Well, I'm back from vacation, school has started off successfully, my project(s) are doing great, and I so I suppose it's time I owe all of you some updates! :)
Vacation:
The train ride to Guang Dong province (on the other side of China), where we had our connecting flight to Thailand, was far from enjoyable.
Even though we were the first people in line to get train tickets the day they went on sale, all tickets had been sold out. Unfortunately, during January-February, China has the WORST traveling arrangement in the world (literally). I heard a statistic once that more people travel in China during that time than everywhere else in the world combined (I don't have any proof on that, but, considering the population of China and importance of Chinese New Year, I don't doubt it). Even more unfortunately, because of "guanxi," people who work for the train station sell tickets at high prices before the scheduled date of sale so that no one else can get tickets. The majority of China's factories (making our lovely sweatshop purchased clothing) are in Guang Dong and so millions of people are trying to get back to Guang Dong for work (after Chinese New Year) at the same time. Well, for my 3 traveling partners and I, that meant that we had no choice but to buy a standing train ticket.
They piled us into the train car with about 200 other people who also only had standing tickets. It. Was. Miserable. No one could move; the majority of the time I was balancing on one foot (not enough room for my other foot), leaning on whichever Chinese person was closest to me, and this is how we carried on for fourteen hours! After the first few hours, Patrick got sick, and Kim felt miserable so they pulled the foreigner card and the train conductors, after being paid more money, allowed Kim and Patrick to upgrade to 2 beds (that were vacant on this "sold out" train, incidentally enough, which goes to show how the selling of tickets is managed during Chinese New Year), but Dave and I, not wanting to pay more money than our already-expensive standing tickets, trucked on. The train ride in total was 22 hours, but, by the grace of God and whatever people had to get off the train first, after 14 hours some people got off the train and gave us their seats. Prior to that, we were not able to move, not able to go to the restroom (as a result of not being able to move), not able to sleep, eat/drink (because we didn't want to cause a need to go to the bathroom), etc. And everyone else was in the same, awful, painful situation as us. We became quick acquaintances with those in close proximity to us, and, trying to make light of the mood, Dave brought out his coloring book and markers and we gave each person close enough to us a marker and, collaboratively, colored together. After that lost its fun (it was a lot of fun for a while), we brought out stickers and gave each person a sticker on their hand, which definitely caused a lot of laughs and made people happy and entertained for a little while. We brought out an Ipod and speakers, sang, tried to get people to boogy in place, gave more stickers to those brave enough to try, and laughed a lot (mostly a slap-happy, over-tired, couldn't-believe-our-situation kind of laugh). In the middle of the night, standing in place, a few of the Chinese people around me and I leaned against each other, trying our best to sleep in spite of the conditions, getting cozy and friendly in spite of the fact that I was probably the first (or one of the first) foreigner they've ever encountered. The experience, painful as it was, definitely taught me a lot about what the human body and spirit can endure.
After a twenty-two hour train ride, we arrived in Guang Dong, where we (after showering, eating, sleeping) we took a fast train over to Hong Kong, which put me into a bit of culture shock (it's like any western country –super clean, big buildings, huge economy—but with Chinese occupants); we ate at Outback Steak House, watched an amazing light show off of the gigantic skyscrapers, and just walked around, absorbing the cleanliness and orderliness of Hong Kong (people stand in line in Hong Kong!). Hong Kong and Guang Dong were great, and we really enjoyed our time in both of places.
But Thailand, oh, Beautiful Thailand, was amazing.
