Jacek's Bargain at Mutianyu (The Great Wall)

Jacek bargained with broken bones at Mutianyu and came out ahead. An old man in an olive green army jacket graced by a sparkly Obama pin on the front followed us up a 12 foot ladder into one of the guards' towers to persuade Jacek to buy a cheap, gold colored Great Wall medal on a red ribbon. After a great conversation, Jacek finally said yes and we all turned to go back down. Jacek took three steps, then slipped and fell the rest of the way down to the stones below. Stirling saw him fall the nine or ten feet. As the last in line, I only heard the clunks and Stirling saying "Don't move, buddy. Really, don't move. I'm coming down." Stirling checked Jacek out: no broken tibia, no broken fibula, no broken femur, no broken ankle, no broken foot, no broken wrist, as far as he could tell. Jacek had bloody knees and the bruises have grown larger and darker with time, but he could walk and his knee caps survived intact.

Tonight, back in Shenzhen, we talked about what we are grateful for. Isabel said "that Jacek didn't break any bones on the Great Wall." He also got lost on the wall, but that's a story for another time.