Chinese Food

Do you know what they call Chinese food in China?  Food.  Yup, that’s right, in some parts of the world it is just food.  Delicious food, by the way.  I was always skeptical about Chinese restaurants and Chinese food in the USA, mostly because any Chinese food I have ever eaten in the States is a far cry from what I grew to love in China.  There is so much variety in Chinese food, so many distinct cuisines under the giant umbrella we just classify as Chinese food.  Most of which American’s have never heard of.  Americanized chow mein, beef and broccoli, and orange chicken were not items I ate in China. Last night, however, I discovered there is good food (of the Chinese variety) in the Portland, OR metropolitan area.

I have about six days left in Oregon before I head out on my new adventure (to Nashville, TN – check out my new blog) and I had been trying to figure out where to stay for my last few nights in town.  My dad mentioned that he had some friends from Southern Oregon who had a condo in Beaverton and they would be willing to let me stay.  Awesome.  Turns out it is an older couple, my dad sings in the Rogue Valley Chorale with the woman who is American and her husband is Chinese.  They were going to be in town over the weekend, as was my dad, so it was arranged that we would all meet up at their place on Sunday and we would all go out to Chinese food!

I have to say, not only am I incredibly thankful for their generosity in letting me use the condo for a week.  But they were also a lot of fun to get to know.  Gene is a 77 year old man from China, who came to the US sometime after college.  Now, for those of you who know ANYTHING about Chinese history, stop and think about what this man lived through growing up in China in the 1930′s-1950′s.  He has some stories to tell, to say the least.  He also is one of the most energetic, talkative and lively 77 year olds I have ever met.  He was quite a riot.  When we first came in and sat down, he tossed me a newspaper in Chinese and said, “Let’s test her Chinese!”

Anyways… this was supposed to be about food.  They took us to this place called Taste of Sichuan (Sichuan is only my favorite of Chinese cuisines). I had never heard of it and when we pulled up I knew it was new because the building housed a Marie Calendars when I moved away in 2011.  We go inside to a crowd of people waiting to be seated, and luckily they tell us it will only be about 15 minutes.  I sit down in front of the board with some of their specials written on it and see 小笼包 xiaolongbao or steamed dumplings. My first thought is “YUMMY!”  My second thought is “$7.95!?!? I would never pay that much for xiaolongbao!”

We are seated, ordered the xiaolongbao right away as a starter and looked at the menu.  Oh there are so many delightful things it is hard to chose!  But no pictures?  In China, your menu is normally a fat book filled with 15-50 pages of pictures of every single dish.  Of course, when you can’t speak Chinese this is helpful to see what looks good.  But also, the Chinglish translations (although entertaining) leave a lot to be desired.  (Like the time I ordered delicious pork spareribs that were described as octopus in English… hmmm.) Fortunately, in the States the English was more accurate.  However, I did have to ask Gene about some of the characters because I knew the Chinese names for dishes and not the English names.

I opted out of the Tsingdao beer when I learned they had good microbrews to offer as well, so I went Oregonian and ordered a Widmer hef.  Funny thing, I was a little put off about it at the time, but after awhile I realized in China it wouldn’t have been a big deal.  You see, in many non-western establishments in China it is a safe bet to ask for a COLD beer, as they often serve it in bottles at room temperature.  This wasn’t really on my mind when the waitress came out handed me a beer and a glass of ice.  She said, “I brought you ice because we ran out of cold bottles of the beer.”  Indeed my bottle of hefeweizen was room temperature.  In my moment of cultural insensitivity, I was obviously not thrilled with the prospect of pouring my beer over ice and she offered me a different one – Ninkasi IPA to go with my Chinese food.

After choosing items from the menu, with lots of discussion and debate.  I think I shocked the waiter when I did all the ordering for the table – in Chinese.  Okay, so it was broken Chinese and Gene had to help me out with a couple of them, but I did it.  茄子，回锅肉，宫保鸡丁(eggplant in hot garlic sauce, twice cooked pork, Kung Pao chicken) and one more.

