Weekend Burritos

This weekend I ate a burrito with CHEESE! Those of you who have never had to live without cheese at your local grocery story won't understand, but China doesn't sell cheese in the local stores. To buy cheese, you have to travel to the closest import store and pay a hefty price. So naturally, having cheese on my burrito is a big deal.

The group of people our age in the branch here have been so awesome to us. They befriended us the moment we came to Beijing. In one day, we had three people offer their homes for us to stay at for the weekends since church is a 2 hour journey one way.

This weekend, we stayed with Joanne. Okay, she has the coolest life. She lives in Beijing in a really nice apartment, goes to Peking University, grew up in Honk Kong, lived in NYC, has friends in Lebanon and she just joined the church 4 months ago. (Don't worry though, I think my life is pretty cool right now, too) We met up at a Mexican restaurant with her and a couple other people from the branch, Melina and Shunta (Japanese name). We had super good food and then went to a pizza restaurant for dessert including funnel cake, ice cream and brownies, and cookies and milk er... half and half. Those things are SO good when they aren't easily accessible even it you've only been in China for less than a month. The brownie was not actually good, but it was a brownie, so I ignored that and ate it anyway. How is that for cool?

After eating way too much food and obsessing about China with people (like I do with everyone I talk to) we went to Joanne's apartment. I want her apartment. It's small, but so cute. A kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. That's it, but it's in the city and it's hers. I always dream of having my own apartment in China. Crappy or nice, it would be mine.

We had a classic girls sleepover. We watched Tangled (and basically dissected the entire movie) and painted out nails. I slept on the couch and talked in my sleep. The good news is, I'm really cheerful in my sleep. In the morning we taxied to church and it was lovely. :)

It's been 3 weeks and Kendra and I still get along great. I'm so lucky to be with her. We have so much fun and laugh so much, but at the same time, we are able to help each other when things are tough. Kendra is just so great.

Meanwhile at the orphanage, one of the babies, Rachel, is in the hospital with pneumonia. One nanny stays with her all the time at the hospital while the rest of us stay here to take care of the other kids. Rachel will be fine and should be back with us very soon. Daniel leaves for the US sometime this month but the date is still unknown. The family is waiting on paperwork. Mutong is still my best friend. I don't usually mind being covered in slobber, gross orange baby food, or having my hair pulled and being used as a punching bag and we are working 12 hour shifts instead of 24 hour shifts which has been much easier. I'm not sleep deprived anymore and I'm getting over the cold I have. Things are GREAT!