Photos!!

Last Night in China

Well, the kids went home today, and the staff and volunteers and translators just hung out together. After our last buffet dinner (nothing very weird tonight!) we went out to the local pizza place for some dessert pizza. About 25 of us who were left, volunteers, Bring Me Hope staff and translators piled into a Chinese pizza place (very uncommon!) for a treat. I was smart enough to pass on the Eel pizza (???). We had ordered a pineapple/bannana pizza, which was on pizza dough, had mozzerela cheese and chocolate sauce drizzled over it. While I am not a big fan of bananas, it was pretty good, but the combination of cheese and chocolate were kind of interesting. Then I packed up my suitcase, said my many goodbyes and thanks, and went to bed for I was to be up at 5:45am the next morning to start my long journey home. I hope so much to join the camp next year! Thanks again to all who followed my trip and shared in my fun and adventures. Thanks also for the kind words of encouragement. I will post some photos today!!

Friday July 17th....Ready to come Home

OK..........I just want a bagel, and some cheese, and some coffee and a glass of wine. Not necessarily in that order but maybe all at the same time??? :) Also, Nick woke up with a fever and an upset stomach, which they say was from the air conditioner but I am trying to keep my distance so I don't get sick. One of the other volunteers also had a fever. Well, last night was our last night, and after swimming we had our usual dinner. While I do have to say that the food here is really good, the staff last night had tried to trick me into eating PIGS STOMACH!! It was plain as day, there on the buffet like we serve corn! They kept telling me it was pork (which it technically is!) but it looked too funky for me to even look at. Also on a separate platter was a big dish of JELLYFISH! I had politely declined that also. Also, there is a very hot red chili pepper that they manage to squeeze into most of their dishes, that I keep mistaking for a red bell pepper. Holy Mother of Pete!!! Its hard not to look like a jerk when your mouth is on fire and there is little water at the table :) After dinner, we had our usual performance night with songs and dance. The kids love it. They all get up on stage and sing their hearts out, it absolutely breaks me to pieces to think that my Lucy could've been there if our fates had not come together. We had a quiet night, the kids were already anticipating the sadness of the next day, so we hung out in their rooms and did games, puzzles, coloring etc. This morning, you guessed it......green beans for breakfast! I had some with some grape crackers I had purchased. We then finished our scrapbooks, the last page. You could've drawn anything you wanted so I drew the Chinese flag and the American flag with a heart connecting the two. The kids went crazy getting everyones signature on their books, it was like they were at Disney World. I took my family for one last ice cream bar (don't have to twist my arm!) and then we had an earlier lunch, as the buses were coming at 12:30pm. Some of the kids had started crying already, its so sad to see them like this, especially the 12-13 year old boys. We had a good lunch, and I was adventurous enough to try the SEAWEED on the menu. The Chinese here keep telling me all of these funky foods are good for your health, but I think I'll stick to my multivitamin. As the buses arrived, the kids were given books to read courtesy of the camp. We got to write a nice note inside the book so they could always remember us by. So, we get to the buses and the kids are sobbing. So, that makes everyone else start crying. Its very hot and everyone is crying and we are all so sad. We gave about a hundred hugs and kisses and they were off. As sad as it was, I know that they will remember these days forever. Hopefully, they will be able to come back to camp next year if there are enough sponsors from the US. Remember, its only $125.00 to sponsor a kid for one week of camp! If people can start saving some extra money now until next summer maybe everyone can get a chance to help an orphan. Looking very forward to coming home tomorrow, I have an 8:30am flight out of Zhengzhou into Beijing, then a 18 hour flight back to Newark, and a 2 1/2 hour flight into Tampa. Will be very tired but not tired enough to see my amazing family. Talk to everyone soon! Laura English lenglish32@hotmail.com