Four tell-tale signs that we were in America: there were forks on the table and we had to ask for chopsticks.  The rice came out with the dishes (not last).  Most of the dishes came out at the same time.  And we got a fortune cookie at the end of the meal.  Newsflash America: you don’t get fortune cookies in China. My fortune was pretty good though: You will have a fine capacity for the enjoyment of life.  They know me so well.

Oh…it was delicious.  A bit spicy, as good Sichuan food should be.  But they were all the tastes and smells I have been living without for the past two months being back in the States.  For dessert (which none of us really had room for) we had 芝麻汤圆 or sesame sticky rice balls.

Good food, good company and conversations about China with a little Chinese thrown in… it made me want to go back.  But for now, I might just have to make do with leftovers.

I am a Slingshot

I discovered a few days ago that I am a human slingshot.  Just go with me for a minute, okay?

When I was nine years old, my family moved from Vermont to Hungary, where my mom taught English for a year.  When we return to the States, after a short stop in Vermont, we drove across the country and moved to Oregon.  Where I have spent the majority of my days.

Now, fast forward almost TWENTY years, I just got back from 14 months of teaching English in China.  After a couple month stay at home in Oregon, I am driving across the country to move to Nashville, TN.  Yes, that is correct I am moving to the southeast United States.  Once again, uprooting myself, taking on a new city where I don’t know (hardly) anyone and continuing this adventure we like to call life.  At least they speak English in Nashville – I just need to work on my drawl.

What does this have to do with a slingshot?  Visualize it for a second… I was in Vermont – then was pulled back, across the Atlantic Ocean to Hungary – after a year, I was flung back across the ocean, past where I started, to the opposite coast of the USA.

This time, I was pulled the other way… the human slingshot stretched me back across the Pacific Ocean to Shanghai, China and I’m continuing to be hurled across the country again, until I land and settle in Tennessee.

A human slingshot.  So… if I ever decide to make my way back to living on the West Coast (which I would love to do sometime because I still don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to live in the glorious Pacific Northwest), I might just have to spend a year in Africa or something first.

This all being said… people keep asking if I’m going to continue blogging.  Well, about what?  Life in America surrounded by a bunch of Americans just isn’t as entertaining, challenging, exciting and blog-worthy as living in Shanghai.  On the other hand… I’m moving to Tennessee, I’m a Pacific NW girl, who just spent how long in Asia?  Yea, Tennessee might present me with some culture shock.   That and I just enjoy writing and having an avenue to ramble on about things for longer than the typical Facebook status message.

I cannot, however, write about life in Nashville on a blog named “Life in China” which is why I am here to announce I am starting a new blog… Life in Crazy Town that is juliakeepswriting.wordpress.com.  So please subscribe to my new blog, and continue following my life’s adventures post China.

Thoughts upon returning…

Have I really been back in the States for over 3 weeks?  My how time flies.  Culture shock is to be expected when you leave your homeland and travel abroad; yet, culture shock also works in reverse. After spending a significant amount of time in a culture different than your own, you return and are shocked at how strange things seem; things that are oh-so-familiar just seem odd.

Here are a few of the thoughts that have crossed my mind in the last weeks of being home.

Wow.  There are SO MANY white people here!  And the words ‘so many’ are relative to other ethnicities because really there is hardly anyone here.

It is empty… the airports are empty, the streets are empty, the stores are empty.

Portland is SO quiet, peaceful, clean! The air smells so good! I’m so overwhelmed!

Shhh… you hear that?  NOTHING, oh wait, there is a bird… silence is amazing.

Everyone is so friendly!

There are so many conversations to eavesdrop on… Everyone is speaking English!  I can understand it all!

Where are all the Chinese characters?

Portland (which until 2011 was the biggest city I had ever lived in) is so SMALL & cute!  Look at those quaint little buildings downtown that think they are skyscrapers… how adorable.

