If I could do it again, I'd do it the same.

The Longest Days of My Life

2011-02-03T11:47:00.001-05:00

January 29, 2011 – January 31, 2011

We traveled for 30 hours straight. It seemed like we would get to one airport just to have a layover before getting on another long flight. I was so happy to arrive in the Atlanta Airport. My first stop was Chick Fil A, only because I had my Starbucks in the Seoul airport. The Chick Fil A sandwich filled me up quickly, but was so delicious. Before I knew it, it was time to board the plane for Greenville. Upon arrival at the GSP airport, I met my parents and John’s parents. We all went out to eat for a late lunch and I was able to show them all my pictures. It was wonderful. I headed back to my dorm room to unpack and rest up. I slept off and on for most of the day Sunday before I headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a few needed items to survive through Wednesday before I headed back home. I had a headache and felt nauseous all day long, but I chalked it up to being tired, traveling, and just having a weird schedule. I woke up in the middle of the night between Sunday and Monday with an awful stomachache. I was terribly sick and ended up becoming so dehydrated I had to call 911 to be rushed to the hospital. They gave me fluids and antibiotics, but never figured out what exactly I was sick from. I remained sick for several days, but am feeling much better now. It was a scary and bad end to a great trip, but I am glad to have gotten sick at home in the states, rather in Vietnam. I absolutely loved the trip as a whole and enjoyed comparing the cultures of both Vietnam and China together. I also found myself comparing the cultures of Cambodia and the Dominican Republic together. I overall enjoyed the trip, and it was a wonderful experience.

Below is a map of where we traveled in Vietnam. Make sure to follow the arrows! Remember After Vietnam I traveled to Siem Reap Cambodia. I have included a map of both countries so you can see the relation.

Last Day in Paradise (Day 20)

2011-02-02T23:17:00.002-05:00

Day 20 - January 28, 2011

I slept in again this morning and it was just as fabulous as yesterday. I didn’t sleep in as long this morning because I needed to get up and pack my things. Luckily my room was designated the late checkout room, so I technically didn’t have to be out of my room until 5:30 pm. I wanted to make sure all my things were packed before the other girls began bringing in all the items they needed to shower and store in our room before our departure later in the day.

After finally getting packed and dressed, I headed back in to town with another girl from my class and a few other people. We walked around the markets and bought several last minute items before having lunch at a local café. While having lunch, a child came up to us and began talking to us in excellent English. She knew all about the USA and who our allies were, along with the president, president’s wife, children, president’s dog and previous president. It was very impressive. Luckily, I got her to repeat much of it on video for me. I also bought an oil painting from a land mind victim. I wanted an oil painting the whole trip, but never could find one that I wanted for a decent price. I was so glad to find one, especially with so much meaning behind it.

Next, we headed back to the hotel and laid out by the pool for a little bit. Yesterday and today, I didn’t use sunscreen, so I didn’t want to stay out in the sun too long. I laid out for about an hour today and overall was able to get a pretty decent base tan, about a shade or two darker, than I was before the trip. Thankfully I didn’t get burned. I headed in to begin showering shortly after laying out. I knew it was going to take forever of 8 girls to get dressed and ready, so I began early. After all, of us showered and got ready we gathered our belongings and headed down to the lobby. I had the idea while we were getting ready to collect all the toiletries we were leaving behind and take them to the orphanage. I arranged with my professor to meet them at dinner, and I went on to the orphanage. Upon my arrival, I was greeted just as genuinely as before. After handing over my full bag of toiletries, including my straighter from 7^th grade, I was given hugs and many thank yous. As I left in my Tuk Tuk, I heard the same farewell goodbyes as the night before.

I beat my class to dinner and waited while skimming the menu. The first meal I chose ended up not tasting too good. I was disappointed that my last meal of traditional Khmer food was not very good. I quickly ordered a pasta dish and it was delicious. We walked around for a little bit after dinner waiting on our bus to pick us up and take us to the airport. I ended up buying patches from almost every country I have visited. I want to sew them to a piece of fabric with the month and date I visited, and frame it, to save for when I am older.

Finally, it was time for us to get on the bus to head to the airport. We waited at the airport to check in for what seemed like forever. There were so many lines and check-ins we had to go through. We went from the ticket check in to the departure tax counter, through security, to the Visa and Passport check, then into the terminal. After that our tickets were checked once or twice again before boarding the plane. While waiting in the terminal to board the plane, I reassigned seats for the flight from Siem Reap to Seoul and from Seoul to Atlanta for all my classmates. I tried to accommodate requests so that people were sitting with other students that they wanted to sit with, etc. It was really challenging, but I enjoyed the organization and it kept me busy while we were waiting on our plane to arrive. After boarding our plane, I waved goodbye to Siem Reap, Cambodia, knowing sadly, that I probably would never return again. I sighed and took a deep breath, preparing for the 30-hour journey ahead of me, knowing I had just completed one of the best trips of my entire life. I was sad to know that it was coming to a close, but so thankful for the opportunity to experience everything I did.

Thumb War and I Love You! (Day 19)

2011-02-02T22:34:00.003-05:00

Day 19 - January 27, 2011

Today was a glorious day. I had the opportunity to sleep in for the first time during all my travels, and I took it! While many other students woke up early to go horseback riding, I opted to have a completely free day and sleep in. I knew I would need my rest and I’m thankful I took the time to stay in bed. I slept in till about 11:30 AM, and it was great. I woke up and waited eagerly in my room until I heard the voices of my peers from the hall. Many of them were heading down to the pool, and so I decided to do so also.

By the pool, I had lunch with the girls from the trip. Many of the dishes we ordered ended up not being that good; however the Caesar salad I ordered luckily was pretty decent. I laid out for an hour or so before heading back inside to shower. I took my time getting ready and was so glad I did so.

I was very excited for my afternoon and I had not really had the opportunity all trip to really take my time to get ready. I dressed in jeans and a nice top and finally got to do my hair and makeup to my liking, not rushed or thrown together like I have felt most of the trip.

I met the rest of my group in the lobby for our only mission and adventure of the day together. It was about 4:45 pm and I was literally on the edge of my seat with excitement. Our entire class took Tuk Tuks to an orphanage right past the downtown area of Siem Reap. The orphanage gives children an opportunity for a better future by providing them with an education and teaching them skills, they will need once they leave the orphanage. The children in the orphanage are not up for adoption, because they still are allowed to visit their families if conditions are sufficient and vice versa. Few children in the orphanage are without either parent. Most children come from a family with more than 8 children!

Upon our arrival at the orphanage two individuals from Britain who had volunteered several times with the orphanage greeted us. They introduced us to the man in charge, who then showed us around. The orphanage was clearly nice in Cambodian standards, but in American standards very poor and dilapidated. Dirt was the floor for most of the orphanage, which was combined with the out doors and open air buildings. Children had a dormitory, but no beds were visible. We were told that mattresses were placed on the floor at night for them to sleep on. We also were told that they slept on the stage where they performed charity performances to raise money. Each child was given a mosquito net. We were shown a new building that they were building for a technology and schoolroom. We were shown the display of volunteers and where they were from, along with all the children in the orphanage and why they had been accepted into the orphanage. We were shown the wish list and how we could help as well. The orphanage is looking to grow in many ways and it definitely brought the reality of how poor Cambodia really is to light. While we were touring around the orphanage, which was probably smaller than the width and length of my dorm at Wofford, we saw children eating off of army style lunch trays. While I only saw green beans on their plates, they looked happy and were playing with yo yos and one another. We were next lead up to a loft overlooking the stage. There were tables and cushions on the floor. We were served dinner, sitting on the floor. Dinner was great, one of the best meals I’ve had in Cambodia. I could only help but wonder if we were taking away from the children by eating such a good meal. After we finished eating, we headed back downstairs to watch the children who began performing traditional Khmer dances. It was so neat to see all the children dressed up in extravagant costumes. I couldn’t get over how different they looked compared to the torn ragged clothing they were in early. The girls were dressed beautifully and each one was so pretty. After the show, we were given the opportunity to take a group photo with the children. We had a Wofford flag and many of the boys enjoyed waving it around, like many people do during the World Cup. I got to know several of the children. I played ‘Thumb War’ with a couple of the children, laughing hysterically the entire time. Somehow, with the language barrier, we were able to figure out a game we all understood. The children are taught English when they return from school, but each child is at a different level academically with their English. After I finished playing thumb war, a couple of girls came up to talk to me. Many of them were the ones I had noticed earlier, who were breathtakingly beautiful. They were age’s 14- 17 and I enjoyed talking to them so much. They were able to understand English much better. They talked about how much they loved the orphanage, and dancing. They also told me how they loved school and how thankful they were for all of us to come visit them. I asked about their makeup and complimented their outfits. Before leaving, I asked for a hug. They seemed confused at first, but after I acted out what I wanted, they joyfully stood up to give me a hug. We had a wonderful group hug as they laughed and smiled together. I told each of them I loved them, individually and how beautiful I thought they were. To see the reaction on their faces when I told them I loved them was priceless. I knew at that instant that they probably hadn’t heard those three words for a very long time. They all walked me out to my Tuk Tuk and wished me a safe trip home. They asked over and over again when I would visit soon, and it was heartbreaking to have to reply, “hopefully soon.” Although I don’t know when ‘soon’ really is. They were some of the most well mannered, thankful children I have ever met. They definitely impacted my life and left a lasting imprint on my heart.

We headed in to town on our Tuk Tuks. It was quite a site to see so many Tuk Tuks with young adults riding into town. We headed to The Blue Pumpkin again for another night of ice cream. I had my usual vanilla with brownie chunks. Afterwards we finally experience market shopping in Cambodia. I was able to buy several novelty items such as elephants, silk purses, etc. It was so cool to walk in the designated ‘night market’ full of vendors set up exclusively for the nighttime. I was able to find some great deals, and bought several silk purses for myself to use during formal events. I also found some DVDs that I was able to purchase as well. As usual, I saw many victims affected by land minds selling numerous items a long the street. Land Minds are still active in Cambodia and claim victims and wound many others frequently.

After taking a Tuk Tuk back to the hotel, it was finally time for bed. I was exhausted despite getting the chance to sleep in this morning. I was so excited about my purchases and crossed my fingers I could find someone to go back with me for a while tomorrow.

Angkor Wat (Day 18)

2011-02-02T16:13:00.001-05:00

Day 18 - January 26, 2011

I woke up early this morning for a busy day. We had to wake up early to start the day because it gets so incredibly hot during the middle of the day in Cambodia. After dressing in shorts, with leggings underneath (because we were visiting a temple) and a t-shirt that covered my shoulders I headed down to breakfast. Breakfast in the new hotel was incredible. I literally have never seen so much food in one spot in my life. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but there was a lot of food for breakfast. I ate a wonderful breakfast and boarded the bus for our first adventure.

We traveled to Angkor Wat, entering through the back gate, where a lot of tourists wouldn’t be. It was so incredibly interesting to see and learn the history surrounding the temple. Angkor Wat was originally a Hindu temple built in the 12^th century; it then became a Buddhist temple. It is one of the largest, if not the largest, religious temples in the world. It is one of Cambodia’s national symbols, and something Cambodia has come to be known for. It also appears on the Cambodian national flag. While walking to Angkor Wat itself, we saw many monkeys. There were also a few ladies around selling bananas for $1.00. After buying some bananas, we fed them to the monkeys. It was so unreal to be so incredibly close to these monkeys and to feed them. I was able to capture some great pictures. While trying, to get a picture of one of the monkey’s he started chasing after me! I screamed like a girl, typical, and back peddled while still trying to get a photo. He eventually stopped, but it left me shaking in my tracks. I kept my distance from the monkeys after that, and took my pictures from a distance. It was still so neat to be so close to monkeys. After interacting with the monkeys, we returned to our tour of Angkor Wat. I noticed that a moat surrounded the temple and there were several pools (separate for men and women) to wash in before entering the temple. The temple, like yesterday, displayed beautiful carvings that told stories of the old ancient history and culture. It was so amazing to see all the structures; they truly are a wonder of the world. I feel like I should have pages and pages to write about Angkor Wat but in all honesty I was in such awe walking around that I didn’t really pay attention to many of the historical details. I was amazed at the details and how they were still preserved after hundreds of years. The stories that each carving on the wall told were incredible, and almost unfathomable. It was hard for me to think how something so great had been created hundreds of years ago. While walking around the second level of Angkor Wat we sat down for a rest and bathroom break before heading to the third level. While we were waiting, we saw what looked like a movie production. After asking our guide, we learned that the Princess (sister of the King) was filming a documentary on traditional Khmer dancing. Blakely, a girl in our group wanted to know if we could take a picture with the Princess. Her bodyguards told us no, but when we saw others approach her for a picture we decided to do so as well. It was so neat to get a picture with a real live Princess! I don’t know if I mentioned before, but Cambodia is the only nation to go from a democracy back to having a Kingdom with a King and a Queen. The official name is The Kingdom of Cambodia. The Princess introduced us to one of the dancers as well. She was absolutely beautiful. Her hair was so long, and she almost looked more like a princess than the Princess herself! After interacting with royalty, we headed to the third level of Angkor Wat. A couple of my classmates had to change into longer pants because we were required to have pants below the knees and shirts covering our shoulders. We climbed the stairs higher, and higher until we finally reached the top. The long pants in the heat were definitely worth it. The views were breathtaking and I was able to capture some amazing pictures. I didn’t realize how high we really were until I attempted to climb back down. It was a lot harder than I had expected! Once we reached the bottom it was close to 10:30 AM. We realized how hot it was getting and Lekim decided that we could go back to our hotel for a rest.

We were given an hour to rest and relax before lunch. I so thankful for the air conditioning and the short nap I got to take. We headed to lunch after that. Lunch was a blur because I was honestly so tired still from my short nap before, and from waking up early this morning. Luckily, after lunch, Lekim gave us another hour or so to relax again. The extra naptime was much needed, and appreciated!

We headed out again mid afternoon for another exciting adventure. We arrived at the outside gate of another temple, Angkor Thom. Many of my peers wanted to ride elephants while in Cambodia and we were given the opportunity to do so this afternoon. My peers and I got to feed the elephants bananas, I think every animal here eats bananas! They would take it out of your hand with their trunk and eat it, peel and all! It was crazy! We then got to ‘board’ our elephant. There were either 2 or 3 students per elephant, depending on the size of the elephant. I was able to hop on the first elephant, which was fantastic. It was so cool to see the entrance and beginning of Angkor Thom from atop an elephant. I was convinced the whole time that I was going to rock off the side, but it never happened. The elephants were so fun to ride!

After jumping down off the elephants, we explored Angkor Thom. Like most of the other temples we toured, it too was amazing. They have definitely started restoration on Angkor Thom more than the other temples it seems like. It was a lot of fun to explore on our own. Many of us were tired despite the naps all day long. After Angkor Thom, we hiked up a mountain in hopes of seeing a beautiful sunset atop another temple. Unfortunately, the clouds were covering the sun, but it was still a beautiful panorama view. We headed back to the hotel quickly after that. I was so dirty that I was ready for a shower. I had Chaco tan lines from the dirt! I could have passed as another race, seriously.

I met the group in the lobby an hour after we returned to the hotel. It was wonderful to shower and freshen up. We headed to dinner again in a Tuk Tuk. A group of us ate in an open-air courtyard area where we ate local street food. While the service took forever, mine ended up being pretty decent. I stuck with chicken on a stick and French fries. How hard is it to mess those two things up? While we were waiting on our dinner to be served we witnessed children selling and begging first hand. We had several children approach us asking us to buy the usual post cards or bracelets. One even sat down to talk to us for a bit. I gave him a little bit of my Coca Light in a class. After finishing, he went on his merry way. When we asked him how old he was, he replied saying 8 years old. His brother walked by, smoking a cigarette and told us he was 4 years old. We ended up figuring out that his brother knew that he needed to ‘stay and look’ young to be able to make more money. His brother couldn’t have been older than 14 himself, and we saw him smoking several cigarettes. I personally was not very nice when he came up to me asking for my coke can. I donated my coke can to a dirty little boy in tattered clothing. On our way out, we witnessed a man buy this sweet child dinner. They sell the cans and bottles that they collect for money. Many children will lurk around trashcans or tables waiting for people to throw away something so simple that will help them earn money. It truly broke my heart to see this.

We walked around the market for a few minutes, scouting out more stores to shop in tomorrow night. We grabbed some ice cream at The Blue Pumpkin. I got two scoops of vanilla with brownie chunks, yummy! After that, we took a Tuk Tuk and headed back to the hotel. I was asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. Today was a great day, and I can only imagine what tomorrow has to offer.

Cambodia! (Day 17)

2011-02-02T16:11:00.003-05:00

Day 17 - January 25, 2011

I woke up this morning ready for breakfast after not having dinner last night! After getting ready and packing, some last minute items I headed downstairs. Breakfast was the same as usual, but I was still very excited about the fresh pineapple and croissants I have been enjoying every morning.

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap. I was sad to be leaving Vietnam, and couldn’t believe that the time had flown by so quickly. As the plane took off for Cambodia I was struck with the realization that I probably would never set foot on Vietnamese soil again and I became aware of how much I was going to miss the country.

We landed in Cambodia to hear that it was a hot 28 degrees Celsius! I thought the past few days had been hot, but I was in for a surprise! Stepping off of the airplane in Cambodia reminded me a lot of stepping off of the plane when we visited the Dominican Republic. Everything from the appearance of the airport to the air temperature to the people made me feel like I was not that far away from home! We exited the airplane and walked into the airport where we applied for our Cambodian visas and then were processed through the passport checkpoint. The man that was verifying my visa and passport began talking to me in broken English, later telling me that I was ‘very beautiful’. After the few negative comments I received in Vietnam, I knew I was going to like Cambodia and the positivity of the people. Below is a map of Cambodia and where Siem Reap is located.

We left the airport with our new guide, LeKim for lunch. Cambodian people appear to be a mix between Asian and Indian. They have a very dark skin tone, but many Asian features, mixed with a few Indian. It was neat to see how a region’s appearance changed within an hour flight! Arriving at lunch and seeing the menu, I knew the food was going to be a little different than Vietnam. There were more western options, thank goodness, and the Cambodian or Khmer options were slightly different than Vietnam. It seemed that food was a tiny bit more expensive, but I wasn’t sure. I became aware at lunch that I didn’t know much about the currency and its relationship to the US dollar, or the language of Cambodians. It only made me more excited to experience another culture.

After lunch, we drove to our hotel for check in. We checked in to the Tara Angkor hotel, a very nice 4 star hotel in Siem Reap. I was so excited to find out that there was a pool, which we would have an opportunity to visit during our stay. After quickly settling in, we headed back down to the lobby for our first adventure in Cambodia.

We drove to Ta Prom which is one of the many smaller temples that surrounds the famous Angkor Wat. As we exited, the bus five or six children approached us trying to sell us various jewelry, postcards and books. They would say, “Madam, only one dollar, you buy from me, only one dollar.” It was heartbreaking to see these children begging like that. Once we got inside the gates, the children could not follow us anymore. We knew they would be waiting when we exited though. Ta prom was absolutely beautiful. It was built in the 12 century but then disappeared for almost 400 years. During that time, the temple became overgrown with trees, which only added to the beauty of the temple. It was rediscovered in the 1700’s. It was hard understanding how something so magnificent was lost for 400 years, but as I later realized the jungle had taken over it so much that; it was almost impossible to see that it really existed. Trees were growing out of al parts of the structures, some causing them to fall apart. I was able to take some great photographs and I enjoyed visiting the temple a lot. Again, as we exited, the children were waiting trying to sell us the same goods again. A guy in our group had told a girl that he would ‘buy something from her if she was lucky’. She remembered him and hassled him. He didn’t think that she would remember him!

We next visited Shra Srong an empieral reflection pool. We sat on the hill and watched the sun set, while talking to a dozen children trying to sell us the same various goods as earlier. It was heartbreaking to see their faces, and hear what they had to say. I loved watching the sunset and was able to get some fantastic pictures as well.

Next, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading out for dinner downtown. A group of students and both professors went to a restaurant called ‘The Red Piano’ located on ‘Pub Street’ in the heart of Siem Reap. In order to get in to town we had to take a Tuk Tuk. A Tuk Tuk is a basically a motorbike or moped with a carriage attached to the back. The carriage is lined with cushioned seats and can hold up to 4 people. We were able to get a ride into town for only $2.00. The Tuk Tuks are like taxis in Siem Reap. It was so fun to ride in one for the first time. After arriving at the Red Piano a short time later, I looked over the menu and ordered one of the specials. It was a pasta ratatouille and it was delicious! The restaurant was open air and it was so neat to hear all the different music coming from different bars and restaurants. After dinner, we decided to explore the town a little bit. With one of our professors, we headed to the ‘X Bar’. The Wofford baseball coach’s brother owns the ‘X Bar’. Who would have known that in the middle of Cambodia, someone else would have heard of Wofford College! Upon visiting the bar we found out that the partner of the bar and the coach’s brother were in a legal dispute over the bar. We didn’t get to see the man we came to visit, but it was neat getting to see around an empty rooftop bar. We were invited back later, when the party got started, but we opted out and left almost as quickly as we had entered. Walking around town every several of feet would be a place to get a ‘Dr. Fish’ massage. This required one to put their feet in a pool of hundreds of fish, who would then nibble at the dead skin around your feet. I decided right then and there I was not going to do it, while other people in my group mentioned that they would be interested to try it out during our stay in Siem Reap. We looked around the Night Market to get a feel for what souvenirs we could purchase. After that, we grabbed a bite of ice cream at The Blue Pumpkin. I had vanilla with brownie chunks, it was so delicious! We caught a Tuk Tuk and headed back to the hotel after that. I was asleep in bed a short time later, tired after all the adventures of the day.

Snake Wine? (Day 16)

2011-02-02T16:08:00.003-05:00

Day 16 - January 24, 2011

I woke up this morning to the sound of a rooster. Normally, this would be quite unusual for me, however, a rooster has somehow managed to always be near any room I am staying in while in Vietnam. I was surprised at how well I slept with my bare necessities. While I did get a little cold during the night, I overall enjoyed the peace that comes with sleeping without all the lights and buzz of a city or dorm room.

After brushing my teeth and throwing on a t-shirt and shorts I headed to breakfast. We were served omelets and fruit as well as Vietnamese style coffee. The coffee here is more like liquid chocolate coffee ice cream, but hot. The Vietnamese drink it with condensed milk as ‘creamer’ and normally no sugar (its sweet enough already). After breakfast I headed back to the room to make sure I had packed up all my belongings.

The group boarded our small boat that we used to navigate the delta and headed to a floating market. The floating market was really cool. I was expecting to see a market that was much the same as every other market we’ve seen so far. However, the floating market was much different. Each vendor was anchored in a different spot around the shallow cove. Every boat had a flag pole with the type of good they were selling posted high into the air. To buy a good, one must approach a vendor’s boat and negotiate a deal. While we didn’t buy anything, it was still cool to see how the people living in this area acquire goods that they need.

We docked the boat not far from the floating market and got off to explore a small village. Our guide took us to a salt making business. While it was a small family run business, it was still so neat to see how they obtained the salt. They used a process of boiling water from the river and sifting the salt out of the water, and then letting it dry, to obtain all the rice. The refinery was located in a building without air conditioning, and was only about the size of a normal fast food restaurant. The most interesting thing I noticed was that no machines controlled the work, only people themselves.

Across the street we were able to see candy was made, and packaged. Again, there was only manual labor. We even got to taste some of the candy, which was very delicious! It had the consistency of caramel, but had different flavors like coconut! We also got to learn how rice was used make the rice wine we had an opportunity to taste the night before. It was so interesting to see how they produced this drink out of rice! It takes a relatively long process in about a weeks time to produce only a little bit of the rice wine. We were able to smell the small bottle of rice wine that was being produced, and it was clear it was very concentrated. Our local guide told us that at the beginning and end of the process the wine has fermented more. Next, she showed us a large jar. The jar was probably about the size of one that you would either get cheeto balls from Sams in, or one of those popcorn tins at Christmas. Inside were a dozen or so different snakes, all dead of course. They were mixed in rice wine. Our guide explained that the venom from the snakes after they die combined with the rice wine produces a ‘snake wine’ that helps treat many joint problems and other illnesses. She asked if anyone wanted to try the rice wine and two brave students decided they would. I was hesitant because the snakes were a) snakes, and b) poisonous. I was worried that I would poison myself tasting it. The guide reassured me and I thought, ‘When in Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese do’. I tasted a small sample of the snake wine, and while I didn’t like either sample from yesterday, this one was not as strong. I still did not care for it at all. I had someone take a picture of me, and my facial expression says it all. Although all three ‘wines’ I tasted were honestly, disgusting, I am glad that I did so. How many people can say they have tasted ‘snake wine’? Oh, I forgot to mention, snake wine is sold everywhere in Vietnam. It is typical to see a glass bottle with snakes in it being sold, as commonly as normal wine is sold in America.

After the snake wine experience, we learned how to make rice popcorn. It was neat to see all the work that goes into making sure the huge pot is not too hot, or not too cold and how they give different flavors to them. Rice popcorn tastes like Quaker Oats rice cakes. We were able to try a few different flavors of rice popcorn and candy before we were given an opportunity to shop around. There was a small store selling many handcrafted, reasonably priced souvenirs. I was able to purchase some conical hats and a few other little souvenirs before it was time to go.

We rode the boat back to the mainland and boarded our bus for Ho Chi Minh City again. Along the way, we stopped at a rest stop area that we stopped at on the way in. We had lunch at the restaurant there, which was very nice. The ride back to Ho Chi Minh City seemed shorter than the ride to the Mekong Delta.

After arriving back in the city, a group of girls decided to walk back to the market. I was adamant on setting a meeting time and place so I would not get left again. We decided to stay for about 45 minutes and then meet back up. I had a lot of souvenir shopping to do. I purchased some great things at some reasonable prices. For some reason I feel like I’ve spent more money on souvenirs here than I did in China, but I think, I am getting about the same kind of deals. Vietnam definitely has a lot of clothes to buy and not many purses at all. They also have many stands selling artwork and novelty type of items. We met back up and another girl and I decided to stay 30 minutes longer to finish shopping for some last minute gifts. After that, we headed back to the hotel.

I was exhausted and thought that a group of people would be going out for dinner later. I waited for my roommate to return, hoping to go with her, however when she got back she told me that she had already had dinner. After checking with some others, I found the same thing too. I was so hungry and called the restaurant we ate at before the Mekong Delta to see if they would deliver. It was 9:30 and they closed at 10:00 and said it was too late for delivery orders. I wondered around the hotel looking for a vending machine, but couldn’t find one. After showering and packing, I headed to bed on a very empty, hungry stomach. I hoped that morning would come soon so I could have a good breakfast!

Mekong Delta (Day 15)

2011-01-24T06:12:00.003-05:00

Day 15 - January 23, 2011

This morning we woke up early for our travels to the Mekong Delta. After eating breakfast and checking out we boarded the bus for our 3-hour bus ride, further south. We stopped along the way at a rest stop / tourist trap place. It was much nicer than any of the other ones we have ever been to before. They had some great souvenirs, however many of them were quite pricey. I opted to wait until later in hopes of finding a better deal.

On the bus, we kept driving. I slept for part of the time and caught up on some journaling for part of the time. I’ve been very bad about journaling every day, and especially posting them online everyday. My apologies. I am making notes day to day to help me remember. A lot of times in the evenings I am so tired that I just go to sleep.

We finally arrived in the Mekong Delta. A woman greeted us in her mid to late 30’s. She was very beautiful. She had long hair and was short in height. She wore black flowy pants and a pretty turquoise blue top. She was our guide for while we were staying in the Mekong. She spoke excellent English, and we later found out that she taught English for several years. She has only interacted with English speaking peoples in Vietnam, and has never traveled outside of her country. She also has a 9-year-old daughter. Below is a map of where we were in Vietnam.