Thursday July 16th

Hi- Last night after dinner, we broke out into groups (translators and kids, and volunteers) and got to write letters to each other about the week. For example, I have Mary and Nick so wrote a letter to each of them telling them how happy I was to meet them and to give them some words of inspiration. They did the same for me and then all of the letters were translated. We will be exchanging them tomorrow, the last day. Well last night was a surprise slumber party, we all (girls and boys seperately) dragged our bedding into a huge common room and slept together. The kids were beside themselves! Someone had purchased a ton of junk food from the grocery (cookies, candies, drinks, dried meat????, and cakes) and we all ate and shared. I was glad to try some new things so I know what I like and what I could bring home. We did nail polish, sang songs, told bedtime stories, and finally went to sleep. I slept extremely well, considering the comfort factor. This mornings breakfast...well you can guess... was not good. I had brought to breakfast some grape crackers I had purchased (although they did not taste anything like grapes or raisins!) and ate those. There was a huge platter of boiled garlic cloves, which I did try since I love garlic but it was cooked weird and my stomach was churning and I usually dont like garlic for breakfast. I also had a peach from the store, which I am sure is contributing to my rumbly tummy. After breakfast we did some dancing and singing, then we called some of the sponsors that had paid for the kids to come to camp. The camp had matched sponsors to kids, and we called those families to thank them for their generosity and also to try to speak to them. Unfortunately we got mostly answering machines but the messages are pretty funny. THe kids told them their names and ages and said I love you and thank you for camp in English. It was pretty touching. THose families will also be receiving letters from the children along with photos of them so the families can see the kids and the good that they have done. After the phone calls, we got into our family groups and did life charts. Its a chart that has its ups and downs in your life that you have experienced and wanted to share. You can find out a lot about the kids and what they have been through, it truly saddens your heart but every one of their ending "ups" was coming to camp! It puts things into perspective when you think you are having a bad day, I will remember this moment. We then had our "arts and crafts" time. We finished our scrapbooks we have been working on all week, today we had to draw a picture of our favorite camp memory. I drew (stick figures!!) a picture of my family group in the pool, as did most of the kids. They are now complete and ready to take home and they are really a treasure. Next we dressed up really silly and took a family photo. Knowing how much Lucy loves to play dress up this was really fun. Now the clothes were pretty old and weird but the kids loved it. I wore a purple satin ball gown with one black glove (thats all there was!) and Sarah and Lasia (translators) also wore ball gowns. Nick put on a Batman costume and Mary wore a funky hat, boa and feather scarf. We were really laughing at each other. Then we had a few minutes of free time so I took my family for ice cream bars at the grocery. What a cheap date, it is only $2.50 for 5 ice cream bars! It would cost me $20 at Carvel!! It was time then for lunch, good food with lots of vegetables and tofu but a good sweet and sour pork dish. It is now nap time so I may go take a walk or bike ride. I cant belive that tomorrow is the last day, the kids are already anticipating the sadness. They will be leaving sometime in the afternoon, depending when the buses get here. Not sure what is planned for tonight, I think we will see the photos and video taken all week by a staff member, which should be fun. Speaking of cameras, the kids are beyond fascinated by the digital cameras. Every night, I am deleting somewhere between 75-100 photos since the kids just take your camera and start shooting! They take pictures of everything and anything, especially themselves. Its quite endearing and heartwarming, they love it. Thanks to all who have been sending me emails of encouragement and kindness while I am here. Its nice to know that people are thinking of me and the kids here during their busy days. I will be home soon and will share many photos! Good bye for now....will write more later tonight!! Miss you and will see you in 2 days!! xoxoxo Laura lenglish32@hotmail.com

Wednesday July 15th

Hi- As they would say in Chinese "ja!" which means hot. The weather here is really hot, nothing new for me but still...... I want to start off on taking about the University here, where we are staying. It really is amazing and beautiful, quite different than I had imagined. It was built 10 years ago and they have modeled different streets here after countries in the world. For example, there is a huge Italian square complete with Roman statues in one area, and another street is modeled after a German town. There is a Spanish quarter here also, which I have not seen yet but plan on borrowing a bike tomorrow during nap time to check it out. They have a huge, brand new Stadium and also a Swimming pool, which are beautiful and really clean. The pool is where we do our swimming. There is also an outdoor amphitheater, which I have not also seen, but will try to get there this week. The University, called Sias, has been so amazing for Bring Me Hope. The have committed to hosting camp here every year from now on, since they truly want to do anything they can to help the orphans. They have also generously just told us that they will be giving FREE tuition to any orphan who wants to come to University here. Can you imagine the opportunities for them??? It actually brings tears to my eyes. The dorms on the other hand, have seen better days. We are lucky enough to have air conditioning, since we are located in the "foreign students" dorm. We have an unusual open tile in our shower stall with exposed wires that I try not to look at as I take a 5 second shower. We are also lucky enough to have a real toilet, as some people may know are very uncommon in China. But my only complaint is that you are not supposed to flush any toilet paper, as the plumbing is so bad. So......you have to throw your paper into a trash can next to the toilet...... I will leave it at that. The other dorms have no air. They are not very clean, and I know most people would struggle staying here of the cleanliness factor. Its also very weird to stay in a dorm setting at 40 years old! I am sure its quite different when you are very young. Breakfast this morning was terrible again, the worst meal of the day. I have to say that I can eat lots of unusual things and will try new food, but oh gosh.......having a plate of vegetables (this morning...cucumbers) for breakfast does not float my boat. There is no fruit, either, on the buffet for breakfast, since the Chinese see fruit as a dessert. So, tomorrow morning is my last granola bar I brought from home, so I am nervous. Will have to go back to the grocery for something interesting to try. This morning for our family time, we all made beaded bracelets for some of the workers here at University. We are trying to teach the kids to give back, as they are getting so much this week. After we were done, our group went to the pool and the stadium to talk to the workers there and give them our bracelets. The workers then explained their jobs, what they do, do they like it, etc. so the kids can have an understanding of different jobs in the world, and maybe hope to have a good one in their future. I had a breakthrough with Mary, she kept grabbing my hand all morning to hold and insisted I was the only one to push her wheelchair. On that note, I have to say that China as a whole and also the University are NOT handicapped friendly, so its been quite challenging to drag the wheelchair up and down many stairs. A stroller is one thing, but a wheelchair??? We also worked on our scrapbooks, provided by camp. Every day we work on a new page, and today we could draw anything we wanted. So since I miss my Lucy with all my heart, I drew a beautiful cat complete with jewels, who is named appropriately enough, Lucy Cat. Mary was so impressed with my artistic abilities (the only person to ever say that!!) that she wanted me to draw one in her book as a memory. It really touched my heart. Sarah (the translator) keeps calling me "mother", since I have been taking good care of everyone. We took a group camp photo this morning, with matching camp shirts, which we will get a copy of. We had a very good lunch, and they kids are down for naps. Then swimming, water park, dinner, and performance time. Until later, I miss you very much! Laura English lenglish32@hotmail.com (Editors Note: I took a few minutes yesterday while Lucy took her nap to really look at Laura's blog. If you have not already done so, on the right side is a picture of a man carrying a little girl. It's a link to a short video that helped inspire Laura to take this journey. Its about 7 1/2 minutes long - but I promise it will be time well spent!! Jim & Lucy!)

