I have no idea how to begin a blog two months overdue, including a month of travel, the start of school, a health flight to Chengdu, unexpected (but most welcome!) visitors, and a plethora of other new changes, without making this a 100 page novel. I suppose I'll break it down into the simplest version. Labeling.
Travel & Chinese New Year
The trip around Yunnan was outstanding. Actually, outstanding is an understatement. I traveled with 4 of the greatest girls imaginable, our travel styles and desires matched, and the whole trip was simply good for the soul. After leaving Panzhihua, which I've mentioned is the greatest city in all of China, we ventured south to Lijiang "ancient city." Lijiang is a beautiful place, surrounded by snow top mountains and filled with "ancient" buildings. Actually, it's filled with what used to be ancient buildings but what are now new buildings built to look like the ancient buildings China tore down. But either way, it was a cool city. Lijiang was the first (and last) cold city in our journey, so we were bundled in warm clothing all the time. Our hostel didn't have any heat, and we only had thin blankets, so we spent most nights drinking a bit of alcohol to warm up and then crawling into each others tiny (TINY) beds and trying to cuddle for body warmth. It sounds miserable, but actually it was a lot of fun because our spirits were so high and rejuvenated. While we were in Lijiang, Guizhou was under terrible weather conditions (as most of you read about in the news) and my city was no exception, so we couldn't complain by the cold we were experiencing. Plus we had a lot of fun doing other things, such as visiting a tribal doctor, Dr. Ho, who is "world-renowned" for his discoveries in traditional medicines. Mayo Hospital and National Geographic (amongst others) even acknowledge him . He was great, entertaining fun (he was his own cheerleader) but really a cool person. I had a sinus infection so he ground up some herbs and made me a tea to take for a few weeks. Within a few days I could feel my sinuses clearing up. It was wonderful. I also have one for stress for when times get rough at my school. I'll post you on how that one works when I break down and take it. ;) In addition to Dr. Ho, we also hung out with a Daxi minority shaman (Daxi are the only people to still use pictograph language), and did a trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge which was beautiful in spite of the silly paved route we took (we wanted to actually hike and camp out, as most travelers do and recommend, but the weather was too poor the entire time we were in Lijiang and we didn't get the approval to go until the day before we were scheduled to leave for Xishuangbanna so instead we did what the Chinese do: the "one-day trek" which is a paved route at the base of the gorge suitable for high heels, if needed…). Regardless, the gorge was worth going to. :)
We left Lijiang happy, cold, and ready for tropics. Xishuangbanna was, as you ready in the previous post about the monkeys, an adventure. We met a former Peace Corps Ukraine volunteer (who quit after 2 months), Nick, who was a really cool guy, and he joined our travel group for the rest of the vacation. In addition to the elephant trek/violation by monkey experience already mentioned, Bethany and I also rented bikes with Nick and Andy (Nick's British co-worker…they both teach in northern China) and rode the outskirts of the capital city. Most of our days in 'Banna were spent relaxing in the sun, sitting at outdoor coffee shops, walking around the city, reading, and just feeding our soul's some tropical-weather healing. :) On one of the days where we decided to venture to a minority village, we had a bit of trouble communicating our desires to the illegal taxi driver, who instead dropped us off in Menghai, a dumpy city in the middle of no where with no busses or any other form of transportation back to our hostel/city. Menghai was funny, but only because I wasn't expecting much out of the day (Bethany did not, unfortunately, find Menghai as funny because she really was looking forward to the minority village; I've never seen her angry before that day, and that, too, filled me with laughs…). I took lots of photos, laughed at a lot of things (including Bethany…haha), and then we all walked a LONG way to the highway, where we successfully attempted hitchhiking (although for a charge because this is China…) back to the capital city.
Our last day in Xishuangbanna was February 6th, Chinese New Year's Eve Festival. I, as I'm sure most of you would, had expected the works: fireworks galore and China's best and biggest celebration imaginable. Instead I was whole-heartedly disappointed. As it turns out, and this is common in China (maybe Beijing and Shanghai are exceptions, I'm not sure...), the New Year's Eve is a time that must be spent with family so everyone stays at home, watches TV, everything closes down, and the only fireworks you see are the ones that people light off on their own. Sure, there are some nice fireworks everywhere, but seriously, they light them off in the streets (small children do, too). I had my hand hurt fairly badly by rubble that flew at me after a man lit one firework, and then later, while I was walking on the sidewalk, I felt something hit my head. I looked up and realized it was a long string of firecrackers that a man was holding onto from the other end. He lit it while it was over my head (he was in a building leaning out his window), thus sending a cascade of firecrackers around me. Happy New Years…?