She first led us to a market and we were able to walk through and see all the fruits and vegetables. I’ve learned that most markets in Vietnam are very similar, selling local foods for reasonable prices. Something I hadn’t seen though were pets for sale. I saw birds as well as dogs in cages for sale. They were so cute it was hard not to pet them. I’ve had to remind myself numerous times not to pet the animals. It has been so hard, especially when they are so cute! After walking through the market, we boarded a small boat. I noticed that the river appeared to be very polluted because there were many leaves and limbs floating around and it also had a brownish color. Our guide later explained that it has the brown tint from the silt at the bottom of the river. She mentioned that in the summertime it is normally a clear blue. She talked about the Mekong in general on our boat ride. We arrived on the mainland initially and we would be spending the night and exploring the island across from the mainland. We arrived at a concrete platform on the island where we exited the boat. The tide was low for most of the afternoon so we had quite a step up (or down). There were concrete steps that would go down into the water, and the boat would pull up right next to them. It was scary each time! I was convinced I was going to fall in the water. Our guide had brought us to a local house for lunch. We sat outside where we were served many interesting dishes. We had elephant fish (standing up with the scales, eyes and fins intact), rice, and some other things. I didn’t try the fish; the eyes looking at me were enough to convince me not eat the fish. The rice was good as was most everything else I tried. After lunch, we laid in the hammocks surrounding the house for about 20 minutes. It was so nice to rock in the hammock and listen to nature.

After lunch, we got back on the boat and headed towards a fruit farm. We again had to climb out of the boat and walk up concrete steps before crossing a concrete plank type of thing to reach the garden. We saw many fruits and vegetables and how the Vietnamese people of the Mekong believed was the right way to grow the perfect plant. I also noticed many roosters caged up around the farm. They were very large, and seemed to be resting. We sat down at a table when we finished the tour to try some fruit. I tasted guava and some jackfruit. The jackfruit had an odd texture and taste, I couldn’t decide if it was good or not. Next, our guide from Ho Chi Minh City and our local guide started talking about the calabash fruit. They were talking about the good health it brought and how it was used as a type of alcohol sometimes. We were all given a tiny cup, a little bigger than a thimble and a taste of what they called the calabash wine. I watched, as one of my professors tasted it. He commented that it burned and did not taste good. We were all encouraged to try it. I thought, well, in Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese do. I tasted my small sample of the calabash wine, and thought I was going to be sick. It was very potent and burned the entire way down into my stomach. I was nervous it was going to make me sick. I quickly got some water to drink in order to help the taste go away. Never again will I taste calabash wine.

We loaded the boat again heading for another part of the island for our bike tour. I was excited to find that the bike I had chosen had a bell on the handlebars. I vowed to use this as my horn, and to be as annoying as the Vietnamese people are with their horns. It didn’t last long; I got annoyed with my bell before too long. We biked through the town on a narrow dirt path. We crossed many ‘bridges’ that were made of concrete and had no sides to them. They were more like planks of death. I was so scared I was going to fall into the (nasty) Mekong river water. Luckily, I never did. Throughout our bike ride, we passed many houses. It was apparent that all the families had at least two roosters if not more. Many had dogs as well. Seeing the homes that these individuals live in made me feel so blessed to have a home with doors, and air conditioning. After riding sometime, we stopped and crossed the road into a house where we parked our bikes. There was a huge snake in a cage at the house. I enjoyed seeing the snake, although it was sleeping and didn’t move at all. It was probably about 6 ft long (at least) and about the size of a large cup around. There were chicken heads on top of the cage, which we assumed was the food for the snake. I couldn’t imagine crossing one of those snakes not in a cage; I definitely would not like it then!

Next, we walked by foot down to the river. There were several small wooden boats waiting for us. Three to four people could fit in each boat. After all of us were in our boats a local guide rowed us through the canal back to our big boat. It was fascinating to see the backside of the houses. We learned that the river often floods. I saw where concrete walls had been torn apart from the force of the floods. To prevent the river from flooding again the locals have placed trees and limbs along the embankment and down into the water in hopes of making a stronger wall.

After arriving back to our boat, we began our journey to our home stay. After about fifteen minutes, we arrived at our home stay. There were about four people per room. Our rooms were open air (like most typical Vietnamese homes). We had minimal lighting and one outlet per two people. Our mattresses were placed atop a wooden base. We had a top sheet, pillow and one towel. There was also a mosquito net. Although I was worried about catching malaria during the night, I was quite excited for the adventure that lay ahead. We were given some free time to hang out before dinner. Some of my peers chose to swim in the river behind the house. Remembering what I had learned about water in Vietnam I opted to journal a little bit and take a nap. Dinner was served around 7:00 pm. Many of the students helped the family we were staying with cook dinner. Unfortunately, when I woke up there wasn’t much left to do. We had red snapper, sweet potato fries, rice, spring rolls with a type of root in them, vegetable soup, and fresh fruit. I’m sure I forgot a few other dishes we had as well. I tried the red snapper, even though I really do not care for fish. Surprisingly I really enjoyed it. The sweet potato fries were delicious and fresh as well. I really enjoyed the meal at the home stay. At the end of dinner the local family and guide brought around the small glasses that were slightly bigger than thimbles. They served us ‘rice wine’. As much as I didn’t want to taste another strange Vietnamese wine, I did. It wasn’t as bad as before and had a slight taste of licorice. I was really only tasting it to be polite and I did not like it at all. After dinner, a local couple sang and danced for us while two others played the monochord and a banjo-looking instrument. They also had some sort of instrument to make drumming sounds. I really enjoyed the few songs that they played for us. They were love songs and it was so neat to hear traditional Vietnamese music.

Shortly after that, I headed to bed. I made sure to tuck my mosquito net in all around my bed. I also kept all my belongings with me in the mosquito net. I made sure to keep them zipped as well. I placed my towel over the pillow and shook the top sheet free of any creepy crawlers there may have been. I placed my bug spray by my head as well. I made sure to not only spray the bed with bug spray, but the net and me as well. I was determined not to catch any weird bug disease! Lying in bed, I found it very peaceful to hear the river and the sounds of nature. Within a short time, I fell right to sleep.

Tunnels, History and Shopping! (Day 14)

2011-01-24T06:09:00.002-05:00

Day 14 - January 22, 2011

I woke up this morning excited for a true adventure! I was disappointed to find that at breakfast the bacon appeared to not be cooked thoroughly. I was really looking forward to some good bacon! After breakfast, we boarded our bus, which was taking us to our destination for adventure!

After driving what seemed like forever, but was probably only an hour and a half, we arrived at the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi tunnels were constructed during the Vietnam/American War for the Vietnam soldiers. There are three levels and it could hold up to 25,000 soldiers at any given time. There were many secret entrances as well as booby traps for the opponents. We learned how the tunnels were connected and the purpose of the different sections. There were bunkers for weapon storage, dining as well as sleeping. The next level down was for fighting and as a hideout for pregnant women and children. The lowest level had access into the river, so that the soldiers could fire at enemies passing through the river without being seen. Bamboo was inserted into each level and through the hollow bamboo stalks is how the tunnels were ventilated. They were all made of dirt and stretched for many kilometers. After learning how the tunnels were made and how they were used we got to watch as a demonstrator showed us how the soldiers would enter the secret entrances. There was a rectangle about one foot by two feet in the ground. It was covered by leaves and a small piece of wood. The soldier would lower him or herself down into the hole. They would then place leaves on top of the wood and lower it over their head, so that the entrance was camouflaged. We were given the opportunity to try it ourselves. I let many of my classmates go before me, before I decided I wanted to try. I was uneasy because the whole was so small, and I knew my big hips would be a struggle to fit. I entered the hole quickly and efficiently. Upon trying to exit the hole, I ran into a problem. My legs were too short to kick off the ground to raise me out of the whole, and my arms were not strong enough to hold my body up for that extended period of time. At the same time, my hips did not want to fit back through the hole. With the help of two guys from my group holding my arms and pulling me out, I wiggled and squirmed until my hips came free. I was so embarrassed that I had been ‘too big’ to fit into the tiny little hole, or more like fit out of. I overheard another tour guide talking about how larger people shouldn’t be allowed to try out the secret trap. While I was offended, I kept my head held high and went on with my group. I was embarrassed from the incident it caused, but I was also proud of myself for doing taking the chance to do it. A couple of months ago, I wouldn’t have fit into the hole, much less out of the hole. I also realize it was a ridiculously small hole, and I simply have more curves than Asian soldiers (and women for that matter). We learned all about the different booby traps and how each one caused a slow painful death sometimes. We could see spots in the woods where bombs had made craters, which was also really interesting and neat too. I kept trying to place myself there at the time of war, and it was so difficult to imagine what it would have been like. We arrived at an area that had drinks and food as well as a shooting range. For a small fee, you could shoot a small army gun to a big army gun. I have never shot a gun in my life and figured what better way to do it than in Vietnam. I split 10 bullets for an M16 with a friend who also bought bullets for a bigger gun. I was so surprised at the noise the gun made and the kick it had to it. The M16 was light compared to the heavier gun my friend shot from. It was still neat (and a little scary) to shoot an army gun like that! Our next adventure was to actually crawl through the tunnels. We were told that there were opportunities along the way to exit, if anyone chose to do so. We would only be going a total distance of 100 meters. I was excited for this true adventure. The tunnels were very narrow and small. You literally had to crawl on hands and knees or walk severely hunched over. The first opportunity to exit was about 15 meters in. I decided that I wanted to continue although it was difficult, hot and stuffy. I was the only girl to continue and one of six to finish the entire tunnel. It was difficult, yet so fun. I was so proud of myself for being the only girl and for showing the guys up as well. I felt extremely hardcore.

We left the tunnels and headed to lunch, which was at a small restaurant outside of the tunnels. Lunch honestly became a blur because I was so tired and thinking about all that we had seen and experienced in the morning. I do remember the fruit being mighty delicious though!

Next, we headed back to Ho Chi Minh City where we were led through a walking tour. On the walking tour, we saw the Notre Dame Catholic Church of Saigon, The Old Post Office, The Opera House and the Reunification Palace. The Reunification Palace was the first place we stopped. We didn’t enter the palace but viewed it from the outside and took pictures. It was beautiful and reminded me a lot of a school, not a palace. Next, we visited the Old Post Office, which was designed by the same individual who designed the Eiffel Tower. Inside it looked very similar to an old post office or bank that you would have seen in an old movie. It was really neat to see! Across the street, we got to see The Notre Dame Catholic Church. It is almost an exact replica of the one in Paris. The one in Saigon is made of brick, not stone, and is slightly smaller than the one in Paris. The one in Saigon also does not have as intricate architecture on the inside, however it is very detailed. We also saw the Opera House, which was very near the post office and church. I was fascinated the entire time watching a couple getting their wedding pictures made. It was a beautiful spot for photos. We also could see a famous hotel across the street. On our tour, we also saw the Rex Hotel, which is another famous hotel. It has been said that the views from the rooftop bar at night are the best. Both hotels were white stone and were lined with beautiful columns. The Rex Hotel is where many journalists stayed during the war. The whole tour around the city was located in District 1, which is the nicest district. Our hotel is also located in District 1, but on the opposite side of the different places, we visited.

After our walking tour, we were led to the Ben Tanh market. The market was similar to the set up of the one we visited yesterday. There was a large open-air building with different stalls set up inside. I found that the market was not as crowded (or smelly) as the day before. It was more crowded than any of the markets we visited in China last year. I searched for good prices and tried to find good deals. Many of the shops had ‘fixed prices’ and were unwilling to bargain. Some shops were very willing to bargain and would do almost anything to get your attention. After purchasing some souvenirs, one of the venders grabbed my bag and pulled me into her shop. She held on to the bag with a tight grip trying to get me to buy something. I honestly didn’t see anything I wanted to buy. I kept tugging my bag back and finally telling her to give it to me. I asked for her business card so I could come back later if I did decided to buy something. She was so frustrated that she wouldn’t give me her card and pushed me out of her shop! I couldn’t believe it. I made sure to keep a tight hold on my purse and bags at all time. I was really focused on trying to find purses for Katie, Sarah Beth and Aunt Melissa. Unfortunately, they sell very few purses and wallets and more clothing. I was able to get some cute clothing for Preston Banks, Mary Wallace and Avery Bland. The market closed at 6:15 and around 5:45 I started looking for other people from my class. We were all walking around and were supposed to walk back to the hotel together. The market was simply too crowded and too small to have big groups walking together. Because of our short time there, everyone split up to find the souvenirs they needed as well. I searched the market inside and out and couldn’t find a single person from my group. I knew it would be getting dark soon and I decided that I would walk by myself back to the hotel. I’m sure most people would see this as unsafe, and it is very unsafe. However, I looked at my options, which were: riding a moped back to the hotel, riding in a taxi back to the hotel or walking back to the hotel. I remembered that my guidebook said not to travel alone in a taxi or moped because the drivers would not take you to the right place, and that this mode of transportation was more dangerous alone. I decided I would walk. I followed a group of people, so it looked like I was with them. At one point, I thought I was lost but remembered someone mentioning a ‘17^th Saloon’ and wondering if they played country music the night before. To my right a block, a saw the saloon. I knew from there I had to walk about half a mile and I would be at my hotel. I made it without any problems. No one tried to talk to me or sell me anything. I walked briskly holding on to myself and keeping my eyes forward. I made it back to the hotel and entered my room. My roommate said that the group had looked for me but thought that I had possibly already left. Many people in my group don’t have international cell phones so it was impossible to call each other. Traveling alone is scary, and I definitely will not do that again!

I rested for about 30 minutes in the room before I headed to dinner with a group of people. We walked to the end of the block where our hotel was located and took a left, where we walked a block. We then walked a block left again. We ended up at a restaurant that was probably directly behind our hotel. It was an American restaurant called Pepperoni’s. We all had delicious pizzas and enjoyed talking together. It was so much fun. After that, our small group of 7 shopped on the street behind our hotel and to the side of our hotel. Some people found really good deals. I’m still holding off for another day at the market (hopefully!). If not, I did find a few things in a store by our hotel that I could purchase.

After a long, very hot, very sweaty day, I showered and went to bed. I was exhausted and slept like a rock!

A Different Vietnam (Day 13)

2011-01-24T03:29:00.005-05:00

Day 13 - January 21, 2011

This morning we woke up early and grabbed a quick bite to eat before leaving our hotel. We had a short drive to the airport for our flight to Ho Chi Minh. Once arriving at the airport we found out that our flight had been delayed. Fortunately, this gave me time to finish my new Nicholas Sparks book, Safe Haven. It was a great book and I’ve added my favorite quotes at the bottom of the journal.

Our plane finally boarded and we were on our way to Ho Chi Minh city. Upon arriving in Ho Chi Minh, we were immediately aware of the heat and humidity. I welcomed the new climate with open arms. It was so exciting to shed the jeans and sweatshirts for the shorts and brightly colored clothing I had brought along with me. A map of Ho Chi Minh City is below.

We met our new tour guide, Trhang, and boarded our new bus. Might I say the new bus is a mix of 80’s design and Indian design. It has quite the design and color for curtains, seat covers and flooring. Our schedule changed a bit today due to us all being tired from the flight and waking up early. We first headed to lunch. It took us a while to get to lunch because of two things. The traffic in HCM is awful. I would dare to say it was worse than Shanghai or Beijing, maybe even New York City. The second reason it took a long time is because our bus shut off 16 times on the way there! The boys on the trip said it was the driver and that he didn’t know how to drive a stick shift. We finally gave up and ended up walking the last couple of blocks to the restaurant.

The restaurant we ate at was called Pho 2000. We later learned that the 2000 was significant because this is when President Clinton had visited the restaurant and had come to Vietnam to work with the government. Pho in Vietnam is a type of noodle dish that is much like chicken noodle soup. The exceptions are that any meat is applicable; the noodles are longer (much longer) and squarer. You can also add different fresh spices such as lemongrass, cilantro, etc into the bowl. I have not cared for the Pho the last couple of times I have tried it. Instead, I ordered a grilled chicken dish. Everyone around me was jealous when my food arrived at the table. It was delicious and well prepared.

We left the restaurant and headed to the ‘China Town’ part of Ho Chi Minh. We visited the Binh Tay market, which is a wholesale market for the locals. We saw everything from fresh food to electrical equipment to handbags being sold in bulk to the local people. It was a huge market, and very crowded, not to mention it had a very potent smell. While it was neat to see where all the merchants buy their goods, I knew this was not the place I wanted to do my souvenir shopping! We were given 10 minutes free time while we were there. Everyone in the group was so wary of the crowds and didn’t want to get lost that we ended up staying in a line walking in a small circle before telling Trhang we were ready to go.

After leaving the Binh Tay market, we headed to the War Remnants Museum. Before arriving, we were warned that this museum depicts the story of the war from a Vietnamese perspective. We were also told that it was not for the ‘queasy’ stomach. I honestly have never been taught really anything about the Vietnam War (referred to as the American War here), and I was interested to learn more.

Walking into the gates of the museum there were many fighter jets and tankers that had belonged to the US army. Words cannot describe what it felt like to be so near to these pieces of machinery and imagining them fighting on the front lines. They were massive, and it signs of battle were evident on each one. I began looking at all the exhibits on the first floor (which is really the second). In this display, there were many pictures and artifacts from the war. I saw pictures of American Soldiers torturing the captured. Many of them were quite graphic. I saw how the Vietnamese women and children suffered during the time of war. I even saw a few of American Soldiers being tortured. Displayed on this floor were different artillery and bullets as well as scraps from machines that had been bombed. It was really interesting to see all of these laid out together. I honestly didn’t realize how big some of the guns and bullets were until seeing them at the museum. I headed up to the second floor (which is really the third). The display on this floor was photographs from journalist during the war from many different countries. The photographs were stunning and haunting. They also had photographs of children who had been affected by agent orange. I headed down to the ground floor next to look in a small room. There were many pictures on the wall and several books. I chose one book to look through. Upon looking through the book and reading, the captions I found a picture of one of the girls I had interacted with at the Friendship Village. I was so excited! In the book, the caption read that she had been in the village for five years and that she was 17 years old. The book was copyrighted in 2003. This would have made the girl about 24 years old. I believe that is how old she told someone she was when we were there. I took a picture of the picture in the book. It was so neat to recognize a girl I had interacted with only a short time ago! Outside was another exhibit. I was able to see what the tiger cages looked like and what the cells that prisoners were kept in looked like. They also had the bigger bombs and bullets on display. Many were much bigger than I am. Upon leaving the museum our tour guide asked what I thought about it. I had so many thoughts running through my head. Many people were frustrated that the Vietnamese painted America in this light, but I was not. I thought more along the lines of how tough it must be to be an American Soldier and what our men and women in service really do for us as a country. It made war more real to see the graphic photos that are never talked about or displayed in America. I also believe that while the war was horrible for both sides, both were at fault for torment and brutality of the soldiers. I also thought about all the children for generations who have been affected by agent orange, and the life challenges they will face. My heart really breaks for these children. I wish they could have a ‘Camp Twin Lakes’ experience, however I know many of them will end up on the streets begging for money. I also realized the psychological impact of the war not only on the soldiers, but the families and children of anyone involved in the war. For me this was huge being a psychology major. I hadn’t thought about how much war really could impact an individual or family. After seeing the photos I did, I can sure see why many of them have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or other various mental illnesses brought on by the war.

Next, we headed to check in at our hotel. Thankfully, it was a very nice hotel and somewhat different from the others we have stayed in. Our door opened up to the inside of the hotel, but there was a place were you could look down a few flights of stairs. I believe it was some sort of dance floor we could look down on. Our bathrooms were small, but we had huge closets. We were given the afternoon to relax and freshen up before it was dinnertime.

Around 6:15, we met the group in the lobby of the hotel for a group dinner. We went to Hard Rock Café Saigon (former name of Ho Chi Minh City) for a girl on the trips 21^st birthday. I had a cheeseburger and it was FANTASTIC. It was so great to eat meat that I could actually recognize and knew had been imported from America. After we finished, dinner a band played and we stayed for a bit to hear the band. They called Sarah, the birthday girl, up on stage to sing Happy Birthday to her. It was definitely so cool to see all of Hard Rock singing happy birthday to her. We left dinner and headed back to the hotel. I was still so exhausted from traveling and touring that we all went to sleep. Sarah was thankful that she had a wonderful birthday and got to bed early as well! I have really gotten to know her on the trip and she is such a sweet girl! After skyping John for a little bit, I went to bed.

No Hue (Day 12)

2011-01-24T03:28:00.003-05:00

Day 12 - January 20, 2011

This morning we woke up bright and early for a full day ahead of us. I went down to breakfast to find a wide array of foods. Many of the foods were quite interesting and I decided to try out something that looked (and ended up tasting) like Flan. I also got some fruit. I was upset that the bacon here appeared to not be cooked thoroughly. I have really grown to love the bacon here!

We left the hotel and headed towards a small riverboat. We boarded the boat and cruised the Perfume River. The Perfume River is supposed to smell very fragrant and have a greenish blue color. While I could see hints of green in the water, I could not smell the fragrant smell it was supposed to have. However, this could have been because it is January and many flowers are not in bloom. It was neat to spend a little time cruising up the river and seeing the houses that lined the river.

We docked the boat outside of the Thien Mu Pagoda. The Thien Mu Pagoda was large and beautiful. It reminded me of a Pagoda I visited in China last year. We saw many monks walking around while we were there. One monk, several years ago, burned himself to death. They had graphic pictures and his car displayed at the Pagoda. There was also a large bell that is rung on August 14 of every year to celebrate and worship Buddhism. Our guide said that the bell could be heard from miles away. It was really neat to see the architecture here as well.

Next, we headed to the Royal Tombs of Emperor Minh Mang and Emperor Kahi Dinh. The tombs were in two separate spots but had many similarities. The first tomb we visited displayed extravagant and intricate architecture on every building and column. It contained many tiles and ceramics of vibrant colors. The tomb rested at the top of a hill and many steps had to be climbed to reach it. This emperor imposed a tax on his people in order to achieve the money to build for his tomb. Next, we visited a simpler tomb. There were many buildings, with beautiful architecture as well. While the architecture from before seemed to be based off of the French design, this architecture seemed to be based off of the Chinese design. The emperor for the second tomb was much more simpler than the first. His tomb was located inside a concrete structure just beyond a small pond. Where his body is buried remains a mystery, however there is a tomb to symbolize his death. It was really neat to see the tombs and how each emperor from the same dynasty had different personalities and architectural tastes.

On our way to lunch, we stopped at a Garden House. The garden house had some beautiful flowers that surrounded it. We got to see what a typical Vietnamese family did for ancestor worship. This was really interesting to see it actually taking place rather than just learning how it takes place. We then headed to lunch at a café. The food was actually really delicious, comparatively speaking.

We were given a free afternoon. I decided to take a quick nap and then go explore the city with some other people. Right before we left the hotel, the power went out. We later learned that the whole city was having a scheduled ‘power maintenance’. We walked around the black where the hotel was located and had coffee in a nearby nice hotel named The Mercure. I asked my professor why we didn’t get to stay there and he explained that they didn’t have enough available rooms for our group, but that it had been his first choice. We kept walking, and decided we would visit the grocery store we had seen on our cyclo ride the day before. The bridge was much longer than we had remembered but we kept trudging on! We finally arrived at the supermarket. It was arranged much like one in China where each type of thing you need to buy is one separate store. For instance, clothes was one store, food was one store, toiletries was one store, etc. We shopped around the market for a little bit. I walked away with some peanut butter and the Vietnamese equivalent to Werthers. They were both really good!

After visiting the store, we walked back to our hotel. We left with the group for our last dinner in Hue. We arrived at a garden type house. We were led into an enclosed building with glass windows. There were two long tables arranged for dinner. Throughout the course of our meal, we were served food in the shapes of peacocks, phoenixes and other various animals. In retrospect, I think the cooks spent more time on the arrangement of the food than the actual food itself. Needless to say, ‘pork paste’ is not one of my favorite things to eat.

We headed back to the hotel and packed up our bags. We are leaving Hue tomorrow and I don’t think anyone is complaining. It was definitely a rough part of the trip as far as food and lodging goes. However, the places we got to visit and things we got to see were quite interesting and beautiful.

Hue To Go (Day 11)

2011-01-24T03:27:00.001-05:00

Day 11 - January 19, 2011

This morning we checked out of our hotel in Hoi An. I was very sad to leave Hoi An. I really enjoyed the small city feeling and the how easy it was to explore around town. The town itself was very accommodating and the locals were so nice and hospitable. I felt safe walking the streets and interacting with other tourists. I enjoyed having the clothes tailor-made and would take a trip to Vietnam just to visit Hoi An to have a new inexpensive wardrobe made.

We boarded the bus for our long drive to Hue (pronounced Way). Hue is a little bit north of Hoi An, see map below.

On our way to Hue, we stopped at the Cham Museum. The Cham Museum is a Hindu museum located outside of Hoi An. There were some gorgeous stone structures throughout the museum. While looking around the museum, I saw a man with a ‘Myrtle Beach Bike Week 2010’ shirt on. It was kind of interesting to see someone who knew of Myrtle Beach in the middle of Vietnam! I really didn’t understand the significance of the Cham museum, but enjoyed browsing through the structures. Upon leaving, we were taken into a souvenir shop. They had a section where you could have your face (or anyone’s face for that matter) put on different types of stones. On display, they had Hilary Clinton and President Obama’s faces on a stone necklace. I thought this was very funny and took a picture.

We traveled along the Hai Van Pass to Hue. We drove up and down a very windy, narrow, road through the mountains. I felt like we were going to fall off the road at times. The entire way we were able to see a gorgeous view of the Lang Co beach and lagoon. We even stopped to take pictures. It was beautiful and worth the drive. It amazes me how beautiful things can be. I am reminded daily of God’s artistic hand and what He has made.

After arriving in Hue, we stopped for a quick lunch at an outdoor garden café. Unfortunately, it began raining again as we arrived in Hue. Lunch was quite interesting. We had many things on the menu that I could not read or understand. I tried to taste everything, but it really was not fantastic. Many of my classmates are having similar reactions to the Vietnamese food. We do much better when we can order for ourselves, rather than having the menu picked out for us. My staple food has become a bowl of rice at meals with pineapple and watermelon as a desert! Anytime I find something, delicious to eat I make sure to eat a lot!

After lunch, we headed to our new hotel. Upon walking in it was evident that it was not as classy as the pictures online depicted. The hotel was called the ‘ 3 Star New Hotel ‘. The rooms smelled slightly of mildew and mold, while everything felt damp (even the sheets!). Our room didn’t have a safe and the toilet was very stubborn when it came to flushing. There was about a ½ inch gap between the wall and tub. I made a mental note to take a quick shower, and to not think about what could be hiding or growing in that gap. Our accommodations thus far have been extremely nice. We are only in Hue for a short time so I knew there shouldn’t be too much to complain about. The Vietnamese culture would probably have seen this hotel as very nice, and I kept my negative thoughts to myself. After all, we aren’t really in our room that much anyways!

Next, we walked outside our hotels and boarded cyclos, much like the ones we rode in Hanoi. We traveled with the traffic to see the Imperial City and The Citadel. There were several times when I thought a car was going to hit our cyclo, or a motorbike was going to clip us! Traffic in Vietnam is crazy! There are no traffic rules it appears.

I thought touring the Imperial City was beautiful and very rewarding. It was originally not on our itinerary and I am so glad we decided to add it. The Imperial City had a wall and a moat around it protecting the people who lived and worked. Within the Imperial City was the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City had a separate wall bordering it. Only the King and the King’s family were allowed within these walls. They have begun to restore and repaint the Imperial City. It was so neat to see what the original structure looked like, while observing what they have done to preserve and restore parts of it. In fifteen years, it is going to be a beautiful place to visit for tourists. Lots of Chinese and French architecture were evident throughout the city. I really enjoyed walking around and seeing the beautiful scenery. Across from the Imperial City is The Citadel. We were able to see it from atop one of the buildings and take some great photos.

