The hotel we're staying at informed us that there would be no cold drinks, but I was still really surprised when I sipped my boiling hot orange juice at breakfast. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good enough for me to drink since it reminded me of cold medicine. Other than that, breakfast was delicious! Once we were done, we gathered in the hallway to get our groups for the orphanage. I'm in group two with five really nice girls. I knew them before, but I got to connect more with them during our team bonding activities. We did activities like the human knot, two truths and a lie, and we even had a mini bracelet making party! It was so nice of them to help me make bracelets. We want to make enough for the seventy kids at the orphanage along with the twenty-seven girls on the trip. Even though bracelets are cool, the real fun begins with all of the goodies we bought the kids today. We went on a shopping spree at Walmart today and bought the kids so many fun toys along with some cleaning supplies.
It was amusing to all of the locals by how many toys were were carrying around and purchasing! Once we got back to the hotel, we sorted it all out so it would be all organized when we brought it to the orphanage tomorrow!
After that we got our arts and crafts prepped out for the kids. Then we were on our own for dinner; instead of walking a couple miles to the fast food joints, we decided to eat local Chinese food. There were tons of street vendors, but we decided to eat at a small restaurant. One of our friends, Alexis, knew how to speak a little Chinese, so we used what we had to make a guess on what we wanted to eat. Then we saw a the meal someone else ordered and decided to ask for some of that too. What we ended up getting ended up being a really tasty local meal. I'm a little worried about getting sick, but it's all part of the experience! Our meal ended up being 45 yuan which is equivalent to about 7 dollars per person between three people, which is really cheap for the amount of food we for. Even though you're not suppose to tip, we ended up giving her 50 yuan and it was completely amazing to see her light up when we insisted she keep the change which isn't even a full dollar in US currency. After seeing the happiness we brought to that lady just by being friendly, I cannot wait to see the amounts of joy we bring to the kids and how much joy they bring to us!
It was amusing to all of the locals by how many toys were were carrying around and purchasing! Once we got back to the hotel, we sorted it all out so it would be all organized when we brought it to the orphanage tomorrow!
After that we got our arts and crafts prepped out for the kids. Then we were on our own for dinner; instead of walking a couple miles to the fast food joints, we decided to eat local Chinese food. There were tons of street vendors, but we decided to eat at a small restaurant. One of our friends, Alexis, knew how to speak a little Chinese, so we used what we had to make a guess on what we wanted to eat. Then we saw a the meal someone else ordered and decided to ask for some of that too. What we ended up getting ended up being a really tasty local meal. I'm a little worried about getting sick, but it's all part of the experience! Our meal ended up being 45 yuan which is equivalent to about 7 dollars per person between three people, which is really cheap for the amount of food we for. Even though you're not suppose to tip, we ended up giving her 50 yuan and it was completely amazing to see her light up when we insisted she keep the change which isn't even a full dollar in US currency. After seeing the happiness we brought to that lady just by being friendly, I cannot wait to see the amounts of joy we bring to the kids and how much joy they bring to us!
You are right that a little goes a long way. What a great 'tip' of learning for all of us!
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