Sitting Outside...

I'm sitting outside. It is the second sunny day in a row after many days of being in the clouds…it has been chilly in the 40’s… not my idea of a winter getaway such as a tropical island…but everything here is still green for the most part and we are in the mountains. This is my view from where I'm sitting right now.

So much has happened in the last two weeks I haven't even been able to barely process it let alone talk about it…initially the transition with jet lag to a new culture with so many new things…the transition of the thoughts of not being home with the ones that I love the most, the possibilities of making big decisions to live somewhere for years to take on a big project… a project that is a dream and at the same time it is on the opposite side of the world. How can I make a decision to live in a strange place for years away from all that I know and love and at the same time how can I make a decision to not take on this fantasy of someone building aquatic bodywork pools to our specifications in a beautiful location?

We are at a place called Yashan eco-resort in the mountains in Jiangxi province.  All in all it is perhaps a day's travel from Hong Kong.  (for those of you that like maps https://goo.gl/maps/SfXDdepaRX82 )  It is mountainous and beautiful… the resort itself is on the luxury side, not something we're used to but we don't mind being here. Vegetables are growing everywhere… in the middle of the courtyard of the hotel, on the sides of the hills, they also have orchards and raise some of their own animals as well.  Mr. Tang the owner was originally from this area and does a lot of work to support the area and the people that live here.  He has a poverty alleviation program for the farmers that live there.  Many of the staff are young people and he requires them to learn how to perform, dance, sing or play an instrument to better themselves, so we are constantly seeing beautiful performances. 

There is something for everyone here. It is an interesting place…you can walk long distances on boardwalks or do nature walks, you can play on playscapes made out of recycled tires and ropes challenge courses, you can do BMX bicycling and ATV racing off-road car driving, you can do calligraphy, you can play in the water park and swim and try challenging activities, and of course various locations to do karaoke! 

We have been very warmly welcomed and treated as VIP’s which we're not used to. I can see why some expats might like to come to places where they are a star although for us it's a little overwhelming.  Really we’re just regular people just like all the rest of the workers except that we just came from the other side of the world.

We have just started to settle in these last few days because they have kept us so busy with meals and field trips and banquets and events and traveling to the nearest city, that we haven't had much time to ourselves. Even just a small details as shopping for warmer clothes and getting a SIM card were challenging and we were glad for the help of Iris Academy.  Linda Lee is the owner of Iris, which is an English school in the nearest large city of Ganzhou.  She got Parick here this summmer to be with the scouts, where he met Mr. Tang, showed him a video of aquatic bodywork, and with the offer to build us pools, here we are!  Anyway grateful to the English teachers from Iris who helped us navigate crazy systems, go shopping, translate and sing karaoke!

It sounds cliche but I will talk about food because it is so different here in general. Of course at a resort we are eating top-level, high-quality, beautifully presented food.  We also ate in many restaurants in Ganzhou.  Some of the things I have tried are coagulated blood, arteries, cow's stomach, viscera, large and small intestines, pigs ears, and donkey!  One night they asked us if we wanted dog…we passed.  This is beginning to change as  more middle class people have pets. They serve all of the meat just cut up with the bones and skin on them and the head is even on the platter sometimes. I actually I think this is a much more healthy way to eat, but as I tell them, it's just not my custom! Many places in the world are much more in touch with what they are eating…you see the animal versus just seeing a small piece of meat that could be anything with no connection to the real animal.  Many other parts are healthy to eat, but this is also tough for someone who prefers to eat more vegetarian than not.

The staff here have been super kind and friendly to us which is been great to combat feeling homesick initially…there is an especially sweet young man who is 16 who goes out of his way to hang out with us. Many times we end up just feeling awkward between us not speaking the language and other people either not speaking any English or feeling very shy about their level of English. We frequently use a translation tool on the phone to talk back and forth to each other which can end up being hilarious when the phone hears you wrong and is awkward in its own way with many pauses and is a great practice of patience. Of course it is nothing like a real conversation but I am glad that we can communicate and I appreciate it. 

We have started learning Mandarin but whoa.  Today I taught yoga and learned words like inhale, exhale, rest, change sides… I hear it is one of the most difficult languages to learn but if we're going to stay here we need to work it.  We do get concerned about trying to do business without a regular translator here but he seems to want us here nonetheless.  He seems like a genuinely kind and good man. 

Anyway…so much more to say, but if I don’t stop here, it will never get out.  More to come plus photos…lots of love.

the first few days

(sorry about the formatting mess....feeling frustrated with technology...)

First few days

So this time India is easier being the second time around, flying into the same city, understanding a little better how things work, or don't, but remembering and trying to understand that they don't. Although your brain wants to make sense of things sometimes it just can't.

