Home from China!

We are home, but it was not an easy trip. Ron left one day earlier than us to make a side trip to Hangzhou to meet with a man interested in helping with our work. He said we could take the bus from Pingliang to Xi'an with the medical team and then fly to Shanghai and meet him at the hotel. From the Pudong airport, I know where to take the hotel shuttle bus to the hotel where we always stay. Sounded easy enough.

Three of our workers were helping to take four orphan babies back to Beijing and Mongolia (along with a lady doctor traveling with the babies). We all took the four hour bus to Xi'an. Then we took a taxi to the airport, arriving there about noon. Leigh Ann and I were to catch our flight at 7 p.m. but could not check in until 5:00 p.m. One of the workers found a buffet inside the airport and paid for us to all have a meal. He got the waitresses to let us have a back table and stay in the restaurant until time for our flights. They were kind, seeing that we had four babies under one year of age that had just had surgery a few days before. A young male worker took one of the babies with him to Beijing on a 3 p.m. flight. That baby was sick during the medical mission and unable to have surgery. The other three babies were not flying out with workers until 8 p.m.

Leigh Ann and I helped with the babies so everyone could take turns to eat. They were good babies but they were active and wore us all out after a few hours.

Jackie (our medical mission coordinator) booked our flight from Xi'an to Shanghai to the wrong airport, but I didn't know that at the time. Our flight was late so it was about 10:30 p.m. when we arrived. After wandering around for an hour in the airport, not recognizing anything and unable to find the bus to the hotel, I got someone to call Ron. I didn't even have a cell phone in China. He said he had checked on our flight and we had landed at another airport (about 50 miles away). It was too late to get the bus between the airports. We got a taxi (which cost us $45 U.S.) but the driver took us to the wrong hotel. I knew immediately it was wrong but could not communicate with the taxi driver. I called Ron from that hotel which was close to the Pudong Airport. He asked if I could get another taxi and go to the Pudong Airport Gate 28. It was about 11:30 p.m. I told him NO, I could not communicate with taxi drivers and I might end up at the first airport again. He said O.K. and got a taxi to bring him to this hotel to find us. I thought this would not be difficult but when just one thing goes wrong, then I'm in trouble in China traveling alone.

We had to get up early to be at the Pudong Shanghai Airport the next morning at 7 a.m. We got on the flight from Shanghai to Detroit. We were able to get first class seats so that was a great help. We were already so tired. It was a 14 hour flight to Detroit. We arrived about noon on Sunday. We spent the next 9 hours in the Detroit airport trying to find a flight to Atlanta or any other city that would connect and get us to Atlanta. All flights were over sold. We gave up and got a hotel for the night and left Detroit on Monday but had to fly to Nashville and then to Atlanta. It was an all-day trip. It was about 6 p.m. Monday night when we got home.

I started taking a sore throat about the time we landed in Detroit so I really felt bad the rest of the day and all day on Monday. It's better now and I'm finally getting some sleep.

This was a hard trip and the most difficult of our missions. So many things were disorganized but we learned some lessons if we do another medical mission. I have to remember that no matter how hard it was for all of us, there were a lot of little children helped.

Ronald arrived home a week before us to get some needed rest. He is doing fine but arrived home to find that his renters have skipped out (leaving his house and yard in a mess). He has many repairs and cleaning to do before it can be rented again. We will help him work on it next week. He's trying to get the grass cut and yard back in shape.

Today, Ronald and I went to the Botanical Gardens. He didn't feel like going to work in the yard with the heat and wanted to do something fun. I had never been to the gardens so when he invited me to go with him, I jumped at the chance. I enjoyed being with him very much. He won't get to do much in the way of fun things while he's home, so this was a good day for both of us.

I have plenty of work to do but felt he was more important. He will return to China Sept. 7th. We will leave again for another long RV trip across to Texas on September 8th. I don't know how long we will be gone this time.

Death of a Child Brings Sadness to the Medical Mission

Our medical mission is underway in Pingliang, Gansu. It is not far from the Tibet border in Central China. We have mountains in this area. The weather has been very cool at night and nice during the day. Although there is early morning smog, we have seen sunshine and nice skies some days. The people in this area are poor. We don’t see anyone walking the streets in fashionable clothing. They are all very curious about us, having never seen a foreigner in this area. A middle school student asked me yesterday, “Where are you from?” Some stop to stare but almost everyone glances at us. We smile and wave at the children and most of them smile back and then parents smile too.

Leigh Ann has had people wanting to take a picture with her (on planes, trains and various places). We tease her that she should be charging for these photo sessions.

The medical team from the U.S. arrived about 3 p.m. last Monday afternoon. It was a rush to get everyone to their rooms to unload their bags and get to the hotel dining room for a quick lunch. Everyone had to be at the hospital by 4:30 for the hospital welcoming and orientation.


Some workers from Angel Moms (a charity group in Beijing and Shanghai) and caretakers with children from an orphanage came on the bus with the team. Two of our little girls from the Jackson Family Care Center in Zigong arrived by train, a 30-hour trip, each with a grandparent. One had a cleft lip and the other a cleft palate. (They were so happy to see us and their grandparents could not thank us enough for all we have done for these little girls). It was a joy to see them go home a few days later with their surgeries healing.

Monday night, we all gathered in two of the hotel dining rooms for a meal paid for by the hospital. It was a very elaborate and delicious meal.
The team was tired from their long trip. Most of them flew to Beijing and came together on an all-night train to Xi’an. From Xi’an, it was a five-hour bus ride. A bus was rented for the entire team; otherwise, they would not have all arrived on time. Almost every bus and train to every city in China is full to capacity no matter what day of the week you travel.

Things got off to a slow start Tuesday morning. Surgeries did not start until late morning because children had to be tested and having fasted for six hours prior to surgery. It was difficult to get this over to parents because they worried about their children being hungry and some fed them anyway, which set them back on the schedule for surgery. Nurses settled into their routine, checking patients already in the hospital rooms, with a translator’s help.

We had seven young high school or university students volunteering as translators but they were not always where they should be. They tended to want to hang out together rather than being where they should be. Often a nurse was wandering around looking for one of them.

The hospital officials and nurses have been much more cooperative this year than they were last year in Chengde. They have interfered very little in every phase of our work and been helpful when asked. This hospital is also cleaner and brighter. Last year, we had dark and dirty rooms on the ward and the Chinese nurses didn’t trust our nurses to do anything. Saying all of this does not mean that this hospital is perfect. It is probably an excellent hospital for this remote area of China. However, in ICU, there is a leak over a bed from the ceiling above. Could it be a toilet leaking? We don’t know. We are on the 10th floor of a 15 story building so it isn’t coming from the roof. There are a few western toilets (commodes) on the ward but we aren’t allowed to use them. I think the night nurses have cleaned them and used them when the rest of the staff is gone and no one is using those areas for examinations. One nurse has a picture of a shower head and right underneath is a power outlet. It has a little plastic cover but I doubt that could prevent water from running inside. At night, the nurses report that the doors to the ward are padlocked to prevent anyone from coming in. However, no one could get out either because you have to go out the doors to get to the stairway.

