Tuesday-
We went to two middle schools today. At the first one, we performed a show for about 300 students. It was a little crazy, especially since they were so shy about volunteering to dance with us and participate. We broke down the oldest kids into three groups and took them to teach lessons on friendship. My group did a lesson on trust, complete with trust falls from fairly high. We got a whole class of guys, and they all did the far trust fall because our student counterparts called out their manhood. It was hilarious, but effective.
At the second school, there was a Chinese 8/9th grade basketball team who played against our guys. The Americans won, but were very impressed with the Chinese team who had clearly practiced together and were excellent. During the game, I had the opportunity to talk to four younger girls who didn't know much English. They were so precious and wanted to talk to me so badly. It was so amazing to see the enthusiasm for new experiences on the faces of these young girls. I gave the girls pennies because they were the only American things I really had with me, and they went to show them to their teacher because they were so proud. How did this mean so much to them? I'm not exactly sure, but it brought tears to my eyes that they so appreciated such a small gesture.
In the evening, we hung out with our students and then a few of us went for foot massages. You can get an hour massage here for less than 5 US dollars. It was amazing and relaxing--a lot of fun with Emily and Amber. I know. I know. "Suffering away from home sweet America" and we're getting massages. We still had fun.
Wednesday-
We were the guests in a university classroom this morning. Despite some technical difficulties, we had a blast with these students. They were all eager to hear more about American culture and were thrilled that we wanted to know more about the culture here. One of the students I got the chance to talk to chose Jennifer as her English name for her English classes. She told me that it was the most beautiful name on the list and that I was so lucky to have it as my real name. I told her that I would trade her because her name means "sweet beautiful flower." It poured for about three hours while we hung out with the students.
This afternoon we got to visit an orphanage and play with the high need children. We had special rules about not being able to kiss the children or take pictures of them. They were the most precious children I've ever gotten to spend time with. They didn't stop smiling while playing with us despite their physical disabilities. One of the little boys, about 5 years old, told us that he wants to study abroad and that he knows he's so handsome. It was so cute. These were mostly kids who had been abandoned because of their cerebal palsey. My heart cried for these kids: they were forsaken by parents who were supposed to take care of them because their bodies weren't perfect and even at the orphanage, most people never choose to play with them because their bodies aren't perfect. I wanted to hug and kiss all of them. Not allowed. I wanted to take pictures of them so I could think about them later. Not allowed. So sad.
This evening, we drove to Merryland: a cute little amusement park with an amazing hotel. We had an amazing dinner at the hotel restaurant and then swam in a beautiful pool surrounded by palm trees. Most of the girls had never even seen a hotel that nice, much less stay at one for free. I got to share my room with Sally. We had a good conversation about family, love and reading our books. We crashed at about 11 pm because we were so tired.
Thursday-
We went to Merryland for the day. We rode a bunch of little rides that our girls screamed their faces off during. It was so much fun. In the Wild West section of the park, we watch a cowboy and indian show. It was pretty much the most hilarious American stereotyping ever. Also--the Asian kung fu master definitely saved the day, so funny. Then, it came time for bungee jumping. Several of us waited in line to pay for our jump. They took our blood pressure in the line and sent us over to get ready. Unfortunately, it wasn't just high blood pressure they weren't allowing, it was also low blood pressure. So, Tyler, Emily, Amber and I were told that our blood pressure was too low. Well, a half hour later when they let us check again, all three of the others were high enough. Mine still wasn't. So--many people had a lot of fun bungee jumping and I had fun with the girls watching. Sad, but fine.
In the afternoon we left to come back to our hotel here . Jen and I split a refreshingly western meal of mashed potatoes, pizza and chicken sandwich.
Friday-
Today is officially a free day. We got up this morning and had a team breakfast after sleeping in a bit. After breakfast we spent the morning shopping. It's our last day to be able to shop, so we all rushed around to buy our final gifts here. Then, in the pouring rain, most of our team and most of the students ventured off to go caving. Sarah Michelle and I stayed behind to hang out with a few girls who didn't want to or weren't able to go. While we would both have had fun caving, we had a blast just hanging out with these girls. We also got to have a good conversation about marriage and children as at least one of our students is married.
Tonight we have our party dinner and then a talent show to end our cultural exchange. I'm excited for the fun, but very sad because I know this means we are nearing the end of our time here.
Thanks to all of you who have been thinking of our team. Your thoughts mean so much to the whole team.
All my love, jennifer | 