There's not much else to say about it. Every day was brilliant, sunny, happy. We spent our time there in Bangkok and on 2 islands: Koh Pi Pi (where they filmed the Leonardo Dicaprio movie The Beach and one of the 007 movies) and Koh Phangan (where the "Full Moon Party" – the world's biggest beach party – is held. Every day was spent resting, relaxing, sunbathing, getting massages, riding elephants, shopping, making new friends, etc. In Bangkok, we visited Peace Corps Thailand headquarters, where we met a few really cool volunteers and had lunch with them, learning about their experiences there. We also befriended some locals and hung out with them, getting away from the "touristy" places, shopped, shopped some more, visited the King's palace and a few other important places, took a boat tour through Bangkok's canals, and just really enjoyed ourselves. Bangkok was a GREAT city! After Bangkok, we took a long bus ride down to the south of Thailand, and then took a ferry to Koh Pi Pi, which was, ironically (considering the plot of movie The Beach), the most touristy, expensive, artificial place we encountered and definitely our least favorite place in Thailand. However, we enjoyed ourselves, experience an amazing nightlife, got tan on the beaches, and meeting cool people. After Koh Pi Pi, we took another bus and ferry to another beach, Koh Phangan, where we (coincidentally!) met up with other Peace Corps China (Guizhou!) volunteers, stayed on bungalows on the beach (even more amazing than it sounds), participated in "fire" shows on the beach (jump roped with a giant jump rope on fire, did the limbo under a burning stick, etc.), and just all around enjoyed the coolest nightlife imaginable, great food, exceptional people (soooo kind! I love Thai culture!), and a beautiful (BEAUTIFUL!) island! :)
Thailand was such an outstanding place! I absolutely fell in love with the country, the people, the lifestyle. What made our already-awesome experience there even cooler was that, having been foreigners living a non-traditional expatriate lifestyle for the past year and a half (+), we weren't used to being tourists and it was like the local people could tell that about us. During our 2 weeks there, we met many travelers who had been in Thailand for months but never befriended or had "real" interactions with local people, whereas we, our second night in, already were learning Thai language, being taken out by Thai people who we instantly befriended, learned as much as we could (from anyone and everyone who would teach us) about local customs and culture, etc. We had such an exceptional time. Thailand really is an AMAZING place and I hope to be blessed enough to make it back there someday. :)
But I just spoke a long time about vacation, which I swore I wouldn't do. Instead, I'll talk more about life (ohhh lovely life!) since I returned to China (2.5 weeks ago).
Back in China:
As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been trying to start a Peace Corps partnership program for the older orphans with special needs at the Guiyang Welfare Home. All of my paperwork was turned in last Friday (I'm asking for $614 in donations, which may or may not change after DC approves the project proposal, so I'll keep you posted and give more details on the project proposal in the coming weeks as I learn whether or not it's all approved), and things are looking good. Work with the girls/women (ladies) at the Welfare Home is soaring. A few Chinese people are taking an interest in what I've been doing, and are accompanying me there, volunteering their time with the girls. The girls seem happier and happier every week, my relationship with the administration there is really good and everyone there now knows "Fei Fei" and greets me warmly when I come. Also, some American friends of mine (a family with 4 young children who have been in Guiyang for a long time) are moving next week and just had a big moving sale, so I was able to purchase a lot of their things (crafts, beads, balls, etc.) to take to the Welfare Home, which has allowed the girls to have even more tactile/hand-eye-coordination/recreational and occupational therapy stuff, which has been a huge success. Yesterday, with the help of FIVE (yay!) of the best volunteers I've had come with me to the Welfare Home, was by far our best day there. Because of the recent purchases, we had lots of activities for the girls to do, and because there were 6 of us, we could each take different girls and different activities and really give them a lot of one-on-one assistance. It was such a beautiful day! All of the administrators came to join us and some of the boys/men who live there came up to join us in the ward, too. And everyone, staff, administration, the girls, the volunteers, all are excited for the mural project to begin! I know from experience that it's not smart to get excited about projects, and I know I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn't allow myself to get caught up in my excitement and wouldn't get my hopes up, but I, if for no other reason than the lovely present, am ecstatic and so proud of everyone involved in this, regardless of where it goes! When I first started visiting the Welfare Home, then just 1 person with little experience and not sure of what I was doing but just knowing I needed to do something, I never imagined how far this small project could go, and now, after so many positive moments and interest from the community, I can't help but imagine it going farther and farther and I'm (perhaps naively) overjoyed with the thought!
Well, on top of that, I also have more reason to be excited because of a great thing my friend Melissa (my friend from Chicago who teaches at a private school here in Guiyang) and I also started doing. Melissa has been a huge instrumental help with the work at the Welfare Home, and now goes with me to visit the girls every week, and so when she mentioned a (great) idea she had, I was quick to help her, wanting to support her in her visions as much as she has me with mine. Melissa, after meeting with a man who started a food pantry in northern China, has wanted to follow his example and start something in Guiyang. So, together, we went out and bought a lot of warm Chinese dumplings, put them in bags, and walked around the city distributing the food to homeless. In only one hour and one small section of the city, we fed more than 23 homeless people. And we're going to do it again, every Sunday and every Wednesday, and keep this project going (after 2 successful days doing this, many of the homeless people already remember and recognize us). It's our hope –for now – that eventually Chinese people will take over this project, either donating food to us, volunteering to hand food out, or give us a place where we can go and have homeless people come to us so that it's more accessible and permanent.
So, all in all, things are definitely great in Guiyang. As always, my students are brilliant, classes enjoyable, and life just gets better and better every day. My Chinese language is doing really well, I continue to make great Chinese friends, and it seems more and more doors are opening every day. I officially end Peace Corps on July 17th, 2009, and these four months ahead, I already know, are only a blink of the eye away.
No comments:
Post a Comment