In spite of the poorly-handled fireworks and monkey violation, we were reluctant to leave Xishuangbanna. We knew that it was the warmest we'd be in a while and the thought of being cold ever again sounded dreadful, but alas, we realized travel cannot last forever (at least not for volunteers…), and we found ourselves, with Nick, riding yet another long-distance bus back up north to Kunming, the "spring city" and capital of Yunnan. Prior to arriving in Kunming, I have heard nothing for the past 7+ months except how wonderful Kunming was, and so I was expecting a magical city. When we stepped out of the bus, I was surrounded by China. I was instantly, whole-heartedly, disappointed at the "Magical City of Kunming," realizing that it was not like another country, as I had imagined, but just another city in southern China. However, once my disappointment wore off I realized that it was, in fact, a good place that really catered to foreigners (they have a lot of foreign students an expats in Kunming) and did have nice spring-like weather year-round. That being said, because it was Chinese New Year ("Spring Festival") week, everything was closed so we pretty much just spent most of our days relaxing in the hostel (The Hump, which was, incidentally, one of the coolest hostels I've ever staid at).
And then, one day in Kunming, I cut off all my hair on a whim. I'm still regretting that decision, but I did it (I needed "liberation" and "a change") and it was an experience and hey, I'm in China, so who cares? :)
Back to Guiyang with No Water or Electricity…And the Call to Chengdu
When I arrived in Longdongbao, I instantly regretted coming back. As it turned out, the weather that hit Guizhou hit it much harder than I knew (the city definitely wasn't ready for it) and while the rest of Guiyang was, for the most part, back to functioning normally, Longdongbao, on the outskirts of Guiyang and therefore not a priority, had been out of water and electricity for a month and I was told they wouldn't be turned back on until school started: two weeks away from the time I arrived. The thought of freezing, not being able to shower, wash my hands, flush my toilet, cook (I have electric everything), or do anything else for that matter for two weeks was unbearable and all of my good Yunnan-Soul-Food energy depleted within two hours of being back in my apartment. So I did what anyone would do: I moved in with Kim. :)
Living at Kim's was substantially more fun, more (and better!) company, and more convenient. That being said, I was afraid of getting on the very patient and welcoming Kim's nerves (in spite of her constantly insisting that my company was welcome), so occasionally I would venture back into Longdongbao to "get things" when really it was to give her space…in case she needed it. It was during these ventures back home that I realized my capacity to live in a difficult place. After a few days of no water, my school was able to get me a bucket, knee-high, of water. One small bucket. I stared at this bucket of freezing water and thought "what can I do with this? There are so many things I need to do…" and then it came to me. I could do everything! First, knowing the water was far too cold to put my hands in, I put it in the sun under a window for long enough to warm it. Then, having watched "Far and Away" the night prior at Jonny's apartment, I remembered the scene where Tom Cruise taught Nicole Kidman how to hand wash her clothes "you swipe and rinse. You swipe and rinse. And when you're all finished, you swipe and rinse again" (or something like that…). So…I swiped (with the bar of soap) and rinsed into a bit of the water that I poured into a separate bucket. I put another bucket underneath that bucket, just in case any precious water dripped out, and when I had finished washing my clothes (satisfaction in and of itself), I poured all the dirty water in my toilet tank, thus allowing me to flush the toilet. With the water that was left over, I was able to sponge bathe and then flush my toilet again! It was sickeningly satisfying to know I was capable of such a thing. ;)
Just before school, while contemplating the reasons why I was staying and was this really worth it etc., I received a miraculous phone call. My Peace Corps doctor, who I had already talked to about the monkey experience (many jokes were made) and who was previously confident that nothing could come of it, called to say she couldn't stop thinking of the monkey violation and decided it would be best to fly me to Chengdu immediately the next day for rabies treatment. Considering the options (stay in cold Guiyang with no water/electricity or fly—for free—to wonderful Chengdu, stay in a warm hotel with water and get to eat Western food at good Chengdu restaurants), I gave her an eager "yes!" and flew out at 8 am the next morning.
