The team arrived with smiles on Thursday evening. And, looked brand new at breakfast before we headed out for the day (several cups of cappuccino each certainly helped). Today, we were tourists complete with a big ole bus for the 14 of us. First stop? The Great Wall. Because you can’t come to China and not see it. You just can’t.
The fog/smog was thick. But, those who had never seen it marveled at it just the same. It didn’t matter.
One of them asked me how many times I’d been to the wall. And, I couldn’t answer; too many times to keep track of. Does it get old? she asked. Not when I’m coming with people who have never seen it before. Their expressions. Their constant stops to take another picture. Their surprise at the steepness and the uneven steps. Their obvious humility when they hear they are walking on something that started to be built 2000 years ago. It makes each visit of mine new again.
These first couple days we spend together are now throwaways. We share adventures and laugh a lot, share food from lazy susans, help each other with chopsticks and tissue when needed, take lots of pictures together and sometimes with random people….all of it brings us together so that when Monday morning comes around, we are the unified body we desire to be.