Clouds are so cool.  I could spend hours staring at the clouds.  They are all different types, shapes, sizes, colors… they are magnificent and beautiful.  Some bring rain, some don’t… Some are wispy, white and whimsically float through the air.  Some are big, billowing, beastly and loom over the valleys.  In China, it was often cloudy… or just smoggy, but I realized I never really saw the clouds.  In Shanghai, you get one type of cloud – the monotone, all encompassing, sheet of gray – with a hint of brown.  There is no variation, no beauty, no personality in the clouds.  But here… oh, clouds are mind bogglingly fascinating.

Can’t I just swipe my Shanghai subway card? (When looking for cash to pay for a public bus ride in Portland. Fact, a ride on the bus in Portland is about the same as the starting fare for a taxi in Shanghai.)

The freedom to drive and the open road – LOVE IT!

Wow, us Americans spend a LOT of time in the car.

People are fat.

Does everyone in America always wear that much make-up?

Holy crap this place is expensive! (When I find myself converting everything back to RMB in my mind.)

Seeing Asian babies and children makes me happy… like, an “I feel at home” sort of happy.

Was I really in China for over a year?  Was that just a dream?

I hate small talk.  Small talk after returning from Asia sucks.

“Oh wow, you were in CHINA?  For HOW LONG?”

“Yup, 14 months.”

“Wow! How was CHINA?”

Seriously?  How does one respond to that?  We have 30 seconds for small talk and you want to know how China was?  Here’s an idea… read my 96 blog posts.  Then ask me a better question.

Bubble tea in Portland sucks.  I want to go back.

You say “Chinese food” but I don’t think you mean Chinese food… at every Chinese restaurant I go by… I know they are only there to disappoint me, so I don’t bother going in.

You are 3-D? (My response to seeing my boyfriend after 4 months of video-chatting online and not seeing each other in person.)

I’m BORED… Unemployment is no fun.

I watched more TV in 3 days than I did in the past year.

Grocery stores – AWESOME.  They are huge, they have so-so-sooo much selection.  They are neat, they are organized, they have so many familiar things.  It is sort of like heaven… but a grocery store.

Smile, say thank you.  Cashiers at grocery stores and other places here don’t just glare at you or completely ignore you, so you can be nice back.

What?  My ID?  Why do you want to see my ID?  Oh yea… we control who buys alcoholic beverages in this country.

Public restrooms – they have toilet paper, they have soap, many have paper towels, they don’t smell all that bad… and I even dare to sit on the seat occasionally.  Seriously, a girl could get used to this!

AHHH, I’m gonna die!  Oh wait, people STOP for pedestrians here.  Random… I mean, I know I do have the right of way, but you actually stopped for me?!?

Don’t run into people, don’t run into people… I know they are in your way, but you are in America, you need to be nice.  You can’t just bump people out of your way here.  Be polite, Julia.

Darnit… we have to tip.  The no tipping custom in China is an easy one to get used to.

Yes, I’m home.  Home in a place that sometimes seems so foreign, but only because something truly foreign became such a home.  It’s definitely an adventure, whether you are coming or going.

In Transit

I’m sitting in the Vancouver, BC airport.  It is 6:22am, Tuesday in Shanghai, and 3:22pm, Monday in Vancouver.

I woke up over 22 hours ago, stressing, worked up, anxious.  Got everything packed and ready to go.  Had an amazing lunch with a couple good friends and then had a lovely, relaxing, just what I needed, 60 minute massage, before leaving for the airport. (I think I need another one post flight!)

My flight was good, despite only getting about an hour of broken-up, interrupted, uncomfortable sleep, the 10.5 hours went by fairly quickly.

As my plane took off from Shanghai, I was full of emotions.  A mix of emotions.  A season of my life is ending, my life in China.  It was an amazing adventure, an unforgettable 14 months.  I enjoyed life to the fullest, I made connections and friends that I will never forget, I saw so much, learned so much, grew so much.  I’m sad to leave it behind, but I’m excited for the new adventures awaiting me.  I’m anxious to see what is next, where life will take me, all of the new things that are in store.

