Sorry for being away for so long, we had been traveling westward for two weeks and got back just recently. Things have only improved here in Beijing. My host family is adorable, but speaks no English (which will only help me in the long-run). IES planned an incredible trip that has exposed me to China's treasures, and I'm finally able to make my way around Beijing with little trouble. These are the provinces we visited - Xinjiang, Gansu, and Shaanxi, and each one has its own personality and unique flavor.
First, I want to show you my room. My bed is basically a bench, but a very intricately carved one, with a mattress pad. I have become accustomed to hard beds by now and almost dread my futon mattress back at school. I live amongst their Tibetan Buddhist shrines, family pictures, and beautiful mahogany furniture.
This is in the Xinjiang province when we rode horses for an entire day (wow, the consequences were harsh and long-lasting) from Kanas to Hemu, a preserved village with seemingly primitive homes and lifestyles. We stayed there for a few nights and were encouraged to wander off on our own to speak to locals about their culture. The language barrier was more prominent here as most people are either Uyghur or Kazakh but have learned some Chinese solely for the comfort of the many tourists that vacation there. Riding horses was great fun, though, and I would do it again any time. The views were incredible and behind us here is a village of yurts. Very cool!
These are two adorable Uyghur children who were wandering about and holding hands. They would look at us, smile, and then giggle in embarrassment.
This is a great story! My friend and I were eating at an outdoor restaurant in Hemu and discovered we didn't have enough cash, so spent the rest of the night washing dirty bowls and dishes in a basin full of cold water and little soap. Very fun, especially since we ended up getting along with the waiters and restaurant owners. Chinese tourists were sending us confused gazes so all we could do was finish our job and sing the Beatles.
This is me eating some delicious Momo, a Tibetan dumpling with delicious veggie fillings. This is in the Gansu province in a village called Shiahe where a lot of Tibetans live. Here we visited a beautiful monastery and were able to chat with some of the monk there. We also ate in a Tibetan woman's home who fed us yak butter, momo, and yak milk yogurt.
These are my wonderful Chinese parents! My mom is a TV actress and my dad works in investment. (If I understood correctly, basically translated as "I work with money exchanges.") During the Chinese national holiday (this whole week in fact) we stayed one night at this orchard eating organic pears and other non-translatable fruits off the trees. My grandpa and grandma joined us as well, two lovely people.
Now, I'm going to focus my attention on discovery Beijing and promise to share much more!