We cycled back to the hotel during rush hour, which was quite the experience! I tried to only forward and not to my sides, because the traffic was so heavy! Upon arriving back at the hotel, I went to the room to hang out for a little bit. I wasn’t feeling great, but I wasn’t’ feeling too terrible either. I decided to skip out on dinner and stay in the hotel since my stomach was acting a little funny. I caught up on my Journal as well as sending some emails. I also watched Harry Potter on HBO! Around 9:30, some of the girls who went out to eat brought me some rice and chicken. I ate most of it, as I was feeling better by that point. It was so thoughtful of them to bring me dinner!

After skyping with John for a little bit I headed to bed. I seem to be very tired, very early here in Vietnam. We really go, go, go all day, and then crash at night. It has definitely been worth being busy though, I have learned so much and I have had a great time.

A Day Out On The Town (Day 10)

2011-01-19T09:37:00.001-05:00

Day 10 - January 18, 2011

I woke up today excited for my last and final day in Hoi An. I was excited that it was also a free day. I slept in a little bit before heading to breakfast. I had enough time to day to order an omelet. I am so glad that I did because it was delicious!

After breakfast, I finished getting ready before heading into town with some of the girls. I went with some girls to a shop where they had clothes made. They all looked so beautiful in their new tailor made clothing. I somehow managed to get roped in to having another dress made there. I was nervous at first; afraid it wouldn’t be ready on time. The lady at the shop assured me that it would be, even if they had to deliver it to my hotel. I paid $24 for the new dress and was able to get a deal by giving each lady a $2. These $2 is working wonders for me!

We walked around town picking up each girl’s clothing from their respective shops. I was so excited to finally pick mine up. It all fit perfectly this time. I was so thrilled. We pretty much just hung out all day around town interacting with the locals and practicing our bargaining skills. I really didn’t buy anything else and just enjoyed experiencing the locals first hand. We had lunch at a small café. I had some good French Fries and I was so happy to eat those fries!

After lunch, we went to the massage place where me and three other girls got massages. I got a head, neck and shoulder massage for 70 minutes for $14.00. It felt so good. I had trouble this semester with my back and shoulders hurting and having so many knots. This massage definitely helped to get some of them out. While it was painful during the massage, I felt better afterwards.

Next, we went back to the dress shop for me to try on my last dress. I was nervous, wondering how it would fit after being ordered literally 5 hours earlier. I tried it on and it fit perfectly. I was so surprised. I was absolutely in love with the dress and so glad I got it.

We then headed back to the hotel to freshen up and cleanse ourselves of all the massage oils before heading back out to dinner. We went to dinner at a café that had great reviews in many guide books. While sitting at dinner, several people saw rats the size of their forearm running across the floor. Fortunately, I never saw them. We would have gotten up and not eaten in the restaurant, however rats are everywhere. I have seen many scurry by in an ally way or even in some of the dress shops. Everything in Vietnam is open and so it’s easy for them to come and go as they please. Needless to say, I was still disgusted.

We went across the street and had dessert. This was the first time I have had dessert on the trip. I ordered caramel ice cream with caramel drizzle. It was delicious!

Soon after finishing up, I came back to the hotel and began packing up my belongings. We have to leave for Hue tomorrow and I wanted to get a head start on reorganizing all of my belongings. Today was a fun day and I enjoyed interacting with the locals. I'm sad to be leaving Hoi An but excited to see what the rest of the trip has in store!

Marble Mountain and Repelling (Day 9)

2011-01-19T08:25:00.003-05:00

Day 9 - January 17, 2011

Today was initially going to be a free day, however many of the students in the group decided that we would like to take an organized repel adventure. The professors set this up prior to our arrival in Hoi An and I had become very excited for a true day of adventure.

I woke up and made sure to eat a good breakfast so that I would have plenty of energy for our adventure. We loaded into vans and headed to Marble Mountain. Upon arriving, we were told that we would have to hike a lot and to pace ourselves. We were also instructed that we would first do a practice repel, two smaller repels and then the final big repel. I was so excited for this experience.

Within the first five minutes of our hike, it was apparent that the Vietnamese people constructed large steps for their little legs. I felt like I had to kick my leg up to my nose to get my foot on the next step. While the steps were steep, I kept a positive attitude and mentally forced myself to keep going. I knew I would thank myself later for my toned legs and for the experience, I was going to have. We finally arrived at the practice repel. Our guide taught us the basics and let us practices off of a rock that was about three meters high. He corrected us if we were doing anything wrong. It was nice to have this practice run.

Next we hiked up a little further to our first repel site. As our guide got the site set up, I couldn’t help but look down into the hole that we would be repelling in to. It seemed so far down compared to the practice run. While I was waiting my turn, I felt butterflies of anticipation and fear in my stomach. Once I was hooked into the gear and had taken the first few steps, I was home free. I really enjoyed the first repel, especially after I could jump off the wall and swing a little before jumping again. After getting unhooked from the ropes, I climbed up through a tiny hole to leave the cave. I kept climbing the marble rocks until I was nearly on top of the peak at this particular point. It was so neat to see for miles around me in every direction. I was able to get some pictures with some of the others on the trip and of the beautiful scenery. We then headed to the next repel site. This site was a little higher, and was directly to the left of our practice site. There was no cave to repel down into, just the ground below. I was so nervous at first but also excited for another repel! I made it down this run faster because I was more confident and was able to let myself down faster. It was so neat!

After everyone had finished up, we had lunch nearby. The repel guides had brought along food. I didn’t eat much because the food was in Tupperware containers. I was wary about where the food had been and how it had been prepared. I was avoiding trying to get sick and being cautious. I was hoping we would finish early enough for me to get some snacks back at the hotel.

We then headed to our next repel site. On the way, our guide decided to take us for a scenic tour. He led us into this cave like place where there was a Buddha. Around the corner were steps that lead deeper into this cave. From above I could see many people praying. I also noticed that there was a funky smell and that the place was filled with smoke. I learned that one-day month incense is burnt for good luck. I descended the steps with the group to explore the cakelike temple. Within a few moments, my lungs started to ache and I knew I needed to leave and get some fresh air. I took a few girls with me as we exited the cave. I rested outside where I was coughing for quite sometime. While waiting for our group to exit, we saw a lady take four big water bottles and fill them up with a hose nearby. I had heard that they refilled water bottles and would serve you this way, however I had not witnessed it until then. Still coughing, I joined my group as we headed to another picturesque view. On the way, I sat down to take a break because my lungs were really tight. Long story short, I began to have an asthma attack. Luckily, one of the girls on the trip has asthma also and was able to help me get my breathing under control. I remained extremely shaky and dizzy for quite sometime. I drank a coke and some crackers that someone else had brought with them, hoping to relieve the feeling. The group continued on to the last repel, while I stayed behind with one of the professors and another guy from my group. Once I felt strong, enough we walked down the mountain. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to do the last repel; however it was a smart decision in the end. I probably wasn’t physically strong enough after shaking and having an asthma attack. My body felt exhausted, as if I had run a marathon. Luckily, I was only sore and tired and my lungs no longer were hurting. I was so thankful to have classmates who were able to help me out and who cared so much about me.

Next, we headed back to the hotel where I made sure to grab my inhaler. I had forgotten it earlier and I was convinced I was never going to forget it again. Me and two other girls headed into town for our first fittings. The first tailor shop we went to was the nicer one. The girl who ordered her dress from there looked fantastic in it for her first fitting. After helping her decide what parts should be altered, we headed to the other tailor shop, where the other girl and I had things made. My clothing all fit, but most of it was slightly big and awkward in some places. After trying everything on, and having them mark where things needed to be adjusted we left to do some more shopping.

I was able to purchase Dad a couple of ties for a decent price. I used my two dollar US dollar bills to win the seller over with the price I wanted to pay. I also helped my friends out in the same aspect, who then paid me back later. We also looked in many art shops. I decided that before I left Vietnam I wanted to buy a piece of artwork.

I noticed throughout the night that shops were closing early. Those that remained dimmed their lights and began burning incense. I was so glad that I had packed my inhaler. Apparently, the same incense burning for good luck takes place everywhere. I had dinner at an Italian restaurant, which was SO good. I ordered a pepperoni pizza and coke light for about $7. I was so glad to have something besides Vietnamese food. I find it quite interesting that I am having trouble acquiring a taste for the Vietnamese food. I really enjoyed the food in China, however here I seem to not be able to find anything that really ‘wows’ my appetite.

After dinner, I went back to my tailor shop again to try on my clothes for my second fitting. They fit much better but still needed a little work. Most of the stuff still needed to be taken in on the sides and in the top area. I was still excited to see the outfit coming together.

Shortly after that, I headed back to the hotel. I was exhausted from all the day's festivities and was looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Water Buffalos and Fishing (Day 8)

2011-01-19T07:53:00.003-05:00

Day 8 - January 16, 2011

What a day! This morning I woke up excited for what lay ahead. I went to breakfast and had bacon and a croissant, the usual. I could get used to these two staple items at each hotel. I liked the bacon better at this hotel because it is cooked a little more. However, it seems to be greasier.

We left the hotel for a day of more adventures. We walked a few blocks and picked up bikes. After getting the bikes, we biked to some nearby gardens to see the locals at work. It was so interesting to see them working in the fields. We met an older lady, 70 years old, who was working in the fields. We got to help her water the crops. It was so neat, and different, to use the watering cans on a yoke! I was surprised at how much coordination was required to be able to balance the water cans and water the crops at the same time.

Next, we biked further into the country. We came across a man with a water buffalo. We were allowed to take a short ride on the water buffalo. At first I was unsure whether this was safe or not, but in the end I decided that I would probably never have the opportunity to ride a water buffalo again. I waited my turn until I could ride the water buffalo. I hopped on and held on for dear life as the man walked the water buffalo up and down a path a few feet. He then decided that it would be fun if he took the water buffalo into the nearby water. I was convinced that I was going to fall off of the buffalo and into the water, however I managed to stay on. Earlier the guide had told us that buffalo waste was seen as good luck in the Vietnamese culture, specifically stepping in it. Another girl on our trip had stepped in a pleasant pie just a few moments before. As I posed for pictures on the water buffalo, I heard laughter from my peers. I then realized that the water buffalo was indeed relieving himself. The guide as well as the entire group was hysterically laughing. The fact that it was caught in a picture made it even funnier. I am hoping that although this was quite disgusting that it means I will have very good luck in the future.

After that adventure, we rode our bikes only further out into the country. We rode past many water buffalo feeding and walking around the many crops. The next place we stopped was a rice farm. We were able to see how the locals harvested rice. Some of my classmates got to experience helping the farmer. From afar, it looked quite hard, as you have to wade around in mud and water knee high. I can only imagine what their backs must feel like at the end of the day!

Next, we rode our bikes out of the country and along the strip of hotels and businesses that lined the beach. Although today had also been a rainy day it was still neat to see the beautiful shoreline. We rode our bikes until we reached a boat, which was to take us on our next adventure. The boat was lined with seats for every person. We stayed with the same guide that had taken us to explore the farming side of Vietnam earlier. He took us to a small island where we got off the boat. About 8 locals were there and taught us how to hold and cast huge fishing nets. It was actually quite difficult to get the nets to spread far and open up. None of us caught anything, however it was still fun. I followed one of the locals who motioned for a group of people to follow him. I was the only one who seemed to follow him the entire way. He led me into the nearby trees about 4 feet. I saw a bamboo structure. He climbed to the top and motioned for me to climb also. I did so, thinking that my classmates were behind me. After getting on the top, I noticed a wheel sort of device that the man started to push and spin with his feet. He motioned for me to try and I began so. He quickly hopped down and motioned for me to keep going. After a short time, I noticed that in the water bamboo rods began to rise up. After more time the rods clearly, had fishing net attached to them? Some of my classmates were in round bamboo boats and helped the local fisherman empty the fish out of the net. It was so cool that I got to wheel the net out of the water with my feet! It was definitely an ‘old school’ way to fish, but very interesting to see.

I was so excited for the next adventure the tour had in store. We boarded the boat again and began heading toward a smaller cove area with many bamboo plants sticking out of the water. We were quickly loaded into small round bamboo boats. There was a local in each one and one classmate sat on either side of the local. They had a paddle. I was in a small boat with another girl, our local loved to sing. We sang songs with her the entire time. She taught us a song about Ho Chi Minh and Vietnam and she also sang the Olay song, however she made up her own remix for this one. She had crafted us rings, bracelets and stick people out of bamboo leaves. After decorating us, we began to ride in the rice boats around the channels. Our local loved to rock the boat back and forth. I was convinced we were going to tip over, however luckily we didn’t. After riding in the rice boats for a while we stopped to hear our tour guide tell us the significance in the place we were located. He told us that soldiers during the war would bury themselves under the mud in the channel and would breathe through bamboo. He mentioned that there used to be many land minds but most had been deactivated. It was so interesting to learn about history and be in the same spot feeling like the soldiers must have felt. After enjoying our time and giving a shot at trying to paddle the boats, ourselves we headed back to the big boat, where lunch was waiting. The tour guide’s mother cooked lunch and everything was different, but delicious.

During lunch, I started to talk to the tour guide. He spoke of how he started his business because he realized that his father’s fishing business was not doing well. He understood that tourism was where they could make money. He admitted that the first few years were rough but now he has a steady 5,000 clients a year. He employed the locals that we interacted with all day long, many of them being his neighbors. He gave them jobs and paid them for helping out with the tour. He spoke English very well and I enjoyed the tour so much!

We headed back to the hotel to freshen up. We had the afternoon free. I went into town with two other girls to explore tailor shops. Many people in our group were interested in having clothing made. We secured a very nice shop to have one of the girls’ dresses made. Her dress was intricate and it was the only tailor that understood her design. The other girl and I were able to find a tailor who understood our simple designs and who was a little bit cheaper. I was measured and ordered clothing, which I was to pick up the next day. I ordered two dressy tops and a formal dress, along with a dress shirt for John. I had some of the guys (who I also brought to the shop) help me with his measurements. Needless to say, I used a combination of a couple of guys to achieve measurements closest to John’s. I sure hope it fits when he returns home from Spain! For my 2 dress tops and formal dress, along with his dress shirt cost $85. I found this to be an exceptionally good deal considering that all the clothes were made from scratch and were tailor made. I couldn’t wait to see them and try them on, as I had designed all my clothes and picked out the colors. After exploring the tailor shops, I was very surprised at the English that each person knew and understood. It was also evident that they had experience. I couldn’t help but wonder how they were able to get the clothes made in a day! I came to the conclusion that they must have shops nearby where they have workers who make it for them. I also found that they were willing to haggle with me some. I was excited to refresh my haggling skills.

Next, we headed to dinner with the group. I decided I wanted a quesadilla. I was surprised that when my food came the sour cream was drizzled on top like chocolate, and the chicken inside was spicy. I couldn’t help but laugh at a different culture’s idea of Mexican food. I guess every culture thinks differently!

I headed to get a massage with the girls after dinner. We went to Hoi An day spa. It was so nice. I had an aromatherapy massage for 70 minutes for $!5. I felt so relaxed afterwards. The massage place was very clean as well and the mesus’ were able to speak very good English and were considerate. I looked up the spa on Facebook before we went and was impressed with the reviews and pictures. It was even better in person.

After a fantastic relaxing massage, we headed back to the hotel, where I quickly fell asleep.

Rain Rain Go Away (Day 7)

2011-01-19T07:09:00.002-05:00

Day 7 - January 15, 2011

This morning I woke up and got ready for a busy day ahead! I decided to take a long hot shower in the stone shower at our new hotel. It was fabulous. The water pressure was so much better at this hotel than the last one. I took a long time to get dressed and didn’t have time for breakfast!

We boarded our bus for our first adventure of the day. It seems that the rain is following us because it was slightly dreary. We stopped at a shop down the street to do laundry. The lady working only charges a small fee to do laundry and she will pick up and deliver it to the hotel. I didn’t choose to get any laundry done today, however I will probably get some done later in the week.

After that we went to the market in Hoi An. The market was so interesting. We split up into small groups and had a guide walk around the market with us. He explained each spice, fruit, vegetable and meat. He picked many to let us smell. I enjoyed seeing all the natural ingredients that were being sold in the market. He also told us that they begin to set up their stands around 2 or 3 am. I could not believe it! I was surprised to see how big some of the fruits and vegetables were. I would have thought that the pesticides and hormones used in American crops would cause them to be bigger, however it was just the opposite. Walking around in the meat section of the market, I noticed many people selling fish. I saw only a few selling chickens. Disturbingly, all the heads remained on most of these meats. I could only help but think that this is how markets were before grocery stores.

Next, we headed to a restaurant where we were going to cook our own Vietnamese meal. I was excited and expected to be the chef. I thought we would be buying ingredients from the market and then cooking them ourselves. When we arrived, we found out that we were simply helping the chef’s prepare food. It was still neat to learn how to do different things, even though we all had to take turns. We ate a few of our own dishes and then we were seated at the restaurant to have a more fulfilling lunch. I thought that everything was delicious.

We headed back into town to tour different ancient sites. We got to see the Japanese Covered Bridge, which displayed beautiful architecture. We were told that the bridge had to be taken somewhat apart every year during the rainy season so that it would not break when the waters rose. We also saw two Chinese temples and two merchant houses. Walking through and viewing all of these sites reminded me of what China may have been like 30 years ago. The restoration has been very minimal on many of these important sites. It appears dirty and ignored, however people are making attempts to restore it. I was surprised to learn that the Chinese temples and Merchant houses were built in the 16^th and 17^th century. We could see different watermarks from where the city had flooded. Apparently, the city of Hoi Ann floods often. The floodwaters will often be close to or over 2 meters. I couldn’t believe how easily the town could be washed away! I wish I had paid more attention to our tour guide during the tours. It was raining and cold and I was quite frankly ready to be back at the hotel and dry. It was hard to appreciate everything with such yucky weather!

Finally, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. I ate with most of the group at the hotel restaurant. I ordered a club sandwich, which actually turned out to be delicious. Many of the other students however did not prefer the food they ordered. After dinner, I was able to Skype John again. I value these short times when I get to Skype him. Although I know he is having a great experience in Spain, I already miss him a lot! Shortly after skyping, I headed to bed.

Roadtrip! (Day 6)

2011-01-15T10:37:00.001-05:00

Day 6 - January 14, 2011

We woke up early for a long day of traveling ahead. I slept great on the boat as I had originally thought. After getting ready we boarded a small paddle like boat and went into a cove where our big Junk Boat could not fit. We were able to observe monkey’s on the rocks. It was so neat to see monkeys so close to our small little row boat.

After our quick adventure we headed back to our Junk Boat. We packed up our belongings and prepared for brunch. I was not hopeful for any food that I would like, and was looking forward to finding something to eat once I was off the boat. Thankfully at lunch we had French Fries! I ate those and a spring roll (not the healthiest choice, but better than nothing). I was so hungry and it felt good to finally be able to eat something!

Time came for us to load on to the small trolley boat that would take us back to the shore. It was sad to leave the Junk Boat. Everyone had a wonderful time and we definitely grew closer and became better friends on the boat. I wish we would have had more time to spend in the bay!

We boarded buses for our long journey back to Hanoi. We stopped halfway at another tourist souvenir shop, however this one was much larger and nicer. I bought some food and something to drink for the rest of the ride back. I’ve noticed that in these rest stops there are lines of women sitting and creating silk needlework by hand. It almost appears to be a mini sweat shop. I felt like the owners were displaying their workers like animals for the public to view. It is so strange to keep seeing this, and I have to wonder if it really is a sweatshop kind of place.

On the way back into Hanoi while on the bus, we also saw many factories. I saw a Samsung factory, clothing factory, Canon Factory and a few others. It was interesting to see how big these factories were in what seemed like the middle of the countryside. I assume they provide good jobs for those who choose to work there.

We arrived at the hotel in Hanoi and said our goodbyes to our wonderful tour guide, Hung. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in the airport before heading through security and boarding the plane. The ride from Hanoi to Hoi An was only an hour. After a full day of traveling I felt gross and dirty and I was ready for a shower!

After collecting all of our luggage we were transported from Danang to Hoi An (about a 30 minute drive). We arrived at our hotel, and I had my speculations. While it looked good on the outside I felt like it was placed in a random part of a village. Upon entering the lobby and seeing the room my mind completely changed. The rooms are so nice and modern. Each room has their own little porch out front that overlooks the pool and to the left, the river in Hoi An. The rooms also have a flat screen LG TV, a laptop, a deep stone tub and a separate shower. The bathroom really has no curtain to separate it from the beds, so that made getting ready and showering interesting. I loved the hotel and was so glad that we would be residing here for an extended couple of days. I really felt like I was in a resort. I was excited to see that there was also free WiFi. After checking out everything in the room and unpacking I had the opportunity to Skype John. It was so great to talk to him and catch up on all that he is doing in Spain. We haven’t had an opportunity to really talk that much because of my schedule and his schedule. I have missed talking to him and seeing him. Hopefully things will be better once I’m back in America. I am continuing to count down the days until he is back home! We are both enjoying our travels abroad and I look forward to learning more about the culture of Spain and teaching him about the Vietnamese culture.

I headed to bed after that excited for our first full day in Hoi An. Below is another picture of where I am now in Vietnam!

Halong Bay (Day 5)

2011-01-15T10:12:00.002-05:00

Day 5 - January 13, 2011

This morning we woke up bright and early to prepare for a long day. After getting ready I made sure I had packed up all my clothes and toiletries. I missed breakfast trying to get everything together, but I was hopeful for a delicious Vietnamese lunch.

We boarded the bus and left Hanoi for Halong Bay. Halong Bay was about a 4 hour drive. We road on our charter bus and stopped half way at a tourist rest stop. I was able to see many traditional souvenirs for sale that were overpriced. At this point I was starving and bought a can of small Pringles and a Coca Light (the only foods I could recognize). We continued our journey to Halong Bay. Below is a picture of Vietnam. The red star indicates where I will be. See previous posts to see where I have traveled from!

I knew we would be staying in a traditional Junk Boat, but I found very little about the Junk Boat online beforehand. I really wasn’t expecting anything fancy and was hoping it would at least have heat to keep us warm on the water!

I was quite surprised when we pulled up to a small trolley boat that took us out to our Junk Boat. Our boat was huge and the rooms were small but spacious and nice. Everything was very elegant and nice on the ship.

We first had lunch on the boat. Everything was made of seafood. I took ‘thank you bites’ as mom calls them, but I had no desire to take any more than that. The fish was fresh and fishy tasting, something I avoid. I was starving and accepted the fact that I was going to be very hungry all afternoon. I crossed my fingers that dinner would have something more substantial for me to eat.

After lunch we were given an opportunity to take pictures and hang on the boat for about an hour. We then took another trolley boat to a cove nearby. The cove displayed beautiful caves. These caves were so incredible and it was hard to fathom that they had been there for quite some time. The caves have not been open to tourists until recently. There were different lighting in the caves and different structures as well. It was a real treat to see the beautiful caves. Our tour guide also educated me on my new SLR camera. He loved taking pictures as a hobby and helped me learn about some of the settings on my new camera! I was able to take some great pictures.

Next we headed back to the boat. Some people decided to go kayaking around the cove. I decided against that and went with a group of people to a small beach. We climbed to the top of a mountainous structure. The view was spectacular and definitely worth the hike. I decided that Halong Bay is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen in the world. It was amazing and every view was a picture perfect view.

Dinner came before we knew it and again the menu consisted of only seafood. I took the same approach as lunch but had little luck. I was so hungry but it seemed like the only food on the ship was seafood! During dinner the staff had elevator music playing through the speakers. We decided to hook up my computer and someone else’s iPod and play American music. It was so much fun. I’m pretty sure our boat was the only boat in the bay jamming out to Justin Bieber and Rascal Flatts. After dinner everyone hung around and talked. There was a karaoke machine that some of my peers took advantage of. Slowly but surely everyone headed off to bed. I was excited about sleeping on the boat because I always sleep well when I am being rocked, whether that is by a boat, train, bus, car, airplane, etc.

Meditation and The Friendship Village (Day 4)

2011-01-14T12:07:00.003-05:00

Day 4 - January 12, 2011

What an exciting, rewarding, extraordinary day. This morning I woke up and went to breakfast as usual. I had my standard bacon (so yummy)! Today they were serving potato rounds that I decided to try. They were absolutely delicious and tasked like a mix between a hash brown and french fry. After breakfast we boarded the bus for our first adventure.

We took a 30 minute bus ride to a small village on the outskirts of Hanoi. Our bus couldn't fit down the streets inside the village so we had to get out and walk a ways. I knew we were going to a mindfulness temple however details about this excursion were nonexistent on the internet or any travel guides. As a group we decided this was because it was so hidden and hard to get to. Walking down the streets we saw many dogs. Most were about medium size (a little bigger than a beagle but smaller than a lab). Most appeared to be young. Most of the dogs I saw looked to be a Shepard lab mix. There were definitely no distinct breeds. I had to keep reminding myself not to pet them because of the chance that they would have rabies. We continued walking through this village. The village had concrete like structures that lined both sided of the street. These were mostly small homes, without doors. We finally got into town and boy was it an experience! It was a picture perfect old school market. There were women weighing fish and cutting them up for customers. There were slabs of meat and women slicing them as well. There were many stands of fruits and vegetables that lined the streets. There were locals shopping in the market and others passing through town. This was a very small town.

We entered the temple which was located in the middle of town. We were given the opportunity to explore the temple for a while. It was beautiful and simple. We were then taken into a room to learn how to meditate. For quite sometime we sat on the floor quiet and 'becoming one with ourselves'. We learned how to meditate by sitting, singing and walking. The goal of the meditation was to only focus on the present and finding peace within yourself. We spent what felt like forever learning about this process. By the end everyone was ready to be done and do something else!

The temple had more in store for us though. We were served lunch and taught how to meditate while eating. Our meal was all vegetarian because the monks believe in preserving life, not wasting and not promoting global warming. They food not only looked disgusting, but of what I tasted was disgusting. I ate a roll that tasted like an elephant ear without powdered sugar and a spring roll. I was still hungry but didn't like any of the other foods!

We left the temple and walked back through town. I was able to take some great pictures on the way out. I was very excited for the next part of our day!

We rode the bus to the Friendship Village. The Friendship Village is a community for children and teens who have been affected by agent orange. Many of these children are offspring or grandchildren of others exposed to agent orange during the war. Agent orange exposure causes many physical and mental handicaps. The children in the Friendship Village learn different traits depending on their abilities that can help them work when they are older. For example, some are taught to hand sew silk artwork. Others are taught how to make and hem uniforms. We also witnessed a group that made artificial flowers out of a paper fabric combination. These flowers looked so real too! Some of the children with lower abilities were learning how to develop their motor skills as well as how to work with computers. It was very neat to see these children. I decided to talk to a child that had downs syndrome among other disabilities who was sitting in the back of the classroom coloring. He was so excited I came over to talk to him. He saw my big camera around my neck and motioned that he wanted me to take a picture of him. I did and showed him what it looked like and he laughed and said 'that's me' and high fived me. After that he motioned that he wanted to take pictures with my camera. It was so cute to see him turning the camera all different angles and different zooms while taking pictures. He was pointing to indicate who and where he wanted people in pictures. I loved hanging out with him. When I got my camera back I high fived him again and he told me I was number 1. I replied telling him he was number 1. In the classroom where they were learning to make flower arrangements approached a girl who had many physical disabilities. She taught me how to cut the shapes that made up the flowers. I loved interacting with these children. It was so very rewarding. Here is a picture below of the boy and me!

After leaving the Friendship village we headed back to the hotel. I took a short nap before waking to go to dinner. All the students decided to go together. We went to a restaurant called Al Frescos that served international food. I got a chicken pesto pasta that was very good. We all had a blast eating and laughing together. The group I am with is already so close knit even though there are a range of personalities. There are no cliques yet and I love hanging out with everyone. That aspect is a little different than my trip to China.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel. I finally got to skype with John for a short time before my computer died. I showered and packed up my clothes because it was the last night we would be staying in this hotel. I got in bed and fell right to sleep.