I felt it was appropriate to update the world on my life from the Vancouver Airport, I do have a history of blogging from this airport.  Normally, it is on my way TO China though, and I’m much more awake and coherent.  One year, two months and nine days ago, I sat in the Vancouver airport awaiting a flight to Hong Kong before my China adventure began, I had just learned of my grandfather’s passing minutes before getting on the plane from Portland to Vancouver and I wrote: Saying Goodbye.  Eight months and nine days ago was the last time I was in North America, as I awaited my flight out of Vancouver, I reminisced on the beauty of my sister’s wedding and my quick two weeks at home in And I’m Out.

Transitions… that is what airports are all about, right?  We think we just transfer from country to country, city to city, gate to gate, plane to plane, but really, we are transferring, transitioning from one journey to the next, one adventure to another. As one chapter of our lives ends another begins, and we find ourselves flying in a new direction, looking towards the horizon, wondering what awaits.

Just don’t forget, there may be long layovers, there may be delays (like my flight outta here), sometimes you may lose your luggage (or your mind) but enjoy the journey – cause sometimes it isn’t all about the destination.

Shanghai Aquarium

I'll miss you, May!

I don’t really get to spend much time with my good friend May anymore; however, I wanted the chance to hang out before going back to the States.  On Thursday, May was sweet enough to take a day of work so we could hang out.  We talked about doing a day trip somewhere, but decided instead to stay in Shanghai and check out the Shanghai Aquarium.  (This ended up being the perfect plan, because sandwiched between a blue sky, beautiful Wednesday and a warm & dry Friday, we had a rainy miserable Thursday – being inside was a good thing.)

Dark, cloudy and rainy!

The Shanghai Aquarium is right next to the Oriental Pearl Tower in Pudong. As we were walking by the tower, I realized in my time in Shanghai, I have only been over to the area near the tower about four times.  Every time, it happened to be wet, cloudy and miserable.  So this is how the tower has always looked to me when ever I have seen it up close and personal.  (I have yet to actually bother going inside.)

We arrived at the aquarium, bought our tickets (160 rmb/adult) and noticed that we were just in time for the shark feeding on the feeding schedule! Yippee!  We asked where the shark tank was and learned about the one downfall of the aquarium – one way traffic.  You start out on the third floor of the aquarium and work your way down and through the three levels of exhibits – once you pass through you can’t go back.  The shark tank, of course, was at the end.  So we weren’t able to watch them feed the sharks but it was still a great trip to the aquarium.

This is a sea apple.

There was a special exhibit of dangerous sea animals, lots of funky looking poisonous fish, electric eels, sea urchins and little shell fish that you would never imagine had venom in them capable of killing hundreds of humans.

No offense, but you are sort of ugly....

Funny lookin' poisonous fish

There was an alligator (or crocodile, I don’t really know the difference) that was laying there SO still, I swore he was dead.  He had obviously been laying there for awhile because someone had thrown a coin on him and it was laying on his back.  May said he was definitely alive… I had my doubts.

Can you see the silver coin on his back?

One of my favorite parts was the jellyfish section, huge tanks full of beautiful jellyfish of all different sizes and colors.  They are such fascinating looking creatures, floating about, gliding effortlessly through the water.  One of the huge tanks of hundreds of clear/white colored jellyfish was illuminated by lights that changed colors, making the entire tank and jellyfish look like they were changing colors.

Gorgeous and colorful!