Chengdu was marvelous; more good food for the soul. :) As it turned out, upon arrival it was decided rabies treatment wasn't, in fact, needed, so instead I just got to hang out for in the city a few days, soak up the hotel's water and heat, give my doctor a few stool samples in my spare time, and instead just have fun with the volunteers in Chengdu. Beautiful luck. :)
Visit from the Dutch Boys
As luck would have it, immediately upon coming back from Chengdu, before having a moment to yet again contemplate my desire to stay in Guiyang, I received a phone called from Robbie, a Dutch boy who had contacted me a month prior. I had never met him prior to this, but I knew he was the brother of my dear friend Mark (I studied with Mark in South Africa) and future brother-in-law to my even dearer friend (Loras alum/South African roommate), Kelly. He and his friend, Timo, informed me via email one month prior that they were traveling Asia for half a year, had already been traveling for two months, and wanted to come to China simply because they knew that I'd be here and that would give them an opening, and would be okay if they stay with me. I agreed, eager to help any family of Mark or Kelly, and when I returned from Chengdu I had one day before the boys arrived in Guiyang via train. I met them at the train station (it was easy to spot Robbie as he was Mark's twin) and instantly fell in love with both of them. :) Their company was amazing; much needed, lots of fun, and kept me in China, incidentally enough. While I thought they'd only be coming for a few days, they instead stayed for 1.5 weeks. During that time we went out a lot, they kept me company in my lonely apartment, water and electricity were turned back on, school started, the sun came out, and the world of China suddenly became good again. Between their amazing and much welcomed visit (outstanding guests!!) and the flight to Chengdu, I figured that I shouldn't continue entertaining the idea of leaving Guiyang, as I'm apparently the forces are against me, telling me I'm meant to stick around. ;) Timo and Robbie left yesterday evening, and I already feel their absence. Although at least now, with school started and some more exciting things to look forward to (I'll report in a moment), I have things to look forward and it's not nearly as lonely in Longdongbao. The boys left me at a good time and are now (hopefully with success!!) working their way down to Vietnam. :)
Start of School and Girls' Group
School started last Monday. It felt so comfortable and welcoming to be back in the classroom and, as I said, spring is starting to peak through the clouds here in Longdongbao and the temperature is warming to 50s-60s so it really has been nice to be back! In addition to Oral English class this semester, I'm also teaching "Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries" so I've also been researching and learning about the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada… It's fun to be a student by night and then teacher of the same material by day. ;)
Now for the exciting news! I GOT APPROVAL!! :) After being told "no" so many times since coming to Guiyang University (I still have a 10:30 curfew and the school even told Peace Corps I am not going to get a key…), I finally got a "yes!" Actually, I got TWO "yes's!" Let me explain.
I've wanted to start a girls' group with focus on empowerment ever since I came here. I decided, however, that in order to get approval for it, I'd have to really pray hard and do something else in return. I then came up with the idea of starting a "Culture Lecture Series" where I invite volunteers from other schools/cities to come here once p/month and lecture on something on American culture (i.e. weddings, minorities, sports, college life, etc.). I knew this would go over well, so when my dean called one morning and I mentioned it to her, her excitement didn't surprise me. I then decided to drop the idea of a "girls' club" and was told an indirect no. Disappointed but not disheartened, I went to her office the next day to further discuss the Culture Lecture Series and to readdress the girls' group idea. I did it in Chinese fashion, my dean thought a moment, and then asked "are you a feminist?". I didn't have time to answer, as her phone rang and she excused herself to answer. While she was on the phone I thought what is the right answer? When she hung up I answered "no, I am not a feminist. That's a dirty word." She looked at me, extended her hand, and said "okay, you can have this girls' group."
I sold out my fem sisters to support my Chinese sisters. All is fair, right? ;) Next Sunday I'll start this group and I'm so excited! And I'm even excited for the culture series! Sometime soon, too, I'll start to go to the Number 10 Middle School to do the teaching there. Also, Lulu (our Chinese friend/tutor) came up with an idea that we should go teach in the countryside on weekends (she'd help us find schools), experiment, find out what works/doesn't work with youth, and then come back and teach our actual students (who are future teachers) how to better teach English to these youth. It's a busy semester with teaching/preparing 16 credits on top of all of these extra activities, but that makes the time pass easier, the loneliness not be a factor, and before I know it, it'll be summer vacation. :)
Last point to mention as a feel good I had this evening. As mentioned, I cut my hair off and look terrible. Everyone thinks so (no one even pretends to like it...haha) and so when they ask me "why did you cut your hair, Ms. Fei Fei?" I answer silly things like "it was inconvenient for me to have hair" or "because I want people to know that inner beauty is more important than outer beauty" or something silly like that. Today, walking out of class, I saw one of my dear students (who had her mom make me a scarf at Christmas) in the English building with the same haircut! I told her she looked beautiful and she, embarrassed, told me she cut her hair because "it was inconvenient for me to have hair, too."
:)
No comments:
Post a Comment