Hi Everyone...For those of you interested in reading our emails from China...here's the first. Not sure when the next time will be as finding a computer has been tricky and we are headed for even more remote areas...I expect it will get tougher...
After over 30 hours of traveling, we were grandly rewarded with a gorgeous view of the Hong Kong harbor from our 23rd floor hotel room...and woke up the next morning eager to do some roaming and found a gorgeous park where many were exercising and birds were singing, large ships were loading next to small fishing boats, and chic store fronts were next to market stalls...in other words, much contrast. A short time later, we met a Canadian, Jenny who had lived in China for her first twelve years and was returning as part of the group we'll be working with. She's a wonderfully, energetic girl who speaks Chinese & is so excited about helping in her home country...and we're so excited she is helping us get around. She had brought with her a cousin's husband who helped haul our luggage & two heavy bags of tools first to the subway and then to the train which took us to the mainland where we went through customs and then met up with our driver, Ming. If this sounds easy...it wasn't. Thanks goodness Jenny knew how to get through the maze! Then we were off...Jenny's cousin & her mother joined us...driving over an hour through the huge high-rises that were huddled together...it seemed like we were in a thick forest of high-rises...most with balconies where their laundry was hanging.
Our first real meal
Around 2, we stopped at a local restaurant for our first real meal in China...turtle & chicken soup and eel & fried rice. As dishes were set on the table, the cousin & her mom washed all the dishes with the hot tea before filling our soup bowls. I timidly tried it & was surprised it tasted so flavorful. Rog lapped it up and quickly learned to use the chopsticks to gobble down the eel & fried rice. After applauded Rog, I admit they had to bring me a fork after watching me struggle.
Jenny's home village
Then we drove off to the village where Jenny lived. It appeared to be a ghost town for the most part. Jenny found her old house that still was filled with lots of pieces of furniture, pictures on the wall, the cook stove, pig pen, chicken crate, ancestor shrine, scales and even a elegant tea pot. Jenny's memories overwhelmed her as she went from one area to another recalling her life there. A few locals started joining us--coming from those seemingly empty homes. Jenny emptied one of her suitcases spreading cookies, candy, dried salmon, dried fruit & cakes on an ancient table. That brought everyone else left in her hometown and such a party of chattering began. If only we could have understood...but without a doubt, there was much happiness. A local lady climbed the lady to light incense in front of the ancestor's shrine. Jenny then asked us to follow as she went in search of an old woman who helped her mother care for her. She found her in her home...dark, cold & barren...Jenny ladened her with warm clothes & good foods and the smile on her beaming face is one I'll never forget. Rog & I then explored abit as Jenny soaked up her time with the villagers & the memories of her long ago home. How different her life would have been had not her desperate parents...as so many of those who farmed in this village...left to find a better life. We made another stop dropping off Jenny's cousin & her mother and a suitcase filled with clothing.
Sheng On Tuin
About four hours from the border, we started seeing fields, sheds and villages that wer built on a large cement slab with house clustered together and surrounded by fish ponds, small gardens & rice paddies...built about 3 ft below the heighth of the village. We stopped in Sheng On Tuin and got out in front of the nicest home around. It belongs to Chairman Li (who is like the head of the social welfare of about 1 million people). She doesn't live in it but lets the vp of the village there . Chairman Li is a friend of Renay who heads up the Eco Village of Hope (EVH) so she generously allows EVH voluteers to stay overnight. The house has decorative tile, inlaid wooden doors, marble door knobs, huge dining room table with lazy susan, a western toilet without the flush...but no heat. I haven't taken my long undies off since I put them on shortly after we got her. But what they lack in heat, they make up in food. Today we were literally forced to stuff ourselves...twice. I am now thankful for chopsticks because they allowed me to appear to be eating for hours without actually getting much in my mouth. Rog of course, was delighted to try the quail, shrimp, tree mushrooms, various roots & other unknown vegetables even covering them in a variety of sauces. He is snoring like a happy Chinaman as I'm typing this.
ATM
We spent over 3 hours today getting tickets to Kunming at a travel agency. They would not take anything but cash so we went to a bank--they did not have an ATM so we had to go to a bigger bank. They had an ATM but it did not have money in it. Chairman Li took us to the "right bank teller" who recorded all our info...then we had to wait for another teller to give us the cash...so one ATM stop took almost 2 hours. But we succeeded!
Orphanage
Rog & I seemed to be drawn to orphanages. Chairman Li asked permission for us to visit the local one. Most of the children we off to school or therapies so we could give lots of hugs & play with the four there. They each had some type of birth defect but that didn't stop them from laughing when we tickled them or trying to dance with us. It melted our hearts when one threw a kiss as we left...leaving behind large bags of candy & milk.
Tse Family
We took a side road that led to a small group of corregated steel homes and there met the Tse family. To say they welcomed us would be a gross understatement. They opened a bag of cookies, filled a bowl with candies and an made a fresh pot of tea. They beamed as they showed us the carboard walls where they displayed their children's school awards. Unlike most, they had five kids...one of which , Alice is being sponsored by one of Renay's friends so she'd asked us to visit them. While we waited for Alice to come from school, they proudly walked us around their vegetable farm where two of their sons were gathering lettuce heads. We also visited their neighbor's pig & chicken farm and got a close up look at their two wheel tractor. When Alice came, she brought out her report cards & newest awards. She was delighted to speak a bit of English and wanted to see pictures of America. She is studying computers...and I could only marvel at the vast span between the computer world and this sparse, dark, dirt floor, ramshackle of a building that was her home. When the cold really settled in...not that we hadn't been cold the whole time...we said our good bye & then drove Alice back to her school in town (about 20 minutes away) where she stays coming home usually only once or twice a month. It cost about $1000 for room, board & books per year which her sponsor provides. Her parents hoped Renay would find sponsors for their sons but Chairman Li told us that since they had not follwed the suggested one child rule, they should deal with the consequences of their decision. My guess is that those boys have a rough life ahead of them.
