Globies/Brodie's Bday v. Next Level Cold
Hello all, it's Rose! Today began dark and early with a 5:30am bus ride (sound familiar..?) to Datong, a 5 hour drive east of Beijing. Luckily, our amazing coordinator Zuo kept up amply supplied with water, apples, and bread! With our usual perfect timing, we checked into our hotel just in time for lunch.
Our first tour of the day was of the Yungang Grottoes, a series of caves filled with amazing colorful carvings and more huge Buddhas than we saw even in the Ellora caves of Aurangabad, India! Here, we had plenty of free time to wander among the caves and find the warmest and least windy spots. Although it would have been fascinating to have spent much more time here, we were not sorry to pile back onto the bus and try to thaw a little before our next stop: Huayan Temple, an originally thousand-year-old temple complex. As the sun dropped below the horizon, our body temperatures dropped as well. The perfect thing to warm us up: birthday cake!!! We have officially entered birthday week, with Brodie turning 21 today and Sophie in two days! We've really been cherishing the close relationships of this group, especially as we prepare to return home. The community that we have created for ourselves is one that has survived and thrived for these last four months, and we are all experiencing that support now as we both look forward to being home and dread our first major separation. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we already can't wait to see each other again on the other side of Christmas break!
Our first tour of the day was of the Yungang Grottoes, a series of caves filled with amazing colorful carvings and more huge Buddhas than we saw even in the Ellora caves of Aurangabad, India! Here, we had plenty of free time to wander among the caves and find the warmest and least windy spots. Although it would have been fascinating to have spent much more time here, we were not sorry to pile back onto the bus and try to thaw a little before our next stop: Huayan Temple, an originally thousand-year-old temple complex. As the sun dropped below the horizon, our body temperatures dropped as well. The perfect thing to warm us up: birthday cake!!! We have officially entered birthday week, with Brodie turning 21 today and Sophie in two days! We've really been cherishing the close relationships of this group, especially as we prepare to return home. The community that we have created for ourselves is one that has survived and thrived for these last four months, and we are all experiencing that support now as we both look forward to being home and dread our first major separation. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we already can't wait to see each other again on the other side of Christmas break!
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