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