Did I say I like an adventure?

The very next day after posting that, I got an adventure! I took a taxi to Michelle's all by myself. This is an island and by China standards it is small. But she lives in the city and it's a good size. Now I had the directions typed out in Chinese with a phone number. But when the driver pulled to a stop, I did not recognize anything. Businesses were closed this early so large metal doors covered shops that I thought I would recognize. I motioned for the driver to call the number. I talked to Matt. But I couldn't read anything to describe where I was. I finally got out thinking I could figure it out. Now I wish I had taken a picture because this area consists of many high rise buildings that look the same. The above ground basement area has businesses. The door we usually go in is between these shops.

The more I walked the more confused I got. I saw a guy in uniform so I took my paper to him and pointed to the address. After about 15 minutes of him and another guy trying to talk to me in Chinese, he took me into a building that looked like the right one. He took me up to apartment 702 and basically said here you go. The door was open and an old man was sitting inside. The security guard didn't understand why I wouldn't go in. But I knew this wasn't Michelle's. I was trying to say this is not the right building and this young man was trying to say that it was. He was trying to call Matt for me. What I did not realize was that when he dialed the number, he entered one digit wrong. Finally I convinced him to take me back downstairs. I was thinking, "If I just sit down under the building, someone will realize I am not where I am supposed to be and come back for me." In the elevator, someone said Hello. I asked if he spoke English. He was able to tell me that the building I wanted was next door. What a relief! The young guard wouldn't leave me at this point. So when we finally arrived at Michelle's I asked her to thank him for his kindness. He wiped his brow, laughed and left.

My next task that morning was to walk Vera to preschool. Luckily this is one smart two and a half year old. She could direct me if I got confused. I took Michelle's cell phone just in case! There were no problems. I felt such a sense of accomplishment! By the end of the week, I knew my way around pretty good because each driver dropped me off at a different spot.

I will post some pictures of the tourist island too. It is very different than the city. We had alot of fun there.