7
Location: Beijing, China
Our day started as usual. We had breakfast and then headed to the baby home to do our morning service. After playing with the babies for about 3 hours, we went back to the apartment for lunch and packed for our two day trip to Xian. On our way to the station, we stopped at THE western store where we were able to buy some snacks for our trip. The students were filled with an immense sense of joy as it made them feel at home. After stuffing the bags with our snacks, we arrived at the train station. We then discovered that it was very, very, very crowded, packed and humid. As we had about an hour to explore, Uttam, Ben, Mani and I went to explore the rest of the train station and searched for a place to sit. We ended up sitting on the floor of Starbucks, enjoying the smell of coffee that filled the shop. A while later, we went back to the group and sat on the floor and waited for the train. As it was hot, a nice Chinese woman gave me her fan. Soon after, we were able to go on the overnight train. To our surprise, we discovered that the beds were better than the ones we have in our apartment. Also, we saw the beautiful landscapes of rural China for the first time. As the lights went out at 22:00, we were excited to arrive at Xian and be outside our comfort zone.