Hello friends and family and welcome to the Chinese edition of Life with the Brown Team! Sorry for the lack of updates recently. We’ve been travelling and travelling and travelling some more!
We arrived in Hong Kong and had a great time touring the city while we waited on our visas. We left Sunday morning and walked a mile and half to the bus station. Imagine 30 wuy goren’s (foreigners) prancing the streets of Hong Kong each with a bag bigger than they are attached to their back! We got quite a few looks! We made it to the bus station and despite our bus drivers disbelief, we crammed all our worldly belongings into the bottom of his bus. Border crossings were incredibly uncomplicated after our adventures in Central America. This time we walked in with our stuff, handed them our papers, and walked on through. We did have our fruit confiscated, which made snacks a little scarce, but that was the least of our worries.
Next we boarded the train. I think Paul had it right when he said he felt like he was in a bad holocaust movie! Quarters were definitely cramped, but it made for some fun times! Six people slept in an area about the width of three people standing shoulder to shoulder. Three beds were stacked on top of each other. We had tons of fun playing spades, adventures in translating the dining car menu, and much needed rest and recuperation.
So this morning we arrived about 7am, jumped out of the train and headed for the taxis. We jumped into 10 taxis and made our way to where the “santanas” are. Santanas are, from what I understand, larger taxis… though not much larger! We crammed into 10 santanas and made our way to our city. Most groups arrived within about 2 hours. Jessica, myself, a few South Africans, and Eugene (our fearless leader) however, got stuck behind some road construction and took another hour waiting on them to finish digging their hole. Eventually our taxi driver pushed on through, and we made it.
We are now in a really nice hotel. We are staying two to a room, each with your own bed. We have private showers, and American style toilets! It’s beautiful! If you would’ve told me a year ago I would be this excited over a toilet, I would’ve laughed at you. But it’s true! I’m pumped!
We will spend two days here getting oriented and then each team will head into their own villages. We’ll try to keep you posted as best we can. We love you all!!! Thanks for your love, support, and e-mails! Keep ’em comin’!
Laura
For Team Brown