Barry, our anesthetist from Beijing said this hospital has a very low mortality rate with a certain number of surgeries. Compared to the best hospitals in Beijing, it is lower. He questions that being correct because of the lack of equipment and skill but I guess you can publish whatever rate you wish.

Everything seemed routine by Tuesday afternoon and everyone was settling into their jobs but on Wednesday afternoon tragedy appeared unexpectedly. A little boy, 2-l/2 years of age, went for cleft palate surgery. Everything seems to be going fine. They had completed his surgery and began to bring him out of sleep when his little body started shutting down. Oxygen levels dropped drastically and the child died before they could do anything to reverse the situation. It was a heart-breaking event for the doctors and nurses as well as all of the medical team. The parents of the child were wailing and crying uncontrollably. The hospital official took over handling the child’s relatives.

No negligence on the part of our doctors or nurses was detected. The hospital said it could not have been helped. The child appeared healthy, everything had been checked out and everything done by the anesthetist and doctor were consistent with what should have been done. Nevertheless, it put a great and deep sadness in all of our hearts.

Surgeries were stopped for the rest of that day and for the entire next day while the hospital and team re-evaluated procedures. The hospital had a machine flown in to use to determine oxygen level at an early stage of the operation. These are not usually used in China but might save a life. The OR nurses do not feel that a situation can be reversed once it begins even if surgery is stopped early. One of the anesthetists figured out a way to use the machine for two children having surgery at the same time in the same OR.

Thursday, surgeries began again and continue on to this time (Sunday afternoon, August 8). The mission will go until Thursday. Surgeries will end but nurses will have to be on the wards checking post-op patients until they are dismissed to return home.

To see a baby with a cleft lip, maybe even a bi-lateral cleft lip, and then see them when they come back after surgery, is a beautiful thing to behold. The parents are not beaming as much as we are, because they do not fully understand that after healing the lip will look much better. Often, the child is uncomfortable even with some medication for pain so the parent may be concerned. The next day after surgery, children and parents are beaming and thanking us for our help. When they are ready to leave the hospital, they are so appreciative.

Handing out the beanie babies and blankets has been a highlight of our mornings. We make rounds each morning to see which new children have arrived for surgery that day. Handing the child a beanie baby had brightened the face of the child and bridges are established because of the strange way we look. Children will smile and (in most cases) quickly accept the toy. One of our nurses brought some small trucks for older boys and they have really gone over well.

Mothers are very happy to get the blankets. The hospital bed only has a bottom sheet and a down (heavy) comforter in a duvet coverlet on the bed. After a child comes from surgery, the parent wants to cover the child but the comforter is much too hot.
We have offered them a blanket or small quilt and they have been very grateful. We see them walking with the babies in their arms in the hallway with the blankets tucked around the child.

Ladies from Laurel Church of Christ, Laurel, MD, Needles & Knots in North Canton, OH, Florence Hoshall, and Mrs. Dave Halligan and ladies from her congregation are some who have shipped quilts and blankets. Our Peachtree City Church of Christ ladies also made crocheted blankets. We collected beanie babies from several different locations but many of them were from Peachtree City. I am sure I have missed someone who contributed to these gifts of love, but if you were part of this collection of gifts, please accept my grateful thanks. We had blankets every size for the very smallest child to the oldest boy (about 12 or 13) and everyone loved the gifts.

This morning I was walking down the hall with a stack of blankets in my arms as Leigh Ann was handing out beanie babies and getting pictures of the children accepting the toys. A mother walked up and fingered one of the beautiful crochets blankets in my arms. I immediately pulled it out and offered it to her. You would have thought I had given her a $100 bill. She thanked me over and over.

Organizing a medical mission may seem simple. You team up roommates and co-workers according to shifts and specialties. Everyone goes to work. Right? Not really. Although Ron, Leigh Ann and I unpacked the medical supplies in the room assigned to our work team, it is still difficult to have all the things they need.
Each doctor or nurse wants a certain suture or a product for pain or an ointment for moisture, something to reduce swelling or prevent infection. It is impossible to have on hand everything each nurse or doctor wants. Tables and box loads of supplies are grouped together so things can be easily found but nurses are always looking for something we don’t have.

Some of the team has been sick from eating the food. It’s caused a shortage of nurses so sometimes only one nurse is on the entire ward. Shifts are long and tiring and only snack food is available. Although the hospital brings in hot boxed lunch plates at noon, the number of workers who eat it has diminished each day as others get sick. A lot of the workers go out to local restaurants at night so the contamination could have come from those places. However, Ron, Leigh Ann and I have been very careful and eaten only in the hotel restaurant or had fruit and snacks in our rooms. Fruit stands are everywhere but we must wash the fruit in bottled water. (I like ice cream on a stick which is safe to eat. No washing necessary. It’s a good excuse to eat ice cream.) Leigh Ann and I have a favorite stand near the hotel that carries ice cream and cold drinks (not many have a cooler to keep drinks cold). They have some very good cookies, crackers, chips, little cakes, and other snacks. With fruit, we can have a very good lunch and not worry about being sick.

Unfortunately, both Ron and Leigh Ann have been sick. I don’t know where it began (the food the first day at the hospital or elsewhere) but it’s difficult to get rid of. I think you could safely call it “Chairman Mao’s Revenge.” I am becoming known more and more as “Iron Gut Pat” since I am eating almost everything in front of me and not getting sick.

Every afternoon, Leigh Ann and I return to our rooms and work on our computers, trying to keep up with our workload. It has not been easy to find the time. Some plugs in our rooms don’t work and getting internet set up when we arrived was a challenge.

When nurses come off their shift or others are going on duty, we have tried to catch someone to go down for dinner with us. Ordering is a challenge. We have pictures on the menu but without knowing most of the dishes, we don’t know what we are ordering. Some dishes are cold and some hot, but we can’t tell which is which. From the picture, it is difficult to tell what kind of meat may be cooked with the vegetables.
Asking for rice or even tea has been difficult, although those are relatively easy words to pronounce. They just don’t understand “Southern Chinese.”
I find it interesting to listen to a nurse trying to order, using Chinese words, some English words and her hands with sign language, all at the same time. I watch the expression on the face of the waitress and wish I could take a picture. They are stunned to say the least. We believe they are saying, “Oh no, here comes the crazy Americans” each time they see us walk in.

When the mission ends, we will all take a bus back to Xi’an. A few doctors and nurses are scheduled to leave before us due to schedules back home. Some will go to Beijing or stay a few extra days in Xi’an to sightsee before they return home. Ron, Leigh Ann and I will take a night train from Xi’an back to Shanghai and be on standby for our trip home. We fly buddy passes so it is always “if” we get seats that we go home a certain day.