Student Discount, Everywhere! (Day 3)

2011-01-11T19:34:00.003-05:00

Day 3- January 11, 2011

I woke up this morning bright and early. I was able to figure out the shower a lot faster, however the temperature was still very sensitive. I used another girl’s hair straightener on the trip but my hair just looked like a huge poofball. The humidity here is just like South Carolina! I had a similar combination for breakfast this morning as I did yesterday morning (croissant, bacon and rice) and it was just as good as yesterday.

We boarded the bus around 8:30 AM to start our full day of adventures. The first stop we made was at Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. Ho Chi Minh died in the late 1960’s. We were not allowed to take pictures inside of his mausoleum. I was expecting to see a stone tomb with flowers placed on top inside the mausoleum. However, his body was in a clear glass case on display. There were at least 8 guards surrounding him while visitors toured through. He appeared to have been preserved and embalmed quite well. The guards throughout the mausoleum were very strict on behavior. No hats were allowed and no hands were allowed to be placed in the pockets. It was so neat to see how well preserved Ho Chi Minh’s body was and how respectful the nation is of him. There was a lawn in front of his mausoleum that was decorated as well. We were allowed to take pictures of the mausoleum, just not inside. We also toured his houses and got to see his cars. We also got to see the guesthouse that was built for important people nearby. Ho Chi Minh was a simple man (in my standards). The guesthouse was much larger than any of his residences. It was so neat to see where he actually lived.

Next, we went to the Ethnology Museum. The museum had many interesting displays throughout. The museum was basically dedicated to the different ethnic groups found in Vietnam and about different aspects of the people. I saw many elaborate costumes as well as many types of pottery, weapons and day-to-day necessities. There was a very elaborate AIDS exhibit as well. I was surprised to see all the facts and figures for Vietnam. The displays also explained different steps that had been taking to spread education about AIDS and treatment. It was found that AIDS spread more rapidly when it was looked down upon, than accepted. One of the strategies used to spread awareness of AIDS is to make different structures (i.e.: Football Helmet, Christmas Tree) and elaborate dresses out of contraceptives. I did not notice what these structures were made out of at first, but then was amazed at the truly unique detail and supplies used for these particular works of art. I also walked around the outside of the museum that displayed structures such as different types of houses. It was neat to look inside the houses and read the many descriptions of items from years ago. I enjoyed the Ethnology Museum a lot.

After the museum, we left for lunch. We entered an old French inspired building for lunch. It was probably my least favorite meal so far. Many things were repeated from last night, however they were not as good. When I talk about the food not being good, it is like comparing one Chinese restaurant to another. There are only slight differences.

Next, we went to the Temple of Literature. The Temple of Literature is a Confucius temple in Vietnam that was founded in 1070. Originally, the temple served as Vietnam’s first university for over 700 years. The University strived to educate the elite and took pride in the difficult academics that it presented. Many students struggled to pass the final examinations. Engraved on the stone stele the names of the students who did pass the final exam can be seen. An emperor started the tradition of engraving ones name into the stele in 1484. The engraved names have faded, but some still remain. Today, The Temple of Literature is one of Vietnam’s most impressive historical sites. The temple is comprised of five courtyards that lead to pathways that run throughout the temple itself. These paths were reserved for the elite, specifically the king. We didn’t spend much time at the temple, but it was very neat to see a quick tour.

Vietnam is currently experiencing their coldest winter. Today it was about 46 degrees, rainy and slightly windy. Many of us were freezing yesterday and today. The weather was not supposed to be this cold! Before our next adventure, we were given about 45 minutes to shop in the Old Quarter again to try and find some jackets. I didn’t find a jacket, but many of my peers did. We found that again the shop owners were not too keen on bargaining. However many of my peers walked away having received good deals (North Face Jackets for $12.50). Throughout the day, we had many outside adventures. I think most of us were focused on being cold rather than remembering specific details that our tour guide (Hong) was telling us. I focused more on the appearance of things rather than the facts today.

We then attended a water puppet show. It was a short show that displayed puppets on water. It was so neat to see these puppets acting out scenes while appearing to float on the water. I took some great pictures and can’t wait to share them later! The whole show was conducted in mostly Vietnamese along with a lot of traditional music. While I didn’t exactly understand what was going on, it was neat to see the performance.

My favorite part of the day occurred next. We got to ride cyclos around the city. There was one person per cyclo. A cyclo is basically a big seat in the front with a small Asian man peddling you from behind. There were many mixed emotions about the tour. Some of the men didn’t speak very good English (if any at all) and many kept asking for a tip. I had a great experience. The man that gave me the tour spoke very good Vietnamese English. I enjoyed hearing about his life and he did a wonderful job of pointing out interesting things out around the city. I tipped him with a $2 and wished him good luck for the New Year. He was so excited and thankful.

We then boarded the bus to head back to the hotel. We arrived back around 5:30 PM. Most of us decided to take a short nap before trying to find a place for dinner. Around 7:00 PM, I met up with three other people from the trip to go grab a bite to eat. We ended up at a small restaurant around the corner from our hotel. The food was decent and cheap, and the owner was very nice to us. She gave us student prices on all the food and even gave us special egg rolls. So far, none of us have gotten sick, so I’m crossing my fingers we will all feel fine tomorrow!

It is currently 9:30 PM here. It is all I can do to stay awake. These adventures are so tiring but worth it! I am noticing many similarities between China and Vietnam. As I have explained to some others, it is like the difference between any Central American countries or for any state in the US for that matter.

I really love and respect the Asian culture. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to visit and learn more about their people and culture.

When in Vietnam, Do as the Vietnamese Do (Day 2)

2011-01-11T05:53:00.006-05:00

Day 2 - January 10, 2011

We were given extra time to sleep this morning, which was fabulous. My roommate and I woke up around 7:30 AM and decided we were too excited to go back to sleep. It was an experience trying to get ready for our first day in Vietnam! The shower was quite difficult to work, once we got it on, and flowing out of the right nozzle, it was a struggle to get the temperature right. The facet was very sensitive.

We headed down to breakfast shortly after getting ready. We had to walk out of the hotel and down a flight of stairs to enter the restaurant. I had bacon, noodles and a croissant roll for breakfast with passion juice. The bacon was different, but delicious (more so than American bacon). The passion juice was also very tasty.

After breakfast, we boarded the bus for an exciting day of many adventures. Five young women from the Hanoikids organization greeted us. These are students who attend the university and volunteer their time for free to take tourists around Hanoi. They do this to learn more about their country and share to tourists the love they have for Vietnam as well as to practice their English. The young women spoke very good English and were so kind and helpful. I really enjoyed having them around for the day.

On the way to our first adventure in Kieu Ki, we witnessed something that is rarely seen in Vietnam. We saw two communist officials knock a young Vietnamese man off his scooter. They kicked him and hit him while dragging him off the street. Our guide said that he had probably violated some law and it was rare to see an attack like that. It was still interesting to see another country's government in action.

After a short time, we arrived in Kieu Ki. I've kept it a secret thus far to build anticipation. We were given bicycles and took a tour around a ceramic village. We rode the bicycles about 7km along a small road that was parallel to the Red River. It was so neat to see a Vietnamese village outside of the city. I witnessed many dogs and very nice homes. The homes in Vietnam tend to be narrow and tall. This is because land is so expensive it is easier to build tall and narrow rather than shorter and wide. We were taught how to dodge the other motorist and bicyclist throughout the town. A guy in our group almost got sandwiched in between a car and bus! It was so neat to see traditional living. Words will not be able to fully illustrate what I experienced and got to see.

We stopped and toured a shop that produces ceramics. We were able to see how they made the different ceramics and how each one was hand painted. It was so interesting.

Next, we headed off to have a traditional Vietnamese lunch. We arrived at our restaurant to find that we would be sitting outside. We were quite cold and none of us had packed for cold weather. The Vietnamese are experiencing their coldest winter yet. It was in the 40's today.

For lunch, I ordered a bottle of coke for 8,000 Dong. It was cheaper than coke in a can for 15,000 Dong. Roughly, 20,000 Dong is one USD to add perspective. We were served many dishes for lunch. I tried sweet and sour pork (my favorite), spring roll (so much more fresh and less greasy compared to the United States) and some other traditional dishes. They were so good. Like in China, fresh fruit was served as dessert.

Our next adventure was touring the 'Hanoi Hilton'. The 'Hanoi Hilton' is the exact opposite of a five star hotel. It is referred to officially as the Hoa Lo prison. This prison is where John McCain was held captive. It was very interesting to see how American, Southern Vietnamese and French soldiers were treated in this prison. It was evident how gruesome the jail was. I definitely gained more respect for John McCain after seeing what he had to endure in the Hanoi Hilton.

We then headed to the French quarter, which are basically many blocks of shops. I enjoyed looking at Vietnamese goods. The few times I tried to bargain the retailers were not responsive. Hopefully they will be more responsive in the future. I paid for a can of coke and a bottle of water with a $2 American dollar bill. The young lady at the convenience store was over joyed. She said that I had given her good luck for the New Year. To return the favor she gave me a discount on my purchases. So neat!

I enjoyed shopping around the French quarter even though I did not purchase much.

We walked to dinner, taking the scenic route. It was so beautiful to see the lake all lit up. Our guide showed us some other landmarks that I honestly can't pronounce or spell. We experienced crossing one of the busiest streets during rush hour. It was literally playing frogger. It was one of the most dangerous things I've done in my life, seriously.

We arrived at a beautiful restaurant. We were served an 8-course meal. It was absolutely exquisite. It was very fancy. We were seated in a private room of a French style home that had been converted into a restaurant. By the end of dinner, we were all so tired that we were falling asleep at the table.

After the drive to the hotel, we got ready for bed and went to sleep. I'm pretty sure we all were in bed by 9pm. We have such a busy day tomorrow and I can't wait for more adventures!

Korean Airlines, better than Delta! (Day 1)

2011-01-11T05:45:00.003-05:00

Day 1 - January 9, 2011

On Saturday, January 8, 2011, we began our journey to Vietnam around 4:30 AM. We finally arrived in Vietnam around 11:00 AM Sunday, January 9, 2011. We first boarded a plane at the Greenville / Spartanburg airport. This was a tiny plane we flew in to Atlanta. I was able to catch a little bit of sleep since I did not go to sleep the night before. In Atlanta, we grabbed our last American meal for a month. My choice was of course, Chick-fil-a and sweet tea. We then sat at our gate until it was time to board. We flew Korean Air from Atlanta to Seoul, Korea – what an experience!

I enjoyed flying Korean Air more so than Delta, United, etc. As I took my seat (47G), I noticed that there were several packages in my seat. First of all, there was a pillow (in a yellow pillow case) and a very large and comfy purple blanket. There was also a small cosmetic bag with slippers, toothpaste and a toothbrush. Each individual seat had a small television screen in front of it. Along with the television was a remote control. Each individual had control over their screen and could decide which movies to watch, games to play, etc. There were many options for each category. It was so neat! You could also view the map of where the plane was and where it was flying, along with camera views from outside of the plane. I enjoyed playing Tetris and watching a movie for part of the flight. For the majority of the flight I slept, so much in fact I missed the first in-flight meal! I was very glad to have stayed up all night because I was able to sleep so well on the plane without a sleep aide. Thankfully, I was awake for the second in flight meal. After about 14 hours of not eating, I was hungry! I had a chicken and rice combination that was very delicious, for airline food that is. I felt like the Korean Air employees were very hospitable and courteous.

We landed in Seoul, Korea where we had a brief layover. The airport we flew in to was one of the nicest airports I have ever been to. There were many high-end stores selling all sorts of items. I saw Gucci, Coach, Feragamo, Michael Kohrs, etc. I enjoyed trying Korean coke and a small order of French fries with some of the other girls on the trip.

While we were in the airport, we heard relaxing music. All of a sudden, we saw a parade of people walking by. A few individuals were in front, leading an older couple that was protected by an umbrella (fit for a king) and a younger couple who was also protected by an umbrella (fit for a king as well). We could never figure out why they were parading through the airport but found it very interesting. The locals also seemed to stop in their tracks to watch the ceremony.

I noticed throughout the airport were many men and women who were dressed very stylish. I also observed that couples seemed to wear matching outfits, or coordinating outfits in the airport. It was very strange to see a man and a woman wearing the same jeans, shoes, shirt and jacket. I am not sure why the trend of ‘dressing like one’s partner’ started.

After wandering around the Korean airport for a while, it was time to head to our gate for our flight to Vietnam. This short (about 5 hr) flight was also occupied by me sleeping.

When we arrived in Vietnam our guide greeted us cordially after receiving our luggage. We were driven to our hotel. Our guide told us many interesting facts along the way. For example, to own a car in Vietnam is a very big deal. Cars that cost us $20,000 USD will cost Vietnamese about $60,000 VND. I couldn’t believe the price of items like this in Vietnam.

I wish I could remember more from the trip over, but unfortunately, I was in somewhat of a sleepy state for the majority of the trip.

We settled into our hotel, which is very nice. It looks exactly like the pictures from online. I was so excited to have a nice clean room. On our side table, we found a gift from the tour company. It was addressed to both my roommate and me. Inside were beautiful silk scarves and a few guidebooks for the city of Hanoi and Vietnam as a whole. It was such a thoughtful touch and so neat to be welcomed with a present! After unpacking a few items, we (my roommate, Amy, and I) quickly fell asleep. We were so excited for what the next day had to offer.

Below is a picture of where we are in Vietnam!

Anticipation!

2011-01-08T01:20:00.001-05:00

I am sitting in my dorm room looking at the pile of clothes that I have yet to pack in my suitcase. I am so excited to be traveling to Vietnam and Cambodia for Interim this year. I board the bus for the airport at 4:30 am (about 3.5 hours from now). The weather is supposed to be very warm even though it is not summer over there. We will be traveling from the north to the south of Vietnam and then over to Cambodia. I will post blogs regularly. The culture is going to be so different from ours, and even different from China’s. One of the things I’m looking forward to the most is experiencing a completely new and different culture.

I must get back to packing, I will blog during the trip and post soon!

Above is a map of how far away I will be from home!

Preparation

2011-01-01T21:15:00.000-05:00

I have been preparing for my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Like last January, I will spend a month traveling and experiencing the culture of other societies. I am so excited to have the opportunity to travel again this year, and I am anticipating all the memories that will be made.

I leave on January 8, so I am currently reading literature to help me prepare for my trip. Reading about Vietnam and Cambodia is only making me anticipate the trip more.

This year I will not be traveling with any other students I am really friends with. While this is scary, it can also be exciting. Many of my friends will be traveling abroad for the entire semester. I am looking forward to the opportunity to get to know some of my fellow peers better. I will be traveling this January with one of the same professors from last January. I know the trip has been very thought out and planned.

Check back for daily updates starting January 7. I look forward to updating everyone on my experiences in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Happy New Year!

Camp Week 8 - Day 4, 5, 6 and Camp Week 9

2010-07-23T22:31:00.000-04:00

I have failed miserably at writing the past week and a half. We have been so busy and I literally have not had the time to blog! This past week, week nine, has been one of my favorites so far. I was a cabin buddy to 16 year old boys with hemophilia. They were hilarious. This week we also had kids with TBI's or traumatic brain injuries. It was so neat to see these children who struggle so much accomplish so much at camp.

Last week was a lot of fun too. I always find that I don't really look forward to the weekends at camp. Its the exact opposite of the school year! I can't believe there are only 2 weeks of camp left. I am so sad that it has flashed before my eyes. I can't wait to work weekend camps this fall and spring. It will be so rewarding to meet my camper's families.

I am going to try and be better about writing every day these last two weeks of camp, no promises though!

Camp Week 8 - Day 1, 2 & 3

2010-07-13T16:34:00.000-04:00

Another week has started and is off to a great start! This week we have a camp for children who have been abused and or neglected. We also have a camp for children who have had solid organ transplants or kidney problems. I am a cabin buddy for a cabin of 13 year old boys who have had solid organ transplants or have kidney problems.

The hardest thing about this week is the lack of salt in the food! For children with kidney problems they can't have a lot of potassium or sodium in their diet. There is also no tomatoes, ketchup, cheese or anything like that. Cheese is a staple in my life. It's been so hard to not have it this week. I went to Wal-Mart last night and bought a block of cheese to satisfy me this week!

On to the kids. I have the most precious kids in my cabin this week. There are also other campers in the camp that camp to the camp for kids with heart problems. I've gotten to see some of my old campers from the beginning of the summer. It was so neat to be remembered by these kids!

One of my campers this week is on his last dialysis site. I don't quite understand the medical side 100%, however I was told that if this site fails he will either have to receive a transplant immediately or the doctors will have to perform a miracle to find somewhere else for him to receive dialysis. It is heartbreaking to see such a sweet child going through so much. He has the best attitude too! I also have a camper in my cabin that is mostly deaf and blind. To go along with that, he also has some mental disabilities. To see him live life breaks my heart, but also reminds me of how blessed I am.

I will write more tomorrow. Camp is going amazing this week. I can't believe we are 2/3 done with the summer.

Camp Week 7

2010-07-13T16:14:00.000-04:00

This past week we had 3 different partner organizations come to camp. One was for young adults with spina bifida, one was for girls who have been sexually abused and or exploited, and one was for young children with cancer.

I had a blast the entire week. I was assigned to a cabin of 5 year old boys! They were absolutely precious. There was a child in my cabin that was going through chemo at camp. He had the sweetest blue eyes. He was definitely on the spectrum for autism though.

I had such an awesome experience the whole entire week. To see the spina bifida kids drive the pontoon boat, and have that amount of power was indescribable. To see them swim, and be normal kids for once, was just amazing.

Last week, like all weeks, reminded me how incredibly blessed I am. I am having the most amazing summer and I can't imagine it ever ending. I'm sad that we're over half way done with camp. I wish it was week 1 still.

I am lacking behind on posting every day as the weeks go on. I have been growing more and more tired, yet more and more involved with my campers. I simply have not been able to make the time to blog lately.

I spent the weekend in Spartanburg with John. It was amazing to get to see him after so long. I had a blast with him all day Saturday. He got me a gorgeous opal necklace and koala bears. His parents got me ugg boots and a scarf. He took me out to such a nice dinner Saturday night.

It was an amazing week, and weekend. I'm having a blast this week as well, and can't wait to blog about it later!

CAMP TWIN LAKES!!!!

2010-07-07T12:12:00.000-04:00

As you know, Camp Twin Lakes has positively impacted my life this summer. You can read all my many blog posts about the wonderful experiences and life changing moments I have witnessed. This summer we will be holding our 2nd annual "Splash, Dash & Thrash". It is an event in which old staff and current staff participate. It includes tons of crazy events that take place around camp. Each participant is trying to raise a little bit of money to help fund different things at camp. My personal goal is to raise $1,000. Below is my personal fundraising webpage. All money will go towards bettering camp for the children. Your donation is also tax deductible. Even if you can only donate $1, it will greatly help in the long run! Thanks!

http://camptwinlakes.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=432645&lis=0&kntae432645=F3748BEBABC7411688D7D63FACA02B4A

Camp Week 6 - Day 5 & 6

2010-07-06T23:12:00.000-04:00

Wow, so I have been so caught up in camp life I haven't had time to blog. Last week ended on a great finish. My boys made me a ceramic wolf, because I was the "mom" of their wolf pack. I also got to have a conversation with an autistic boy for about 45 minutes. It was so rewarding. I absolutely loved my boys this past week and it was so hard to tell them bye. I hope I will get to work at camp next summer so I can see all my boys again next year.

Like always, when I go days without writing I forget the minuscule details that I always want to remember.

I had an amazing 4th of July weekend. I went to Atlanta with Sarah Beth and got to spend time with my family and her family. We went out on the lake and I got super sun burnt. On Saturday night, we came back to camp. We woke up early Sunday morning and went to the Sunflower Festival in Rutledge, Georgia. We got a few of the staff members to take photos of us. I have posted my favorite ones below.

Camp Week 6 - Day 1, 2, 3 & 4

2010-06-30T21:40:00.000-04:00

So over the past couple of weeks I have failed at posting daily. This is mainly because I simply don't really have that much free time. This week at camp we have two groups. One is a camp for kids with asthma. The other is a camp for siblings who have been placed in foster care to be reunited. This is the one time a year that many of them get to reunite with their siblings. I am a cabin buddy for the camp with kids with asthma. I have 10 year old boys. There is 1 caucasian boy, 1 hispanic, and 6 african american boys. I have had so much fun talking spanish to the hispanic child, as well as learning new dance moves from the african american boys. Having such a diverse cabin has also reminded me how we all may look different on the outside, but there can always be something we have in common. Even for me, this week I have asthma in common with the kids. My boys call me "mom". I never knew at 19 years old I would be so excited to hear those words! I really do treat them like my 8 little boys. I serve them food, teach them how to swim, help them get dates to the dance, etc. They hug me every time they see me and tell me they love me! So precious! One boy today told me "don't forget about me please mommy". It was so cute!

I have had an amazing week so far. I've definitely been busy. I am constantly reminded how much I am blessed. I feel guilty sometimes for all that I am blessed with. I sat and watched as dozens of children got their faces painted at the carnival tonight by a professional face painter. It was so rewarding to watch their faces light up as they were made into a princess, tiger, snake, etc. To see these kids win tickets for prizes, and then be able to carry around prizes was amazing as well. I had an opportunity to talk to the camp director for the kids who are from foster homes reuniting with their siblings. She was telling me how much of a challenge it is to get the children here.

Earlier this week my phone screen cracked. I ventured into Covington last night to get that fixed. While I was there, I enjoyed people watching some interesting individuals. Did I mention I had to drive someone else's car there because mine wouldn't start? I am going to try and jump it tomorrow sometime (if I can find time). Also, on the way back from the Verizon store, I hit a horrible storm! It is probably the worst storm I have ever driven in. I was shaking from head to toe! I think I was so nervous because I was in someone else's car too!

I keep trying to remember specific instances from this week to share. I always have so many and feel like I leave many of them out. I can't believe I'm half way done with camp this summer! I'm exaCTLy where I want to be, and I never want to leave. This camp and the mission are so amazing. I couldn't ask for better co-workers, bosses, or campers. It's been so awesome to also work with my cousin, Sarah Beth. We have definitely grown closer this summer and it's so awesome!

Tomorrow night is my night off. Another girl on staff and me are going to see "Eclipse". I am so excited for our girls night out!

Camp Week 5

2010-06-25T14:48:00.001-04:00

So I realize I was awful updating every day this week. Not only was it another busy week, but I took more time to take care of myself. There are a lot of people on staff getting sick, so I made sure to get my rest and hydrate so that wouldn't happen to me! This week we had kids with cancer. I was a cabin buddy to a group of 9 year old girls. They were absolutely precious! A few of the girls in my cabin had Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia or ALL. ALL is the most common type of leukemia in children under age 15. Most children with ALL are cured of their cancer. This was the case with all the girls with ALL in my cabin. I had one other girl who had an adult form of leukemia that is harder to treat. She was aware it was an "adult cancer" but she was happy to be around other campers with cancer as well. There were many children in my cabin and other cabins with bald heads this week. I've never thought a child was more beautiful!

I had so much fun with my kids this week. I had to take Friday off and leave Thursday night due to a doctor's appointment in Spartanburg. I wish I had updated daily so that I could share all the special memories from this week. I was reminded yesterday just how much I hate goodbyes.

It was so rewarding to see the children this week pass their swim check, and move up from an orange swim bracelet to a green swim bracelet. It was so neat to see kids go down a water slide for the first time as well.

John and his family are currently in Australia. I don't get to talk to him as much as usual because they are 14 hours ahead. I miss him very much! I love being at camp because it keeps me busy and doing something I love. I can't get over how rewarding this summer has been, and I never want it to end. I'm exaCTLy where I want to be, and I never want to leave!

Camp Week 4 - Day 6 & 7

2010-06-19T23:18:00.001-04:00

What an exciting, sad last two days of camp. I had a pretty easy day Friday, and I honestly can't remember exactly what activities I did. Thursday night on my night off, I bought ice cream for girls in my cabin. I had one girl with a birthday this week, and one next week so I got their favorite ice cream. I also wrote each of my campers a little note. I surprised them with the ice cream and notes at lunch on Friday. One of the girls was so excited I had written the note in a bigger font. I remembered she had a tumor that causes her to not be able to see anything very well. She has to have huge font to read it without a magnifying glass. She was so happy to not have to bring out her magnifying glass. Later Friday night there was a dance, 80's prom style. I wasn't going to go at first, but then decided to after doing about 6 of my fellow CTL staff's makeup. I put together an outfit in 5 minutes.

I woke up Saturday morning to say goodbye to my cabin at breakfast. I hate goodbyes, they stink. It's hard saying goodbye to these kids not knowing if they'll be back next year. I hope I made an impression on their lives in the short week I got to know them. I also became close with many other kids that were not in my cabin this week. It was also hard telling those kids goodbye.

Sarah Beth, two other girls from camp and I headed to Atlanta shortly after breakfast. On the way home an 18 wheeler took out SB's driver side mirror. It was so scary! We continued our journey and then went out on the lake. Shortly after arriving, it began to thunder and lightening. My uncle drove the boat under a bridge and clung to it for dear life as the storm passed over us. Lightening struck the metal on the bridge. It was so scary. I'm glad I came to Atlanta for the weekend. I have had a great time and can't wait to get back to camp.

Camp Week 4 - Day 5

2010-06-18T14:02:00.000-04:00

What an exciting day. I definitely think I start every post off like that. Camp has easily become one of my favorite things in the world. I have had so much fun this week, despite the craziness. Today I had an extremely busy day. I had polar bear swim early this morning, and then paddle boats right after breakfast. After that I had kayaking and canoes. I was supposed to have staff swim during shoes off, but a fellow life guard switched with me so I could take a MUCH needed nap. Last night the fire alarm went off, and it took me forever to fall back asleep. We still don't know why it went off1 I also wasn't sleeping well because I was afraid I'd miss my polar bear swim this morning. I had another canoeing and kayaking session in the afternoon. As I was leaving the porch, it began thundering terribly! By the time I had gotten down to the lower lake rain drops had already started to fall. It then turned into an all out downpour! My fellow life guard and I hid in the life jacket shed. It is literally a 4 x 4 room. It was so small. Finally our supervisor came and rescued us with a golf cart! I had enough time to shower and get somewhat dressed up for a trip to walmart on my night off. After that I watched Heavy Weights with some of the other staff. It ended up not being a too horrible day. I had a lot of fun and am looking forward to tomorrow!

Camp Week 4 - Day 3 & 4

2010-06-16T21:33:00.000-04:00

What an amazing past two days it has been! I'm not doing to well keeping up with my "daily" blog this week, I am just so busy! On Tuesday, my first session was at bikes. I had a group of boys who were so quiet! We explored some trails on the new property and had a blast! From there I went to paddle boats. I only had 2 campers and a counselor. They sat under the zip-line and splashed the people zipping down over the lake. I sat on the dock and watched them, as well as hung out with the kids who were fishing. It was so neat to see one camper's face light up as she caught her first fish ever! It was so rewarding. I had my third session off and went back to my room where I blogged about the day before. Then came lunch and shoes off time. During shoes off time there was a remembrance service for those people who were in the camp's family that passed away this past year. I decided not to go, because I didn't know any campers from last year. I'm sure if I work at camp next summer it will be a very emotional time. I also had the fourth session off and took a nap. Boy did I need that nap! It was wonderful too! My fifth session I had kkayaks. Kayaking never gets old for me, I always have so much fun doing it. During dinner a horrible storm brewed up. We were stuck in the dining hall for some time because it was storming so bad! Dimensions got cancelled and so we played board games with some of the campers in the media center. I was asked by Sarah Beth to lead a Talent Show because the evening program was cancelled due to the rain. That was so much fun! I got to see different campers from cabins come together and make skits and sing songs. After that I headed to my room for some serious shower time and bed time!

