Notes from the Field

St. Louis to Denver to Beijing – exactly seventeen hours. Not bad. Thirteen of those hours sandwiched between Jacob and probably the only other American guy on the flight, neither of whom had any trouble sleeping. I could not. So it was “3:10 to Yuma” and “Jumanji : Welcome to the Jungle” somewhere over Alaska instead. By the time we left Russian airspace, I had to fight to keep my eyes open. But by that time I had to stay awake. It was afternoon, China time.

Beijing. A young woman with a happy smile met us in the terminal and a few bottles of cold water as we followed her to a van in the baking parking lot. She warned us about the 95-degree temps before we exited. But we hadn’t noticed. Anyone from St. Louis doesn’t need an apology for the heat.

Once we hit the hotel, and our guide made arrangements with us for sight-seeing the next morning, I battled another five hours to stay awake. Jacob explored the shopping plaza downstairs, returning with a few bags of nuts. Neither of us were too hungry. Then watched a stupid movie until 7:45 when Jacob finally allowed me to sleep. Once the words coming out of my mouth stopped making sense, I guess he realized it was time.