Ronald, our son who has lived in China for one year and just completed the renovation of Refuge of Grace Christian Care Center that will open soon, has returned to Atlanta for a much needed rest. It has been a difficult year for him. Our trips (20-30 days at a time) are difficult enough, but living in a foreign country without knowing the language and not having a skilled translator who knows construction, is not easy. I would imagine that Ronald has tried to communicate with contractors just like the nurses ordering food, but he is probably upset and saying “NO, NO, we don’t do it that way!”

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and concern for us. We can count off the days until our return now. I will post a brief report after our arrival home so everyone will know we are safely at home enjoying the rest but hating the jetlag.

Our visit to the Jackson Family Christian Care Center

Wednesday, July 28, 2010


I met my parents for the breakfast buffet in the hotel. I ate a boiled egg, lots of steamed vegetables, steamed buns filled with red bean paste and hot tea. It was very good.

Mr. Chen and his wife and daughter, Shi Shi, arrived around 9:15. They were also accompanied with John Li, one of our workers in China, as well as a translator. We walked across the street to a store and the translator asked an employee there which floor the books and toys were located on. We went upstairs a level and found the books and proceeded to select dictionaries, books for older children with information like history and animals and some books for the younger children. Shi Shi, the Chen’s daughter, helped select quite a few of them. It appears she enjoys shopping!

We walked over a few aisles and looked at sports equipment. Mr. Chen indicated they had plenty. We only selected three hula hoops in that section. We had found a book on the art of origami (folding papers to make shapes) so we asked another employee where to find the colored paper to use and we selected two large packages. Mrs. Chen and our translator also selected ink and calligraphy brushes which the children can use to practice their Chinese writing skills.

Shi Shi pushed our shopping cart up to the register and we started to pay for everything. After paying, I still had LOTS of money left! So I told them we had to do more shopping! We took everything out to the van and it was decided we would go to another bookstore. There was some discussion about purchasing another television for the care center but Chinese children tend to get addicted to tv and the internet so we decided books would be a better purchase for their education.

At the next stop, I walked in with the Chens, John Li and the translator. It was a very large bookstore with a much bigger selection. We selected books which had transfer pages to learn Chinese writing, books on art and music, etc. We also selected about five more dictionaries for the children. We paid for our purchases and I told them I still had money left over! In the van, Shi Shi winked at my mom and I over the seat. She was in the seat in front of us sitting with my dad and turned around to look at us. In the first store, she had pointed out a package of gum to me. I knew I had a package with me so I got it out in the van and her eyes lit up. I handed her a piece and she really seemed to enjoy it.

Mr. Chen said the boys had recently received new shoes from some volunteers but the girls could use new shoes. We drove to another area and walked through several different markets. Mr. Chen started negotiating prices at one booth with a lady. They were bargaining back and forth but it didn’t appear she was going to back down much off her price. We walked on to more booths with shoes but discovered all of them were much more expensive. We came back to our first booth and Mr. Chen bargained some more. Our translator helped some in the bargaining process. The lady climbed up a ladder to get more shoes in different sizes down out of an attic area. A man in the booth pulled boxes off of shelves with more sizes. We ended up with two large boxes of shoes for the girls. Guess what? I still had money left over!!! I calculated the average cost of these dressy shoes - only about $5.00 a pair!

I told little Shi Shi, “We must do more shopping!” As we left there with the shoes, we walked by a beautiful fruit stand. Mr. Chen and John selected green grapes, two watermelons, and a bag full of longyans. Longyans are round brown fruits which you peel. Inside they are white and there is a seed in the middle you remove as you eat them.
I still had more money left over because the fruit stand owner was not reasonable on her apple prices. We went to another fruit stand and they bought apples at a much better price and we finally used up all of the money!

We were hot and sweaty by this time and found out later that the day’s temperatures rose to 98 degrees. We piled into the van with all of our goods and drove to the care center around 12:15. There are winding roads to the care center and the scenery is pretty along the way. We arrived in time for lunch there. A few children came outside to see us and then they were all called out by the “auntie” with a whistle to line up for lunch. I walked around the side of the building to take a few photos after I took group photos out front with the children lined up to go eat.

Lunch was delicious. The children all went to wash their hands before entering the lunchroom. They were all eating while we toured the kitchen area. I came into the lunchroom and took more photos of the children eating.

We sat down and they brought out bowls of food for us. We ate rice, tomatoes sautéed with eggs, sautéed eggplant, tofu, garlic shoots with pork and corn on the cob. I was only cautious about not getting too much of the pork but I thought all of the food was very good. There was a darling little puppy dog wandering around. He grabbed up any scraps which fell from the table and outside we saw he had his own little bowl of rice!

I met all of the girls here and most of the boys at the care center. Some of the boys are shy or didn’t want their photos taken as easily as the girls did. They are all sweet, kind, polite, helpful, obedient children.
The older children help with the younger ones and they are always smiling and friendly. I fell in love with so many of them.

I went up to one of the boy’s rooms and took a few individual photos of the boys. I had John Li with me to help identify who they were as I took the photo. There is beautiful countryside all around the care center and I took a lot of pictures of the surrounding scenery too.

Upstairs the girls were all in a room sitting on beds together and I began taking photos of them too. They were all cute and seemed to be such good friends with each other. John helped me identify them in my photos too. He will be leaving JFCCC to go to another care center to become a director there. He is a great worker and very dedicated. He is always happy and loves the children. Stephen, our previous worker here, will be coming back to JFCCC. He has recently been in Luxi to search for orphans there for the next care center which will be opening soon - Refuge of Grace Christian Care Center. I brought four packages of “silly bandz” from Woodstock for the children and laid them out on a table for them to each pick one out. The girls went first and the littlest one (#77 Hu Xiao Xia) decided she’d have two! I let the boys pick from dinosaur and animal shapes. They all seemed happy to get a little something. We saved the rest to be distributed to the children who come back from summer break.

The children lined up in the girl’s room to give us their presentation. There were three young girls with handwritten notes to announce the festivities. The entire group performed together and then smaller groups were formed to do different songs and hand motions.
I took eleven videos of their performances. If you are interested in the videos, please email me and I will be happy to send them to you. The youngest little one at the care center walked over to get some attention from my parents. Her older brother and sister also live there and help take care of her.

It was an extremely hot day at the care center. There are fans in the children’s rooms and they were running so that relieved a little of the heat. We met in the office for a little while with Mr. Chen and John Li. I downloaded videos sent from Kevin Johnson and Christina Cruz for their assigned children who were there at the care center during our visit.

Only six children are staying at the care center during the summer holidays. When I told John Li (by email from Georgia) I was disappointed to only be meeting such a small number of children, he and Mr. Chen contacted children who had gone to visit relatives for their summer break and they came back to meet me. They had been practicing for their program for us and I was so happy there were about 30 children there to meet me and for me to see.

