Well, it is sunday night here (about 11pm) and I have had the longest day ever. I can't believe I am still going! We left yesterday afternoon for Kayin which is another city in Zhongshan, it is about 2 hours away on bus. There are 2 other groups of teachers living in Kayin so we stayed with them sat night and woke up early this morning around 5:30am to get to church on time which started at 10. The branch is in Shenzhen (shen-jen) which is about an hour and a half - two hours from Kaiyan. So, we woke up and caught the bus which came around 630-7 and arrived there close to 9am. It was so odd, the church building is just like a house but inside it is extremely similar to a church. (white walls, pictures of Christ everywhere...etc.) Except, it is still a house. So the living room and like 2 bedrooms have all been joined together to create like a chapel, then the kitchen is closely connected, there is a bedroom downstairs along with a bathroom. The relief society room is upstairs along with more bedroom aand a bathroom. I never went in the basement but thats where primary was held. It was such a cool experience. It was really different from the branch in Xi'an only because in Xi'an it was in a classroom and only 20 people or so. At this branch in Shenzhen there was families with babies, toddlers, children of all ages, etc. Most all of them were from America too which was nice to finally be able to speak English and actually understand what people are saying. The branch presidency had interviews with all of the teachers from ILP at some point throughout the day. It was really funny meeting with the branch president in a closet/laundry room, but it worked! They were all really really nice, and said if we needed anything they would help in any way they could. They also are going to work on getting a few preisthood holders from the branch presidency to come to Zhongshan once in a while so we can have church here. It only makes sense that 3 men come to 20+ teachers and not the other way around. Anyway, they also gave us a phone number and email address we can contact them at if we (or you as parents) ever need anything. If you want that let me know.
The sacrament meeting was really awesome, it was fast and testimony meeting today and I havent ever felt gratitude for the gospel and for my family like I did today. Just watching the families interact with one another made me realize that you are doing the same thing at church in the states without me and I will admit that was the first I have felt a little homesick this whole trip. The testimonies I heard were truly inspiring. A boy about 16 gave the sweetest and most sincere testimony I have ever heard in my life. He is Chinese but lives in Hong Kong (I dont know why he was in the mainland...) and he said at school that week some of the kids he eats lunch with were talking about how he is Mormon. They asked him why he doesnt drink tea or coffee (I think this was the question that came up because tea and coffee are HUGE over here. Tea is for obvious reasons, but they really do serve it with every meal without you even ordering it. So obviously it is odd for a chinese person to not drink it.) Anyway, the kids were wondering why he didnt drink tea or coffee and he said he didnt have a very good answer for them besides it coinsides with what he believes in. He got a little choked up when he said that later he was pondering his answer and what he could possibly say that would be better in the future he realized the REAL reason he doesnt drink tea or coffee. Because it is asked of him. That hit me so hard, I couldnt believe it. What a smart kid! That is so true. We don't really need any other answer to give other people or even to give ourselves if we are ever contemplating why we are following hte commandments. Because it is asked of us. He went on to say how Christ gave him agency and paid for every bad choice he has ever made and that the least he could do to pay back his older brother is by doing what is asked of him without further question or doubt. His testimony was so inspirational. Another guy got up and talked about how in the Doctrine and Covenants, if someone does wrong to you, and hurts you in some way one time, you should forgive them. if they hurt you again, you should forgive them. if they hurt you a third time, you should forgive them. He said there is NO point in our lives when we will ever be justified in saying, I have forgiven this person enough times. This time is where I draw the line. That we will always be asked and expected to forgive everyone every single time they hurt us. This also was humbling to hear the more I thought about it.
Relief society was also really awesome, it was on Family Home Evening and they told us that even though we are away from our families for so long and we obviously cant participate in FHE with you guys back home, that the girls I am living with here in Guzhen are my China family. So we have decided to do family home evening every week together and I think it will be really fun. We are starting to get in to a routine that is incredibly productive, and it is really nice to have the structure in our crazy lives here in China. They told us how FHE will strengthen our bonds as a "family" and we are excited to experience that.
