Well, the day when I have nothing new to report will be a happy day. It seems there is never a dull moment down here these days. Ever.
Thanks to the help of my neighbors, the other foreign teachers, my foot is healing nicely and my spirits have not been able to be brought down. Every day I am flooded with friendly visitors, fellow movie watchers, food bringers, dish doers, news barer(s); they are wonderful. This should have been an extremely boring, painful week, but actually, it has been a lot of fun and a great bonding time, especially for Miah and me.
But of course, I have news to relay, so you know this blog is not all about the wonder of good neighbors. Actually, it's about the upcoming loss of them (amongst other things). This week, they received a phone call from their organization informing them that, after final exams, they will be pulling out from our university and relocating to other schools in various provinces around China. It is so painful for me to wrap my mind around that! Next semester, unless we get a miracle (or unless Peace Corps decides to give me a site mate, which brings about a few complications), I will not only be the only foreign teacher in my school (our poor students who have improved so much!), the only foreigner in Longdongbao, but also the only person living in my building. Not to mention the intense loss of good friends and newly acquired family members (but thinking along these lines hurts too much).
Second bout of Longdongbao news: my campus is severely infected with Hepatitis A. Severely. They suspect it came from one of our local restaurants (where we all eat every day), but now, the latest number I was told was that we have "about 100" students infected (as far as I know, which is very little, none of my students have it). As a result, our campus is under quarantine. Yesterday, Friday, was a national holiday (Tomb Sweeping Day) and we were supposed to have a three day weekend. Instead, at the last minute, teachers and students were told that classes were mandatory not only on Friday, but also today, Saturday. Many people had already purchased train tickets to return home, but unfortunately, are not able to leave. I am grateful to be damaged goods and to miss out on this entertainment. Just sitting next to my window I get a view of the chaos (we have called in a plethora of doctors, nurses, and every student is being issued a vaccine).
The worst part about the Hep A outbreak, at least for me at the moment (because no one I know has been infected), is that one of the little bits of news I was given was that they are going to require all of our little restaurants to close down. I understand the precaution, but this includes (it hurts to even type it) my Muslim family, the ones I write about all the time, who teach me their language and I play with their children and stop by their place at least once a day to tell them hello. They, the foreign teachers and Ricky are my deepest loves in Longdongbao. I cannot even hobble over to their place right now to show them my understanding and empathy and sadness because 1.) no one is allowed to go there, and 2.) it's down a steep hill that my foot probably wouldn't be able to make it down.
So that's that. The weather today is a bit chilly, but the news is predicting temperatures in the mid-80s Sunday-Tuesday. Tomorrow, then, I will go outside and make my foot feel new again. :-) I woke up this morning to the sounds of birds chirping. Beautiful. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment