CHINA!!!! You have NO IDEA how excited I was to make it back to China!!! After the Longest night on a bus in my life..I was soooo happy to see this Border! It was also a very crazy border to get through. You see, we entered China on a Sunday...so they told us we would have to pay more to get back in because the people were working overtime...I was about at my witt's END by this point and almost had a melt down.
This is "Ford", my Thai friend I met on the bus. He helped me get through the border because he spoke Chinese and Lao. He also paid for my entrance fee...I gelt so bad but he was so ashamed that they were making us pay he refused to let me pay. I think it was only 15 Yuan(about $3) but still...it was the point. He was such a blessing to me! Also There were two other guys and a girl I met throughout the 38hrs that became my friends. They were all really kind!
After we got through the border we had to continue our journey to Kunming. We stopped for some Chinese food and I was soooo excited to have Chinese food. I really missed while I was gone. I really missed the normal food that I have gotten accustomed to eating here. Sometimes i am amazing at how Chinese I have become...I almost can't eat a meal without rice now and I prefer to use chopsticks...just a random new fact about myself:-) These people were two of my bed mates(the ones that thought I had a disease). They spoke no English and their dialect of Chinese was a little hard for me to understand but we communicated:-) many nonverbal types of communication and also my very small amount of Chinese:-) I loved getting to know them! We arrived in Kunming about 2am...and we were dropped off at a random bus station on the far side of town. So my new friends took a taxi with me to the train station. They were soooo helpful! They didn't want to leave me without making sure I had my tickets to Chengdu and one guy even walked around Kunming with me until I found a hotel for the night. The Father was taking such care of me!!!
Needless to say, when I finally made it to my room I was exhausted! After the LONGEST bus ride in history and then the taxi ride and walking around I was ready to drop. I slept sooooo well that night. The next morning I was so excited about venturing out to see Kunming. I was staying close to the train station so I could walk there to catch my train so the hotel workers helped me to know the bus route to the city center. It was great....finally back in a semi familiar place! buses that I know how to use and Chinese being spoken!!! So I made it to the city center and had such a fun time exploring! I think I walked for about 4hrs just looking at everything. I happened upon this church in an ally and heard music from inside...so, I went in:-) When I made my way up the stairs I realized they were having a wedding:-) I sat in the back and waited until they were finished and then snuck out:-) It was awesome!
As I was walking I found this little tea shop...very popular to see in China but I just couldn't resist taking of picture of the awesome sign..."my drinking controlled by myself"...Oh China! It was good tea:-) I enjoyed controlling mine:-)
I was only in Kunming for one day and then I headed to Chengdu!!! I was so excited to go to Chengdu because some of my sweet friends from Wuhan were meeting me there...I hadn't been with anyone in a week and I hadn't seen these friends in a month so I was really happy! The train from Kunming to Chengdu was soooo beautiful...I loved this countryside sooo much!
As we passed this school in the middle of no where I decided that one day I was going to come here and teach English:-) I mean i would love to live on their farm and teach in this little country school...I'm sure it would be just like Texas...lol ok so I'm kidding about the last part...but for real...I loved this place!
When I got to Chengdu I realized I had missed God...I mean how much larger of a sign did I need than a huge restaurant with a TEXAS flag on it...I am supposed to life here!!! Chengdu is my home away from home:-) My friends were a little overwhelmed by my enthusiasm over Texas! I mean...they know I'm pretty much hard core, Texan to the bone because they tease me all the time but this just gave them another reason to make fun of me:-) Who am I kidding...I'm Texan and proud of it:-)
I mean doesn't this just say "Melodie...this is your home!!!"??? I was in heaven...Texas in China....my home away from home:-)
The day after we arrived in Chengdu we decided to visit the Pandas! Chengdu is the place to go in China to see pandas:-) Sometimes I get frustrated with this amazing country I live in...when I saw this sign I had a little moment of frustration....and I might have yelled out..."The Lord God made them all" as I passed by. It really is how things are done here...HE is just taken out of everything:-(
My amazing friends Mandi and Michelle...we were at the red panda exhibit...I mean I think a red panda is a fox and a raccoon...don't you? Look at him!!! They are kinda creepy looking and not the nicest of creatures...lol
This is Nathan and I with the Pandas!!! They were sooo cute!!! I wanted to take one home:-)
After our Amazing Panda Adventure, we went to try sichuan Hot Pot...it is very famous here. Chengdu is in the province of Sichuan and they are VERY well known for their spicy food!!! I LOVED IT! This was our picture after we finished...the Chinese people thought we were hilarious:-)
Then, we had to try out the famous Sichuan snacks...so we headed to snack street and met some new friends that sold dried fruit and other tasty snacks!!! Ryan(my friend second fromt he left) told the ladies we were all brothers and sisters and that our mom was Chinese and our dad was American...He and Mandi speak really good Chinese so they were able to communicate really well with the ladies. It was such a fun night...They finally realized he was joking and had a good laugh out of it all:-) He actually had many people thinking he was an American Lawyer as well...Oh Ryan:-)
The next day we headed to Leshan, a city about 2hrs from Chengdu. We wanted to see the "Big Buddha"! I saw this little buddha and had to get a pic...