May gazing at the jellyfish.

jellyfish

In the SOS (save our sharks) exhibit, there were graphic images of the brutalities sharks face as they are hunted for shark fin soup, a delicacy in Asian countries.  There was also one of the most fascinating things I have ever seen, live fertilized, developing shark eggs.  Okay, so maybe eggs aren’t the most fascinating thing ever… but this certain type of shark actually develops and hatches from an egg.  The aquarium had eggs at their different developmental stages on display with light shining through them so you could actually SEE what was going on inside the egg.  In the first several stages, there was still a yolk inside the egg with the little teeny shark embryo.  The eggs from 41-50 days old were the best I thought, because you could see the yolk, and then around the yolk you could see a little teeny baby shark swimming around inside the egg.  I was fascinated!  In the later stages of development, you could see the little shark (and if definitely looked like the body of a little shark) just cramped up inside the egg ready to be freed into the world.  Awesome.

That is a shark swimming around a yolk in an egg. Fascinating.

My other favorite section was the “World Longest Underwater Viewing Tunnel at 155m” as the sign said.  The tunnel is broken up into sections and different sections feature different types of fish and sea life.  An area with huge schools of fish swimming super fast in circles around you, an area with a coral reef and lots of small colorful fish, and of course the best part, the huge sharks, giant sea turtles and graceful stingrays.  Have you ever been in a glass tunnel with a shark swimming above your head, so close you could touch it, or with a huge sea turtle (that probably weighed way more than me) swimming straight at you?  It is pretty amazing.  Unfortunately, with my fussy, broken camera and the fast swimming animals, my attempts to photograph the experience didn’t work so well.

Schools of fish swimming all around me!

So it isn't the best picture... but he is lookin' straight at me. If it weren't for the glass above my head, I may have been lunch!

I did spend a long time in that tunnel, just in awe of the beautiful, stunning, creatures of the sea.  I had heard good things about the Shanghai Aquarium and I am really glad I took the opportunity to check it out.  It is well laid out, everything is in English as well as Chinese, the displays and amount of animals you get to see are quite impressive.  I would absolutely recommend it if you are hanging out in Shanghai on a rainy day and need a good indoor activity.

What a cute little lizard!

After the aquarium, May and I headed to the Super Brand Mall where we feasted on delicious dim sum at Bi Feng Tang for lunch.

14 days of 14 months

In 14 days I will be leaving China, just 14 months after arriving in Shanghai. Bittersweet. It is hard to believe that it was fourteen months ago that I wrote about the bittersweet day I left the Casey Eye Institute in my post Here we go: 2011. In some ways, it feels like it was a lifetime ago, in other ways, it feels like only yesterday I began this adventure. Yesterday, was my last day of teaching at Kid Castle. No more of all the crazy little kids.  All the times I couldn’t stand them, they drove me crazy, they drove me to tears.  All the times I came to the realization that my sister is absolutely insane for choosing to be a teacher as a lifetime career and that I could never cut it!  (Love you sis – insane but I am eternally grateful for you and other people who have a passion to teach children.)

All the ups and downs of teaching.  The spoiled children, the crying, the yelling, the playing and not paying attention, the dear child that vomited all over the floor of my classroom on Wednesday, the parents that drove me mad, my lack of creativity that sometimes made me feel incapable of planning a lesson to hold the attention of 18-20 small children.

But there were the hugs, the sweet words, the children that GOT it and were so bright and amaze me everyday with their abilities to learn English. There were the screams of JULIA! JULIA! JULIA! when my students saw me.  The high fives, the laughter, the amazing bonding and friendships built with my co-workers.

This week it came to an end.  This week, I saw the emotion in the faces of my children.  I saw tears from a class-clown, the funny boy, the tough boy, the little bit naughty, but very smart so I loved him anyway boy, he drove me up the wall… but I really liked having him in class.  As I said goodbye, his eyes filled with tears, he was quiet, not yelling and shouting, not acting out… he was silent tearful and sad because I was leaving.

My little student, Michael, who hangs on me, never letting go.  Always coming into the office to sit with me, giving me the biggest hugs each time he sees me. At six years old, he told me (in Chinese), that he was going to study English really hard so that he can come to America and visit me.