We spent the first couple of days in Chennai resting in the room, acclimating to the 11 hour time change, weather, language, money, food.... We got slightly nicer than usual rooms with wifi so we could figure out our next steps.

And... acclimating to the noise and the dirt. It has been long enough that i forgot. Sitting in a restaurant afraid to touch the menu it is so greasy, noticing the grime everywhere, and praying that the food doesn't make you sick.  Scared of touching anything in the bathroom, wearing your shoes in the shower but not in the room, showering numerous times a day, covering your nose and mouth because of the dust and smells. And I'm not really even a germaphobe. Soon, I'll be more used to it and will still have good hygiene practices, and things will begin to bother me less.

And then the noise!! The 3rd night in Chennai we moved closer to the train station and it was so noisy, I didn't sleep well. People tend to yell at each other or just talk in really loud voices. They also hack and hack and hack, expelling mucus, one time Patrick said, " there goes a kidney" to give you the idea of the magnitude.

Right  now we are in a  remote village where there is a  canyon and fort, more of an Indian tourist destination, groups of well off men and a few couples coming for the weekend, many from bigger cities. Big lesson, don't come to places like this on a weekend, no rooms available when we arrived in late afternoon after  a day of travel, but i knew there would be camping. 

So after much confusion, bargaining, etc, we got a tent which would be set up in a field. We thought we would be the only ones, but when we got there, there was one other tent with a quiet group. We went to bed early because we were exhausted from traveling all day and then one more tent went up, then another and another, with more and more people. Soon multiple conversations happening and motorcycles and cars pulling up until 3 or 4 in the morning besides the barking dogs and loud thumping music from the resort.  I know that I slept because I had some dreams, but in  spaces far and few between. 

Patrick and I commented that the group of men had the energy of a sleepover of young girls with lots of giggling. Then everyone was singing in unison and it was actually really beautiful and then quiet and I thought they were actually going to sleep but then more screaming and giggling again.

And before sunrise early morning there was a wake up call for a hike to go see the sunrise. " Mam, would you like to get up for the sunrise". "No thank you", was my reply, although other words were running through my head. So the rise of voices and motorcycles once again, then peace? Perhaps for a short moment.

I never really fell back asleep again but then the sunrise brought the heat of the sun into tent. 

So, at breakfast we are trying to see if we can get a room for the next night since it is Sunday. This place is a government run resort. I think that the British bureaucracy was never a good fit for Indian culture and has changed into something incredible to manage. 

We can't  get a room unless we reserve it online and there is no Wi-Fi here nor do they have a computer.  We have to wait until 12 for the system to open up and wait for the kindness of a stranger with phone service. At least the restaurant cleared out and it is somewhat quiet, my poor nervous system after 2 nights of interrupted sleep. But this is India.

But India is also the people we met on the train, their curiosity and kindness and good conversations. The women who smile even though we can't communicate verbally, and share their food,  the business man heading to the big city to attend to his property and his knowledge of the world and politics, a young man home for the weekend after 6 months of being away from family who shared lunch with us and helped us with transportation, a young woman studying biotechnology also home for the weekend who invited us to her home, and the couple on the train with children who also invited us to their home.  This is why we like India, the heart that exists in some people.

So, then....because of the ineptitude of the workers and the bureaucracy, we couldn't get a room, they actually said it was full, so we rented a tent again knowing it would be quieter. They said "same place?", "Sure", thinking it would be in the field.  

We met a nice Indian couple who was staying there that night and shared stories and learned about great places to travel in India. They told us they were the only ones staying there.   

When it was time to go to our tent, it was set up next to the building near the road and on cement!  So, the couple made a phone call to get us a room, I guess his standing in the military gave him the ability to do this. After much negotiation and phone calls, etc , we could've ended up in a room, but with no guarantee that we wouldn't have to pay for the tent also (which of course was way overpriced) because even though the resort arranged it for us, it was an outside person.  We didn't  want to deal with confrontation at 6 am. Patrick was tired, I was tired of dealing with this place so we just went to bed, he slept, but i didn't really, the 3rd night without sleep, and one more to go that i didn't even know about yet!...So, we were in a fairly remote area only accessible by vehicle and we arrived by auto rickshaw from the nearest town....so we were waiting for the bus at 6am in the morning, one went in the opposite direction at the correct time and then we started doubting if we should've gotten on that one or not. We waited another hour or so, and finally one came in the direction we thought we should be going in, but it was like one of those images you see with the people spilling out and sitting on top and not a single space for us to get on...so they called an auto rickshaw for us and finally we got where we needed to go!

Ok, but then once again on the next train ride we met sweet families and playful children and had an interesting conversation with a Bollywood model/actor, so again, it can be as beautiful and sweet as it is ridiculous and challenging!