Today I had kayaking in the morning after breakfast. I had a group of girls and a few boys. They were so well behaved! We made a new rule that if campers jump, sink, or tip their canoe or kayak they have to go to the med lodge and get examined. None of the kids want to take time out of their fun day at camp to do this, so therefore, there is no more tipping, sinking or jumping in the lake. After the kayaks I went to the pool. I got to help this kid who is in a wheel chair learn how to swim with one leg. He has two, but can only move one. That was so rewarding to see his face light up as he learned how to actually swim across part of the pool. My third session was cancelled because nobody showed up. I headed to my room to take a nap before lunch time. After lunch I went back to the pool. Boy was it hot out! For fourth session, a camper wanted to interview me for the camp newspaper. Dinner came and went, as usual. Fifteen minutes into our pool dimension tonight it started to thunder again. We took the kids to the media center and played games for the second night in a row. I had office duty for the rest of the night, where I currently am now. The lightening and thundering is so bad! I'm afraid my car has a tree on top of it after yesterday and today!

Camp Week 4 - Day 2

2010-06-15T14:28:00.000-04:00

What a busy, wonderful, fun day! My goodness! So you can understand my schedule for this week I've typed out my daily schedule below.

7:00 am: Polar Bear Swim
8:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am: Session 1
10:10 am: Session 2
11:20 am: Session 3
12:30 pm: Lunch
1:30 pm: Shoes Off
2:45 pm: Session 4
4:00 pm: Session 5
5:00 pm: Cabin Time
6:00 pm: Dinner
7:00 pm: Dimensions
8:45 pm: Evening program
11:00 pm: lights out

What a busy day! I had my first session at bikes. I only had about 5 campers. This week cabins as a whole don't come to an activity. Campers get to choose from 3 activities what they want to do per session. Its so cool to see them have the responsibility and choice to decide what they want to do. Its also rewarding because everyone wants to be participating in that one activity. I had a break during 2 session and then went to the pool for 3rd session. It was a hot day, and I'm pretty sure my Chaco tan line improved. The fourth session I went to canoes. Let me tell you, it was the most challenging canoe session thus far. The campers are not supposed to flip their kayaks or canoes, but because they have been allowed in the past, they do it anyways. I spent most of the session assisting the other lifeguard and rescuing kayaks. In the process I accidentally flipped our canoe! I felt so nasty and gross from the lake water. I headed back to the pool for the 5th session. I was also at the pool for dimension. I helped one of my campers learn how to swim somewhat. Hopefully she'll improve and get her yellow band by the end of the week. The evening program tonight was a Luau. Within the first 10 minutes, it was cancelled because of lightening. The CTL staff quickly threw together a "mini talent show". It was pretty fun. I quickly headed to bed after a quick trip to walmart.

Camp Week 4 - Day 1

2010-06-14T10:24:00.000-04:00

Boy oh boy! What a first day! This week we have a camp for teens with all different kinds of cancer. Some of these kids found out a month ago they have cancer, some have been in remission for 5 years and some are in treatment. Its so amazing to see the support group that's immediate here at camp.

Today I got to hang out in my cabin and help the girls move in. I am a cabin buddy for 13 and 14 year old girls. Many of them have been to camp 4+ years! I found out a couple girls in my cabin have brain tumors that they do not know how to operate on yet. This effect their vision. The girls remain so positive even though they know they have cancer. I already feel so close to this group of girls.

The food this week has been much better so far. Its nice to have a little more variety than last week. It makes me realize how much I take for granted the foods I am allowed to eat.

Camp this week had an awesome opening ceremony. Camp Twin Lakes normally runs the opening ceremony, however this week the partner group did. It was very intimate and touching. I love how I feel like I am a part of this camp's family even though I do not have cancer.

One hard thing about this week is although while it appears most of the girls in my cabin are pretty healthy, other campers are not. Some of these campers won't be back next year. For some of these teens this is the last week of fun they'll have before they only see the inside of a hospital. This makes me sad, however it also makes me want to work especially hard to make this the best week of their lives - no matter how long their life is.

The camp has a camp song. One of the lines in the song is "we're at camp and we're feeling just fine!". I have gotten chill bumps every time that song has been sung. It breaks my heart to see some of these kids.

I was expecting to see many teenagers hairless, however there are not as many as I expected. Chemotherapy does not always cause hair to fall out. By the same token, chemotherapy can be taken orally as well as through an IV or shot. Some kids who don't have hair are completely through with treatment and just haven't grown their hair back yet. Not having hair isn't a determinant of how sick these teens are.

It was a touching first day, however a very difficult one. I can't wait to see how this week will change my life, and I can't wait to see how I can change these teens lives. The teens this week run from ages 13 - 18. I'm only 19 years old (almost 20), and its so hard to imagine going through what some of these teens are going through at my age.

Camp Week 3- Day 5 & 6

2010-06-14T10:13:00.000-04:00

So I know I didn't really write last Thursday and Friday. The end to camp was a hectic one with some obstacles and hills to overcome. Nevertheless, I made it through. I took Thursday night as my night off and had some great "me" time at the nearest mall, 45 minutes away. It was glorious. I was sad though because I had to miss the dance. Friday was hard as always, because Friday means goodbye. It's so difficult to say goodbye to these campers who you have bonded with and care about so much.

I was in dire need of the weekend, and really enjoyed my trip to Spartanburg. On Saturday, John and I went up to Charlotte to see "Wicked" with my mom and dad. It was so wonderful. After the play we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and walked around Southpark, so much fun! John and I also watched the movie "Couples Retreat" this weekend. It was so funny! I won't see my parents for at least 14 more days and I won't see John for 26 more days. These next few weeks are going to be rough, I may actually get homesick!

I can't wait for the next two weeks to begin though. We have a camp for kids and teens with cancer coming. It is sure to be awesome.

Camp Week 3- Day 4

2010-06-10T09:29:00.002-04:00

I find as the week goes on I become more and more exhausted. As the summer goes on, I feel the need for more naps during my free sessions. When I worked back in Columbia during high school and even last year I read a lot. I would manage to read anywhere from 10 - 20 books a summer. I decided this week that instead of taking short little naps throughout the day, I was going to start reading. Needless to say, Wednesday was my first day of this goal. I read for about an hour and twenty minutes. I'm almost halfway done with my first book, The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner. It has been excellent so far. I have 3 other books lined up after that one.

Any suggestions on other books to read?

I began the day with a biking session. It was a lot of fun, although we had the youngest boys. Some of them were not confident in their bike riding abilities and one didn't know how to ride a bike without training wheels at all. Keep in mind these are 7 year olds. We did a couple of the easy and medium trails. The ones who knew how to ride seemed to enjoy it a lot. The other children used their perseverance to push through. After the biking session came the routine of lunch and shoes off time. This week and last week have become so routine. I can't wait for next week to come along and change it all up! Difference in schedule adds spice to my week! I had a kayak session later this afternoon. There was a canoe session going on simultaneously. Therefore, there was me and another lifeguard. We have to have one lifeguard on the dock and one out with the kids. I volunteered to go out with the kids. I was in charge of keeping tabs on about 20 people in canoes and kayaks. Quite difficult to say the least! I had girls crying because of bugs and screaming at the top of their lungs. It was impossible to calm them down. After taking them back in, I took the kayakers out again. All the girls kept talking about how the other cabin was such babies, and complained too much. The group of whiners and complainers were an older cabin too! Way to set an example! I love working at camp and hanging out with the kids, however the only time I don't enjoy it is when the kids aren't appreciative or complain and whine.

After that session it was time for dinner and the evening program! Tonight's program was Wacky Olympics. We thought we were going to be able to have it outside, but it was moved to the gym because of rain once again. I was helping out with the jello toss. The kids each got a spoon full of jello in their hands and had to throw it into a bucket about 20 feet away. Whichever group had the most jello in the bucket at the end of the 5 minute round, won that round. I gave up on scooping the jello out with a spoon and resorted to my hand. Needless to say, my hand is dyed green from the jello! While the younger cabins were participating in Wacky Olympics, the fire alarm went off. The music and microphone were on, so it was difficult to hear the fire alarm noise. I was screaming at the top of my lungs to the girl in charge of Wacky Olympics. With sheer horror she told everyone to evacuate the building. This same week last year, the gym really did catch on fire, so the returning staff knew this was nothing to mess around about. No smoke was ever found, however a kid was. We think this kid pulled the fire alarm, even though he denies it. We quickly reassembled in the gym and kept Wacky Olympics going! Soon thereafter the older group came in for their session of Wacky Olympics. Their session ran smoothly all the way through. At the end of Wacky O the last event is a dance off. I had already begun helping clean up the jello mess that had seemed to take over the whole entire stage. I went to the bathroom to get some water to mop the stage and when I emerged, I saw a boy crying. I sat down beside him to figure out what was wrong. Turns out his girlfriend (and date to the dance) had broken up with him. They had been together for two days. He was bawling his eyes out. This was at least a 14 year old boy. I asked him what I could do to help, and he told me I could go find the girl. I searched the gym high and low for this little girl, and finally found her in the bathroom crying too. I sat them down together to hopefully work out their issues. Oh the drama of camp, and the young romances! I enjoy watching these, and helping mend these when I can!

I also had the opportunity to talk to a child with Autism tonight. I have been wanting to talk to him all week long. It was so rewarding to have a 5 minute conversation with him. I've never spoken or met an autistic child before, and I was intrigued by the behavior he exemplified. Talking to him and working at this camp has shown me how much I enjoy kids, medicine and listening to someones problem or problems and helping them work it out. It is definitely reassuring me that majoring in Psychology is the right path my life should be headed in. It was a great day, full of so much fun like every other day! This is by far the best summer of my life, and I never want it to end!

Camp Week 3- Day 3

2010-06-08T21:23:00.003-04:00

So as promised, here are pictures from last week. A little late, but here! The picture to the above is me after our extreme biking session. Note the sweat on the shirt, and the mud also known as "war paint" on my face.

Below is a picture of some of the summer staff before the dance on Thursday. The theme was a "Hoedown Throwdown".

Below is a picture of the one and only intersection in downtown Rutledge. It is a 4 way stop sign in the middle of the road. I found it interesting and decided to take a picture. I am beginning to love this small town!

So today was easier than most days. I had one session this morning, the pool. It was cool outside, so it was enjoyable to actually sit in the stand. After that I headed to my room to nap, and then to lunch. After lunch there was another special guest this week. His name was George Canyon, he was one of the Canadian Idol winners. I heard him perform a few songs, and he was pretty good. After that I had nothing else scheduled for the day. I took the liberty to do one of my favorite things, sleep. I slept allllllllll afternoon. It was glorious! I headed on to dinner around the appropriate time. After dinner I went and explored the library here at camp. I picked out three books to read, I can't wait to get started. I had a

"waterfront" meeting tonight after dinner. Our staff was told that the next two weeks will be extremely busy. My day will start at 7 am instead of 8, and probably end around 11 instead of 8 or 9 like this week and last. Nonetheless, I'm still just as excited, or even more so for next week.

Camp Week 3- Day 1 & 2

2010-06-08T00:07:00.001-04:00

And another week begins! Sunday we basically had the same routine as last week. There wasn't anything much different. I had to work swim tests again and got to meet my cabin for the week. I have 13 & 14 year old boys, cabin 26. So far they've been great, and I can't wait to get to know them better.

Monday morning I overslept, kind of. I woke up at 7:45 and I have to be at breakfast between 7:50-8:00, the earlier the better. Needless to say I still needed a shower, quite badly, and literally took the fastest shower I've ever taken. After breakfast I headed to my session at paddle boats. The cutest little boys came this morning. It was so fun watching them plan "sneak attacks" and "form treaties" with the other paddle boats. Another staffer and I told them that a shark, named Big Bubba, lived in the lake. Some of them actually believed us and tried to look for Big Bubba. When the paddle boats got boring, we gave the kids cat fish food to feed the fish and duck. They loved to see the fish come up to the surface and grab the food. After that, I headed to tie-dye again with my cabin. This week I have to wash my own shirt, because the tie-dye ladies said that having the CTL staff shirts just added to their overall workload. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Possible pictures to follow later this week.

After tie-dye there was lunch, where I found out I was one of three vegetarians who sat at our table. One has been a vegetarian for 23 years, one has been one for a few weeks, and then me, a vegetarian for almost a year. It was so cool to hear the guy who has been a vegetarian for 23 years give me interesting facts about foods that contain protein besides meat. For example, did you know that 2 grams of pasta contains 8 grams of protein? It has less fat than meat, the same amount of calories, and just a few grams less of protein. So cool!

After lunch we had "Shoes Off". I also had an open session next. I took the time to write some letters, surf the web and take a nap. I then headed to the pool. Boy was it hot today! I forgot to put on sunscreen, but thank goodness I didn't get burned! I've got to remember that next time! I can't afford to be getting sun burnt over and over again this summer.

Next was dinner. Which might I add, I did not like at all. I was so hungry the rest of the night. Some of the staff played a softball game after dimensions. My dimension for the week got cancelled because nobody signed up for the pool dimensions. Normally kids want to just play in the water, not learn how to swim. I took my easy night and decided to head on over to the staff lounge and watch The Bachelorette. This has to be one of my all - time favorite summer shows besides America's Got Talent. I enjoyed catching up on The Bachelorette this past weekend, and definitely enjoyed watching it tonight on television. I frustrated that Justin is still there, I do not like him! I also do not care for Kasey, Jessie or the Weatherman. Kasey and the Weatherman for obvious reasons but Jessie just has way too many tattoos! I can handle one symbolic - like the guy from Cape Cod with his mother's signature. However random tribal symbols are annoying!

I had a great day. I have a fun filled day at the pool tomorrow. It is sure to be busy!

love is . . .

2010-06-05T23:41:00.003-04:00

so this is a camp song we sing almost every day. it's called "love is"

there's nothing to hide, and nothing to fear, everything is
crystal clear. no phony discgues no faces to wear, there
is nothing we can not share.'cause i am at ease when
i am with you, i know love is gonna see us through.

love is higher than the mountains, love is deeper than
the oceans, love is wider than the miles between you
and me, love is stronger than freight train, love is
faster than a jet plane, love is bigger than the troubles
we'll ever see,

we're never apart, we're never alone love is closer than
the telephone no wall is too high, no distance is too great,
love will never hesitate, because we are the
stage and love is the play and . the scene is just another day.

love is higher than the mountains, love is deeper than

the oceans, love is wider than the miles between you

and me, love is stronger than freight train, love is

faster than a jet plane, love is bigger than the troubles

we'll ever see,

long as the day and dark as the night i know love is
gonna be our light, the valley is low and the desert is
dry, but love will never die.

love is higher than the mountains, love is deeper than

the oceans, love is wider than the miles between you

and me, love is stronger than freight train, love is

faster than a jet plane, love is bigger than the troubles

we'll ever see,

Camp Week 2- Day 5 & 6

2010-06-05T23:00:00.001-04:00

So I think Thursday's may be my favorite days at camp. I love watching the girls get all dressed up, as well as the boys gush over having an actual date to the dance. It's entirely too much fun! Today I had my normal sessions. Honestly I'm recapping Thursday and Friday on today (which is Saturday night), so things are a bit hazy. I want to highlight the points from the day. Most come from the dance. I had SO, SO, SO much fun dancing and talking with my girls at the dance. They were dying to hear Miley Cyrus' and "Hoedown Throwdown", however the DJ did not have that song. After they left the dance I ran to my room to get my computer. I quickly hurried to their cabin. For an hour and a half we had a dance party and hung out and talked. It was fun just being friends and a girl with them. I also pricked my finger for the first time. My friend Ashley had Type 1 Diabetes and has pricked my finger before. I got up the nerve to do it myself this time. I was so scared! The girls coached me on how to do it, which finger was best, what place on the finger, etc. When I mentioned I was so scared one of them said "Miss Kimberlee, think about it, you do it once tonight and you never have to do it again, we have to do it at least 8 times a day". It was all I could to to hold the tears back. I felt so selfish for taking something as little as that for granted. When my blood sugar read out 87 they quickly grabbed me a juicy juice - juice box. The girls' blood sugar has to be at 120 before they go to sleep, therefore mine was considered low. I was able to take some pictures and videos of my girls dancing to songs and singing. One girl told me she was so glad she came to camp because she felt so comfortable and had learned so much this week. She met a lot of new friends and felt more independent. She said she was so thankful she was able to come. When I hear things like that from campers, I know we as staff have done our job. Friday, goodbyes were harder than last week. Although I may not have spent as much time in activities with the girls, they were more open and we bonded more at meals. I was so sad to see them leave. Many told me they loved me and hoped to see me again next summer. I had a few girls who I literally thought would never let go when they hugged me bye. These girls were amazing. I know this week I accomplished a goal, I know for 110% I contributed and changed more than one person's life. Thats my goal for each week for the whole summer. I'm having a blast doing what I love, and can't imagine how awesome the rest of the summer is going to be.

Camp Week 2- Day 4

2010-06-03T10:09:00.002-04:00

What an exciting day! Man oh man, where to begin! We'll I guess I should start off saying that today was "Color Wars". Therefore half the camp was split into red and blue. My cabin was red. Thus, I ran into a problem. You see, I own no red attire because red is associated with the USC Gamecocks, and quite frankly, clashes with orange. The closest thing to red I had was a gray Harvard shirt mom gave me this past semester. At breakfast I caught it from my girls! They were so upset I was not decked out in red attire. Note to self, get plenty of red and blue shirts, bandannas, and face paint for the rest of the summer. After breakfast, I had a session at the pool. Luckily my girls were at the pool this session as well. After I finished life guarding on the stand, I was able to help 3 of them learn how to swim better. It was so rewarding to see the progress they were making and how much fun they were having. One girl didn't even have a bathing suit at camp, because her mom wouldn't let her get near water. Because she wanted to learn how to swim so badly, she jumped in with all her clothes on! We have 3 lifeguards on duty for 24 people for a purpose. Normally the ratio is 1 lifeguard to 24 people, so we had plenty of lifeguards! Nonetheless, I enjoyed teaching these little girls how to kick, paddle and swim somewhat. They told me later that they had practiced during their free time and had gotten even better swimming.

After the pool I had a free period. I chose to go to tie-dye with my cabin. That is the most fun I've had tie dying before! These diabetes camp people really know how to tie-dye! I can't wait to see my masterpiece once it has been washed. I'm a little nervous to see what crazy concoction I've created. After tie-dye it was time for lunch. I had a vegetarian chicken sandwich, yum yum yum! I forgot to mention the other day we had sweet potato fries for lunch. They were delicious! After lunch, during rest period, my roommate and fellow dimensions leader, Christine, made certificates for our Thrashers to receive tonight. We had so much fun making them. We even laminated them! After the rest period I was scheduled to work fishing. This is the kid's free period. They have a choice of going to the pool, playing mini golf, playing in the tree house, fishing, playing tennis or arts and crafts. I was so excited because I have never worked fishing before. After waiting about 25 minutes, no one showed up. I was so disappointed I did not get to run a fishing session.

After that, I had the rest of the afternoon off. I decided to take some "me" time and nap. I knew I had a long night ahead of me, especially with my extreme thrashers! I woke up and headed to dinner. After dinner I had my last "extreme thrashing" dimension. If I failed to mention earlier, here at Camp Twin Lakes we call biking Thrashing. We took the campers on the hardest trail, twice. It was so exhausting! During the course of the bike ride, I slipped in some mud and cut my knee open. I had tire marks on my leg too. It was intense. We also let the boys ride without their shirts on, and they jumped in mud puddles. I had mud all over my face! I will post pictures later. At the end of the session we passed out all their certificates. They were so excited to get them.

After the eXtreme thrashing session I headed on down to Color Wars also known as Wacky Olympics. It was so fun just to watch these kids compete red vs. blue in crazy Olympics. This week we had to hold them indoor due to the weather. There were competitions including noodle soccer, jello launching, sack race, ball hop, dance off, tug of war, etc. It was so much fun. After that I headed back to the porch for a MUCH needed shower. Below, a picture of the porch.

Camp Week 2- Day 3

2010-06-01T21:27:00.013-04:00

Alright, so by the pictures you can see it was an exciting day! I began the day as always, eating breakfast. We had wheat biscuits and eggs, so delicious! I had first session at the pool, so it was a lot of fun. It didn't lightening or thunder this morning so we were able to swim the whole time. During the swim period, some boys found a wasp nest under the water slide. Dan, my boss, had to come spray it down. That was pretty exciting. After that I had a free period. I really wanted to take a nap, however we were told this morning that a special guest was coming. I was to report to the ball field and make a human barrier around the field, so that when the kids arrived down there, they wouldn't bombard the field. They were kept completely kept in the dark. The helicopter flew over camp and the field several times. When the helicopter landed, sure enough the kids went crazy! They thought it was Brett Michaels or Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers. However, much to their surprise it was Jordyn Shellhart and Chase Elliott. Jordyn is a 16 year old girl who is an aspiring singer / songwriter. She is a mix between Colbie Calliat and Taylor Swift. You can visit her website www.jordynshellhart.com to download free music and find out more about her. She and Chase visited with the kids for a while before lunch. After lunch Jordyn gave a concert. It was so cool to talk to her and her mom. She is so sweet and is so thankful for all her accomplishments so far. Her manager was the manager for Taylor Swift from age 15-18. She also has a record deal with Columbia who also includes Miranda Lambert and John Mayer, among others. After the concert I headed to my room to take a nap! Thank Goodness! After that was dinner, and my biking dimension. The dimension was so fun tonight. We took the hard trail and it was muddy and wet. It was extreme, just like we're going for with our biking dimension. Tomorrow we are going to induct the kids into the first ever "Thrashing Hall of Fame". I'm so excited. Today has been a good day, and I can't wait for tomorrow. I am loving Camp. It is so intense and upbeat. The kids are so fun!

Camp Week 2 - Day 1 & 2

2010-05-31T23:34:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I have been so incredibly busy (like always) it's been hard to blog. Sunday I got back to camp around 10:30 am. We had a meeting at 11, so I had just enough time to take my stuff up to my room and move my car. We played icebreakers and games with the new camp staff and then had lunch. I tried a vegetarian hot dog for this first time, not bad!

This camp will actually be here for the next two weeks. However, we will have a different group of kids both weeks. This particular camp is for kids and teens with type 1 diabetes. A lot of their staff have diabetes too, which is actually a good thing because they help the campers out a lot.

Around 3:00 I headed to the pool to do swim tests. However, it began storming so we had to cancel the tests. The forecast for the week is not looking so hot. After that, I headed to my cabin for the week. I have cabin 3, which happens to be all girls, around 10 years old. They eagerly greeted me with a chant they had already made up within the 2 hours they had been at camp. I did goal bracelets with them, some of their goals were to get "golden syringe and or pump awards". I'm not exactly sure what that is, except that it has to do with mastering skills of their diabetes on their own. After that we headed to dinner and then had the opening program. Some of the staff (about 12 of us) decided that since we always have meetings that interfere with church on Sunday mornings, that we might as well make our own. Treehouse Church was created on Sunday night. We had someone playing the guitar and a drum. Not only did we sing and worship, but we also had a bible study on healing. We talked about miracles and how even though camp this summer is not "religious" based, we can still be a light. I think we are going to try and do this every Sunday night. I am excited to see how this develops! Overall it was a good first day!

Today (Monday) I woke up bright and early, ready for my first day full day with this camp. I headed to breakfast eager to hear about my girls' first nights at camp. After breakfast, I headed back to my room to have some more "me time". My first session started after that, which was biking. The sessions for the diabetes camp are an hour and 15 minutes, so they are longer than last week. We have fewer, but longer sessions. I had a group of boys for biking. For the first time I led a biking session. Let me tell you, it was the most fun I've had biking thus far. I took these boys all over camp, easy trails, hard trails, medium trails. One of the boy's blood sugar started out at 387 and had dropped to 83 by the end of the session. Thats some intense biking! After biking, we headed to lunch. Chicken fingers (veggie nuggets) was on the menu today! This has to be one of my favorite meals at camp, I love the veggie nuggets! After lunch we had "shoes off time" aka rest time. I took another nap after researching bikes for my biking dimension later (more on dimensions later). I then headed to the pool for my pool session, however that was quickly cancelled after thunder and lightening presented itself. I decided I would try a P90X workout with my cousin, Sarah Beth. We did abs, and boy was it INTENSE. I was beginning to realize this day was filled with a lot of exercise! I camp back to the room and played on my computer and hung out with the staff until dinner. I may or may not have thrown in another nap in there too :). Dinner came and went, and then it was time for my biking dimension. The camp has programs for the older campers in the evenings called dimensions. Basically there is a list of about 6-8 things around camp. Campers get to choose what they would like to learn more about. So for biking, we learn essentials, types of biking, how to bike, etc. My roommate and I are in charge of the dimension, and we decided we were going to create a Camp Twin Lakes Biking Hall of Fame. I can't wait to make the certificates and "induct" the kids into the camp. We ended up biking our dimension in light thunder and rain. It was extreme to say the least. For our dimension we have mostly boys and 2 girls. I was talking to one of the girls as I went to her cabin to get her some tennis shoes. She was a candidate to come last week for the camp with heart defects and transplants, however the director of that camp changed the camp age limit. Therefore, she has to wait until the Fall to come to the "Teen" camp. This 13 year old girl has had a heart transplant, double kidney transplant and diabetes. I was amazed at her strength and everything she has been through. After the dimension I was so tired I came back to my room to shower. That isone thing I definitely took for granted before camp. I have never cherished a shower so much in my life. It feels amazing to be completely dirty and to actually see it rinse away. Showering is relaxing and relieving of the day's stress. After my shower I skyped with mom & dad, as well as my friend Ashley, and John. It was a great day.

This week is so much more high speed and intense compared to last week. I've heard from returning staffers that it gets more intense as the summer goes on. I can't wait! I was reminded today about how difficult it is to have the life challenges these kids have. At every meal, they have to sit and count carbs to make sure they gave themselves enough insulin, or know how much to give to themselves. Although it takes them longer to eat, they are still normal kids.

Camp has been so amazing. I am continually amazed and influenced. I am always anticipating the next days activities!

snail mail . . .

2010-05-29T23:32:00.002-04:00

write me this summer!

i love getting "snail mail", and i'd love to write you back!

my address is:

Camp Twin Lakes

Kimberlee Lockwood

1391 Keencheefoonee Road
Rutledge, GA 30663

Camp Week 1 - Day 5 & 6

2010-05-29T21:15:00.004-04:00

Alright, so I have failed to post the past two days. Thus, I have pretty much forgotten what all happened. I am realizing I am getting my days of the week mixed up because I am so busy every day! Nonetheless, I am having a blast!

Thursday I worked canoes first session in the morning. I had a group of young boys who were very scared of the canoes and tipping over! One little boy was literally shaking! After that I headed to bike riding. Somehow I managed to pick a bike that was a little small for me. Needless to say from all the bike riding this week and size of the bike it was an uncomfortable ride! I think next I had an open session, and went to my room for some "me" time. In the afternoon I had sessions at the pool and canoes/kayaks.

Thursday's evening program was the "Camp Dance". I have thoroughly enjoyed admiring from afar the "camp romances" that have sprouted, withered and bloomed. At the camp dance, not only do the CTL staff get to dance with the kids, we get to watch the kids dance with one another. Let me just say, the night was filled with breakups, young heartbreaks, kisses on the cheek, flowers, tears, laughter, dancing and fun!

After the dance ended I packed my bag to head home after Friday's festivities!

Friday I woke up and had the last breakfast with my t boys. I was so sad to tell not only them, but the other campers goodbye. At camp, I met so many kids that I genuinely cared about and enjoyed spending time with. It's hard to tell them bye after investing all your time in them for a week, not knowing if you'll ever see them again. After our "debriefing meeting" I got on the road to head home! Below are some pictures from the camp dance photo booth!