I had some of my older students asking me for my phone number in America, since I don’t know what my number will be and I don’t think they would actually be calling, I wrote down my email address on the board for them instead.  My students scrambled to jot down my email address, as my co-worker and I stood there saying to each other that we didn’t think any of them would actually ever write.  Thirty minutes after getting home last night, I received this email:

Julia,I like you.Don’t go away.
Jieli
2012/3/4

My students may have driven me crazy.  But they love me, and for the most part, I love them back.  My coworkers surprised me with a wonderful going away present and almost brought me to tears with the messages they all wrote for me.  They have made me feel so welcome, they have helped me out so much, they were such a part of my life for just over a year and they definitely sent me off feeling the love.

I have a feeling there will be more bittersweet days to come in the next two weeks, as I move on in life, from one adventure to another…

In my window

Other than my bed, there is probably one place where I have spent more time than any other single place in the past 13 months.  My very favorite spot in Shanghai, my favorite spot in my apartment, is sitting on the wide window sill of my bedroom window.  Made comfortable with blankets and pillows from Ikea, the small desk with my laptop next to me, or sitting with my laptop on my lap.  On the 28th floor, looking at the Shanghai skyline, lit up in gorgeous colors on clear nights, looking down the river to Nanpu Bridge, or sometimes just looking at smog.  I could check to see when people were walking up towards my apartment if I gave them directions from the subway stop, I can look down and see if my fruit guy is selling fruit from the back of his van.

The apartment gate, my fruit guy and a man selling DVD's, my typical view

I watched lightening storms here, I spent hours on skype with family and friends here, I wrote almost all of my blogs sitting here, I watched fireworks on Chinese New Year here, I watched giant snowflakes floating through the air here, I watched the progress of the (soon to be) second tallest building in the world being built here. I cried here, I watched movies and TV on my laptop here, I read here, I drank my morning coffee and ate dinner here.  It is my little spot. I love my little spot.

Snowing in Shanghai, watching giant snowflakes from my window

Today, I sit in my little spot for the last time.  I look out over the Shanghai on a cloudy day for the last time.  I close my eyes and envision the lights for the last time.  I look down and see my fruit guy for the last time.  I see taxis, buses, cars, bikes, scooters and people on the main road just half a block away for the last time.  Today I’m leaving my apartment, my wonderful roommate, and my sweet kitten.

My last day view...

In 45 minutes, I have to be at work.  When I come home I’m grabbing my stuff and heading to a friends house.  I will be bouncing from house to house for the next 19 days until I leave China. I’m moving back to the States, my Life in China is, for now at least, coming to an end.

Cloudy and smoggy, but always pretty...

When I think back, I have many memories, may adventures, many stories.  But honestly, it is this spot right here, sitting in my window, looking out over the 26 million people in my city of Shanghai, where I spent so much of my time.  It is such a perfect spot.  I will miss it.

My spot

India: Animals

India is a different world.  I was told that before I left, and after being there I certainly believe it.  One of the characteristics of India that makes it unlike any other place I have ever visited, the animals. Yes, you are correct, there are animals everywhere; and none of the animals I saw in India are specific to or unique of India.  However, in most of my experiences, animals don’t just wander the streets in the middle of cities, or towns.  There are dogs on the streets in Thailand, Mexico and many other places, we have street cats in China, and I’m sure in villages in much of the third world farm animals are more prevalent than I am accustom.  But I was blown away by the abundance of animals roaming around India.

In India, walk down any street and there are animals, all sorts of animals, and they are everywhere.  Hinduism – which is prevalent in India – says that cows are sacred which means they aren’t killed, they aren’t eaten for beef and they pretty much are free to roam and live as they please.  Walking down the street nearby our hotel we ran in to many cows.  I will never forget how odd it was to be approached by a calf in the middle of the street.

No fear in this cow, as she walked right up to me!

Yet, cows aren’t the only ones roaming around.  There are goats and sheep in front yards, store fronts filled with cages upon cages of chickens, water buffalo pulling loads down the street, and even a horse pulling a cart in the middle of the city of Bangalore – right down the middle of a busy, popular shopping street.

