Once again, it has been a long time since my last posting. A lot of things have happened since this summer, and the weeks just seem to be flying by. I guess I will give you some of the highlights.
July: The most memorable part about July was completing our "Summer Project." It is organized by the Peace Corps, and we taught what was basically a summer English camp in the countryside of Chongqing. Our students were actually teachers who work in various primary, middle, and high schools in the nearby county. We taught for around 5 hours a day for 2 weeks. Because it was in the midst of the Chongqing summer, we ended most days in exhausted in our dorms rooms. It was great to get out the megalopolis of Chongqing city. Another highlight was having the chance to see a total solar eclipse. Chongqing just happened to be right in the path of the eclipse, with total coverage being just around 5 minutes. It was pretty impressive!
July/August: TRAVELING!
I traveled to a few different places around China. My first trip was to a place in Western Sichuan province called Kangding. It is located in the foothills of the Himalayas. A small city that is a Tibetan area and surrounded by breathtaking mountains. We spent 4 days exploring the city. It was much colder than we had anticipated, and I was lucky enough to find an outdoors store that had a fleece pullover that actually fit me!
After Kangding, I spent a couple days in Chengdu, mostly to eat Western food and take care of mid-service medical stuff for Peace Corps. I left Chengdu and headed back to Chongqing for a couple days with another PCV, Beth. Beth and I took a Yangtze River cruise together. It took us through the Three Gorges, which were also gorgeous, and ended at the Three Gorges Dam. It was very cloudy, which was disappointing because we couldn't even see the entire dam. After the cruise, we flew to Shanghai, an amazing and lively city. But expensive! I spent my entire monthly living allowance in a matter of 3 days, so I figured it was time to head back to CQ. After getting back to CQ, I spent most of my days in my apartment. It was really hot and humid, so I usually just went out at night after the sun had gone down. I spent the last weekend in August with some fellow PCVs at their sites in Guizhou province.
Septmeber: And then suddenly it was time to start school again. I was happy to have some sort of schedule to keep me occupied and even happier to start classes with my students from last year. It is nice to work with the same group because I don't have to work as hard to get them to relax. They understand my teaching style and that leaves more opportunity for us to interact!
October (which is almost over!): The big highlight this Fall was having my first visitors from the U.S.! My friend Kristen and her cousin Josef made the grueling journey around the world. It was a little surreal and I still have a hard time believing they were actually here. They arrived just in time for the National Holiday, which gave us a chance to do some traveling together. We spent the first 4 days in Chongqing and I took every opportunity to show them all my favorite parts of Chongqing. Then we flew to Xi'an and spent 3 1/2 days exploring the ancient capital. The big attraction in Xi'an is the Terra Cotta Warriors, which were quite impressive. After Xi'an, I had to return to CQ to get back to teaching, while Kristen and Josef moved on to finish their trip in Beijing. And now I that I am back in CQ I realize how much I miss my friends and family back home! Only 9 more months!
