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Hi friends and family,
The day had finally come where I could visit the Great Wall of China! The day started early at 6:30AM when we left on a 2 hour van ride that seated all 17 of us (Katie, Virginia, and Stella, our director and China Care Home officials). On the ride I had a lively conversation with Jade about movies and tv shows. Once we arrived we walked through a touristy shop area and took a large shuttle bus partway up a mountain. Once we got out that is when the real journey began. Our trek up a steep and endless staircase was exhausting, 100x worse than the death stairs near the UCLA dorms! We climbed up an estimated 300 meters which really doesn’t sound like much compared to how endless it seemed. However everything was worth it as once we arrived at the top it was breathtaking, pardon the pun! At the top we climbed up a a lot more flights to visit several other towers, At the 14th tower we saw a dog and of course I had to get a picture.
After that we walked down to the 6th tower to try to ride the toboggan down but it was closed due to technical difficulties so we took a gondola down. Up there at an extremely large height I cried a little bit, since I’m really not a big fan of heights. Luckily midway I calmed down and enjoyed the slow descent downward which was a lot more peaceful than the exhausting path up.
We returned to the tourist shopping area and spent our lunch together at Burger King. For about an hour we split up and shopped around a bit which was a little nerve wracking as we were advised to bargain for items and none of us were too sure what a good price was especially since we had to do the whole conversion from RMB to USD which slowed us down. On the way back in the van I spoke with Lia and Julia and exchanged information about what our states were like back in the US. (California and New York) It really is amazing how little small things like interest in sports in schools are different within the US depending on where a person lives.
Once we finally made it back to the hotel we split into two groups to go get a full body massage. I was in the second group so I was luckily able to shower and refresh a little bit before going. I was placed down on a lounge-like chair that reclined to a flat position and I hesitantly laid down. Mia F. and Eliza were also in the room and you could hear the nervous, small laughs due to all of us being pretty ticklish for the first few minutes. I do have to admit, I fell asleep 3 times throughout the massage! Afterwards I definitely felt fresh and limber. Together Vivian, Mia F., Jenna and I went out to eat at a pizza restaurant called Mr. Pizza. To order we pointed to items and used a translating app to order a soda, it was an entertaining ordeal. Afterwards we got dessert at a bake shop called Paris Baguette right next door. Mi F. and I were going to eat the cake in my room and watch Rent but instead we ended up talking for hours, especially when Jamie and Lia joined us with another large cake to eat! That’s all for now!
Your friend,
Sadie