Nothing out of the ordinary here, for India...

I watched a women using her entire weight, pulling on a calf trying to get it to move.  I watched a man walking a goat on a rope down the road.  While sitting in house church services in villages, the sounds of sheep and goats outside the door were common.  In fact, one evening, someone had to get up and shoo away the couple of sheep that were attempting to walk in the wide open front door and join our service.  Just another day in the life when you are living in India, I guess.

Boy and goat

While the orphanage and the church both owned dogs, most dogs seemed to be strays, eating trash and looking pretty grungy.  I used my foot move a teeny, filthy puppy out of the middle of the road one day.  It was just laying there half asleep, and I watched it almost get run over twice in about a two minute time frame.

Scroungin' for lunch

This guy's not roaming far....

I even, by a stroke of luck, managed to spot a bright green parrot-looking bird chilling in a palm tree one day.  Unfortunately, it was too far away to get a good shot of on my camera.  I heard it’s cry, turned and looked in the precise direction, at exactly the right moment to spot it’s bright green feathers amongst the darker green palm leaves while we were walking down the street.

India: Faces

I have been home from India for four days and I have yet to post.  Honestly, I’m a bit overwhelmed by thinking about what to even say about India.  It was an amazing trip, it was spiritual, moving, uplifting, eye-opening, and, surprisingly, even relaxing.  I have been really stressed and confused in life the past couple months, but after a minor break down at the beginning of the trip, I was given this peace, a stillness in my mind, in my heart that allowed me to just BE.  It allowed me to be present in India, to relax and take in the moments.

Taking in the beauty! On the road leaving the orphanage. Not a bad shot considering it was taken while reaching my camera around someone else to take a snap out the window of a moving vehicle!

There was a bit of a cultural adjustment while we were there, the eight American adults all with a love and a drive to go-go-go were not always keen on the relaxed, we will get there when we get there, I know we said 4pm, but it will probably be more like 6pm or maybe 7pm culture.  There was a lot of waiting, a lot of sitting around being served tea and coffee when we wanted to go DO SOMETHING.  But through it all, I was relaxed, I was less impatient than I think I have ever been in my life (okay, with one or two exceptions).  I was soaking up being there!  And soaking up a bit of the sunshine.  I was enjoying the company I was in, conversations, laughs, and just getting to know the group I was traveling with.

India is full of color.

From the first day, one of the things I loved about India was the people.  Not only are they amazingly friendly, hospitable and kind, but they are beautiful.  The dark skin, dark big eyes and brightly colored clothing make them incredibly photogenic.  But it goes deeper, their lives are written on their faces.  The hard lives they live, their stories, their struggles and their burdens.  They appear older than they are, even the children sometimes look like they have so much history, so much experience and maturity but they are stuck in a child’s frame.  They are full of character, of life, of stories and of beauty.  I was in awe of the radiance I saw in each face, I longed to take a picture of every person just to capture the unique features, wrinkles, colors, and emotions distinctive to each individual.

I would love to hear all the stories behind their faces.

It wasn’t always appropriate to take a picture and sometimes I didn’t when I wished I could have.  But luckily the children were always more than willing to have their photo’s taken, at the orphanage they would beg and beg, pleading with me to take just one more shot!  With a lot of my people pictures I made a quick video to share. I have uploaded this video to Facebook, but you can access it from the link below. Please check it out to see some of the beautiful people I met in India.

http://www.facebook.com/v/2633274466538

Boys at the orphanage

A typical scene: sheep, a child and mom in front of their house.

Going to India

There are many things I want to do in 2012, one of which is to travel and see more of the world.  Of course this is always one of my dreams, one of my goals, one of my desires.  There isn’t a place in the world where I wouldn’t like to visit at least once.  In the past few months, I’ve been looking forward to the Chinese New Year because I knew I would have time of work and I wanted to take the chance to see another part of the world.  I considered taking a trip to Vietnam or Thailand, both places I really would love to see. But time flew by, I hadn’t made any plans or organized anything and I wasn’t quite sure what would be going on with my work situation or my finances.

