Great Wall of China

Hi Everybody,
Yesterday we visited the Great wall of China! It was even more majestic than I anticipated. I did my first bargaining too there. I bought a shirt for 65 yuan, down from 80. (that’s a little less than 10 dollars. I know that it wasn’t worth that much and I kind of got ripped off but it’s a start. We spent about an hour and a half climbing and descending the Wall, and let me just say when they say Climb the great wall they definitely mean CLIMB, it was quite the workout. But anyways, yesterday also was the 15th and final day of the lantern festival so there were fireworks all around the city. It was absolutely crazy! People were shooting them off right on sidewalks and these where the big fireworks. It was awesome to see. Also yesterday we visited The Olympic village. We had a great dinner there and then drove by the water cube and birds nest. We didn’t get out and the weather was snowy but it was still awesome to see. Today we were invited to the US Embassy, three employees there had a meeting with us and talked about security and other interesting things. It was a beautiful facility so I have no doubt that our tax dollars are being put to good use. Oh and unfortunately, Obama and Hilary didn’t join us at our meeting. Anyways, after lunch today we will drive to the train station and ride over to ShiJiaZhuang. Then we will meet our host families and begin the real journey  I miss you all, Peace and Love!