Train to Taiyuan

Author: Sam S
Location: Taiyuan
We all got an early start to our day as we left the apartment at 5am and headed for the train station. I can't say that I remember much of what happened between the time that we woke up and when we actually boarded the train for Taiyuan, but luckily I think this morning was a bit hazy for all of us! I do recall the hilarious image of Caroline eating ice cream at 6am and Megan loading up on caffeine! The train ride was only three hours, so once we arrived we still had plenty of valuable daytime left. We checked into our hotel, cleaned up, and went out to lunch. We had a great time as all fourteen of us crowded around one large lazy susan and experienced unique Shaanxi noodles. After lunch we made our way over to help clean and set up a new orphanage. From setting up bunk beds to scrubbing highchairs, we all spread around and helped wherever we could. Gabriella planned out a wall mural to paint for the toddler's room...and based on the artwork that she's shown us so far, it should be amazing! Unfortunately, we could only stay for a few hours before we had to make our way back for dinner. We returned to the hotel to quickly shower up before dinner. We ate at a restaurant that specializes in Shaanxi noodles. We branched away from our typical selections and explored new dishes that were, in Ben's words, quite "scrumptious."At the restaurant there was entertainment that demonstrated how the noodles were made. A man on a unicycle shaved noodles from a block of dough carefully balanced on his head! We each got to try our hand at shaving noodles - minus the unicycle of course! A woman on stilts swung a hula hoop around her waist while cutting noodles with scissors, and another man stretched and folded a single block of dough into 8,000 strands of noodles! After our meal we made our way back to the hotel. A few of us went out for a walk around the block, others stayed in the hotel and hung out. I went with the group that went out for a walk, and once we returned, and Steph and I totally beat the elevator up to the fourth floor (without tripping, I might add!) everyone dispersed into their rooms and went to bed.
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