Last month, I learned of opportunity to travel in a different way and see a completely different part of the world.  A place I really don’t know much about, but as always, any new place is a place I’m willing to go.  Somewhere where I can guarantee the sights, sounds, smells and tastes will be different from anything I’ve ever experienced.  Not necessarily to see a tourist area, not a tourism trip.  But an opportunity to see the true lives of the people, experience the true feel of the country, and a chance to serve.

I learned a couple who attend my church, and also run a non-profit organization that serves underprivileged around the world, were organizing a trip to Bangalore, India over Chinese New Year.  Travel with purpose and see some place new, that is all I needed to know, I was sold.  There were some logistical issues that needed to be resolved before I committed to the trip, but everything, amazingly, fell into place and I am leaving on Saturday for 8 days in Bangalore, India.

I decided to blog before leaving on my trip, to give you a little background information on where I’m going and what I will be doing.  Then you can anxiously sit and wait for my return to hear more and see pictures.

Honestly, we don’t really have set plans when we are down there.  The people I’m going with have many contacts in Bangalore and the surrounding areas.  We will be working while we are down there in what ever areas we are needed, but we aren’t exactly sure until we show up and they put us to work what we will be doing.  There is an orphanage where we will be visiting and serving, Lara, who is organizing the trip, has a medical background and has often provided medical care on her trips down there.  The people we will be visiting with and helping out, it whatever areas they need, are mostly Dalits in villages around the city of Bangalore. As you may know, India has a caste system. Dalits are the lowest caste in India.  They are the “untouchables”, the poorest of the poor.

Bangalore (or Bengaluru) is the capital of the state of Karnataka, which is in the southern part of India.  With a population of about 8.5 million people, it is the 3rd most populous city in India. The average high temperatures in January are 80-85 Fahrenheit or 27-29 Celsius.  The lows are around 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 16 degrees Celsius.

From what I hear, India should be it’s own continent.  Everyone I know who has been there says it is completely unlike any other place on earth.  I have been told that coming back to Shanghai is a relief because everyone is so civilized and the traffic is so calm, and there are actually traffic laws which people follow.  I hear that I will be throwing away the shoes I wear while I’m there because the streets are so vile and disgusting that my shoes will be destroyed and no amount of cleaning will make me want to wear them again.

So… really I don’t know what my trip has in store for me.  I’m relying on the knowledge, connections and organization of others.  I’m going without expectations and with my only plan is to not have a plan.   Keep me and the group I’m going with in your thoughts and prayers.  It should be an exciting journey,  and I will share in detail my experiences when I return.

Below is a piece from Gathering Together‘s website about the India trip:

In the villages just outside the city of Bangalore (in the state of Karnataka), GT partners with locals to support Faith Baptist Children’s Home (FBCH), where many orphans are taken care of. Through the generous donations of our supporters, we have been able to start a vaccination program, help dig a well to provide clean water, purchase shoes for the children, and then return to give booster shots. During the service trip in September, 2009, we were also able to vaccinate the children in 3 villages and build relationships with the village leaders in order to return in June and do some more health education projects. Bangalore Baptist Hospital (BBH) also followed up on testing some villagers with symptoms of TB. BBH then registered the people with TB for the government program that provides free TB medication. There were also 2 groups of teachers sent and partially supported by GT that trained over 200 locals in the surrounding area.

This area is very impoverished and people lack the very basic necessites of life. Also, many of the people we are helping here are in the lower castes or are dalits (untouchable caste), so there is very little opportunity to improve their circumstances on their own. GT’s focus is to find sustainable ways to help people so that they can then help others. One way we are doing this is to help some of the children at the orphanage and villages obtain a higher education. Through our medical assistance we hope to improve the health of the next generation so they are able to better support their families and be educated on how to maintain their own health. This also helps families by reducing the need to spend as much money on the care for sick children and other family members.