Day 15/16 (August 15th/16th) Traveling home

Our last day in China was very hard. It consisted of saying goodbye to the kids we'd fallen in love with and the country that had become our temporary home.

Here's a group picture with the sheet we signed and decorated, it will be hung up somewhere at New Hope Foundation.

This picture is our group with the wonderful leaders of the orphanage. They are in the front, with their adopted daughter in front of them. They were such nice people with such a cool ministry.

We headed off to the airport to begin the long process of boarding. International flights take much longer than domestic ones. Stephanie and I found this sign a little silly, so she documented the silliness by taking a picture of me.

The flight was long and silent. I watched a lot of movies and listened to music, thinking about everything that had happened. We were all so so exhausted. The minute the plane landed, sadness really set in. Everyone except 8 of us had flights to catch immediately. I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone, as everything was very chaotic. Thankfully I still had Stephanie. Our flights didn't leave till the next morning, so we, along with Kayla, got a room at a hotel. Also, Katie and Rianne, Elizabeth and her mom, and our team leaders, Aimee and Wendy, were staying at the hotel.

Stephanie, Kayla, and I went out to eat with Katie and Rianne's family. It was sooooo good to eat American food again!

Stephanie and I didn't have flights till the next afternoon, so we had some downtime at the hotel. We stayed up ALL night (crazy jet lag!) talking and getting ready to leave.

The hotel had such a delicious breakfast. It wasn't continental; it did cost, but oh it was good!

It was very hard to say goodbye to Stephanie, as her and I had gotten so very close. She was the first team member I met, and the last team member to say goodbye to. I'm thankful we had some extra time together, and I can't wait to see her again!