Daily Discovery

May 23: I received a real surprise from one of my classes today - during the break, a group of students told me, "sit down" in the empty chair near them, followed by a "give us your phone."

I was intrigued, so I gave them my phone, and they took off my "ugly" phone cover and stuck my phone in a different cover. I was confused until they gave it to me - they bought me a phone case, and not just a phone case, but a personalized one made with a photo we took a month ago when we went walking throughout the city together.

It's kind of strange to have a phone case with my own picture on it, but I'm incredibly touched and I have to use it! Take a look and "keep smile."

May 21: It's back to the cafeteria for lunch, and I am running out of options to eat, as most of the things are the same every day. It's not bad, when when you eat the same thing every day, it starts to become less delicious (unless it is chocolate, of course).

There is always a free soup at the cafeteria, which I think I've mentioned before, that usually just consists of hot water, a few greens, a bunch of salt and MSG, and the occasional other vegetable - it's less of a soup, and more of a drink that isn't just boiling water.

Today a student brought me a bowl while I was eating and sat and ate lunch with me, and I noticed that the soup today had another ingredient: the tiny little dried shrimp that you can buy at almost every supermarket and outdoor market here.

May 19: It's a boring picture, perhaps, today - but I finally made it out of the apartment as the air quality improved into the "moderately polluted" category today, and I felt I just needed to get out and do a little walking and grocery shopping.

I was walking to the one of the only grocery stores in the city these days after the introduction of the Wanda center, and I was surprised to see a new path formed; it's interesting to me because there definitely wasn't a path here for the first 8 months, but everyone was wearing a path into the grass anyways, as there isn't really a good way to get up to the parking lot otherwise.

Today, a real path was there, with whatever remaining bricks of different colors and patterns could be found, I'm guessing, as this path wasn't planned .. but it's much appreciated today!

May 17: Well ... with the really bad dust storm and air pollution continuing for the third day, I really haven't had the motivation to head out for an hour plus walk to the market to buy vegetables to cook my own food, so I've mostly frequented a few restaurants near the campus.

Here's my favorite stir-fried noodles restaurant near the school, and a look at the classic combination: a small bowl of noodles, a cold vegetable dish (here, pickled cabbage, carrots, and peppers), and a boiling glass of ever-so-slightly-sweetened date tea.

May 15: Well ... the sports meet is here.

Unfortunately, it arrived at the same time as another sandstorm, so it was particularly dreadful to head outside and try to enjoy the event. It's difficult to see, sand and pollution makes the eyes and lungs uncomfortable despite my face mask ... and I can't imagine it's any better for the students who will be running relays in this condition.

I think that the pictures don't really do it justice .. but keep in mind that most of these were taken in the middle of the day in a place that hasn't seen fog for as long as I've known it.

I hope that it clears up for the final two days of the sports meet.

May 13: It's back to the classroom to see my students after COS conference is over. One of my students was very excited to show me her water bottle, with two flowers gently floating.

I'm not sure how functional it is, or if it adds any real flavor to the water (I also didn't see her drink it at all during our two hours of class), but it is pretty cool and she was enjoying showing it off to all of our classmates, too.

May 11: One of the biggest events of every spring semester here is the sports meet: an annual three-day event where classes are cancelled and the entire school takes part in sporting events: relays, games, matches, dancing competitions and more.

Each department practices for this event for a long time, and student choreographers keep everyone working hard to put on a good show. I think the event is coming up next week, but naturally I am not sure yet, but if the constant practicing all day long on the weekend is any indication ... it's coming up soon.

May 9: I was eating in the cafeteria for lunch today when I ran into one of the students I became good friends with last year before she started her internship and became super busy.

She has now finished her internship and is studying independently for the entire month in preparation for the nursing exam, so we had a few extra minutes to chat over lunch and go for a short walk .. and of course, a few pictures!

May 7: Coming back to site, I had a small gift from my host mother: a box of chocolates that tided me over on the train ride and made my transition back into site a little bit sweeter!

May 5: I was also very excited to come and visit Chengdu again because it means another opportunity to see my wonderful host family in Chengdu.

I was able to see my host mother for a quick meal, and she introduced me to one of her favorite foods from her childhood: 油茶... which I am not sure how to translate, because it literally means "oil tea?" I'm not sure, but I know that it is made from rice, and has some crispy fried crackers on top with a bunch of seasonings that are critical to make it delicious. It's phenomenal, and quite rare apparently: the restaurant we ate it at was the first one she had found in many many years!

May 3: It's end of my time in Chengxian, and that means another long day of travelling as we head to Chengdu for the last training of our Peace Corps service: COS (close of service) conference.

It's a three day training (Saturday - Monday), where we have the opportunity to see many of our fellow PCVs for the last time, think and reflect upon our service and the opportunities of the future to improve ourselves and share our experiences when we move on to whatever is next, and to get into the finer details of everything we need to do in the next few months to wrap up service.

I'm feeling good about this training, though, it might be a bit sad to say good-bye to my friends after two years learning, serving and growing together; I'll take the four-leaf clover I found yesterday for good luck.

May 1: It's the first day of May - which is a holiday here in China, for Labor Day. And this year, the government has made it a 4 day holiday.

Wednesday - Saturday are days off of work and school, but the Sundays on either side of the holiday are converted into standard work days, so in reality, there's a total of two days off once the tally is fully counted.

For the first few days of this holiday, I am taking a trip to visit my friend Sam in Chengxian, a small county off a larger city in southeast Gansu, close to the Sichuan border... and the only way to get there is to take a train to Tianshui (a larger city north of Chengxian), and then a 3-4 hour bus ride through the hills and mountains as you wind your way to his little place. The bus station here is pretty busy, with busses leaving every few minutes it seems for a different destination around the area.

It's my first time taking this kind of bus - even though I've racked up countless hours on a train, and it was a pretty good experience.... though I am lucky I am immune to almost all forms of travel-induced nausea.