We had a great day today! We toured the Hutong (old lanes) via rickshaw. This is in the oldest section of Beijing and was really something to see. In this area many, many families live in very small houses that share common courtyards. The area reminded me of a maze with little alley ways going off in various directions. Off the many alleys were houses clustered together one right next to the other joined by a common courtyard.
We had lunch with one of the local families. When I read this on the itinerary I thought to myself, "Great, this will be some kind of cheesy Williamsburg reenactment type deal." That couldn't be further from the truth. Down one of the many alleys we traveled we stopped in front of a door and entered a woman's home. From the outside all of the houses look the same....a gray type cinder block....really a rather non-descript appearance. The rickshaws dropped us off and in we went. We were greeted by a sweet little lady who did not speak a word of English. She showed us in to her humble little home and made us the most magnificent lunch. Honestly, the best food we have since we arrived....and that's really saying something! The poor rickshaw drivers weren't counting on us all gaining 10 pounds at lunch!
Mrs. Huan, our hostess, explained to us that her husband had died recently and that she lived in the home with her mother. Mrs. Huan is not a young woman and although we didn't meet her mother I imagine she must be quite elderly. Mrs. Huan has two daughters but they are both married and live with their husbands and care for their husband's parents.
Mrs. Huan was such a wonderful hostess and asked us all to promise that some day we would return. I certainly hope we can!
After the time in Hutong we headed to the airport for the flight to Wuhan. After we got on the plane the flight was delayed (why...I don't know) and we did not leave the runway until after we were supposed to have already landed in Wuhan. Obviously, we made it here safe and sound.
Okay, okay, enough of that boring stuff....now, for the really exciting news...we are less than 10 hours away from meeting our sweet Lily. 10 hours....can you believe it?? It feels like we've waited a lifetime and now in 10 short hours we will hold our daughter for the first time and all that waiting will simply disappear! Tony and I are positively beside ourselves! We are both feeling completely ready and absolutely unprepared at the same time. I guess that's what parenthood is all about!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
We are all really excited and holding our breath until you finally hold Lily. The pictures are wonderful. Love, Laura
Post a Comment