We all went upstairs to an activity room since there is more room to present them with gifts from the sponsors as well as an activity we had planned. Peachtree City Church of Christ has a group called, “Little Lambs” and they had each decorated a puzzle piece with stickers, markers and a photo of a child from the church ages 1-8 inside each shape of the puzzle pieces. There were 30 puzzle pieces which would form a heart shape when completed. We gave each of the JFCCC children a puzzle piece since there were 30 children there! The translator and “auntie” called out each number and the child came to the center of the room and put their piece in place each time. When they finished, the auntie got them to circle around the puzzle for a group picture. We think they enjoyed the activity and had fun doing something with us.

Mr. Chen stood at the table with all the purchases we had made that morning and selected four children, two boys and two girls, to come up to receive the gifts. He explained what the purchased items were and these four children thanked us on behalf of everyone. I think they were very pleased with what we had selected and I hope these gifts will be very beneficial to them.

After we met in the office, I wandered around some and took photos of a few boys who were playing in one of the boy’s rooms. I went upstairs and we got the “auntie” to start distributing shoes to the girls in their room. They ran to wash off their feet so they would have clean feet to try on shoes. They were sitting on the edge of the sinks in the bathroom to get their feet clean. The girls enjoyed trying on different shoes to see which ones would fit. The older girls were so kind and patient. They let all the younger ones try them all on first and then when they were finished, some of the older girls tried to see what shoes might fit them. I was so impressed with their actions and polite attitudes.

After distributing everything we had bought and meeting with the director, it was time to leave. By this time it was 5 pm and we were very hot and tired. I did not want to leave these precious children. I told our worker, John Li, if they could install air conditioning in a room for me, I would happily stay forever! A few of the children gathered on the second floor railing and waved down at us. It was a very emotional time for me. I just wanted to run back upstairs and stay!

Thank you so much for your letters, photos, videos and donations for these precious children. I am so thankful to the Jackson Family Foundation for sponsoring this facility and helping out the poor children in China. I love this job and appreciate all the Jackson associates who are a part of this program.

Atlanta to Pingliang - a long, long trip!

We spent almost all day on July 20th at the Atlanta airport. Flying on buddy passes does not guarantee us a seat. We thought first that we had a better chance on the segment to Narita, Japan, to go through NY but the plane to NY filled up, We changed our flight to Seattle and then stood by for the next three flights to Seattle, only to watch them all fill with sold out seats. Our friend, Harvey Boyd, who worked for Delta, checked out flights through Memphis to Seattle but they were all sold out. He told us we might take a chance and standby on the flight directly to Narita from Atlanta. It showed that it was full but we were able to get seats in coach. It was a long 14 hours but we were just pleased to be on our way. We had a few hours in the Narita airport before we took a near-empty flight to Shanghai. We took the high speed train from the airport to the end of the line and then got a taxi to the hotel. From the time we left home until we opened our hotel door in Shanghai, it was 30 hours. It was very hard to keep from sleeping on the last leg of the trip but I was afraid a nap then would keep me from going to sleep once we got to the hotel.

The next day we headed out to Expo. It has been open since April but there are now approximately 500,000 attending each day. We took the subway and bought our one-day ticket. Leigh Ann wanted to see the Chinese pavilion but we learned very quickly you need a reservation to get in to see it. Reservations were also needed for the Taiwan and Macau buildings. We asked how we made a reservation to see these and were told that every morning at 9:00 a.m. you can make the reservations for those buildings. Our ticket let us inside any other pavilion but they were scattered over several miles and the temperature was about 95 degrees. We waited in an outside line in the hot sun for almost an hour for the Hong Kong building and it was about a 10 minute walk through without anything spectacular to see. After the New Zealand exhibit, we decided it was not worth the effort and headed back to the subway to go back to the hotel.

The next day we took a taxi to the train station and took an all-night train (13 hours) to Pingxiang. Ronald and Mark, one of our workers, met us at the train station. We stopped at a nice hotel and ate breakfast at a nice buffet. It was a 30 minute drive from there to Luxi. We checked in at the hotel and left our luggage so we could head out to see the new care center.

Ronald started the remodeling of the 3-story building the first of May. He will have almost all of it completed in two weeks. It was in the final painting stage, the kitchen equipment is ready to be installed and the rest of the electrical work will be completed in a week. The bathrooms on the first floor are almost completed (they are ready on the other two floors).

This building was originally an office building so there were no showers and only one toilet stall at the end of each floor. It was later used to house old people. Now, there are baths for boys and girls on each floor. Floors will be cleaned and the beds will be assembled and rooms will be completed for the children. About the middle of August, children will begin moving in. What a lovely home it will be for some very poor, unhappy children.

Our only concern is the old people from the other two buildings on the same campus will wander in and out of the building. They put a temporary fence around the building to keep them out but it may be necessary to build a permanent fence for the children’s protection.

The government workers took us to lunch. It was a restaurant in the countryside (very dirty which gives us a little apprehension about the cleanliness of the food preparation). The meal was fair (if you like fish soup and chicken soup with all the parts included). We had smoked pork slices barely cooked, black-eyed peas with hot green peppers, bitter melon, pumpkin, steamed eggs, glutinous dumplings with water chestnuts and canned herbal tea. They wanted us to tour the beautiful gardens (which looked like they had grown up without any tender care for a very long time). The government officials offered to send two cars and drivers to drive us two hours to see some hot springs. Ron politely declined saying he still had much to go over with the workers.

We ate a quiet dinner at a local restaurant with just the four of us. Ronald has eaten there many times with the workers and the waitress spoke some English so ordering was not too difficult.

Today, the workers came to have family services at the hotel and then we went to lunch together. Many of the dishes they ordered at another local restaurant were not what we would have ordered but we managed to eat enough. The little appetizer that was brought first to the table was pickled seaweed. Ronald found a dead fly in it. The waitress brought some roasted peanuts out to replace the seaweed after we showed her the fly. We didn't find anything in the rest of the food but we didn't look very much. Sometimes it is best not to know. We had sweet and sour pork (with bone and fat), beef and potatoes (beef was actually tender like a roast), steamed fish (this one didn't have the head on which is unusual for China), eggplant (spicy with ground beef and hot peppers), cauliflower, greens and fried rice. The three male workers with us put away the food like it was their last meal.

We left this care center the next morning and took an 8-hour train ride to the Jackson Family Christian Care Center in Zigong. I will add Leigh Ann’s write up about the trip there. (Leigh Ann is our daughter and she works in the U.S. handling all the reports for this care center).

From Zigong, we took a 20 hour train to Xi’an. We got on at 10 a.m. one day and arrived in Xi’an the next morning about 6 a.m. We grabbed a bite at McDonalds (including an iced coffee) and boarded a bus for Pingliang, Gansu. It was a 5 hour ride due to a traffic accident that sent us on a detour road over the mountains. The road was narrow and rough and had broken pavement or no pavement part of the way.

