Due to my knee sprain I had assistance in getting to and from gates, through security and such. It was a huge help, and I am thankful to all the people who helped along the way. By far the most above (literally) and beyond service was boarding in Istanbul for the flight back to Chicago. The plane did not use the jetway, and since the staircase up to that huge plane was going to be a slow go, those of us with mobility challenges were loaded on the plane via the service door -- yup, where they load the food. It was pretty fun. And funny.

Next stop, Chicago. Thanks for following along on this journey.

My flight home took me through Istanbul, and I was able to take advantage of a three hour bus tour of the city. Since I spent most of the time on the bus these are not the greatest photos, but it was an intriguing introduction to a beautiful and very historic city. Until next time, maybe?

The final and definitely the most important part of this trip was the chance to visit my foster son (but to me he is just my son). He lives about 225 km (that's 140 miles for the 'Mericans) north of Xi'an, and it took three subways, two trains and ALL day to get there but it was well worth it.

He was most nervous about what I would eat. Think he knows me pretty well?? His small city (about 400,000 people which doesn't actually make it a city here) has not yet been invaded by the US chains that are popular in so many other places in China. No Starbucks and not even a McDonald's. He has, however, found a pretty decent pizza place so we ate there...twice. LOL

Aside from seeing where he works and where he lives, which I haven't done before, I also got to meet....the girlfriend! Isn't she adorable? She seems very nice, and we bonded immediately over our love of chocolate chip cookies (Hongwei has brought her many over the years after visits to us) and...you won't believe this...the Montana burger at Blue Frog! It's been my favorite since I first had it in Beijing over 10 years ago, and it's her favorite, too. I think she's a keeper. I hope Hanying likes me, too: Hongwei said I was nicer than she expected. I guess that's a start.

Some pretty typical scenes in a park near my hotel: grandparents and their grandchildren, a small "orchestra" of seniors playing traditional instruments and doing their evening exercise. I miss these simple things so much.

On Tuesday, I had the amazing opportunity to meet a new friend who works at a foster care NGO that I had a relationship with when I worked in Jiaozuo. Maria's focus is helping children and parents work through the issues of trauma that are an inevitable part of abandonment and adoption. We shared a yummy lunch and our shared enthusiasm for helping kids from hard places build the resilience necessary to live full, happy lives. I love talking about this stuff, and I even more love knowing that these messages are reaching into the China community. 

I took a "day off" on Wednesday before the friend I am staying with and I took advantage of her day off for Qing Ming to revisit more of my old hang outs. This time: Nanluoguxiang, what used to be a traditional shopping street in the hutong and has now become a very crowded and commercial area.

And Sanlitun, one of our favorite places to have lunch after church when we lived in Beijing. Lots and lots of foreign food places! We went to Blue Frog for the best burger ever made. ​

We then walked back to my friend's house, which was great for soaking up the atmosphere but maybe not so much for my knee. But even after almost 11,000 steps -- no regrets. I still love this place.