From left to right: Melissa, Jessie, Me, Jamie

Sarah Beth (my cousin) and me before the dance

my roomies, sophie and christine and me at the dance

Sarah Beth and me at the dance

Camp Lingo
Session: for this camp, lasted about an hour
Open Session: Not scheduled for anything, however suggested to hang out with "cabin buddies" or take "me" time
Cabin Buddies: Camp Twin Lake Staff assigned to a cabin to eat, hang out and get to know the campers. The camp itself brings counselors to live with the kids, etc.
CTL: Camp Twin Lakes
Waterfront: The program area I am apart of (includes: pool, kayaks, canoes, biking, team sports, fishing, paddle boats and boating)

Camp Week 1 - Day 4

2010-05-27T13:34:00.002-04:00

What a day! I feel like I say that everyday! For breakfast today we had French toast, bacon (not for me!), granola and yogurt. It was delicious! The boys in my cabin crack me up all the time. There is one little boy who has used hot sauce at every meal since he’s been at camp, more about that later!

I had only the first morning session this morning. I went bike riding with Cabin 8 it was a blast! We conquered a new trail that runs parallel to the lower lake, so much fun! I’m beginning to get sore from so many bike rides! After that session I took some, much needed “me time” and went to the porch. For two hours I showered and napped, and got somewhat ready for my night off. I’ve never cherished a shower more! I felt so clean after getting to take longer than a 6-minute shower and actually shave my legs! Wow! I napped and got some much needed sleep.

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch! On the way to lunch, I saw a boy in my cabin holding his head back with a nosebleed. A lot of the camp staff were freaking out because a lot of the kids at camp are on blood thinners. There was red blood all over his swim trunks, shirt and face. It looked as if it was pouring out of his nose. Turns out he had used some Kool-Aid and saliva and made it look like a nose bleed to play a joke on everyone. Some people thought it was funny, but some people didn’t at all! Personally, it reminded me of something my dad would do, and I thought it was hilarious. Today for lunch, we had burgers (veggie burger for me). It was so good! I had been craving a good ole’ burger. After lunch I blogged and facebooked during cabin rest time. After the rest period, I had paddleboats and the pool. I attempted not to sweat, but that plan fell through. During cabin choice, I went to hang out with my boys in the gym. They were so into their game of basketball! I quickly ran back to my room to fix my hair, makeup and put on normal clothes before dinner.

At dinner we had fettuccini alfredo with chicken on the side. It was pretty good, but in desperate need of some salt. During dinner, some of the boys dared another boy (who happened to be the “nose bleed kid” from earlier in the day) to drink this really hot sauce. In the process, they took away his food and other drinks. We told them to “cut it out” and stop goofing around, but they are 11-year-old boys and didn’t listen. The next thing we knew the little boy was going to the med-lodge because he felt like his stomach was burning! We had a yummy desert too, pound cake with blueberries on top! After we sang a few songs, I left for my night off!

I drove about an hour to Suwannee to see my best friend, Katie Hoit. It was so good to catch up with her for about 2 hours. I miss her dearly! I am going to see her again next week on my night off as well!

It was such a fun, exciting but hectic day!

Camp Week 1 - Day 3

2010-05-26T14:13:00.002-04:00

Alright, so I was really tired last night so I didn't blog. Day 3 was so exhausting, yet so much fun!

I woke up and went to breakfast. It was delicious as always. I realized today that all boys talk about is "pooping and farting". That is what the conversation at the table was about during breakfast, lunch AND dinner! This morning I asked one of the little boys in the cabin how he slept and he said "well, I slept okay, but I had the poops this morning". Not only was I caught by surprise, but then one of the counselors egged him on! Boy oh boy!

After breakfast I went on a bike ride with the boys, because I had an open session. It was so much fun. I sweated a ton too! After the bike ride, I headed to the pool for two sessions. I forgot to put sunscreen on my ears and they got burned! It hurt so bad! Then it was time for lunch and rest time. I think I live for rest time most days, I love those short 20 minute naps I can manage to squeeze out!

My next session was team sports. I had two cabins of girls, and we played tennis and other group games. It was a lot of fun, but very, very hot! I had another free session after that and went to the horse stable and animal farm with my boys from cabin #24. While one group rode horses, the other fed the 2 momma and 2 baby donkeys, 2 sheep (cotton and q-tip), and the 5 little chickens. It was a lot of fun.

I headed back to the porch to wait for dinner. After dinner we had a "Counselor Pageant" (so funny!). There were four rounds, and it was great to see these adults dress up and goof off for their cabins! The pageant's purpose was to stall for the "Drum Cafe" to get to camp. They had forgotten that they were coming and were running late! The drum cafe brought in over 130 drums. Every camper and adult had a drum. The men from South Africa and Jamaica kept the crowed engaged and banging on those drums.

After a quick phone call to my mom and dad, and john, it was time for bed! I was exhausted!

Camp Week 1 - Day 2

2010-05-24T22:37:00.003-04:00

I woke up bright and early this morning and got ready for breakfast. I headed down to breakfast to meet my boys! They were wide awake! Most of them said that they got up at 6:00 am, and I thought 7:20 was early! I had a free session in the morning so I went to hang out with the boys at the canoes. By the end of the session the boys had managed to tip 2 canoes over! My next session happened to be at the kayaks so I stuck around. A group of girls came next, only one kayak tipped over that session! I headed over to the paddle boats after that session. I helped load so many kids in and out of those boats and to help them change spots!

After the morning sessions we headed to lunch. Again I was surprised about how much those boys can eat! After lunch we had "cabin time", for me this meant rest time. After rest time I headed down to the pool for the whole afternoon. I am pleased to say I have some pretty sweet tanlines. I helped some girls learn how to swim! It was so much fun interacting with the kids.

After that, I went and found my boys again. They taught me how to play disc golf! It was so much fun! After that we headed to dinner.

After dinner we had a carnival. I sat and painted faces for 2 hours. I had lions, snakes, princesses, fish, palm trees, etc. The kids had so much fun!

I am so worn out and can't wait to "hit the sack"!

Camp Week 1 - Day 1

2010-05-23T22:33:00.001-04:00

Today was the first day of our first camp for the summer!

The camp this week is a camp for kids with heart transplants and heart defects. I am a "cabin buddy" to cabin 24, a group of 12 & 13 year old boys. They are precious!

So my day started off at 10:00 A.M. The waterfront staff had "T-Rescue" training with canoes and kayaks in the lake. Boy was the water cold! After our hour session we headed to the tree house for our first staff meeting. We will have a meeting like this every Sunday. We received our schedules for the week, as well as talked about certain things to remember for the day and week. The adrenaline began pumping right then and there!

After our meeting, I headed to the dining hall, where I met some of the campers for the first time. I had a great conversation with two boys, they were going into 3rd and 4th grade. I traded my sunshine silly band with one of them in exchange for a kangaroo. These little boys literally had silly bands up to their elbows!

Next we ate lunch with our cabins. One of the boys wanted to try my "veggie nuggets" and exclaimed that "they taste just like chicken!". Might I add that a group of 7, 12 & 13 year old boys can eat, A LOT. I hardly had a chance to eat because I was running to get the boys seconds and thirds on food! We had chicken fingers (veggie nuggets for me), mac n cheese, some sort of green bean and carrot melody, and an optional salad. I ate 4 veggie nuggets and about a cup of salad. I was starving until dinner!

After lunch we headed to the gym to play ice breakers. Surprisingly, that takes a lot of energy.

Soon after the ice breakers, I headed back to my room to change back into my bathings suit (a routine I'm sure I will have down to milliseconds by the end of the summer). I headed on down to the pool to do the swim tests on all the campers and camp volunteers. Some, okay many, of these kids can't really swim well. Another staffer, JoAnna, started helping the kids who couldn't swim very well, or only wanted to walk, across the pool. I soon followed. It was so neat to hold these children in my arms and talk to them for the length of the pool. The kids were all comparing the size of their scars as well. Most have a vertical scar running from a little below the collar bone to under their breast line. Some also have 3 or 4 dimple looking marks between their bellies and chest. The scars almost look like belly buttons (sorry John). The kids would say "her scar is cooler than mine". It was so cute!

After the swimming test we headed to our cabins that we are cabin buddies with. We made "goal bracelets" with every cabin. The cabin had one goal together, and then a bead for their personal goals. After making the bracelets we headed to dinner. We had spaghetti , garlic bread, green beans and of course salad. We have a salad bar at every meal, I am in heaven! We then headed to "Turtle Cove" where we had "Opening Ceremony" and a bonfire. It was so much fun, the kids had a blast!

There were a few "first timers" who were hesitant about camp at lunch, but by Closing Ceremony they were running around and laughing with their newly made friends.

Although the boys in my cabin can eat and eat, they are still very small. They are 12 & 13 years old but look anywhere from 8-10 years old. Although they are small, they aren't as fragile as everyone thinks they are. They can run and play just like normal kids. There are 17 nurses on staff, nurse practitioners as well as a pediatric cardiologist on staff.

Today was definitely an amazing day, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store.

I've got a hand for you, I want to run with you...

2010-05-11T21:21:00.004-04:00

I've been hard at work the past week trying to finish all these assignments. I'm still working diligently, however simply need a study break.

Today I changed the music on the blog. The new songs are more laid back than the other ones. Makes me feel like summer is just around the corner!

Mom, Dad and Carr came up to Spartanburg for Mother's Day. We had a lovely meal with John's mother and father and Poppie. We went to Gransie's house afterwards to have dessert. It was so nice getting to see the family and enjoying time with John's family as well.

I've slowly been trying to pack up my dorm room. I'm at a point now where most of the stuff left is stuff I can't "live without". Hopefully this weekend and early next week I can pack some of this up to head to camp with me.

I went to bed around 2:30 A.M. this morning. Until then, I had been awake for 40 hours! Oh college, oh week before exams! There are simply not enough hours in the day!

procrastination

2010-05-05T22:07:00.008-04:00

things to do by wednesday of next week:

write philosophy paper on: does God make life meaningful?
write philosophy paper on: Under what circumstances and with what criteria is Euthanasia morally permissible? Fully explain how you reach your answer.
write philosophy paper on: are we responsible for our actions?
write psychology paper on: study habits of wofford college students
write government paper on: some topic i dont understand from toqueville.

so, i'm procrastinating of course...

Carr's first car!

John and me before my Kentucky Derby Function last week!

Diana and me at my Kentucky Derby Function last week!

Also...

I will be working at Camp Twin Lakes this summer in Rutledge, Georgia. Camp Twin Lakes provides places and paths for children with serious illnesses and life challenges to experience the joys of childhood and grow in their confidence and capabilities. I am so excited to be working there May 22- August 8. It will be a very challenging, busy and rewarding summer to say the least. I am happy to say that I will continue a daily blog, much like I did from China. I look forward to sharing my experiences with everyone!

Living for the WEEKEND!

2010-04-15T23:24:00.002-04:00

I'm currently sitting in Milliken, our science study building at Wofford with about 120 of my peers. We are all studying hard, counting down the days until Spring Weekend 2KX. Spring Weekend is one of THE biggest weekends of the year. It begins with a concert on Thursday night at Converse College, which is about 2 blocks from Wofford. This year Colbie Calliat and Sequoyah Prep School are performing. I think a lot of professors have assigned tests/quizzes for tomorrow to keep the students from starting Spring Weekend early and skipping class Friday. Friday's festivities start at 3:00 pm with a shaving cream fight. This normally ends with a huge tarp - slip n' slide in the middle of the row. There's a band Friday night as well. Saturday morning bright and early the volleyball tournament starts. That lasts until about 6:00. Later on there is a band as well. Most of Wofford, Greek, Non-Greek and Athletes all attend. It's one of the most fun, but most tiring weekends of the year.

I am 4 classes (Music, Psychology, Government and Macroeconomics), 1 test (Psychology) and 2 quizzes (music and macroecon.) away from Spring Weekend. I can't wait!

I've become very good friends with 5 am over the past several weeks. We see each other 2-3 times a week.

I officially declared my major today. I am now a Psychology major. This is the 3rd hardest major at Wofford. I have my work cut out for me over the next 2 years!

sweetest boyfriend ever!

2010-04-03T16:04:00.002-04:00

So spring break has been pretty uneventful. Yesterday I took Carr and a friend to Carowinds. While they were enjoying their time there, I ventured over to South Park. I walked out with an iPod Touch, that I am completely obsessed with. The technology these days amazes me!

I got home around 8 last night. While downloading free apps, I talked on the phone with John for a while. I went into the office to help mom with her iTouch, and I hear the doorbell ring around 10:30. I turned around and there was John! He completely surprised me and drove down from Spartanburg to see me! It made my Spring Break. We watched Superman Returns, such an awesome movie!

This morning we went to get his hair cut and run some errands I had around town! His thoughtfulness meant so much and was so special to me! What a sweet boy!

Happy Easter!

2010-03-31T09:41:00.004-04:00

I am finally on spring break. Although my plans were to write two philosophy papers, a psychology paper, take a government exam and read 200 pages of Alexander Hamilton, I have yet to get motivated. I finished a philosophy paper yesterday, hopefully I can knock out the government test and part of the psychology paper today.

This past weekend John and I went to the Carolina Cup with some of the guys from John's fraternity. It was my first Carolina Cup, and I had a blast. I enjoyed walking around and admiring all the different pretty dresses. I also got a kick out of people watching.

I have enjoyed catching up on my sleep, having time to work out, and spending time with Sugar (our maltese). Mom has also cooked some delicious meals (one of the best parts about coming home)!

videos from greek week

2010-03-29T00:54:00.005-04:00

Finally I have the videos from Greek Week Lipsync

First Place: Kappa Delta

Second Place: Zeta Tau Alpha

Third Place: Kappa Alpha Theta and Delta Delta Delta

GREEK WEEK CHAMPIONS!

2010-03-22T00:32:00.004-04:00

KAΘ GREEK WEEK 2010 TUG-OF-WAR

annual greek week rooms picture

first round of the ncaa tournament

what an incredible week & weekend!

Emma, John and me ventured down to Jacksonville for the first round of the NCAA tournament to see the Terriers take on Wisconsin. Emma and I stayed with some sorority sisters who also made the trip down. It was so neat to see Wofford History before our eyes! We had great seats which was awesome as well.

This past week has been Greek Week. Wednesday was Lip Sync, where our sorority tied for 3rd. I am definitely not coordinated enough to participate in the actual video!

Thursday was the deadline for penny wars. All the sororities compete to see who can have the "least" amount of negative change at the end of the week. Pennies and checks are positive, silver and cash are negative. Rolled coins as well as checks and cash count for double points. We found out on our way to Jacksonville that we had stolen the win for penny wars (worth twice the points for lipsync overall). All the money raised for different events throughout the week goes towards special olympics.

Saturday was Greek Games. This involved the tug-of-war, 100 yard relay, keg role, chariot race, pie eating contest, softball toss, and 3 legged race. There are also other events. After a very long 2.5 hours, Theta took home second place! I was so pumped.

We found out later Saturday night that we tied Zeta for 1st place overall. This is the first time in 5 years Theta has won! We also raised $6,800 / $8,000 goal we had. There are still other events in the spring to help raise the money the special olympics needs to compete in the national competition!

slacking.

2010-03-09T15:10:00.005-05:00

I seem to always have a difficult time finding a spare moment to blog.

Last week was difficult. I had so many tests and quizzes. My great-grandfather passed away on Tuesday morning. Although I will miss him dearly, I know he is in a better place. It's not good bye forever, just for now.

John and I went home to Columbia this weekend. We were leaders for Disciple Now at my church. We had an awesome group of 8th graders. I enjoyed teaching, hanging out and learning myself.

This week is just as busy as last! I have so much to do, as always.

Last night Wofford beat Appalachian State in the SOCON championship. This win granted us a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Terriers are going dancing!

Below is my Pawpaw's obituary. I think most of you would find it interesting to read about a man who grew up watching Charlotte develop.

David Carr Lockwood

On March 2, 2010, David Carr Lockwood, 95, passed quietly into eternal life at Schramm Health Care in The Pines at Davidson, NC. Life began for David at St. Peters Hospital of Charlotte, NC, on July 13, 1914, to parents Norma Blakeslee Lockwood and Herbert Burnett Lockwood. His early years were spent at Sunset Dairy Farm on Sharon Road opposite what is now South Park Mall. There he became an integral part of the dairy business while attending Sharon School and assisting his stepfather Adoulphus Cook following the death of his father.

An early marriage to his high school sweetheart, Carolyn H. Cowell, lasted 67 years. Together they had four children.

Following the sale of the farm to Governor Cameron Morrison, a friend and neighbor, David moved the herd to Croft, near Davidson, where his mother and stepfather settled on another farm where both later died on the same day. Meanwhile David began a long career in the oil industry, first as a member of Spurrier Oil Company followed by ownership of his own service station, then as a lubricant sales representative of Pure Oil Co. Subsequent moves to Albemarle, Gastonia and Charlotte furthered his career with Union Oil (formerly Pure Oil Co.) while serving the greater Piedmont area. He retired in 1979 to his Lake Wylie home in Charlotte to care for his invalid wife for ten years until she died in 1988.

During those years, David remained a very active member in St. Martin's Episcopal Church, serving as vestryman, Junior and Senior Warden, teacher at various times - as well as being an active member of the Rotary Club, Civitan Club, and The Lions Club. David received an award for 60 years of membership from Excelsior Chapter of the Masonic Lodge of Charlotte. Dear to his heart was the opportunity to bring out to his home on the lake patients in rehabilitation at Charlotte Memorial Hospital (now Carolinas Medical Center) to enjoy the day and a meal at his outdoor kitchen for fellowship or fishing from his dock. There they also hosted many church outings from St. Martin's and the respective church homes of his children.

In 2003 David found love once again and married Charlotte Hamor West, also a lifelong member of St. Martin's Episcopal Church. Together they continued to host St. Martin's socials at the lake as well as for their children and grandchildren. There, too, David enjoyed gardening and horticultural efforts that yielded a beautiful yard and a bounty of vegetables that he shared on Sundays with his fellow parishioners. Realizing his physical limitations in gardening, he and Charlotte moved to the Pines at Davidson, NC.

True patriarch of his family, David loved the Lord and was a consummate gentleman and a devoted, attentive father and grandfather. He will be remembered for a remarkable sense of humor, his depth and firsthand knowledge of Charlotte's history and his love of woodworking and gardening.

He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

David was preceded in death by his first wife, Carolyn, grandson Philip Craft, sister Sarah L. Andrews, and brothers Herbert B. Lockwood and A. Alexander 'Sandy' Cook.

Surviving, in addition to Charlotte, are David C. Lockwood, Jr. (Teddy) and W. Peeps Lockwood (Marjorie) of Charlotte; Alice L. Craft of Chapel Hill, NC; Sarah L. Waldrop (John) of Gastonia, NC; Charlotte S. Hawkins (Danny) of Myrtle Beach, SC; and Grainger C. Smith (Phylia) of Mint Hill, NC. Grandchildren are Carolyn Craft (Tommy Miller), Ray Craft, Greg Craft, David Carr Lockwood, III (Lesli), Lisa L. Moorefield (John), Scott Lockwood (Jackie), Jeff Lockwood, Susan Lockwood, Michelle Davis (Scott) and Alison Henry (Joel). Great grandchildren are Brian and Taylor Craft. Caroline and Hallie Craft, David C. Lockwood, IV, Kimberlee Lockwood, Bethany and John Moorefield, Jr., Sam and Ryan Lockwood, Jackson and Bailey Lockwood, Jonathan Davis, Amanda McWhirter, Brian Davis, Wesley Franklin, Lauren Franklin, Adam and Justin Henry, along with several great, great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be conducted at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, March 5, at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 1510 East Seventh Street, Charlotte, NC 28204, with the Rev. Dr. Murdock Smith officiating. The family will receive friends after the service in the Fellowship Hall of the church from 11:00 a.m. to noon. Interment will be private for family members and close friends at Forest Lawn West.

Pallbearers are David C. Lockwood, III, David C. Lockwood, IV, Greg Craft, Scott Lockwood, Jeff Lockwood, Wesley Franklin, and Jonathan Davis. Honorary pallbearers are Tommy Miller, John Moorefield, Scott Davis, Joel Henry, Grainger Smith, William Reynolds, Norfleet Smith and Stephane Turner.

The family wishes to acknowledge with the deepest gratitude the caring nursing services of The Pines and of Hospice.

Memorials may be made to the Hospice of Lake Norman, 705 Griffith Street, Suite 203, Davidson, NC 28036; The Residents Support Fund of The Pines, 400 Avinger Lane, Davidson, NC 28036; or to St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 1510 East Seventh Street, Charlotte, NC 28204.

Arrangements by Forest Lawn West Funeral & Cremation Service, 4601 Freedom Drive. (704) 395-0055. Condolences through www.forestlawnwest.com.

you make me smile

2010-02-26T09:30:00.002-05:00

What a week!

I am constantly busy, day after day. It is the end of the week and I could not be more excited. I am a week closer to Disciple Now, a week closer to being halfway through my college career and a week closer to this summer.

John and I are probably going to Clemson tonight to see one of his good friends perform in the musical Rent.

I have another Alexander Hamilton quiz today. I've read 202 pages already, only 500 more to go before spring break!

Next week is going to be crazy stressful. I have a test or quiz every day!

Last weekend I had the Black and Gold Ball. It was fabulous. My committee did such a wonderful job planning it and organizing everything!

I am going to try and get a lot of homework done this weekend. That is so non-typical of me on a Saturday. I guess when you're taking 20 hours, you don't have a choice!

I'll write more when I have another 5 minutes of down time!

i wouldn't trade all those late nights.

2010-02-18T16:38:00.003-05:00

First of all, I would like to brag about how i have the greatest boyfriend in the world. For Valentine's Day he gave me a very pretty silver bracelet. It has a square pendant on top with my monogram. On the backside, it has "ilybm , Valentines 2010". I will never forget who and when I got this special gift from! We went out to eat at Ruby Tuesday's on Sunday for lunch. It was great. Spending Valentine's Day running errands and doing homework with one another was so relaxing and nice. John is such a sweetheart and I am so lucky to have met him!

So again I find myself on a Thursday afternoon, feeling extremely accomplished. I have finally finished most of my work due for the rest of the week. All I have left to do is study for my Alexander Hamilton quiz I have in Government tomorrow. I am looking forward to Grey's Anatomy tonight. It's supposed to be an awesome episode (and I actually have time to watch it!).

This week has been hectic and crazy. I have had so much homework and studying to do, as usual. I joined the orchestra group here at school. I enjoyed the first practice as much as I could. Lets just say, I'm extremely out of practice. While I was trying to tune my violin, I popped my E string. Luckily I was sitting in the second violin section, and was able to avoid playing high notes for most of the class. I am really looking forward to getting back in the "rhythm" of things.

I was finally cleared by my orthopaedic surgeon. He said my knee is healing just fine. I'm so excited to be able to run, jump and be my crazy self again (not that I ever really took a break).

I have our annual Black and Gold ball this Saturday night at the Marriott in Spartanburg. I am expecting the event to be incredible. My committee is over the whole event, and everyone has done such an amazing job planning it!

I think I may have time for a quick nap this afternoon. I promise to be more faithful about posting in the future.

busy, busy, busy!

2010-02-11T13:01:00.003-05:00

I have honestly had the busiest week of my life! Whats even better is that it'll be this way every week until the end of the semester. I am currently enrolled in 19 hours, with a possibility of 20 next week (if i decided to join the orchestra). I have enjoyed my classes thus far, but have been slammed with homework. I've never had to read so much in my life. I thought Wofford was tough before this semester, little did I know it could get so much harder.

I think the biggest thing for me this semester is going to be time management. I'm going to have to balance all my classes, along with my campus involvement, friends, family and boyfriend. It will definitely be challenging, and I know I will have to make sacrifices along the way. In the end, I know I'll say, "If I could do it again, I'd do it the same."

I am currently working out, catching up on tv shows and emailing. I feel like I'm following in the steps of my father. I would not be able to survive without my blackberry. I honestly don't know how I did before.

Although I'm not sleeping much at night, it's completely worth it. I am having the time of my life, even if I am consumed with work and meetings. I am constantly counting down the days till the weekend, which will eventually turn into days until the semester is over.

If life wasn't crazy, stressful and full of surprises I wouldn't be enjoying it as much as I am.

back to reality.

2010-02-08T14:10:00.003-05:00

and it's back to reality folks.

I began my day this morning bright and early at 7:30 AM. This semester on Monday, Wednesday and Friday's I have 5 classes! This semester is going to be full of studying, studying and more studying. I probably won't get much sleep either.

My first class today was Music 201. I am really excited about this class. Although the class itself is going to be super tough, my professor is so sweet and seems willing to help. Dr. Lee wants me to come and visit the orchestra class tomorrow afternoon. We'll see how that goes. It's definitely going to be an interesting class to have at 8:30 in the morning.

My second class was Psychology. I love my professor for this class as well. She used to be a psychologist before she began teaching. I feel like learning all about the brain and different illnesses will be a lot of fun this semester. She has a crazy personality that I love as well. I also really enjoy how the classroom is set up. There are square tables with 4 people to a table. It reminds me of elementary school, and is family like.

My third class was Government. I think this is going to be one of my most difficult classes. There is over 200 pages of reading per week! My professor mumbles and uses big words. I feel like I need a dictionary in class to understand what he is saying. Something interesting happened in his class today. I went to take a sip of my water bottle and when I pulled the cap off water shot up, hit the ceiling, proceeded to spew all over the guy behind me and myself. It was so embarassing. Way to make a name for myself on the first day!

My fourth class today was Macroeconomics. I have the teacher I had last interim. She has an interesting accent and has a unique style of teaching. There are a lot of people in my class right now, but i feel like that won't be the case in 2 or 3 weeks. I took a pre-semester quiz and was surprised at all the information I remember from my senior year of high school when I took AP Macroeconomics.

Tonight I have philosophy. I was planning on working out at some point, however right now I am exhausted. John has to run me to Walmart later to get some ink. My keys are still locked in my car. Hopefully dad will be able to mail my spare tomorrow.

oh it's great to be busy again, back to reality.

Home is where the heart is

2010-02-03T03:46:00.000-05:00

January 30, 2010

A good night sleep? Yeah Right! Victoria and I woke up about 2:00 A.M. due to the lack of adjusting to American time within a few short hours. We spent the wee hours of the morning watching movies, talking on the phone and watching the weather.

Once it was finally time to rise and shine we got ready for our day and crossed our fingers we’d be able to come back home. Emma, Victoria and I weren’t counting on anything though!

Once arriving at the airport and checking in our luggage, it was all we could do to get through security and get on the plane. We were a nervous wreck, thinking we were going to get stuck in the airport without luggage. We just wanted to go home. No one in the group was in a particularly good mood. When it was announced that our plane would be definitely headed to Greenville, we all practically wet our pants. We were so excited.

Needless to say the hour and half trip back from Chicago went by really fast. Surprisingly enough, the plane ride wasn’t too rough, even though the weather down below was.

We arrived at the airport and walked out of the terminal to see friends, family and boyfriends all waiting for us. It was so good to see everyone after a month!

We all went our separate ways after claiming our luggage. I headed to my room at Wofford to unpack as well as spend time with my parents and John. It was so nice to be home.

I know the next couple of days are going to be rough adjusting back to American cuisine, time and mannerisms. Although I am looking forward to the familiarity of America, I will greatly miss China. It will be a trip I will never forget. I learned so many things about the culture, history and people of China. As of right now, it is the best trip I have taken in my all of my 19 years, and probably will be for the rest of my life. China not only lived up to my expectations but also greatly exceeded them.

Carolina, calling me home!

2010-02-03T03:43:00.000-05:00

January 29, 2010

The day has finally arrived. We are finished with our 20-day excursion to China, and it is time that we say farewell and head home. I am so sad to say goodbye to the wonderful country of China. I am thankful to have all the great memories with me though.

We woke up this morning around 9:30 A.M. and packed the last minute items. We had a lot of fun last night at the dance club celebrating our last night in Beijing. After showering and somehow fitting all our belongings into 9 total suitcases (between Emma, Victoria and me), we finally grabbed some breakfast. We calculated how long it would take us to get home, and quite frankly, were dreading every second of the trip. We were heading back to reality, leaving our paradise.