But the real trip was to see this guy! He was huge!!! I had fun taking funny pictures:-) Many Chinese people took pictures where it looked like they were touching him...but I wanted to be a little more creative:-) So I'm picking his nose...I got a few looks for this:-)
We climbed into this little cave where monks used to live...we are going to use this as our next album cover:-)
Buddha and me...he was crazy huge!
We did so much walking and took a little rest by the waterfall!
Our last night in Chengdu we had dinner at Peter's Tex Mex again...We just couldn't get enough of the amazing food!!! We also wanted to support Peter...He is a brother and has an amazing business there! But as you can see...we have a few new friends:-) This is another reason i get picked on...I really like making friends and so on the train from Kunming to Chengdu I met a really sweet girl who studies in Chengdu. She is in the pink coat! So I invited her to hang out with us while we were in Chengdu. She brought her boyfriend and we had a great time visiting with them! Then the first day I was in Chengdu I had gone to Starbucks to read and journal because my friends weren't arriving until the evening and I arrived at 5am:-) So I had a very relaxing afternoon there...but the barista that made my coffee really made an impression on me. She spoke great English and she reminded me of one of my students so she kind stuck out in my mind. Then that night when my friends and I were on our way to Dinner we stopped at an amazing little "Country Store" that sells foreign food to ask for directions...and she was there!!! She ended up giving us directions to Peter's Tex Mex and I asked her if she remembered me from earlier that day. She did and she even remembered my drink! lol so we kinda had a connection and then laughed and we went our own way. But I felt like i was supposed to kind her agin and ask her to hang out with us also. So the last night I went back to Starbuck and asked is she was there. I didn't even know her name but they knew who she was because I described her as the cute girl that spoke really good English:-) So they gave me her phone number and I sent her a message and invited her to come to dinner with us:-) So she and her foreign friend also came to dinner with us! It was so awesome! We also got to meet with her again the next morning at starbucks. It turns out she is planning to go to the US for University and in the same state where 3 of my four friends are from! So they were able to give her some advise and we were also able to exchange information. At the end of our talk I asked her if I could Life her up to the Father and she was excited to be apart of that with us. I have remained friends with both of these girls through email and text:-) It is so awesome how the Father brings people in our lives and puts them there for a reason!!! I write all of this to encourage you to follow the promptings of the Father...you never know who HE will bring across your path and who will come to know HIM!
Now for the crazy part...since we met our starbucks friend for coffee before we left Chengdu we kinda lost track of time and left the hostel a little later than we had planned. Well...then we ran into traffic...and well...then Nathan ran ahead to try to hold the train:-( After many crazy things the four of us missed the train:-( Nathan made it and they wouldn't let us through to gate to get on and the train left without us:-( it was still there but about to pull away. It was about the hardest thing we encountered. See, this was the end of Chinese New Year and all the train tickets had been purchased WAY in advance...we knew it was going to be next to impossible to get a train. But we went to the ticket office and Mandi tried to get us new tickets. Her chinese is amazing and we knew if anyone could do it she could...plus she is soooo super sweet...I was about to explode. I stopped us all in the middle of the station and said we MUST PR!!! lol and right there I cried out to HIM for mercy and for an attitude change! HE IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL! We got standing tickets...lol we were going to stand for 22hrs from Chengdu to Wuhan. Not our first pick but we wanted to GO HOME!!! Also the super bowl was the next day and Ryan and I really wanted to be home for that...lol Well, another long story made short...they found 4 beds for us after we had stood for about an hour and we were able to relax and rest! Once again HE showed us that HE had a plan that was far better than our own. We actually made money...they gave us our money back for the original tickets and the standing tickets were much cheeper...then when we paid agin for the beds it was cheeper than the first time we bought them:-) As Jeff Wells Always says..."YAY God"! I had mixed feeling about going home. I had been gone exactly 5 weeks from Wuhan and had the adventure of a lifetime, but I was ready to see my people! HIS people that I get to be with!!! SO now that I am finally finished with my Vacation blogs...look forward to what is going on int he last month!
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