We checked into our hotel and went to lunch with Jackie, our worker from Xi’an, who is in charge of the medical mission. Today, our medical team arrives from the U.S. We will have a “welcome” meeting tonight as well as a big dinner.
Tomorrow the surgeries will begin at 7 a.m. We have over 60 children already scheduled for surgery. About five children have arrived from our care centers for either cleft lip or cleft palate surgery.


The mission will end on August 15 and then we return to the U.S. Keep us in your prayers for a successful mission.

Lumpy and Lopsided, But Loved

Below is Carole Booker's last report before she left China to return home. We appreciate her so much for taking the leap of faith to teach these children. She has been a great blessing to the workers and children. We want to thank Carole Booker for her giving heart and valuable time to these precious children in China. Below is her latest message regarding her time spent in China at the care center.

Dearest Friends and Family,

In a few hours I will catch my last sanlunche, this time to the Tiandeng bus station. I have been busy with lessons and activities and getting to know the kids these past three weeks. I have also spent some time in solitude. Sharing my thoughts with you is good therapy for me.....

Almost exactly 3 and a half years ago the life I had known for 26 years blew apart. My life has turned upside down and inside out. I have gone through many changes over these years. I look back and see His hand in all those changes. After Donald died I wondered what I was going to do with the rest of my life. He was my anchor and now I was adrift.

It wasn't long until I began to see doors open before me. I never dreamed I'd be a teacher other than Sunday school. But the opportunity to start a new career was placed in my lap. The door to involvement in WCS was opened to me, and I walked through it. Beyond that was another door which led to deeper involvement. It opened and I walked through. Each time a door opened, I felt I was meant to walk through it. These were good people I was involved with, this was a good career and a good place to be. He was opening the doors and taking my hand and leading me through them. I see it clear as day. This is how "all things work together for good to those who love Him". I'm watching Him weave my life back together and it is amazing.

So it has been with this trip to China. Three months ago, going to China was nowhere on my radar. Then one Wednesday night in March the preacher caught me in the parking lot and said, "Have I got a deal for you!" They had received a call that there was a need for a woman to join the medical mission team to China and for some unknown reason my name was the first to come up. I was stunned by the offer, but began to think maybe I could do this. Is this another door? I decided to walk through it. Then more doors opened, others closed and no longer did I find myself going with a team of Americans to a large city in China. Instead I would be working alone at an orphanage in a tiny rural village in far southwest China. There would be one person who could speak any English.

As the destination evolved into a more and more remote location, fear began to well up inside me. I remember throwing myself on the bed, sobbing and telling Him, "I'm afraid! I shouldn't go out alone at night in my own part of town and I was going to the other side of the world by myself where I couldn't communicate. Why ME? I am the only parent my sons have, I have no experience with this sort of thing and there will be none to teach me, I have never been anywhere, much less China." When I dried my tears I had to ask myself, "Do you believe He is opening this door for you? Is this from Him?" I thought about those who brought my name up and asked me to go. I thought about what I was being asked to do. I thought about my circumstances and how they allow me to do this. I thought about how they wanted someone to teach English and how I happen to now be an English teacher. I thought about the need and the workers that are so few. And I had to conclude that yes, this was from Him. So there was only one more question to ask.
What do you have to be afraid of?

So I moved forward. This was a leap of faith like none I've ever made. He has kept me perfectly healthy and perfectly safe. Every challenge I faced He provided someone to help me through it or gave me enough understanding to figure it out and be successful. Now my task is almost done. I'll be saying goodbye to the new faces that are now familiar to me: Su Hong, Li Mei, Hai Lang, Qin Qiu, Fu Qiang, Cai Jian, Kai Zhong, Cai Xiu, Qin He, Zhen De, Li Xiu, Jian Tao, Xiao Ting, Xin Ying, Fang Fang, Dong Xue, Asan, and Lou and so many more.
It will not be easy.

I think of the work I did here as an offering of service to Him. It reminds me of when we made our first attempt at pottery in the 3rd grade and we made a bowl or some other vessel intended to be useful as a gift to our parents. We tried hard at that tender age and were proud of the results, but to look at them now we would laugh at our clumsy attempts at creativity.

This offering I made for Him these last few weeks is similarly flawed. It has a few holes in it. It is rough around the edges and lumpy. There are spots I missed with the glaze and...it's lopsided. But with my limited understanding and ability, it truly is the best I could create. And so I offer it unashamed because I know, like my earthly father, He will love it, lumps and all. He will put it on a shelf in that mansion over the hilltop and keep it with all the other offerings from His children. He remembers each one. Mine is among the most primitive looking. There are those like mine on the shelf and there are beautiful masterpieces, too. They are all on the same shelf and are each cherished by the Father.

Soon I will hear "Auntie Kai!" for the last time. I don't know if more opportunities like this await me or if I'm meant to take what I've learned and do something else. I don't know what doors will be opened next. I don't know where I'm going, you see, I'm not the driver. I'm learning to leave that to the One who has much better vision than I.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. Your love and support has meant everything to me.
I'm coming home.

Yours always,
Carole

English Teachers at the Care Centers

Each summer we encourage people to go visit our care centers to teach English and Bible classes. This year, directors were more diligent to encourage children to remain at the center for the classes or go back to visit relatives for a short time and then come back for the special classes. Although many students miss this special treat, those that are present truly enjoy the presence of an American teacher.

Steve Hawley from Westbury Christian School in Houston, TX is at North Canton Christian Care Center. Here is what he wrote this past week:



Good afternoon! The heat is oppressive but we are making it just fine. This morning, we had a class on ASK-SEEK-KNOCK that went well. Afterwards, we had an English class, discussing American weights/measures, currency, occupations, musical terms, etc. I even talked about the exchange rate of dollars and R.M.B.! Yesterday, we went on an adventure. We took the kids swimming at a river about 45 minutes drive from here. We had to go in two shifts because of limited space in the rented vehicle. It was a neat place where they took us on a boat across a river to an island where the channel was shallow. I don't think any of the kids can really swim, but they loved playing in the water with small innertubes. I joined in and left with a nice sunburn! It was so much fun! After we swam, we had a cookout on the island. Over an open fire, we roasted hot dogs, potatoes, eggplant, and leeks. Dessert was apples and watermelon. All of us were exhausted! You might notice in the picture that the children swam fully clothed. It took a long time to get the dirt off my khaki shorts! I broke down and purchased a pair of flip flops. Nobody here wears socks. It really was, for me, a matter of convenience as it is hard washing dirty socks by hand! Keep us in your prayers as we make headway with the kids. Several of the younger ones struggle as you might expect from not living with parents. They attach themselves to you very quickly. The older girls really seem to want to learn and they are very open. If I had a million dollars to help here, I would not know where to start in terms of facilities, but they do the best they can and the children are loved.
God bless,
Steve Hawley, Teacher