Tuesday Afternoon July 14th

Hi- Had a good lunch, I have eaten more green beans that I have ever in my life! It seems that they serve it at every meal, good thing I like them! Today we went first to the "water park", which was a giant kiddie pool filled with water and some balls, and then a big inflatable slide (not like the water parks we call at home!) The kids went crazy when they saw the slide, we all walked together and they took off running to see who could get there first. They must've went down the slide for a hour straight, they would slide and run off and get right back on. They loved it, and yes I did try it a few times to make them laugh. It was mostly for them so I let them enjoy, also Mary would not go on the slide so we tried to stay with her while Nick played and splashed with the boys. After that we went swimming in the pool, Mary "jumped" right in without wanting any help, she was so excited. We had a good time swimming, then left and came back for dinner, which was again more green beans on the menu. Also, tofu is quite popular here and is served in many different ways, I keep asking what dishes are and they always say "tofu". Good thing I think its not too bad. We came back to see our family flags hanging in the restaurant so the kids were very excited. We had our "performance time" and a skit was done, in Chinese so the kids can understand it but you could pretty much figure things out. We played a game with a ping pong ball and water bowls, and then the kids sat to watch a movie so we could debrief. I am very tired today, maybe being outside in the sun for the water park and finally adjusting to the schedule. (Editors Note: Lucy and I spent a morning making cards and notes that we hid in Laura's suit case as our way to say hello each day!) Tell Lucy that I just saw the picture she made of all of us in bed and I loved it! It made me laugh out loud, she is a very good artist and I will save these pictures forever. Oh, I forgot to tell you that the other translators name is Lasia. She is super nice but quieter than Sarah and her English is not as good but she tries her best. She is excellent with the kids, since they have to change Mary's clothes and take her to the bathroom and wash, etc. It takes a special person. Sarah is so funny with my camera, she is actually obsessed with it. She insists that we take photo after photo and then has to see them all. She can work the camera better than I can :) Its a good thing I can delete some at night, since I have nearly hundreds of them! Sarah should be here any minute, I am going to share your video with her, she loves Lucy already after all I have told her. She would love to come to visit us in Florida. Will call in the morning before camp, hugs and kisses! Laura English lenglish32@hotmail.com

Tuesday Morning July 14th

Hi- Its nap time for the kids from 1:00-2:00 so I have an hour of free time so I can get the morning update out. Tell Lucy that I am bringing her home some Chinese treats (cookies, candies, etc) so she can see what the food is like. I ventured out to the local convenience store by myself! and purchased some goodies. Should be fun to try some new things. After breakfast (YUK!) I had a granola bar again and some weird potatoes that were spicy, we had our "family craft time". Everyone had to draw pictures of what family means to them, its pretty interesting what I am coming home with. Then everyone had to make a family flag, decorated by all in your group. THey will be displayed within the restaurant. Should be fun to see everyones. Then we are making a scrapbook with markers, cutouts, etc and the best part of my morning was we all traced our hands to make one butterfly and had to decorate it. Mary was quite quiet and reserved and would not decorate but I did mine and showed her and she asked me to help her do hers the same exact way as mine as she thought it was so beautiful! She then started copying everything (craft) that I was doing. It felt so good. Then we all went for ice cream at the local "dairy queen", courtesy of camp, and our flavors were pineapple, vegetable flavor, or a mix of both. Needless to say, I tried the pineapple which did not taste anything like pineapple but was cool and refreshing. Carvel, here I come!!! We then had lunch, in which Nick was eating a chicken head from the buffet, it was so gross that I had to take his picture. Since nap time is nearly over I have to go, we are going to a water park (at campus, blow up slides, etc.) and swimming until dinner. It is a really nice day here and the sun is shining and Mary is very excited to go to the water park. Most of these kids have never seen anything like it, unless they were here last year. More updates tonight!! Laura English lenglish32@hotmail.com