China day #1 update

Amy here:) Here are some pics to post and an update of our day.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Travel to the eastern hemisphere has been long, yet suprisingly we seem to be close to catching up to a 13 hour jump into the future. After landing in Beijing around 9:00, we had managed to stay mostly awake (with the exception of a few short naps) since 4:00 EST. From the time we left Chattanooga to arriving here, we had been traveling for 26 hours, and as we fell asleep, we said goodbye to a very long day of 31 hours. At the airport, we met up with another Bethany family, flew though customs, and met Jasmine holding a Bethany sign. She escorted us to our hotel and we called it a night. I must say that we are grateful to the Bethany team for our travel schedule. Arriving here when we could take advantage of a full night's sleep was ideal!

We awoke to the honking of horns on a beautifully clear morning. At 10:00 we met up with two other Bethany families and Shiyan for our orientation.

Shiyan has been working locally with Bethany for over 20 years. Speaking with her brought much comfort and clarity to the process. Her experience is so valuable to us and we are thankful for her. Shiyan told us that the workers in Salem's province take very good care of the children. In such a poor province, the opportunity for work is appreciated and taken very seriously. Families commonly foster children there as an added income. From what we know, Salem has been very well taken care of by her foster family. Although we won't have the opportunity to meet them, we are grateful for their deep love and care for our daughter.

Salem is the youngest of the group (11 months). The other families with us are adopting children 2 years and 8 years of age. One of the other families traveling with us is here for a second time, so they have been wonderful to have as experienced travelers.

Lunchtime gave way to many stories and created a time for the three families to bond. It is nice to have such a small group as we can comfortably fall into getting to know one another and sharing the experience. After lunch, we followed them to a favorite market where we stocked up on bottled water and snacks. At 4:30, Jasmine met us in the lobby to escort us to a Chinese acrobat show. Traffic here is much like traffic we have experienced in South America. I think Drew wanted to be in the driver's seat. It equates in his mind to a real life video game. It was enjoyable to watch the locals on a Friday evening navigate their way home from work in the mangled yet considerate way they do. It makes for good entertainment on an hour's ride that should have taken 20 minutes. By the time we arrived the show was half over, so Jasmine managed to get us tickets for the next show, too!

In the meantime, we got to experience Chinese KFC. We, along with Colonel Sanders I'm sure, were disappointed. You just can't mess with his original recipe.The acrobats were amazing! Jasmine shared that most of them begin training when they are younger than 10, some starting as young as 3. The level of strength and precision displayed left me realizing that we have been given great potential with our bodies and that this one needs to get back to the gym:) Sleepily we rode back to the hotel and said our goodnights.

Tomorrow will come earlier than today as we head out to the Cloissonne Factory and the Great Wall (so stinkin' excited about that!) Can't wait to post pictures tomorrow. In the mean time, enjoy some from today.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us and Salem. Please pray that our good health would remain for the duration of the trip and that the Lord would continue to prepare us perfectly over the next few days to meet our daughter and care for her well. Please pray that He would build in her heart an affection for us and that in first seeing us she will feel at home and comforted. We have reason to believe that she has seen our faces in the pictures we sent in her care package a few months ago, so she very well may recognize us as her "mama" and "baba". We also know that this transition could be very tramatic for her, so pray that the Lord would bring her comfort quickly. We love you all and are so glad you are taking this journey with us. More to come tomorrow...