The next five or so segments are from Carole Booker who is also a teacher at Westbury Christian School in Houston. She has spent several weeks at John Connor Brown Christian Care Center in Tiendeng. Her descriptions of her life there are priceless and I know my readers will really enjoy reading what she experienced. She gave me permission to add this to my blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Subject: First day in Tiandeng
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 09:52:06 -0500

Hello from Tiandeng, China!
Wow, how could you fit any more experiences into one day? Asan picked me up from the hotel and we went down to the complimentary breakfast which was a large buffet in a beautiful dining hall, very elegant, but they wouldn't let me take pictures. Then we took a taxi to the bus station. Driving through the streets of Nanning was frightening to say the least and they don't have back seat seat belts which made it worse. Lots of bicycles and motor scooters and the occasional bicycle driven rickshaw, complete with traditional straw hat. I even saw someone carrying two buckets suspended from opposites ends of a long pole across his shoulders like I've seen in old movies. At the bus station I realized we had left elegant back at the hotel. It was hot and busy. They made me open my suitcase at security because I had an aerosol container of bug spray. Asan talked with them for a long time and finally they let me keep it. Funny, nobody had a problem with the can at the 3 airport security check points I went through. I knew this would be a long bus ride and I foolishly had 2 cups of coffee with breakfast, so I had my first Chinese bathroom experience at the Nanning bus station....a long trough....enough said. Outside of the city the scenery is beautiful. I didn't sleep any on the bus because I was fascinated with the mountains and farms. We passed several water buffalo grazing by the road and several more pullng ploughs in the rice fields like they've done for probably a thousand years. A few hours into the ride we came to the Tiandeng bus station outside the city. Asan said we would take another bus and then she said "this would be better" and we boarded a cart pulled by a motorcyle. At least it had a plastic sheet over the top for shade, but the back was open and needless to say, no seatbelts.....barely even seats. We bounced along for I guess 10 miles passing buffalo and locals until we came to the entrance to the care center which is located on a public school campus. The children were on a break when we arrived and they all came and stared and wondered who I was. They were all very sweet and surprised when I said, "Ni hao!" they giggled and Asan instructed them to say "hello" to me. They took me to my room which is the private room off the kitchen with the "western" facilities, PTL! Then I got a tour of the care center and met the workers. One of the workers fixed us lunch and we sat to eat rice with tomatoes and chicken skin and cabbage. They don't drink anything with their meals here. After lunch I tried hooking up to the internet which eventually worked and then I met Lou, the director. We talked about when I might be able to schedule a time for classes. At first they said the children are too busy with school for any other lessons and I was very disappointed. The more we talked they decided I could teach on Saturday and Sunday if the students would be willing. I will just have to make it exciting enough to draw a crowd. I observed the children have several breaks during the day even though they have school until 8:00 at night. I decided to try to do most of my teaching outside during those breaks. When I hear the school bell signal for break time, I'll go stand outside and try to look interesting. I tried it this afternoon and it worked! I drew a crowd of children who asked me all sorts of things and wanted to know the English words written on their shirts and teach me Chinese words. Asan said one girl wanted to tell me she loves the Father and wants to hear GB stories. I was thrilled. Another girl wanted to tell me I had big beautiful eyes. That was nice, too. When the kids went back to class I took a nap. They woke me up for dinner where I was introduced as Auntie Kai. The children are wonderful and very happy. I sat at a table with 7 children and they took turns trying to help me pronounce their names. They laughed at me a lot. After dinner Xin Ying, one of the 2nd graders took me by the hand and led me all over the facility and finally yelled across to someone at the entrance and we both went running towards them. It was Lou about to take 3 boys on an evening walk through town. Xin Ying pulled me out the gate with them, I must admit I was a little aprehensive since I was with no one who spoke English. We walked about 30 minutes down streets and through alleys between houses and past a pig pen and through a rice field to a trough where women were washing clothes with Tide. Once back inside the campus gates Xin Ying escorted me through the school corridors and before we knew it there were about 20 girls following us and giggling and saying "hello". We went to the girls dorm where one girl showed me a coloring book of GB stories. I was reading it to a couple of girls when another one came in and insisted we go down the hall. When we did I saw a group of the girls line dancing to a children's video and they wanted me to watch. They were adorable. Finally I explained Auntie Kai needed to sleep and I said "wan an". Now I'm under my mosquito net with a fan about to sleep on a piece of plywood. I hope to sleep like a log because I am truly exhausted. Love to you all. Hope everything is well in Houston. Sorry for the long email - lots to say.
Love,
Carole (Auntie Kai)

Subject: China update
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 02:27:49 -0500

Hi everyone,
This is my 5th day at the care center. I taught 4 lessons over the weekend and they went well. On Saturday the son and daughter of an Australian missionary in Tiandeng came to the care center. They said they heard I was coming and they wanted to come see me. They interpreted for my classes. Their father's name is Ross Meredith. I don't know if anyone has heard of him or even what denomination he might be, but I think the children frequently come to the care center to help. They are older teenagers and grew up in China/Taiwan. They said maybe I could come over to visit them in Tiandeng while I'm here. I hope that works out.
It is Monday so the children are back in school and taking their semester tests tomorrow. I listen for the school bells and then go out to the yard and read to the kids or play with them or take pictures of them. Ron Brown's friend, Lowell, makes videos for fundraisers for the care centers and he asked me to videotape a few of the children and provide a little "up close and personal" information for them. Many of the students will go home after their tests (home being a relative who takes care of them during the summer break) so I've been busy trying to do this before they leave.
It is extremely hot here. It has to be 100 today and no breeze. The fan in my room makes it feel like only 90. It's hard to sleep. I've given up on the mosquito net because it breaks the breeze from the fan. I found a couple of quilts to put under me on the plywood bed which has helped a little.
I'm getting to know the children and many of their names. The girls are much more social than the boys. You can always find the boys, especially the younger ones playing in the waterway that runs through the center of the orphanage. This waterway is used for everything; laundry, bathing, rinsing mops, playing, swimming, washing pots, rinsing garbage pails. The boys found some leeches in it a couple of days ago which made for lots of entertainment. Today it was guppies.
Tonight I will find a group somewhere after their classes and have more impromptu lessons. After lunch today the little library on the boy's floor was open and I went in there with a few kids. There were some bilingual GB story books there and we read them.
The food has been rice and some kind of "mixin" at every meal. Today I think it was pork and some green beans.
I will write again soon. Love to all.
Carole

Subject: 2nd week in China
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 08:34:47 -0500

