and just embraced the challenges placed before him for the trip.  We were the first group he has ever led and I am pretty sure we covered all bases so that he will be even more prepared for the groups to come.  

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