yoga

When the boys' mother asked what I did early in the morning, I told her that I walked around and did some yoga in the playground.  She said she liked yoga, and I couldn't suspect things were already in motion.

I've only been trying yoga for about a year, beginner classes at the Y, where kind, gentle Mark would try to encourage my body into unknown positions, "Can you turn out your hip a little more?"  "No," I'd strained to keep my breathing going, "I'm a runner, this is as good as it gets."  Me doing yoga is awkward, at best, injury producing, at worse.

I shouldn't have been surprised that by 8 pm last night I was standing on a yoga mat in a nearby park with 20 other participates, who were warming up with contortions I didn't think humanly possible.  I was place front and center, of course, attempting to just touch my toes, as usual.

When we arrived, there were a few bystander, kids running around, some older folks chatting.  People were out walking in the "cooler" evening temperatures, and by the time class started, probably 75 people had stopped.  Were they curious to see the nightly class?  More likely I was the entertainment because many cameras recorded the event, and I know there is at least one video by someone who came right over to me.  I smiled, made painful faces, and continued to try to touch my toes, sweating like I'd just run Robie Creek.  This class went on for 2 hours! I made it for 1 1/5 hours, but then the positions became insane pretzels, and I was done.  Now, a yoga mat is on my shopping list.

I met a Chinese college student studying English when she took pity on me ordering lunch.  I ended up with some great soup, half of which I spilled on my lap using chopsticks.  She helped me get a SIM card for my phone.

My 1st language test caused near paralysis.  One-on-one with my instructor, I attempted to sight read words while he marked the many sounds and tones that give me trouble.  I haven't known this kind of school anxiety, ever.  I'm giving myself frequent pep talks, "You've learned hard stuff before, you can do this!"

pandas

Glad this message is getting out there

Today, the kids and I went to The Giant Panda Breeding Center, just outside of Chengdu.  Their mom drove us out there, and we took buses back.

Negotiating the bus system is relatively stress-free with them.  People give us curious glances, a few ask the boys about me.  I try to act confident, like I know where we're going and what's being said, but I'm sure I look every bit as lost and confused as I am.

They handel all interactions for me, but that's not helping me learn the language or negotiate day to day living.  Now that I'm slightly getting sense of the language tones and sounds, I need muster the courage to get out there and try speaking.  Gulp!

Some things that tell me I’m not in Idaho/US:

• I saw a whole gutted pig on the back of a very small motorcycle.
• Cars have the right of way, so crossing the street is life threatening.
• Helmets are rare, and drivers, both cars and motorcycles, disregard bikes too.
• The tap water is contaminated and has to be boiled.  Giardiasis is in the tap water!
• For food, we need to wash and peal, or wash and cook all fruits and vegetables because of serious pesticide use and general contamination with fecal material, various viruses and bacteria.  We are currently getting more immunizations for rabies and Japanese Encephalitis.
• I got on an apartment elevator yesterday with a man and his motorcycle.
• People walk slowly.
• I haven’t seen beggars.
• The street scene is a sensory overload with a cacophony of noise, motion, and smells, bordering on chaos.

host family

Ni hao! My name is Meng Anhua, and I can even pronounce it.

My host family is a grandfather and grandmother, who, it seems, are younger than me.  Neither of them speak English.  Their apartment is huge by Chinese standards, on the top floor, and is 2 stories.  The building only has 6 floors, no elevator, and I’m wondering how they got all the furniture and stuff up here, especially the biggest refrigerator/ freezer I’ve seen.  The apartment has many small balconies with lots of potted plants, including some vegetables.  I have my own large bedroom, with one of the small balconies, and bathroom with a western toilet, (yea!).   The laundry room next to my bedroom has a squat toilet. 

The apartment is in a gated community with all low buildings, walking paths, open spaces, trees, a pool, playground, and many other nice features, and is right next to the campus where the Volunteers meet for classes from 8:30-5:30.  This must be a very upscale area because it is surrounded by high density, very tall steel and concrete apartment buildings.  I hear birds!

The grandmother does all of the cleaning and washing.  When I got home from school yesterday, I saw she had done my laundry, and it was all hanging to dry on a balcony. 

making dumplings

it's possible to eat noodle for every meal, every day

The grandfather does all of the food shopping and cooking, and he prepares 4 or 5 delicious dishes every night.  He makes things he thinks I will like, and not too spicy.  So one big concern, being uncomfortable eating with a host family, has turned out to be nothing, so far.  He has a wonderful light and happy giggle.

Their grandsons, Mike, age 10 and Michael, age15, are out of school for the summer and are frequently staying here too.  Their English is good, especially the older one who wants to go to the US to study.  I’m the 6^th PC Volunteer to stay here.  The boys are my new hang-out buddies.  More on them later.