Ni hao!
I'm into my second week here and a bit more settled into the routine, trouble is the routine keeps changing. The children finished their examinations Wednesday. We took another long walk with some kids Monday evening around the town here, Rong Hua. The scenery is beautiful, the poverty is devastating. Yet at least the homes I see are made of cinder blocks and not sticks and mud. We passed a gaggle of geese and honked back at them. We passed a big lily pond and the girls picked the huge leaves and wore them upside down as hats - so cute. When we finished our walk through the rice fields we came back to the village and the local farmers were parked as usual selling produce. Lu noticed there was a very good price for watermelons so we stood at the watermelon truck while he bought about 10 of them. Xin Ying was ecstatic. You would have thought she was getting a triple scoop of ice cream. Everyone carried a watermelon back to the center and we had them for the evening snack. I was not given a lesson time because of the school work, but thought I would try to squeeze one in. I know I don't have many more chances before most of them leave. I took the perfume samples upstairs to the girl's rooms a little before bedtime. I opened them and showed the girls what they were. Quickly a crowd gathered and I asked one of them to get Asan to translate. I told them the story of Mary pouring perfume on his feet and how she loved him so much because he had forgiven her so much and how he loves us. I explained my friends had collected the perfume samples for me to give them and they squeeled and quickly all of the samples disappeared. They laughed at the ones they didn't like and swooned at the ones they did. It was a big hit. Thanks to all of you who helped me with that.
Tuesday Asan said she needed help on an errand in town and asked if I wanted to go. I was happy to go and see the world outside. We took a san luan chue to Tiandeng town. We were going there to find a storage room where the care center kept a supply of quilts some ladies in the US had made for the orphanages. We were to count out about 70 of them and ship them to Nanning where they would be taken to the new care center opening in August. The storage room was on the fourth floor. We pulled quilts out of huge bags and melted as we counted them out and stuffed them back in. Then we had to carry them down the stairs. It took both of us 3 trips and we were completely spent. Asan is no bigger than me. When we had brought them down and stacked them in the alley we stopped at a little store right there and had a cold coke.....best one I've ever had. Then we walked the streets looking for a shipping company to send the quilts to Nanning. The second shipping company we tried agreed to do it so we walked back to get the quilts. Fortunately they sent a san luan chue to carry them back for us! We were also picking up a water machine there so we rode the delivery truck (san luan chue) back to the care center with the machine and some other supplies. Very tired when we got back. I had not done a lesson with the kids that day because they have tests tomorrow and Asan said I should not do a lesson. When it was dark I saw a thunderstorm in the distance over a mountain and put a chair outside my room and sat to watch it. I sang "How Great Thou Art" as I watched it. Xin Ying heard me singing and climbed in my lap to listen. I remembered the last part of the chorus in Chinese from our Chinese church and and sang it in Chinese and she jumped and turned around and looked at me and laughed. Then I sang the "He loves me,This I Know" song and sang the first phrase in Chinese and before long she was singing with me. Then she got a wild hair and started running all over the courtyard yelling the son loves me in Chinese. I think I just did my lesson.

Asan will be gone some of next week so I will be without anyone who speaks English. She has arranged for me to take the 10 remaining children into Tiandeng town to teach them because someone she knows there could translate. The part about me taking the kids into town by myself is a little unnerving. I am to teach in town next Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The new translator has invited some local children to come to my lessons also, but she doesn't think many will come. On Tuesday and Friday we will stay in town and eat lunch somewhere and then look around town. Tiandeng is much larger than Rong Hua, but that's not saying alot. There are lots of little storefronts for all kinds of goods, but nothing like a KFC or Starbucks...not even close.
I was trying to do a lesson last night, but in the middle of it Lou called a meeting of all students and everyone disappeared. I'll try again.
Government came to visit yesterday. I missed the opportunity to meet them, coming outside just as they were leaving. They said they heard I was here and wanted to see one of my lessons, but that wasn't the reason for the visit. Asan doesn't think they actually will.
Many of the children left the center today for summer break. I said goodbye to Xin Ying. I'll tell you all about her when I come home. I cried as I watched her leave. I hope she will be ok.
I gave a lesson to a few of the remaining children tonight. A large part of it was spent reading the death, burial and resurrection out of a children's version one of the students had. Someone had supplied the bilingual books to all the children and they wanted me to read to them.
I know you are tired of reading by now. I'll try not to write so much next time.
Love to all.
Carole

Subject: A new adventure
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2010 06:19:28 -0500

Hi everyone,
I'm still doing fine, haven't gotten sick!The last couple of days have been eventful. Friday the 6th graders took their examination to get into 7th grade. I was sitting in my room this afternoon writing during the kid's rest time and looked out to see a snake peering over the walkway by the office. Wanting to be able to sleep tonight, I went up to make sure I knew where it was and then looked for Asan. She was nowhere so one of the teenage girls came out and I pointed to it. She squealed and yelled something and Lou and all the boys came running out. I fully expected to be laughed at and the boys to be playing with the snake the rest of the afternoon. But they looked just as horrified as I was. One boy slapped it with his shoe as it was trying to get away and then crushed its head. Chao Song slung it over the fence. I guess it wasn't the kind you play with.
I had a lesson tonight on feeding the 5000. These kids know most of these stories from the director that was here before, so I had little Qin Qiu show the pictures and tell the story herself. We do simple conversation, greetings with the puppets I brought which they love.

Then it was movie night. It was HOME ALONE - the original. One of my favorites. I sang along with all the songs.
Saturday I was planning to work on my lessons more for teaching in Tiandeng next week, but Asan came to get me and said they were going into town to have a competition, so I went along.
When we got to the site, the lady who will translate for my lessons next week told me we had a problem. Apparently 18 neighborhood kids wanted to come and there is not nearly enough room for all of them in the location we had planned. A local school teacher had heard I was coming and encouraged the students to come. When the translator told the teacher there were too many, she offered for me to use a room at the public school. I was hesitant because I was nervous about traveling there on my own. I said I wanted to see the school so it was arranged for Asan and me and the new translator to go look at the school after the competition was over.

The competition was a sort of debate. They practiced for a good 3 hours in this cramped room sitting on little stools while Asan explained the debate process. Then we left for lunch and the real competition would be in the afternoon. I witnessed some unpleasant events happen in the market place as we were looking for a place to eat and pretty much lost my appetite. The girls were very sweet, they saw me crying and were very concerned. I couldn't help it.
After lunch the debate started. It lasted 2+ hours. Our kids wouldn't have lasted 30 minutes and these worked on this for 5 hours, no complaining, no talking out of turn. Plus, school was out for the summer and it was a Saturday.
Afterwards we walked a short ways to the public school. I was expecting to just look at an empty classroom, but when we arrived we were ushered into the headmaster's office where we met her and a dozen other teachers. Even without speaking the language I could tell this was turning into a much bigger deal than anyone thought.

The headmaster said that if we were going to use her classroom she wanted more of her students involved in the class. So now I am teaching 38 students for 4 days next week at the public school with the teachers and headmaster in attendance. Not exactly what I had in mind. I'm a little stressed out!