We loaded our luggage onto the bus and headed out for our last meal in Beijing. Li took us to a very nice restaurant and order oodles and oodles of food. She ordered every single one of our favorite dishes from the entire trip. We ate, and ate, and ate some more. After filling our stomachs, we drove the 20 minutes to the airport.

Upon arriving at the airport it was obviously the biggest airport I’d ever been to in my life (which is a lot). The airport reminded me a lot of the bird’s nest. I assumed that the airport had been expanded not only because Beijing was the capital, but because of the 2008 Olympics as well. As we stood in line to check into our airlines, I realized I did not have my wallet (and passport) with me. Luckily, I remembered it was on the bus and Li called to have the bus come deliver it. As we were checking luggage in we were told there would only be one carry on item per student, and 2 checked luggage. We had assumed it would be like the US where you could have 2-checked luggage’s (for international flights), a carry on and a personal item. However a small suitcase and backpack were just “too much”. Victoria, Emma and I all had to find a way to consolidate and find other people who had only checked one luggage to be able to get all our things home! Never a dull moment!

The flight was long, or seemed longer than the flight to China. The trip back always feels longer even if the travel time is shorter. Upon arriving in Chicago I turned on my cell phone to find a voice mail and text message from my dad. He said that our flight to Greenville had been cancelled! Of course, I frantically told everyone else on the trip.

We all acted like princes and princesses trying to think of possible options to still get home as we stood in line for customs. I’ve traveled enough, and knew in the back of my mind we were not coming home tonight. We all got through customs with our illegal, legal and counterfeit goods without a problem. We went to check our bags back in for the flight to Greenville when it was confirmed that our flight had been cancelled.

For the next hour and a half the professors worked to get everything straightened out. After countless runs around the airport, lines galore and pulling suitcases here and there we finally had a game plan. We would be staying over night at a hotel, and leaving on the 11:04 AM flight the next day. That is, if the weather cooperated or not.

We headed to our hotel tired, frustrated and hungry. A group of us girls decided to order “Chicago Style Pizza” and make the best of it. Bad decision. We should have known better not to eat greasy cheese pizza after not having grease and cheese for a month. I’m pretty sure all our stomach’s hated us, and punished us for it as well.

We watched a documentary on John Edwards and crime-solving TV shows. Around 11:00 pm we decided to head to bed for a “goodnight sleep”

Hey lady, be my friend!

2010-01-28T03:25:00.000-05:00

January 28, 2010

Today we awoke early for our free day in Beijing. We spent most of the day jumping from market to market. Victoria exchanged her luggage for better quality luggage. It ended up coming in handy later on in the day after we had bought so much.

Around 3:00 we decided we were tired and headed back to the hotel. We began packing up all our purchases from the day as well as items brought and aquired on the trip.

We prepared for our last night out in Beijing. I think all of us are pretty exhausted by now, and are just ready to get home.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Beijing, especially the shopping! There are so many markets with endless booths selling everything from perfume to electronics to wigs. I have had so much fun, and would love to come back to China some day.

Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture

2010-01-27T11:46:00.001-05:00

January 27, 2010

My, oh, my. What an amazing last day as a group in China. We woke up this morning and I literally didn’t think I could get out of bed. I am exhausted. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed out for today’s festivities.

In the morning we went to a Chinese Hospital. We had a presentation by three medical students on Chinese medicine and the school itself. The students spoke pretty good English. We then toured the facility. It was pure chaos. I didn’t even know that it was a hospital. For one it was not as clean as our hospitals in the US, and the lighting was so much darker. The paint in the hallways was also very dingy and scratched off. We got to see a Chinese herbal pharmacy. There were literally drawers and drawers of different herbs. They had bugs, flowers, and even powder from aborted fetuses. It was insanely ridiculous. The smell of the pharmacy was overwhelming as well. The next thing we toured was the massage room. They give massages to people who are having trouble with a particular body part. The massage involves more rubbing and deep tissue massage. We then went to the Chinese acupuncture room. It was so neat to see them put the needles in someone. I volunteered and had Chinese acupuncture in my arm. It paralyzed the movement of my middle finger, but was very relaxing and didn’t hurt at all. After the acupuncture, we went back to the conference room. The Chinese people were very thankful that we came to experience their culture.

After the Chinese hospital we went to lunch. I honestly absolutely hated lunch. There was practically nothing I could eat. I was looking forward to our plans after lunch though. We had an afternoon FULL of shopping at various markets in Beijing. I enjoyed haggling and spending all my money. I hate spending money, but buying for other people makes me not feel as bad.

We had an interesting dinner. It was a duck dinner. A total of 6 ducks were served to a total of 22 people. The other students enjoyed it. I stuck to the eggplant. I have learned to love eggplant as well on the trip.

We came home broke, exhausted and on a “shopping high”. We went through our purchases and decided what we still need to be getting tomorrow on our free night off. We watched a movie, and then headed to bed.

Temple of Heaven and The Summer Palace

2010-01-27T11:31:00.000-05:00

January 26, 2010

What an amazing day in Beijing! We woke up early, like usual and began our adventure. The first place we visited was the Temple of Heaven. On the way something so embarrassing happened to Victoria. She ate too much watermelon for breakfast, and got motion sickness on the bus. She ended up vomiting into a water bottle. I felt so bad for her! I helped her clean up the mess on the floor. We arrived at the Temple of Heaven and it was so beautiful. The Temple of Heaven was this oval building with steps surrounding it. The main colors were aqua blue and lime green, two of my favorites! We were given some time to walk around and experience the beauty. It was so neat to see the city from a slightly elevated point. The Temple of Heaven was made without a single screw!

We left the Temple of Heaven and headed to the site of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I was so excited after seeing it all lit up last night. We still had to go through security, even though the site was not being used for anything specifically. The portal- potties were even high class! They were washing the outside of them as we were walking in. We got to see the Bird’s Nest from a pretty good distance away. It was a grand phenomenal structure. Parallel to it was the Water Cube. That was just as neat. I have never seen an Olympic Site before. Both are definitely much bigger than they look on TV! Li told us that they were thinking about making the Bird’s Nest a concert hall. Right now neither is being used for anything definite. We didn’t get to go inside the buildings because it costs so much money to do so.

After the Olympic journey, we headed to lunch. Lunch was a pretty typical lunch. I haven’t really enjoyed the meals in Beijing because many do not have a lot of vegetables. I feel like I’ve been living off of rice and watermelon!

After lunch we headed to the Summer Palace. The whole time I was freezing cold. If we had visited China in the spring, it would have been much more pleasant. The Summer Palace has a covering over a walkway that holds a Guinness Book World Record for most paintings in a structure. We saw a large marble boat there as well. Two of the most fascinating aspects of the Summer Palace was how old it is, but in what great shape it is in! While we were at the Summer Palace we saw a little child squatting in the middle of the walkway. As he stood up, it was obvious he had urinated. A lot of kids still walk around with slits in their pants. When they have to go to the restroom, they just “squat and drop it”. It is very different for us Americans, but perfectly normal for them.

We also saw that the whole pond that surrounds the Summer Palace was frozen. On an impulse, childish desire, we climbed the gate and walked on the frozen lake. It was frozen solid and there were many people walking around on it. Never will I have the chance to walk on a frozen lake, in China, ever again.

After the Summer Palace, we headed back to our hotel. A group of about 12 of us headed to one of the markets. We spent 2 hours there shopping around for various items. I got a few interesting items that I can’t wait to show everyone! For now, it’s a secret!

After that we came back to the hotel, grabbed a quick bite of stick food and went to sleep. We were flat out exhausted. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and our experience with Chinese medicine!

Our Journey to the Great Wall of China

2010-01-27T10:41:00.000-05:00

Today was so thrilling, fantastic and all around amazing. We began our day with "breakfirst", as our tour guide calls it. We boarded the bus for our hour and a half journey to the Great Wall!
On the way, we stopped at a cloisonne
factory. I have so much appreciation for this art now. The way cloisonne items are made is a very tedious process. First the item being cloisonned has to be made. For the explanation process let's say we are making a vase. The vase is molded out of metal and copper. From there tiny copper wires are bent and twisted to make the design on the vase. The designs are glued on with strong glue. After that, the vase is fired to further hold the design. Then an artist takes an eye dropper and uses colored powder and water to color the vase. After the first coat the vase air dries and then gets fired again. This process repeats itself many times. This is how the extravagant colors come about. Before the vase is finished it is buffered down with a rock. It is then polished with charcoal. This causes the wire to only be seen close up, but not felt by touch. The whole process was fascinating. Our tour guide's name at the factory was Herbie. Herbie learned his English from a professor that was from Manchester. Herbie spoke excellent English and had a British accent. It was so neat to listen to him talk. I gained so much appreciation for cloisonne at the factory.

After the factory we continued our journey to the Great Wall. We wound deeper and deeper into the Chinese mountains. We could finally see the Great Wall. I always imagined the Great Wall to be relatively flat. I was very wrong. The Great Wall follows the landscape of the mountains. It was definitely a "wow" moment.

As we approached the part of the wall we were walking we came across a bridge. The bridge had a low clearance. It was obvious that the bus was too big to drive under it. All of a sudden the bus began lowering down. It was like "go go gadget" bus! We were finally lowered to the ground enough to drive under the bridge. We had a little trouble getting the bus to rise back up. It scared everyone a little bit, but eventually we got going again.

When we stepped off the bus, the wind was terrible and it was frigid cold. Within 30 seconds my legs were numb. We entered the Great Wall and took a group picture. I was overwhelmed with the beauty of this ancient structure. It was hard to fathom how the Chinese built a wall so intense, intricate and beautiful. Even the mountains were gorgeous. I was amazed once again and could only think about how amazing our God is to create a landscape so breathtaking.

Emma, Victoria and I were quickly attacked by Chinese women who wanted their picture with western girls. It was so funny. We attempted to walk up part of the wall. When I say walk, I mean crawl. It is so steep! As we kept walking we were stopped by many others to take pictures.

It was so frosty cold. I literally couldn't feel my face or my legs. Luckily I had toe warmers and hand warmers.

We only stayed on the wall for about 45 minutes. We felt like we were getting frostbite. On the way out we stopped at a gift shop. Emma, Victoria and I were all shopping around when all of a sudden I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a group of Asian women. They asked if they could take a picture and I nodded my head yes. The next thing I knew I was literally being carried out of the gift shop. Emma shouted "they're taking Kimberlee!" I thought I was being kidnapped. They carried me outside to get a picture with the wall. I was so scared.

We left the Great Wall and headed to lunch. There was a lot of meat in the dishes. I was forced to fill up on rice, unfortunately.

We left lunch and stopped at two places. Each was part of the Ming Tombs. I honestly wasn't that interested. Everything was replicated and we didn't know anything about the people buried in the tombs.

After the tombs we headed back to the hotel. Emma, Victoria and I decided to nap before dinner. After waking up I went with some other classmates to get "stick food". I have found a stick food I am in love with. It’s made out of egg, scallions, onions, various spices and sauces.

After dinner the majority of our class decided to go out and experience Beijing at night. On the way to our destination our taxi driver got somewhat lost. It was completely worth it because we got to see the Bird's Nest and Water Cube from the Olympics at night, all lit up. We went to this dance club that had 4 floors. Each was a different theme: beach, Mexican, etc. The Asians laughed at us dancing to the American hits they were playing. After a couple of hours we headed back to the hotel to get a good night sleep.

Beautiful Beijing

2010-01-24T17:30:00.001-05:00

January 24, 2010
"This is your morning call." – Oh the words we love to hear at 7:30 A.M, from the Chinese lady at the front desk. We learned today that if you don’t answer your wake up call, they personally come and knock on your door to wake you. If you still haven’t crawled out of bed, they go to the professor’s room and give them a master key to come wake you. This happened to some fellow students this morning. Luckily, we answered our wakeup call on the first ring.
This morning we woke up ready for a day of adventure. Today we were to experience the "true" Beijing. We left the hotel and headed straight for Tiananmen Square. On the way Li, our tour guide, told us not to take pictures of the men in green army uniforms. These are soldiers. They never smile, and if they catch you taking a picture of them, they make you delete it off your camera. We actually witnessed this later in the day as we were walking into the Forbidden City.
We arrived at Tiananmen Square around 9:45am. There was not much traffic on the way there, because it was a Sunday morning. Tiananmen Square is known as the "Gate of Heavenly Peace". The square is much different than I imagined. I thought it was a big sidewalk, with the famous building on the side. I was very wrong. At first the square looks nothing like the pictures. Tiananmen Square can hold over 1 million people. It was at least 2x2 football fields. There are communist style buildings lining the streets of the square, with Mao’s Mausoleum in the middle. We took many photos before crossing the street to enter the Forbidden City. There were locals trying to sell various Mao products as well as communist looking hats, and animal hats.
We arrived at the Forbidden City, across the street from Tiananmen Square. The Forbidden City is known as the "heart of Beijing". It is one of China’s most magnificent architectural complexes. It was created in the 1400’s! The Forbidden City was the distinguished residence for the imperial court and dignities until the early 1900’s. We walked through many courtyards and gardens. Each had the same architecture and layout, but appeared to have slight differences. We learned that 30,000 people used to live in the Forbidden City. It was basically a city within a city. To see all the structures, thrones, buildings, bridges and stone floor that were so many years old, was definitely fascinating and incomprehensible. I was once again, in awe. I am constantly reminded of how much America is a "baby" compared to China and its history. It amazes me constantly the technology they used back then, that has so well preserved so many things for today. Walking through the Forbidden City took about 3 hours! It was gigantic. Our tour guide told us we would walk 6-8 kilometers a day while we were in Beijing!
After visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City we headed to lunch. We were supposed to have a "Western Style" lunch. Most of us have fallen in love with Chinese cuisine and have no problem eating it for every meal. I haven’t craved western food in forever, and I know I will miss the Chinese cuisine upon my return to America. I just can’t get enough! There are so many vegetables and sauces and flavors, unlike American cuisine. We put away our disappointment and decided to make the best out of our western meal. Let me just tell you, that was difficult to do. There was absolutely nothing American about this western meal. It is so different to see what eastern people think western people eat! I tried some broccoli, which was very delicious. The "fried spaghetti" also known as, a version of Chinese noodles was the best. The cheesecake wasn’t even half bad, even if it was still frozen. Nothing is overly sweet or salty here. Although, we all look swollen, the salt seems to be hidden somehow in the food.
We left the restaurant and headed to Wangfujing Street. Wangfujing Street is much like Shanghai’s Nanjing Road. There is a side street full of stick food as well as souvenir stands. Perpendicular to that side street is the actual Wangfujing Street. The street consists of many upscale Chinese and international brands. There were tons of people walking up and down the street. We walked about 10 stores down and decided to go explore on the food street again. Wangfujing is known to have great food during the nighttime and lively entertainment. We are planning to experience that tomorrow night. Cities are always prettier under the night sky anyways. On the food street we saw arrays of different types of food. These different types of food included: chicken fetuses, large black scorpion, small scorpion (which was still moving), starfish, sea horses, grass hoppers, centipedes, squid and other various animals we couldn’t identify. We decided to taste scorpion. First of all, let me preface that scorpion, although an animal, does not count as meat. It counts as a bug. Yes I tried scorpion. I ate one of the legs. It was impulsive, for sure. When will I ever have the chance to try scorpion on a stick again? The bite I took wasn’t even enough to swallow, just enough to taste and get caught in my molars. The scorpion surprisingly tasted pretty good. It was black, and tasted like burnt bacon. I can’t describe the aftertaste, but I didn’t care for the after taste. Everyone who ate it liked it. Many people ate the claws, head and other legs. There were two on the stick. We avoided the torso because we heard that you could taste the bodily fluids, which were bitter. We even got our tour guide to try scorpion for the first time in her life!
After Wangfujing Street we headed back to the hotel. Some of the students went out to a dance club last night, and we were extremely tired. I stayed in last night, but the lack of sleep on the train to Beijing was catching up with me, and I was tired as well. Emma, Victoria and I all came back and fell asleep around 4 P.M. Needless to say; we didn’t wake up until about 7:30pm. Emma had a migraine, so Victoria and I went to grab some dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. She had dumplings, I had pizza. The pizza was so tasty. It was thick bread, with tomato like sauce, lots of cheese, topped with different kinds of onions. It contained very little grease and was by far, the healthiest pizza I had ever eaten. For hotel food, it was quite inexpensive. We ordered Emma food to "take away", and brought it back up to the room.
We were already ready to go back to bed once we got back up to the room. We all showered and watched a movie on television before hitting the sack! We have a busy, busy day tomorrow. We are finally seeing the infamous Great Wall!

What a Day!

2010-01-23T11:39:00.000-05:00

We were awakened from our train bunk beds at 6:30 A.M. The cleaning lady busted in our room, without knocking and turned on the lights. She then proceeded to take the trashcan and empty the trash. On our small nightstand of a table in between the beds, we had a small tray. All four girls had placed their jewelry on that tray. The cleaning lady tried to take the tray! Emma was literally fighting her for it. Needless to say we thought the Chinese Train cleaning ladies were crazy. Nobody in our group slept too well. Our beds were literally plywood. The pillow was non-existent, and the blanket was more for a newborn than a full grown adult. Although the experience was not very pleasant, it was still an adventure I enjoyed.

We met our tour guide for Beijing. Her name is “Li” and we love her already! It’s a tie between her and Jing for favorite tour guide, with Jerry coming in a close second, and Han way far, dead last. She took us to get our checked luggage. This process took close to 30 minutes. The government runs the train station and the employees get paid no matter what kind of work they do. Therefore they take their time fulfilling requests. Once we had finally gotten our luggage we loaded the bus and headed to breakfast.

Our tour guide thought we’d want a good American breakfast and gave us the choice between McDonalds and KFC. We ended up going to McDonalds. Surprisingly, I love McDonalds in China; however I never eat it in the US. I got an “egg burger”. This consisted of a sunny side up egg, in between hamburger buns, with ketchup. It was delicious! (Sounds disgusting, I know!) I think we must have spent $100 between all the students and professors at McDonalds.

After lunch we transferred to the hotel where we checked in and went to our rooms. The rooms here are also very spacious and nice. Free Internet is at this hotel too, hooray! We quickly unpacked, took showers and slept for an hour before heading out for our afternoon adventures.

We had lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. Chinese food is pretty much vegan with some dishes containing meat. It’s so nice to have a different variety of vegetables and tastes at every meal! My favorite today was the eggplant. So delicious!

We left lunch and headed to an old Beijing Village. Here we jumped on Rickshaw bikes. There were 2 per bike. It was like a miniature carriage. All the students and professors had a 45-minute tour of the old Beijing village on the rickshaws. It was so much fun! One of the lakes had frozen over. There were people ice-skating and ice biking on it! After the rickshaw was done, we visited a local’s house. The man was 78 and used to be an archeologist. He lived with his wife, two sons, two daughter-in-laws and one granddaughter! His house was considered very, very, very upscale. He is retired but shows his house part time for the government, for a little extra cash. He has had many famous people visit his house. Most days close to 300 people visit! Some part time job! His house would be comparable to the American lower class house. Even though it is historic, it was very small and not what American’s envision a house to look like. To know that this was an upscale house made me feel even more appreciative what I live in at school, home and what kind of amenities America has in general.

We walked all through the little village after that, trying to get a feel for the historic culture. It was so amazing. There were about 12 people with super professional cameras. They have the cameras like the paparazzi. As we walked by they began taking pictures of the Americans. It was so funny. We felt famous!

We walked to the Bell Tower, about a 10-minute walk. Everything in Beijing is farther away than in all the other cities. There is a lot more walking involved. Beijing is home to over 17 million people! How crazy. You can drive for 5 hours straight, and still be in Beijing.

The bell tower was really fascinating. The view was magnificent. I started feeling nauseous right before the bell tower. I tried to enjoy it to the best of my ability.

We headed back to the hotel around 4:45. Emma, Victoria and I decided to take a nap before going to grab a bite to eat. We didn’t sleep well on the train last night and were exhausted! We slept until around 6:30. We left to go eat “stick food” on the streets of Beijing shortly after that. I had an egg square, like I had in Chengdu. It was so good! I don’t know how they make it, but for 3 RMB, it was amazing.

We headed back to the hotel after that. Victoria and Emma are going exploring on the town tonight with some of our classmates. I’m still not feeling 100% and decided to stay inside, rest and not over do it. We have a busy week and I don’t want to miss out on anything!

The first day in Beijing was great. It is not as smoggy here as the news and people make it out to be. It is probably the least smoggy city we have visited thus far, which is surprising. It also isn’t as cold as I was expecting. It’s about 35 degrees. There is snow still on the ground that hasn’t melted from a couple of weeks ago. I think Beijing is a beautiful city and I can’t wait to explore more.

Our Last Day in Xi'an

2010-01-23T11:14:00.000-05:00

January 22, 2010

We woke up today excited and sad to leave Xi'an. We packed up all our belongings and took them down to the lobby of the hotel. Jerry told us the train requires you carry on all liquids, much different than airplanes. We frantically rustled through our bags to get our liquids out. I was thankful for the way my dad taught me how to pack. I had one cosmetic case with shampoo and conditioner type things. I also had a small zip lock bag in my carry on suitcase. I only had to remove those two bags.

We finally boarded the bus to begin our adventurous day. We first visited a museum. I was not very interested in any of the things there. I tried to make the best of it, but spent most of my time in the gift shop.

We left the museum and headed to lunch. Most of the places we've eaten have been hotel restaurants around town. This one was no different. Lunch was very delicious, as usual. I thought I would be tired of Chinese food by now, but I am not. I am not looking forward to Chinese food in America; it’s nothing like the food here in China.

After lunch we visited an Islamic Mosque. We arrived right as one of the prayer times began. There were only men present and they all had little white hats on their heads. They all wash their hands and remove their shoes before entering the open building where they pray. Today there was a guest speaker that was preaching from the Quran. It was so interesting seeing another religion in action.

Surrounding the mosque there was a market. We got to go from shop to shop all afternoon. It was so much fun. Emma and Victoria bought the whole market, literally. I have come to realize I am much like my dad when it comes to money. I am a realistic spender and have to have a reason to spend money. If I am not going to use it, why buy it? Even if it’s part of Chinese culture like a robe, coffee mug or jade.

We left the shopping area around 6 and headed to dinner. Jerry arranged for us to have a western style dinner. Most of the food was very different than our idea of "normal food". They had fish sticks, tomatoes with cheese, cauliflower in spicy sauce, fries, Chinese noodles and Mexican rice. So different than what we are used to. It’s comparable to Chinese food in America, much better in the country it originated from.

Tandem bikes, Terra Cotta Warriors and Tiny Tots

2010-01-22T12:26:00.000-05:00

January 21, 2010

"Tandem bikes, Terra Cotta Warriors, and Tiny tots"

We woke up well rested, and ready for a day of adventure. There was so much to do and only so much time.

We boarded the bus and drove to one of the entrances in the Xi'an city wall. The wall was about 6 meters wide and made of stone bricks. It was built over 2,000 years ago! Another girl and I decided to ride tandem bikes. The wall is 9 1/2 miles all the way around. Rachel and I rode the entire way around the wall. It was so spectacular to see the different scenery from all the sides of the wall. It was so cold on top of the wall. We got to see locals setting up light up objects for The Chinese New Year. I was freezing cold and couldn't feel my hands or ears when we finished.

We left the wall and headed to a supermarket. It was Xi'an's version of Wal-Mart. While we were in there we picked up snacks, books, toys, markers and coloring books for the children we were going to visit in the afternoon. We already brought a whole suitcase full of stuff, but still had the desire and need to get them more. We spent over 800 RMB, which is around $150 USD.

After the supermarket, we drove an hour away to the Terra Cotta Warrior museum. Before visiting the museum we had lunch at a local restaurant. It was also very delicious. I was served the most tasty eggs I have ever eaten! There were a few shops outside the restaurant. However many of the items were very over priced.

We arrived at the Terra Cotta Warrior Museum and I was immediately in awe. The Warriors are in 3 separate tombs. It takes one whole year to uncover just two inches of dirt off the soldiers. It was amazing to me that each soldier had a different face than any other soldier. It completely blows my mind that these soldiers were created 2,000 years ago. These soldiers are older than Christ, legit. It was so neat to see all the soldiers lined up in complete orderly lines. Even more cool, they used to be in full color. One of the most amazing things I learned was that the Terra Cotta Warriors were discovered when a local farmer tried to dig a well. When we visited pit 2, one of the five farmers that discovered them was signing books and postcards in the museum. It was so fascinating because he is one out of two farmers still living. I was just in awe the entire time at the history and appearance of the Terra Cotta Warriors. They are so well preserved. They still have a lot of work to do to uncover the remaining warriors and tomb.

After the Terra Cotta Warriors we began our hour long ride to the Children's orphanage.

This was my favorite part of the day but was also my least favorite. These kids are not for adoption. They go to this children's village when their parents are killed or sentenced to life in prison. Most of the kids witnessed one parent killing the other. The kids are raised in the village until they can go out on their own and live. The government doesn't give any money and the village runs strictly off of donations. The place had no heating and it was very cold. Interacting with the kids was thrilling as well as heartbreaking. The kids performed traditional Chinese dances for us. We got to talk with them and give them gifts. The kids were so fun and adorable.

After the children's village we headed to a dumpling banquet and night show. The dumpling dinner was so delicious. They served me vegetarian dumplings. I have learned to eat things even though I don't know what they may be. The show was after dinner and it mocked an opera from the Tang Dynasty. There were elaborate costumes, traditional instruments and many props. It was really thrilling.

After the show we headed back to the hotel where we began packing. We will be taking the overnight train to Beijing tomorrow. We headed to bed shortly there after.

Chinar, Americar and Russiar

2010-01-21T11:17:00.001-05:00

"Chinar, Americar and Russiar"

January 20, 2010

What a day!

We woke up at the crack of dawn today to catch our plane to Xi'an. We were originally supposed to take a train, but for some reason a decision was made to fly last minute.

Our hotel was very stingy on check out procedures. They wanted all room keys turned into the front desk and threatened to charge if they weren't turned in. I managed to keep one for my hotel room key collection. J

Next we headed to the airport in Chengdu. We all dubbed the city as Chengdon’t because it has been our least favorite city and tour guide so far. Our luggage had already been checked in for us. We went through security and then took a bus from our terminal to our plane. We had to board the plane private jet style, from stairs in the middle of the runway. I was amazed they were able to fit all the students and professors on a plane with only one and a half days notice. I slept most of the hour and a half flight.

From the moment we landed in Xi’an, it was obvious that we liked it much, much better. We could tell looking out of the plane windows, the sky was more clear and the city was not as smoggy as Shanghai or Chengdu. We boarded our bus, which had more leg room than the last. Our tour guide in Xi'an's name is Jerry. He is very stylish. He reminds me of the Asian version of David Yohan, for those of you from Columbia. He talked the entire way to the hotel. When he talks about things that end in an "a" he adds a "r". Therefore America is Americar, China is Chinar and Russia is Russiar. He is so pleasant and much more fun than our last tour guide. Definitely more organized than the last tour guide, and much more professional.

When we arrived at the hotel, we found out we had been upgraded to the executive suite. We also have free internet during our stay. Our hotel has a disco, western restaurant, sauna, gym and a barber.

Later, we boarded the bus and went to lunch. The lunch was very different but scrumptious. After our tasty lunch we went to see "the Wild Goose Pagoda".
The Wild Goose Pagoda is also a Buddhist temple. Our tour guide explained the whole life of Buddha. Interestingly enough, it has some similarities to the life of Christ. I found out there is a small population of religious people in China. For example, out of one thousand people, only one hundred people in China are religious. This means there are 900 atheists. I am constantly amazed at the culture and what the Chinese believe and think.

We left the pagoda and headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted from waking up so early, so we decided to take a nap before dinner.