Their mother works as a manager, but I don’t know where, and lives near by in a small apartment. She and her sons eat at this apartment everyday.   I asked about where I can find internet access yesterday, and today I have wifi in the apartment.  I offered to pay for it, but they wouldn’t take it.

I made a terrible impression on her husband today by meeting him in shorts and a t-shirt and saying good-bye instead of hello.  1^st impressions count huge here.  He works out of town, but that’s all I know.  The other huge mistake I made today was saying I know how to play Ping-Pong, totally forgetting that I’m in China.  An hour later, I was eating those words.

One other woman lives here, about the age of the boy’s mother, but they are not sisters, and Michael doesn’t have the language to explain who she is.  She just came in and handed be a sting of 6 small, fresh, sweet smelling flowers.  So kind!

I feel extremely lucky to live here for the next 2 months.  The location, apartment, bedroom, and family far exceed my expectations.

Language learning is slow; I’m wishing for a lot more brainpower.  I can say for sure that being surrounded by people talking loud, fast, and simultaneously makes my brain shut down, kind of like a screen saver.

chicken feet snack, right above the pickled peanuts

1st training days

It's a tight schedule for our orientation to Peace Corps.  These packed first days include sessions on health, security, arrival survival tips, culture, language, introductions to PC people and programs, more personal security and risk reduction, TEFL training, forms, photos, expectations, rules and regulations, dress code, administration, and our homestay.

We have lunch with our language instructor and dinner is on our own with the help of a short, PC created character/English menu that we carry around with us.

The campus is nice with many shops and places to eat; it feels more like a neighborhood than a campus.

I've been able to do short runs in the morning before sessions start and before the pollution gets bad.  A few people are going out in the morning, and several have gotten lost, but managed to find their way back to the hotel.  Today we actually saw some sunshine!

I've learned my lesson on "watch your stuff and keep it close."  My REI water bottle was taken from my unattended bag during lunch yesterday.  It's a small thing, but I lugged it from Idaho.  Do I trust the plastic water bottles here?

I'm taking lots of photos, but the DSL line is SLOW here, and it takes 30 minutes to upload 1 picture. Worse, the internet is on and off.  WiTopia, my VPN provider, worked with me this afternoon to create 3 custom gateways, and I hope that my next location has better internet service.

For the rest of the summer, my training is at Sichuan Normal University Eastern Campus.  Tomorrow night I'll be staying with my host family.  Their apartment is very close to the campus.  At this point, all I know is the family has 2 sons and 1 grandma living with them, they like sports, and live in an up-scale, gated community.

Arrived in China!

What a long haul, from Boise, Idaho to Chengdu, China!

Our group, known as China 18s because we are the 18th Peace Corps group to volunteer in China, arrived this afternoon.  About 75 people, mostly in their 20's, make up China 18, but there are a few of us older ones too.  Since the group is big, it took us awhile to move along through all the check points and it felt like we spent most of the last 40 hours waiting, sitting, standing.  My feet and ankles are so swollen, I can barely walk.  The trip had a night layover in Bangkok with too little time to see much, other than next to nothing right around the hotel.

In Chengdu, we are staying in a hotel on the campus of Sichuan University, and our training immediately started with instructions on 1. don't lose your passport, 2. don't lose your stuff, 3. don't lose yourself, apparently in order of importance.

We checked into our rooms and were greeted by a huge accordion folder with tons of information about the various training sessions we'll have over the next 3 months.  If nothing else, I can say everything is amazingly organized.

staging

Left on the curb

It won't get any harder than this, that much I'm sure.

Of all the good-byes, today's was the most difficult.  Tyler and Stuart drove me to the hotel, pitched out my luggage, gave me a hug and kiss, and left me on the curb wondering how will I ever survive being so far away from my boys. 

I know this separation will affect me more than them.  All I can say is I love them, and I absolutely believe in them to be successful and manage their lives well.  They are amazing people, full of talent and kindness.

Ack, I miss them already!

All China Peace Corps Volunteers met this afternoon at a hotel next to the LA airport for "staging," where PC officials went over material we had already read.  

Tomorrow, we fly west.  

Bill Nye

Ty and I left this morning for LA, and some time with my sister before I fly to China on Saturday. While we were waiting for the luggage at LAX, I walked around the corner and walked into Bill Nye, the science guy, giving an interview.  I love this guy!  My students love him! I was surprised to see that he is thinner than he looks on his show.

Ty and I were sitting outside the terminal, waiting for Judy, and singing the Bill Nye song, when he walked by just as we finished.  I was too timid to yell out, "Yea! Bill Nye!" or to take a picture.  Clearly, I need to be ready to capture the moment.

This is my first attempt to blog with my iPad, and so far, not so smooth. Need to figure this out!

LA airport