After church the bus dropped us off at the school in Kaiyan, we grabbed some lunch (peanut noodles mmmm! and dumplings in peanut sauce...mmmm!) then caught another bus from the school in Kaiyan to the bus station in Kaiyan. It was about a 45 min trip from the school to the bus station. Then we caught another bus into Guzhen which was about a 2 hour ride. The 2 hour bus ride was on a bus that was so packed I couldnt believe it was legal. all the seats were full and people were just standing so close together everytime someone new got on i had no idea where they were going to stand. I had a seat luckily but I was touching people on everyside, and on top of all that there was zero air conditioning on the stupid thing! That many people in such a small space with no air flow when everyone was already hot and sweaty because the humid weather here is the pits but it really was the worst thing that I have experienced so far. I really was trying with every breath not to burst in to tears from being literally drenched in not only my sweat but all the strangers around me also, and feeling like I couldnt breath because the air was so hot and stale and heavy....ahhhh! Anyway, we got home around 6:30 and I never thought I would be so grateful to come back to our cockroach infested, sweaty, smelly apartment but I couldnt wait.
Jenna and i made a suddenly pasta thing for dinner tonight that was the alfredo. We dont have cows milk here so we used velveeta cheese to thicken the alfredo sauce. It didnt taste quite the same as it should in america, but it was delicious. I love my roommates and they are my China family. I got really lucky with my group. I am really excited that we all get a long so well.
We have a vacation this week which I am really looking forward to. Thursday is teachers day, so we dont ahve to teach, and we are going to get our hair washed with all the other teachers for only 10 kuai (about $1.20US!) and also possibly a movie so that should be fun. Then we do have to teach friday, but we are hopefully leaving friday night for our vacation and will be home tuesday night. We were initally going to Yangshuo/Guilin but are thinking we might go to West lake instead for this trip. West lake is a retreat that the emporers would go to, it is supposed to be really beautiful. anyway, I cant wait and I think it will be really fun. We always have some crazy adventures on our vacations and trips.
I was talking to the other girls the other day and we all realized how fast all of our expenses are adding up and it is a little startling...yes, everything is cheap but we really havent eaten in the school cafeteria ( mostly because we see the rice soaking in garbage cans, and a few other things in the kitchen that can not be sanitary and we dont want to get sick! also, its always mystery meat, however they are quite fond of fish heads on plain rice for some reason?) anyway, so we are having to eat out for almost every meal which isnt a big deal other than its getting really old eating rice...noodles...or dumplings...for every meal. So, we go to the grocery store and try to buy groceries which is still cheap, and allows us some variety but it is adding up which worries me a little. I think we are spending between $10-$15US a week on food which is pretty awesome actually because in america that would be like one meal, maybe two eating out and we do get full of some delicious food...BUT. ILP told us all meals were included so that is 10-15$ that none of us had planned on spending each week. Which is frustrating, because yes we probably COULD eat the food from the cafeteria and just get some sauce from the grocery store to put on plain rice and only eat the vegetables and toss the meat, but it would get old fast, and i dont think its very sanitary the way they do things. And yeah, Chinese standards for health is obviously lots different than in america, but they are used to eating this way...we arent. Anyway, i just realized the other day that the money i thought i was going to be able to use 100% for traveling and souveniers and some treats here and there is going a lot faster and to other places than what i had initially planned. So that is kind of a bummer for sure, I'm not sure what to do about that, I might have to let you know how garbage can soaked rice is with fish heads on top.....
ps. we found these ice cream treats yesterday that taste like sugar cookie dough with vanilla ice cream in the middle! They are so so weird! they are only 1 kuai so they are really cheap but i have never had anything like it. its like a frozen sugar cookie dough ball with ice cream inside...Oh China!
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