..Peace Corps & Poverty..

Today is the 2 month mark from when I arrived in China. I can't believe how quickly it has gone, and at the same point, how it feels like we have been settled to a lifestyle here for awhile. I love it. I am so glad that I have gotten the opportunity to come to China and experience and take part in such a different, unique and enticing culture. I am 1/3 of the way through this adventure, and, it just seems like the rest of the time is going to go by far too quickly!

A few days before I left for China, I submitted my Peace Corps application. Earlier this week, I had a phone interview with a Peace Corps Rep, and it went really well. He said that we will start to discuss placement positions, positions which could start as early as October of this year to March of 2010...However, recently, I have been really considering and researching staying in China for another year after I finish this internship. It seems, that it would be useful to stay in China and continue to study the language and get to know the culture...rather than studying Chinese and living here for 6 months and then just leaving, and in a sense, leaving all I have learned behind. All that to be said, even though making decisions is hard, I am glad to have the opportunity and don't yet have to make a final decision or worry about that.

Last night, Shaun and I did a poverty simulation for one of our culture classes. We divided up the students into different continent groups and gave them food (candy) and money (the Chinese equivalent to 10c pieces). The population, food, and money of each continent was representative to how it is in the world. The students could then trade food and money, but of course, at a cost. The purpose of the exercise was to show the reality of the world, that not everyone has enough food or money for basic necessities in some continents, where in others, there is a surplus of both...and to transfer those resources, there are costs for our inefficiencies. The exercise went a lot better than we had expected, and even though the students were less interested in the reality of the situation, they all participated in trying to get enough food for each person on their continent.

With all of the events this week, I am learning, and realizing again, how much I miss working towards fighting poverty. I didn't think I would say this quite this soon, but I miss those classroom discussions where we would talk about economic differences that help/harm poverty, I miss reading about it, talking about it, and most of all, I am realizing again how this is what I get really passionate and excited about.

What to say?

A good friend of mine, Christine, told me last night that it was time to post another blog entry...I don't really have much to say though - but she said that it was time to post regardless.

This last weekend was really relaxing. Thanks to the parents for sending seasoning packets, on Friday night we had a big Mexican fiesta with all of the interns and a few friends. Mexican food is pretty much non-existent here, so it was really fun to make fajitas with everyone and just hang out. The rest of the weekend we just hung out, relaxed, watched The Office and spent time at home. One afternoon we did go explore Jong Jia (Middle Street), which is on a different part of the city, and is a pedestrian mall with lots of little shops, a big amusement park and is also where the Imperial Palace is. We didn't have enough time to go to the Palace, but it was nice to just walk around and look at things.

That's pretty much it from here. Hope you guys are all doing well.

M

More pictures..

Here is a link to pictures I just posted on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2434801&l=7edc1&id=10003281

Will write more soon!

Emotion...

I have stared at the computer screen for the last few minutes trying to figure out how to say what I want to say…and it’s proving to be difficult. The weekend was definitely fun, but I am tired. And, it seems, that regardless of how much sleep I get, I am still tired. I feel like the cold is starting to wear on me, I am more than ready for consistently above freezing temperatures. I am getting kind of tired of people yelling “HELLO” at the top of their lungs once they realize I am white. The dirt, black snow, and smog are becoming grossly normal. Chores, commuting to school, going to the market, the whole bit, far longer to complete here than at home due to language barriers, a city of seven million, and probably a variety of other reasons. But, this is China, and even though the daily grind of life here has been draining this last week, this is the life and culture that I am loving more and more.

I hesitated to write that I feel tired at parts of the culture and, mostly, just the cold weather. But, if I don’t share the emotion of this experience, then really, what good is this blog? I hope it doesn’t come across as upset, or depressing, or anything of that sort, rather just what gets processed through and filtered out before you find the originality, creativity and sheer beauty of a culture different than your own. I am loving it here, genuinely.


Even though this last week has been a bit tiring, we are transitioning from being tourists to living here, the newness of all of it has worn off, and it is now home.






This weekend my roommate, Lindsey, and I were able to spend an afternoon with a student, Tina, and her family. Her parents taught us how to make chuing bing. It is a traditional Chinese dish (my favorite here so far!) that is a crepe/tortilla like bread that you fill with a variety of dishes, most popularly pork and potatoes. Her mom taught us how to make the pancake, and then her dad taught us how to make the pork, among other things. Tina’s aunt and uncle came over for lunch, we found out later that it was the first time they had ever had foreigners over to their house! When we ate the table was full of homemade dishes to put in the chuing bing (the pancake thing). It was amazing, one of the best meals I have had in China. I am excited to know how to make this and to make it for my family in July! Her family was so gracious, the food was delicious, and it was just a really good afternoon.


Yesterday, Monday, was the last day of the Spring Festival, and it was the lantern festival. A bunch of us walked around Bei Shi Chong (said, bay sure chong, and it means north market) where the guys live. There were tons of vendors selling balloons, cotton candy, sugar cane and countless other foods and objects. There were tons of people and it was cool to see everyone out for the festivities! We walked down to Government Park and people were letting off red lanterns into the sky. They were paper lanterns that have a small flame in the bottom and when it gets hot enough they rise up. It was cool to look up and see so many rising. Traditionally, people write a wish or a prayer on the lantern and then set it off. I am very glad that I have gotten to be here to experience first hand all that goes on for the biggest Chinese holiday…to me, it seems like I have been given a once in a lifetime opportunity.