Ron just left for Changsha

Ron was fortunate to get a soft sleeper on the train to Changsha tonight. Travel for Chinese New Year has begun. They have added more trains to the schedule and some were added just for students going home. CCTV reported in the news that Thursday will be the biggest travel day and trains, buses and airports are already packed. Ron will experience the crowds like we've never seen before.

A hospital official will pick him up when he arrives and drive him to Chengde, a few hours away. He will tour one hospital on Wednesday to see if it's suitable for the next medical mission. The second hospital has an on-going contract with Smile Train to do cleft palate surgeries so we cannot use that one. However, they state that they have state-of-the art heart surgery abilities and there are many patients in their area that need surgery. They are willing to work with us in some way to complete those surgeries. Ron will meet with them on Thursday to find out more about their hospital and see if we could work with them on some basis. On Friday, he will visit hotels in the area to see which one will give us a good deal for our medical team if we decide to use the hospital there for the next medical mission.

Saturday, Ron will fly to Zigong to attempt the last signing of a contract in Sichuan to build the Jackson Family Foundation orphanage. I say "attempt" because three different governments in that area have failed to work things out for us. We are hoping this one will be different. Ron will fly home Saturday night.

It will be a busy but hard week for Ron. It's not easy to stay here without him because I don't have enough to do. I am recuperating from a recent illness. I have been fighting a sinus/bronchitis infection for almost three weeks. I did not feel like going with Ron on this trip. He didn't want to leave me at home, but there's nothing he can do for me. I am not strong enough to fight the difficult schedule.
I am still coughing, but it is getting less day-by-day. The congestion in my chest is breaking up. The cough medicine must have codine in it because not only does it make me drousy, it has also upset my stomch. I've taken a sleeping pill the last three nights to get a little sleep. I've never taken sleeping pills, so they give me a hang-over the next day. Often, I find medications cause more problems than they are worth. I just could not win with this infection no matter what I tried. I'm resting a lot and napping some during the day. A few more days and I should be over this bout. Ron's hoping I will be well when he gets home.

We have two weeks remainding after this week. Next week, a young man from Texas (I think) will stay with us for a few days. He's found a place to live, but can't move in until the first of the month. We have space and will be happy to accommodate him.

Ron and I plan to make a few trips to shopping centers in the next two weeks. We have not had time to do any "looking around." I still have not had my Beijing Duck meal at the restaurant either.