beginnings

I know it has taken me a little while to actually make a post on this blog – I apologize for that. It has been a very busy couple of weeks, and I am having a hard time deciding what to pick from to share.
I guess I’ll start with the beginning of it all – staging in Washington D.C. I met the rest of the China 14s (we are the 14th group to serve in China) and had an opportunity to meet with other RPCVs (returned Peace Corps Volunteers) who served in China in the years past. It was also a busy weekend of preparation and getting to know the group of new friends. There are people from all over the US with many different and fascinating experiences, including 14 people who have recently served in other Peace Corps programs. It has been especially interesting talking to them and listening to their comparisons of Peace Corps China to other programs.
We arrived in Chengdu on the 1st, very late at night. We spent the first week in a hotel going through some basic orientation information and beginning our language classes. Last Saturday we moved out of the hotel and in with our host families. That has probably been the most educational experience of them all. I am living with a host sister who is 26 and her parents in a beautiful apartment. My sister has some basic English skills, and with my very limited Chinese, we spend a lot of time trying to communicate through dictionaries, pantomimes, and, sometimes, Google translator.
This last week was exhausting, and considering what I have been hearing from China 13s (the group that came last year and will stay until next summer), things are only going to get even busier. Yesterday we took a field trip to a city called Leshan, which is about 2 hours south of Chengdu. We spent the morning observing the 13s who are in the middle of their summer teaching project, and then in the afternoon we went sightseeing. LeShan is the home of the largest Buddha in the world. It was an amazing sight! But it was well over 30 degrees Celsius and probably one of the most humid days I’ve ever experienced. We were all drenched in sweat by the end of the hike.

I hope everyone is doing well! I am definitely enjoying myself and I will try to post again soon!