We left for dinner and went to a restaurant about 15 minutes away. Each individual person had their own hot pot. Fresh ingredients such as lettuce, mushrooms, noodles, egg and meat varieties were provided. We got to put combinations of ingredients in and cooked our food. While it was cooking we went up to a buffet style table and made our own dipping sauce. I put soy sauce, garlic, and scallions in mine. The food was very appetizing. It was one of my favorite meals thus far.

We headed back to the hotel. I Skyped with John and then showered before bed. Tomorrow is a busy day. I'm looking forward to experiencing so much history.

Oh one more thing I need to share.
Our tour guide always says before we get off the bus:
"You may leave all your things on the bus. Very safe. Except for valuables."

Haha, how funny!

Interesting Food

2010-01-19T09:42:00.000-05:00

"Interesting Food"
January 19, 2010

What a busy, yet relaxing day we had today! First thing this morning we went to a park that had over 160 types of bamboo. There was a beautiful pagoda we got to walk up inside. While we were at the park, we saw many older Chinese folks. Many were retired. We saw many playing badminton as well as doing Tae Kwon Do. There were some people dancing together as well. We came across a large group, about a hundred or so, of people dressed in Chinese clothing doing Tai Chi.They were kind enough to let us jump in and give it a try. It is much harder to do than it looks! The Chinese people make Tai Chi look so graceful, and smooth. I gave up after about 3 or 4 minutes. Victoria enjoyed it though.

After the park we visited Chengdu University. The university has over 80,000 students. It is one of the 4 best in China. We took a picture with a large Mao Zedong statue at the university. We walked through a chemistry building as well. The building reminded me of a 1970’s psychiatric hospital on a horror movie. The smells from the chemicals were very strong. Looking into one of the labs, it was easy to see that they were about 20 years behind the US in chemistry technology. The university seemed old and dirty, even though it isn’t as old as Wofford. We found out there are more honors students in China than total students in the US, how crazy!

Once we left the central campus, we drove to a kindergarten located just within the campus gates. We tried to see if the headmaster would let us tour the kindergarten but she wouldn’t.

We left the kindergarten and went to the silk brocade. We got to see how silk was made in looms. It was so facisinating and interesting to think how the Chinese invented this machine thousands of years ago.

For lunch today we went to a nice Chinese Restaurant. Many of the other students did not like it because only one or two meat dishes were served. They didn’t feel full and satisfied. I was happy though because there were many things I could eat! I thought it was delicious!

We went to a local market after lunch. This market appeared to look very old stylish Chinese, with all the shops looking like pagodas and detailed architecture. We shopped around a little bit, but decided since there was no haggling it was best to wait until Beijing to get good deals.

We came across a photo stand in which people dressed up like Chinese people from the Han dynasty. They would then take pictures and print them out for a small fee. Victoria convinced Emma, another girl, Rachel and me to do it. We had individual pictures taken, and a picture with the four of us, and then a “Theta Picture”. We’re hoping to send in a bunch from China and get in the Theta Magazine! We had so much fun dressing up. The ladies put our hair in chopsticks and everything! We drew such a crowd. There had to be 50-60 people standing around watching us have our pictures taken. Many were taking pictures of us themselves, or videotaping us. American girls are just so interesting to these Asian people! It was so much fun. You can tell in all our pictures that we are laughing and enjoying every moment.

While we were at the market we noticed a Chinese minority. These people we dubbed “Chindians”. They looked like a combination of Indians and Chinese people together. It was so interesting. They dressed like the Amish people from the US. So different!

I also got Starbucks at the market! Thank goodness for a taste of home. I am not too fond of the Sichuan spicy food.

We left the market and headed back to the hotel. Victoria, Emma and Rachel went to get massages, while I took a short nap. We left for dinner, which was at a conference center in Chengdu. We had been told we would be eating “Sichuan Snack” foods, or as our tour guide said “Snake” foods. His accent is so strong! We got to this restaurant that reminded me of a Chinese dungeon. We were served 12 dishes with small portions. One had rabbit, while others included congealed duck blood, eel, and bland tofu. I was served all vegetarian dishes, but I did not enjoy any of them. The tofu here was absolutely disgusting. Everything was either tongue numbing spicy, contained meat, or had an eyeball jelly like consistency. Most people were so ready to leave the restaurant and did not enjoy it at all! What an experience though!

We came back to the hotel to pack up our things. Instead of taking a train to Xi’an we’re flying. Our plane leaves around 9 A.M. Our trip in Chengdu is cut a day short. Most of us are not complaining because we are ready to get out of this city! It is not as touristy as Shanghai, and we’re not fond of our tour guide.

Listed below are his pronunciations of English words,”bless his heart”, at least he’s trying.

Panda: Pander
Buddha: Buddher
Checked Luggage: Chicken Nuggets
Snack Food: Snake Food

Pandas, Stick Food and a Chinese Show

2010-01-18T22:46:00.001-05:00

"Pandas and Stick food!"

January 18, 2010

I had to wake up extremely early for today's festivities. I woke up around 6 am and Skyped with Sarah Beth, my cousin. I also talked to John and my parents. It is so cool to think about how technology works and how I can communicate with people back in the US.

We loaded the bus around 7:30 AM for our 2 hour bus ride to the panda reserve. Pandas are most active in the morning so it was important for us to get there early. The bus ride was similar to yesterday’s. The bus driver had to stop and have his papers examined again. We stopped at another rest stop. This one however just had bathrooms. There were locals at this one selling produce.

We continued on with our bus ride. We kept climbing higher and higher into the mountains. Our tour guide told us this area gets rain about 200 days out of the year. It was drizzling when we arrived.

It seemed like we were the only people in the panda reserve. The pandas each have their own exhibit and then common playing area. Pandas eat 50 pounds of bamboo a day. There are over 160 types of bamboo for them to eat as well. It was neat to see them break whole bamboo sticks in half with their mouth. The pandas have amazing hand grips. They are in many ways like humans. We saw numerous pandas climbing up trees. There were not a lot of pandas in the reserve as usual because many had been sent to Shanghai for the World Expo. The pandas were so cute. We got to see panda kindergarten and a five month old panda. So cool!

After we went to the panda reserve we had lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. Surrounding the restaurant were farms. We sat down at tables and were immediately served hot tea as usual. Unlike the other restaurants we have been to, they did not ask us what we wanted to drink. They immediately served women diet Pepsi and the men local beer. Some of the guys were offended that they assumed that they wanted beer and switched it out for Pepsi. We had many different kinds of dishes. I have grown to love tofu while being in China. In one of the soups they served was congealed pigs blood. It looked like a chicken liver. I didn't taste it. We didn't know what it was until we got back on the bus.

We rode the bus back to the hotel. We had a few hours before dinner so Emma, Victoria and I went exploring. Victoria got a massage at the hotel for 30 RMB, which is about $4 USD. She enjoyed it too! While she was getting her massage, Emma and I went to find a sewing shop. We were somehow able to get my buttons sewn back on my jacket and my purse fixed! At first they started to cut all the buttons off the jacket. I was so worried! In the end it was good as new. They were only going to charge 5 RMB, or $.75 US cents. I gave them 15 RMB though because they were so nice and helpful and did a great job repairing both items.

We met up with some other classmates and went to dinner. We walked around Chengdu and bought food from street vendors. We called it stick food. I got a piece of pineapple and an egg square thing with scallions. It was sooo delicious.

After eating dinner we headed back to the hotel. We boarded the bus for a Chinese show at a local tea house. After we arrived and we were seated in big wicker chairs with comfy cushions. We were served tea that reminded me of honeysuckle. The show began and boy was it cool! The actors and actresses were dressed in elaborate clothing and wore lots of colorful face paintings and makeup. My favorite part was when a man used shadows from his hands to create many different animals. The show was so interesting but it is hard to describe. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

I was exhausted from the day’s festivities and went straight to bed when we got back.

We're Famous

2010-01-17T21:02:00.000-05:00

January 17, 2010

Our journey today began around 8:30 AM. We took a 2 hour bus ride to see the great giant Buddha. On the way a few interesting things happened.

The bus driver randomly pulled off the highway and got off the bus. Our tour guide said that all bus drivers have to show their license and other paperwork to show they are legal to drive. The police check their record to make sure no charges are held against them.

On the way we also experienced our first Chinese rest stop. It was located in the midst of tea farms. The Chinese rest stop is much different than American rest stops. It is an open building. They have many foods made from tea leaves out to sample as well as many types of tea. You walk around and taste all these foods and tea; you can also purchase the ones you like.

We finally arrived where we would view the giant Buddha. We boarded a boat, where we were required to wear hideous orange life vests. It is a rule in the Sichuan province that you must wear a life jacket on the boat. We viewed the giant Buddha from the water’s edge. It was so fascinating. If you drive the boat to the other shore, the mountains that surround the giant Buddha also look like a giant Buddha lying down. It was so amazing to see all this incredibly old history.

We got off the boat and headed to get lunch. We arrived at one of the most sketchiest restaurants I have ever been to. Cleanliness was definitely not a priority. We were served many different types of dishes. My favorite was an egg and tomato combo. I also enjoyed the tofu with tomato and scallions. I didn't realize this, but all Buddhists are vegetarian. Therefore every Chinese restaurant has one or two vegetarian dishes.

We left the restaurant and headed back to the giant Buddha. We hiked up the mountain until we reached the top. It was so fascinating to be eye level with the Buddha’s head as well as look out over thousands and thousands of years of history. Our Wofford group decided to gather for a group picture. However when we were fixing to take it, about 25 Chinese children and teens pulled out their cameras and cell phones and began taking pictures of us. We were famous! One of the Chinese girls asked if she could get a picture with us. Of course we said yes! Well we didn't know that it entailed 20more Chinese kids running to swarm us for pictures. We took many group pictures and then we were pulled aside by different children to get one on one pictures. We felt like famous Americans that the Chinese paparazzi were after!

We walked down the steps lining the side of the Buddha. It was so scary because we were so high up. The staircase was enclosed by rock on one side and a steel railing on the other. It was extremely narrow. It was astonishing to see different parts of the Buddha close up. Although most of the paint has worn off of the Buddha, some color was still visible. The hike back up to the top of the mountain was intense. There were about 314 stairs that were 3 feet tall each -definitely a personal stair master. I just kept thinking, "at least it is toning my thighs and butt!" After the hike back up, we watched a Buddhist ceremony. The monks were switching duties and we got to view the process. It was really interesting to observe another religion and culture.

We loaded the bus again and headed for the hotel. We were all so exhausted. Most of us slept on the way back. Upon arriving at our hotel, 5 of us (students) went to dinner with the professors. We went to a local hole in the wall noodle restaurant. For a side of rice, bowl of noodles, soup and drink it only costs $10 total for 9 people to eat! It was so cool eating at this hole in the wall restaurant. I felt like I was truly eating how the Chinese do.

We came back to our hotel and Emma, Victoria and I piled in one twin bed and watched Juno, an American movie. It was a lot of fun. After that we all went to sleep. Tomorrow we get to see the pandas and I am so stoked!

Smog!

2010-01-17T10:44:00.000-05:00

January 16, 2010

Something I have come to realize while I've been in China is how big the world really is.

This morning we woke up at 5:00 A.M. to catch our 3 hour flight to Chengdu. We packed up all our things and headed down to the hotel lobby to weigh our bags. For flights within China bags cannot weigh more than 44 lbs. My bag weighed 19 kilograms which is less than 44 lbs! Thank goodness! We put our bags on the bus and enjoyed a continental breakfast at the hotel.

When we arrived at the airport I was surprised at how large this one was because it was a different airport than the one we flew into Shanghai. The architecture was also very different. It had what looked like steel hair brush bristles hanging down from the ceiling. The ceiling was made of glass.

Going through security in China was much different than in America. China takes more security precautions and more time to inspect each passenger carefully. On the plane there were about 6 flight attendants. They all checked to make sure each passenger had their seat backs up, electronics stored and seat belts fastened, and window shades up. They took more time to inspect each passenger than American flight attendants do. Also the flight attendants were constantly walking up and down the aisle for most of the flight.

Upon arriving in Chengdu, the smoggy air was hard to miss. The city is located in a basin; however the plain of the basin is at the very bottom. Chengdu is humid and dry, causing the smog to overtake the city. I went to LA this past summer, and the smog is 10 X's worse here!

We met our new tour guide. I am not a fan. He has the personality of a rock and his voice bores me to sleep. I overheard my classmates say the same thing. Its official....we miss Jing.

I learned that Chengdu is considered a relatively small city. However the population is 12 million. The driving is just as bad here as it was in Shanghai. All the taxis are either lime green or aqua blue. They all have a panda on the front hood. The cars are much nicer and more brightly colored here than in Shanghai. I have seen many red, yellow and orange cars. There are significantly less people too. Bikes are very common modes of transportation.

We arrived at our hotel to find we have free internet! I was so excited about this. It makes how much I had to pay at the last hotel worth it. We had some free time, so Victoria and I decided to take a nap. We are in a room on the 16th floor because this is where the non smoking rooms are located. The rest of our classmates (and Emma :() are on the 6th and 7th floor. These rooms are smoking rooms. My asthma is already giving me a hard time with the smog and smoke. There was just no way I could stay in a smoking room. The hotel beds here are much smaller but more comfortable. The hotel can't accommodate 3 to a room, so Victoria is going to switch back and forth, staying every other night between Emma’s room and mine. This way both of us won't have to be alone the whole trip.

We went to a hot pot dinner. Boy was it hot in temperature and spice! Imagine a huge pot. Now imagine a smaller pot sitting on the inside of the larger one. The outer rim is filled with spices. These are literally "tongue numbing". A large bunch of raw food is given to you and they put it in the pot and let it cook for a few minutes. Daniel, another Wofford student with the group, and I had to get our own vegetarian pot. I didn't care for the spicy foods. I tried to eat them but my mouth was on fire. The non spicy ones weren't that great either. Between the two of us we finished off 2 big bottles of 7up because the food is so spicy.

After dinner we ventured to the grocery store to get some snacks. While I was in there I crossed the meat section. In China they basically hang the animals up to dry out. I saw full pigs, chickens and lambs. Where the animals hang in the store is also not refrigerated. This is so strange! We went down the chip aisle to get a few bags of chips. That's one of the only snacks we can distinguish that also has the flavor written in English. China does not have any of the flavors we have at home, except for classic. They have cucumber, tomato sauce, blueberry and many other different ones.

After the grocery store we headed back to the hotel. We hung out as a group and then headed to bed. We have to be up early tomorrow for our adventures!

Let's Make a Deal

2010-01-15T14:57:00.001-05:00

January 15, 2010

Today was a phenomenal day. Oh where to begin! I have so much to say today!

I woke up around 7 A.M. this morning to Skype John and my mom. It was so nice to get to talk to them for a while! I’ve missed them so much! I was disappointed I did not get to talk to dad and Carr, but I know they are busy having fun on the high school ski retreat.

After Victoria, Emma and I Skyped, we all went back to bed for a little bit. Today was our free day off and we were going to make the best of it! Around 11 A.M. our time we finally rolled out of bed and began getting ready for the day.

We decided since we had conquered the city by taxi we should conquer the city by subway. First of all, imagine New York City. Now Imagine New York (the state). Imagine everyone that lives in the state of New York, in one city. This is how crowded Shanghai is. The traffic on the roads is comparable to Atlanta traffic during rush hour. The traffic on the subways is equal to all the traffic in the New York City subways, multiplied by 10. That is not an exaggeration. We did well finding our way to our final destination, and buying the appropriate ticket. A nice man showed us how to change the machine to English so we had no problem finding our destination. The subway was literally like packed sardines in a can, maybe even worse. Nevertheless, we stuck together and enjoyed our experience.

We arrived at the Shanghai Museum of Science and Technology. Imagine hundreds and hundreds of mini stores, all together, underground. These stores are bigger than kiosks, but no bigger than an average hotel room. Each store sells items from souvenirs, to nock off shoes, purses, wallets, clothes, jewelry and electronics. Needless to say, even though we knew we could get all this in Beijing, we went CRAZY!

At first I was trying not to buy much. However I walked into a store that had nock off Tiffany and Co. Jewelry and caved in. I can’t say what all I bought because that will give away presents I got for people! Let’s just say I got a fantastic deal. I also bought myself an over the shoulder purse satchel to carry around in big cities. I could possibly sell it on eBay after the trip, but for $17 it was a good deal. The original price was 880 RMB; however I was able to pay only 100 RMB. I “got good discount because you are first customer. I also was able to get a Buddha for my brother. His nickname growing up was Buddha Belly, and mine was burger butt. So of course I had to tease him and get him a small Buddha. That won’t be his only souvenir. While walking around this indoor, underground market we had people chasing after us. Literally, we would walk out of a shop and they would chase us down the hall saying “hey lady, hey lady, you name your price. What is the maximum you pay?” they would also say, “no joking” when we would name a price that they thought was too low. It was so funny and so much fun!

We discovered an underground pearl market as well. The pearls here were so much cheaper than the ones we purchased earlier this week. I was so upset! A ring I purchased for 80 RMB was only 10 at these stores. We got ripped off so bad earlier in the week. At this new pearl market they were also definite real pearls, because they performed all the tell tale test on them! The owners of the stores in the pearl market were willing to give us the cheapest price possible, so it didn’t even require haggling. They would even customize a strand for us. They had nice seats like at a real jewelry shop and gave us bottled water. The Chinese are so hospitable!

Around 5:00 we finally stopped to get a bite to eat. We ate at this Brazilian restaurant. There were cards on the table that said yes, and no. When you wanted more you kept the yes side flipped up. When you didn’t want anymore you put the no side up. It was s cool and very inexpensive for all you can eat. I was able to get lots of American salad, and was again, very excited!

We then went in search of the subway to take back to the hotel. On our way there we discovered yet another underground market. At this market, it was set up like all the others. However they had fabric on the walls and custom made clothing overnight for you. We saw gorgeous coats and dresses and nice suites all ranging from 400-700 RMB which is about $80-$100 American dollars. To have something custom made, this was a great price! We wish we could have found this underground market sooner.

We finally found our way back to the subway, when it dawned on us that it was rush hour. Rush hour in China is the most unorganized, chaotic, crazy experience ever. People literally packed themselves into subways so no one could move a millimeter. We found it funny and just “went along with the flow”. We had no trouble coming back to the hotel. It was such an experience riding the Shanghai subway system.

After we got back to the hotel we settled our Internet fee for our room. It was originally 534 RMB however we found flaws in what they were charging us and were able to only pay about 420. We divided it among how much we had each used it. Of course I used it the most out of the three of us! It really ended up only costing me $20, and Victoria and Emma less than that.

We are so pleased with our haggling skills today. I know I’m going to come home and try and haggle in a department store for something! We leave at 6:30 A.M. for the airport. We have a flight to Chengdu in the morning. It is about 3 hours away from Shanghai. Although we are sad to leave Shanghai, we are counting down for Beijing, and can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store.

Shangai River City, Jade Buddha, Tall Mall, Clip-on Skates

2010-01-14T10:49:00.001-05:00

January 14, 2010

After last night’s adventure, today had a lot of expectations. We woke up around 7:00 A.M. and began our day by Skyping our family and friends. We were happy to have Jing back as our tour guide today. Excitedly we met in the lobby, waiting the adventurous day ahead.

First we headed to the outer side of Shanghai. We ventured about an hour away from our hotel. On the way Jin told us all about the Cultural Revolution in China. China is so much different than what Americans think of it. We think that the government controls every person’s move in China. However this is much how it was in the Cultural Revolution. Nowadays citizens have more freedom and there are more exemptions to the one child policy. While there are obvious differences between the order and social structure here, many aspects can be compared to American government. While in the outer parts of Shanghai we experienced a boat ride, riding down the canal, much like yesterday. We toured the post office, one of the first in Shanghai.

Lining the streets were shops full of merchandise and souvenirs. I was able to get two scarves for 40 RMB. This is about $3.00 a piece. I was so excited! We also saw locals making silk pillows and comforters. There was a dead cat hanging upside down for sale, along with some chickens on the street too! It was a lot of fun bargaining with the people in the outer parts of Shanghai because they were easier to bargain with.

After leaving the Shanghai River City we ventured to a Mongolian Buffet lunch. The process for getting lunch worked this way: you went down a buffet line and placed a variety of ingredients and sauces in a bowl. After that, you took it up to this huge fire pit and they would “stir fry” it for you. The taste was absolutely delicious. They also had salad! The salad was much different than American salad, however it was nice to enjoy some lettuce.

After leaving the restaurant we headed to the Jade Buddha Temple. Upon entering the gates we saw people praying and “giving incenses” to the gods. We looked inside the temple and saw the Buddha of yesterday, today and tomorrow. It was also neat to see the different gods that the Chinese pray to. Chinese Buddhism is different from other Buddhism’s just like we have different kinds of protestant churches. At the Jade Buddha temple there is a Buddha completely made out of Jade. It weighs over 2 tons! We also learned that the number 6, and specifically 666, is a lucky number in Chinese, unlike in America. While at the temple we got to sample different kinds of herbal teas. It was exciting to see them make the tea right in front of us, and taste teas based on their benefit to the body.

We had some free time at the temple and I ended up purchasing a calligraphy piece. It has the Chinese symbol for love, and the symbol for “beautiful” (which apparently Kimberlee means in Chinese).

After leaving the Jade Buddha Temple we headed back to the hotel. We made a quick pit stop at the “Happy Mart” where we get all our drinks and snacks. After a 45-rest period we decided to venture to Nanjing Road. Emma, Victoria, and another girl, Rachel, and I all went to this shopping district. We went in a mall that was 12 stories tall! The mall was so different than ours in America. Each floor is dedicated to a particular type of clothing or product for example: Ladies, Men, Kids, House wear, Athletic, Electronic. On each of these individualized floors are section stores within what seems to be like a big department store. It was really amazing.

After visiting the mall, and walking around each floor, we decided to go get dinner. We were craving American food and decided to eat at Pizza Hut. Let me tell you, this Pizza Hut was like no other Pizza Hut. It was upscale, and nice. It reminded me much like a Copper River Grill. For four of us to eat it was less than $30.00. All the food was different, but astonishingly, still American and delicious.

After we ate we kept walking down Nanjing Road. Nanjing Road is like the Manhattan of New York. There are Rolex Stores, High-end car dealerships and expensive clothing stores. It is remarkable to just see all the expensive high-end stuff that most business people can afford. We stopped to buy some clip on roller skates from a street vendor for about $2.50. Of course I put them on and attempted to skate down Nanjing Road. The Chinese people stared at me and the girls were laughing at me making a fool of myself. It was so much fun, definitely one of the highlights to the Shanghai city thus far.

We caught a taxicab back to the hotel. Our taxi driver could speak a little bit of English, Spanish and Korean along with Chinese. He was very funny and interesting to talk with.

Upon arriving back at the hotel, I hung out with some of my other classmates. I feel as if I am starting to get a cold. I’ve been sneezing all day and feel very tired. The rest of the group was going out for another night on the town, but I opted for a night in. I am currently watching the t.v. show Growing Pains in Chinese.

Tomorrow is our free day and I have a feeling I am going to be spending lots of RMB!

Terrific Times on Tuesday

2010-01-13T12:21:00.001-05:00

Today was amazing. End of story. Best day thus far in China.

We began the day early, leaving the hotel at 8:30 A.M. We boarded a bus (without Jing) to Suzhou with a new tour guide named Chris (his American name). We spent 2 hours on the bus experiencing Chinese traffic and picturesque views. Suzhou was once one of the biggest cities in the world. Now it is considered “The backyard of Shaghai”. It is often called a small city, even though the population is 6 million.

Upon arriving in Suzhou we visited the former “humble administrator gardens”. A lot of the pond was frozen over. At the time that we visited the garden it was 27 degrees outside and felt like 17 degrees! The garden was so pretty, even in the wintertime. I can only imagine what it looks like in the summer time! There were many limestone structures that had been placed inside the gardens as well as pagodas. The pagodas were neat to see, because it is what most Americans typically think of when it comes to Chinese architecture. We learned about the differences between Ming and Qing furniture. We also saw bonsai trees. The youngest was over 100 years old, and the oldest was over 400 years old! They reminded me of the trees from the Lion King.

After visiting the gardens we visited the silk embroidery institute. There we saw how the silk is used to produce one sided and two sided pieces of artwork. The artwork is so delicate it looks like a painting. On one side may be an orange cat and on the other, a black. However you cannot tell the difference or see the other one from each side. It is so amazing! A one sided silk embroidery piece takes one year to complete. A two sided silk embroidery piece takes 3 years to complete! We got to view the women hard at work. The women work in the dark, because light will fade the silk. We also got to visit the shop where they sell these silk embroidery pieces.

After the gardens we had a delicious lunch at a local fancy restaurant. So far we have eaten at all upscale restaurants and have been served a variety of different foods. The only Chinese food that we have experienced that they also have in the USA is rice. Everything else is different. Most of us are crossing our fingers for sweet and sour chicken or sesame chicken. The Chinese restaurants are very accommodating to the vegetarians in our group. We are served separately and it is neat to try different styles of tofu and vegetarian dishes.

Suzhou is known as the “Venice” of China. We took a small boat through the canals and got to see what the houses looked like. Many of the houses were 200 and 300 years old. There were clothes being washed in the river, as well as being hung up to dry. We even saw dead chickens hanging from clotheslines, being prepared to eat for the next meal. We also saw a Chinese couple having wedding photographs made. All throughout Suzhou there were many wedding dress shops for western weddings as well as Chinese weddings. It was really neat to see those as well.

After we got off the bus we headed to the Silk Reeling Factory and Embroidery Research Institute. We got to see how the silk is produced from the egg of the worm until it is sold. It was so neat touring the factory and seeing the process step by step. I had the opportunity to stretch finished silk out to help make a silk comforter. That was so neat! The silk is tougher than you think and was actually hard to pull apart. Seeing the types of products that the silk institute sold was also very interesting. There were a lot of clothes, undergarments as well as accessories and jackets. It was so neat to see so many things made out of 100% silk. While we were touring the institute we ran into other Americans. It is the first American’s we have seen since we have been in China. It was nice to finally see some others that looked like us!

After we finished up at the silk reeling factory, we boarded the bus to come back to Shanghai. We were stuck in rush hour traffic and it took us almost 2 ½ hours to get back to our hotel.

Upon arriving at the hotel we went to dinner at the local McDonalds because we were craving American food. It was delicious, and cheap! I had a McChicken sandwich and fries, minus the chicken! We walked back to the hotel to prepare for our first “night out on the town!”

We met up with some of the guys in our group and took a taxi back to the French Concession, where there are many upscale restaurants and dance clubs. We visited a German restaurant first. The music was alright, but it was very smoky and gave me a bad headache. I kept having to walk out of the restaurant to get some fresh air. After experiencing the atmosphere for a while we hopped over to the next place. This was more of a dance club. There were older businessmen with younger Chinese women. There were two women and a band singing American hits. We quickly took off our jackets and showed those Chinese people how to dance! In China it is customary for women to dance with women, and men to dance with men. We danced to songs like “Just Dance (Lady GaGa), I’ve got a feeling (Black Eyed Peas), as well as old hits such as “Walking on Sunshine”. It was a blast. The Chinese people were cracking up at us American girls and boys dancing and jumping up and down to the music. We even were able to drag some Chinese men and women to the dance floor and got them to jump around and put their hands in the air! It was such a fun time. We could dance crazy, and literally be known as the “crazy Americans!” While we were there we met a few other Americans from Virginia, Chicago, and Boston that were there on business. We agreed we would need to come back with our professors tomorrow night and show them a good time!

After another taxi ride back to the hotel, we are finally getting in bed. Today has been an exciting day filled with many adventures and memories. We are finally starting to get adjusted to being the “crazy foreigners”. It is now normal to us to have the Chinese people ask to take a picture with us, or take a picture of us without asking. We find it funny. I feel like a celebrity!

We have another busy day tomorrow. I am looking forward to sharing tomorrow’s adventures as well!