Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Macau Pictures















Okay, so first of all? I am in love with these trees. There are more pictures of them below. They are huge knots of stems growing up from the ground and roots growing down from the branches (that's right! Aah!), into earth, rock, cement, or whatever is available, and they are EVERYWHERE (this one was at the "youth village" -otherwhere known as summer camp facility- where I spent my first week).

Below are some pictures of Macau itself at night:
Left is the sidewalk in downtown Macau (away from the massive casinos, but still downtown)







Right is the view down an old street.
















Scaffolding is made of bamboo!














This lamp. It glows.





Okay. After I left Coloane Island and the "youth village" and moved to Taipa, one of my hosts spent the days running errands and showing my around Macau and old Taipa. Observe:

ROOT TREES. LOOK AT THE ROOTS:































A street in old Taipa.






And another lamp! I love 'em!

Macau Thoughts

I moved in with a Baha'i woman and her granddaughter in Macau on Monday (specifically Taipa island, and not the Macau peninsula, but I wasn't really sure where Macau was at all before I got here, so don't worry about that too much). I had an incredible week with the Baha'is at orientation! It is always such a gift to spend time with a group of Baha'is; they are so focused and loving, so practical and active in working to transform our global civilization. I am so excited to carry this learning and spirit into my relationships on the Mainland. This is going to be a great year.

The global culture that is being built, and the ease of communication around the world right now are truly amazing. I have been keeping up (with perhaps more than a hint of jealousy) with the post-college adventures of friends, many of whom are exploring more parts of the world in more ways than was really thinkable a generation ago. From clowning missions in Peru, to teaching English (and being a writer) in South Korea- on an island, no less!- to biking across the US and building housing for low-income families, there are so many choices of ways to serve humanity and improve our world. It's fantastic.

I'm also getting more and more excited about my program, since I'm beginning to appreciate how truly unique this opportunity is. In some exchange programs, students travel to another country where they spend the majority of their time with other internationals. Perhaps their teachers are local, perhaps they're speaking in the local language, but the deepest bonds they create (and they can be deep, and fantastic in their own right) are with either other students from their home country or international students from other countries. In others, students simply enroll in a local school, and do their best to learn through being immersed in the culture they are visiting (this is actually probably the best way to discover another culture). HOWEVER! The center where I'm headed is half internationals (mostly Americans) and half Chinese, structured in a way that will allow the two cultures to be shared and investigated on equal footing.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Every step of the way

I'm sitting right now some where in Hour 2 of my 10.5 hours in the Toronto airport. They told me it was no problem if I stayed here overnight, but most of the lights are currently out and there are a couple of people riding floor cleaners (that I'd like to call Zambonis, but are Zambonis just for smoothing ice rinks?) and just a handful of other travelers. One lovely Canadian is on her way to spend two weeks in Jamaica and she and I have agreed to sleep and watch each others' luggage in shifts. She is, right now, looking for vending machines or at least a drinking fountain.

Life is good, even through 11 hour layovers.

I also had a lovely (and relaxing!) weekend in Chicago. We spent a lot of time napping and reading, and buying groceries. It was perfect preparation for a couple days' worth of travel, and what with the huge layover and all, I don't really have to hurry at all to do much of anything. Getting from the Hong Kong airport to where I'm staying in Macau is probably going to be hairy (especially with all this luggage! Why do I have to own things?!), but I pretty successfully stayed cool through ridiculous traffic driving into Chicago, and I don't think it will really be any worse than that. I have to figure things out, but not be responsible for other peoples' lives. In fact, I won't be driving again until at least next summer. That's wierd, friends.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Me Oh My

I fly in less than a week!

I've been having "last" visits with family and friends for a while now, trying to get my head around what I'm about to do. I had very organized intentions about blogging regularly this summer. I was going to get my thoughts and feelings laid out and tabulated. Then, there is too much to pay attention to next week and my emotions start churning out of their banks I could say "Ah, Homesickness, I was expecting you" or "Yes, Jetlag, I know. Please shut up." It turned out that I mostly needed to sit and ponder a lot (again, while I, personally, choose to think of myself as a Thinker, Philosopher, or Visionary, even, there are those who label me Airhead). I've studied a bit, and organized a bit, and let myself slowly collect and sift through the things I think I will need for a year. I've been losing what ability I had to carry on coherent conversations; most of my thoughts are consumed by plane schedules, layovers, negotiating ferry rides and taxis and an overnight train ride with a year's worth of luggage.

Also, taking graduate level classes in Chinese.

What I think I'm trying to say is that I'm very very self absorbed right now, and only a little sorry about it so far.

Today is my last in Ames, or Iowa. Mom and I are driving to Chicago to stay with a friend there, Mom will return on Saturday and Nicky will see me to the airport on Sunday evening. Then I have a two hour flight up to Toronto (I'm flying Air Canada, you see) and will spend 12 hours- overnight- chilling in the Toronto airport (YYZ, if you wanted to know). Then I fly for 15 hours to Hong Kong, from where I'll take a ferry straight from the airport over to Macau, and then a taxi to the building I'll be staying in for the first week. Then I have ten days at another gracious friend's home, and then on September 4th I'll take an overnight train up to Nanjing and move into my dorm on Saturday, September 5th. It is going to feel really great to finally get somewhere I know I'll be staying for more than a matter of weeks.