There was a park with a waterfall nearby and we walked over to it before catching the san luan chue back home. Several kids were swimming, some sans-suit. There is a trail up the mountain next to the waterfall that leads to a pagoda looking gazebo that overlooks Tiandeng. I expect we'll go up there next week.

I decided to write Ron Jr. and tell him about the teaching situation next week in case this is not something he wants me to do. He said it was ok for me to do it, but it was way above and beyond what they brought me here to do and I was under no obligation and he could cancel the whole thing if I want him to. It's nice to know there's a knight in shining armor who can save me when I get in over my head, but I told him I would go tomorrow and see what happens. Without Asan here, my teaching abilities are greatly handicapped, so at least I could still be doing something productive. Ron called later to tell me that they had arranged for Ms.Xin to pick us up at the care center and take us to the school. Then she would be my interpreter. I was told to stick strictly to the English. It's funny. These people think I know what I'm doing. This is my first time to do something like this. All my students speak English. I'm feeling my way in the dark here. Say a prayer for me and I'll let you know how tomorrow goes.
Love to all,
Carole

More Tiendeng Tales
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:18:01 -0500

Hello again!,
I've managed four days without a translator and I'm doing quite well. Asan was supposed to be back Wednesday, but she didn't arrive until everyone had gone to bed. But the good news is her trip tomorrow has been postponed, so she isn't leaving again. I have a bad feeling it's been postponed because of me. She really didn't intend to leave me by myself with this teaching deal in Tiandeng, that's just how it all worked out. Several kind people have stepped up to help me out and I've been well taken care of. I seem to have gotten closer to the kids in spite of the lack of communication. We're pretty good at body language and hand signals.

The classes I've been teaching in town have been going smoothly, but not exactly how it was described to me. I was supposed to have the younger ones Monday and Thursday and the older ones Tuesday and Friday. On Tuesday the younger ones showed up again. I moved on with another lesson, but had planned to teach the first lesson again for the older ones. I tried to explain to the translator that I wanted to know what happened to the older children. I was afraid they misunderstood that we were splitting the class by age and just thought they were bumped off the list. Today the younger ones came again, but about 7 older ones joined in.

In an email from Ron he said to always expect the unexpected in China.

The military was there again Tuesday, this time with rifles, but thankfully no gunfire! When I finished talking to the translator and teacher after class Tuesday, I walked to the school gate where Lou and the kids were waiting for me. The soldiers were taking a rest under some trees in the courtyard. As I walked by I heard a chorus of "Good Morning!" from among the ranks. I had to laugh to myself. I waved and greeting them likewise.

Lou told the translator to ask me if I wanted to go back to the center and rest or if I wanted to go with him and the children to get some lunch and spend the afternoon in town. I said I wanted to go with Lou and the kids. He was pleased. As we left the school to walk to the market area Lou took my backpack off my back without saying a word and carried it for me the rest of the day. I was so grateful. It was full of my teaching supplies and heavy. I felt badly for him, though, because it turned out to be a long day.

The first stop was at a supermarket where evidently we were getting snacks. The children were each putting their choices into the cart. I recognized some crackers, so I picked those and a bottle of COLD purified water from the cooler. The girls saw me swoon over a package of chocolate and strawberry cookies and they insisted I get those, too. I tried to pay for my own things, but Lou wouldn't have it.
After the market we went to eat lunch. We stopped at the same little shop where we ate on Saturday. After lunch we took the boys for haircuts at a nearby barber shop. They needed it. I took "before and after" pictures of each one. It was the first time in two weeks I had seen myself in a mirror bigger than a 2 inch pocket mirror......I was horrified. I have reached an all time low in bad hair days. This heat and humidity and riding in open air vehicles through clouds of dust and smoke has my hair a curly mess. I tried to straighten it up a bit, but it was futile.
While we were at the barber shop a young man and girl came in and sat beside me and said hello. I recognized the girl as a friend of the librarian's who was trying to learn English. She had brought the young man to find me because he wanted to practice English with me. His American name is Kevin Lee. He stayed with us the rest of the day. Before long he had input my email address into his phone, I have a new pen pal.
We walked to the park I mentioned a few days ago and we climbed the mountain to the pagoda at the top. There was a stone stairway that wound its way up the mountain. I counted 400 stairs to the top. A few of the stairs were normal, but most had a much higher rise and some were as tall as my knees. It was hot and I was completely exhausted when we reached the top. After I was sure I still had a pulse, I looked around and took more pictures. It was a beautiful view. When we got back to the bottom we sat by the little waterfall and swimming hole and ate the snacks we had bought.
Then we ran an errand. Lou needed to move everything out of that storage apartment I went to with Asan. So up 4 flights of stairs we went. Kevin came too. Everybody carried something downstairs, but every bag or item I picked up Kevin took out of my hands and said he would carry it, I was to carry nothing and just rest. Either he's extremely chivalrous or I looked like I was about to pass out. He came all the way back to the care center with us. He was very proud to play Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey songs over his phone for me. When we got back I went to my room and collapsed. It was 4:30.
That night 4 of the girls went swimming in the viaduct (or is that aqueduct? anyway the cement waterway thing that runs through the courtyard and comes from who knows where). I sat and watched and laughed with them. They begged me to come swim with them, but I respectfully declined - doctor's orders. I was warned not to stand in the water, much less swim in it.

I have a blister on my hand from playing badminton with the new cleaning lady.

I taught 23 in class today. Among other things we learned left and right and major body parts so, naturally, we had to do the hokey-pokey. I took them outside and showed them a simplified version of the old standard and they laughed, but they joined me. One older girl who knows some English came up to me laughing and said, "You are crazy!" Asan said teachers don't act silly with the kids here, but they like it. When class was over Mrs. Xin's husband picked me up in a different car. So far every time I've seen him he's been in a different car. They get better every time. (I'm looking forward to tomorrow!) Today it was a new Volkswagon Passat with working a/c and - BONUS - seat belts! I got the front seat this time so it was a glorious ride back to the center, over much too soon.

Funny things people have said to me:
A man walked up to me as I was waiting with the children and Kevin for a ride back to the care center and this was our conversation:
He: Hello. May I help you?
Me: Hello. No, thanks. I'm just waiting here with my friends.
He: Hello. May I help you?
Me: No, thank you. I'm ok.
He: Hello. May I help you?
Me: No, I'm fine thanks. (I was running out of answers)
Realizing I was not a great conversationalist, he finally gave up and walked off.

I passed a man in town and he said enthusiastically, "Auf Wiedersehen!" Now, I am actually half German, but I had no idea it was so obvious.

After having just seen myself in a real mirror for the first time in 2 weeks, Kevin came in the barber shop to converse with me, as I mentioned earlier. After awhile he said, "You look very nice". I thanked him, but I had to laugh. His English skills need a little fine tuning. What he really meant to say was, "You look like Harpo Marx."

Love to all,
Carole