Back in the USA

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Just landed

3:40 pm. Just landed. 1.5 hrs late. Downingtown at 6:30 or 7 pm

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9 in 6 passenger van

We somehow packed 9 people into a tiny 6 passenger van, but we also had 11 pieces of luggage and 10 pieces of carry on.  The van could hardly go but we made it from the train station to the airport in Kunming in 40 minutes. 

We will be JFK at about 2:15 pm July 4 and back in Downingtown at about 6 pm. Thanks to Paul Smith for picking us up on a holiday. 

We miss our Chinese friends, but glad to be headed home. 

Dave and Linda

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Delay in Shanghai

We are in Shanghai for the night. We leave Shanghai at 11:30 am July 4 and arrive at JFK at 2:15 pm July 4. 

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Time to return home

We leave by 12 hour day train tomorrow July 3 at 8 am for Kunming. Flight to Shanghai at 6:30 pm. Tight connections for sure. 

Sleep a little in Shanghai on July 3. 

Leave Shanghai at 11 am July 4 and arrive at JFK in New York at 2:30 pm July 4. Back in Downingtown at about 6 pm. 

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Class at the bakery

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Final dinner in China

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Teaching

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Crafts

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Teaching

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Teaching

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Classroom with our team

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Classrooms

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Time in class with Nathan

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Last days in China with Nathan, Awesome

 

Thursday morning we woke up early for our meeting. As our trip is coming to a close, we began preparing for re-entry to America. The team grabbed fried rice and bread for breakfast and met Nate and his family at a park by our hotel. We also met a veteran couple from Australia who had been on the field for many, many years. The park had a trail of 2000 steps to walk up one of the smaller mountains around where we are staying. The combination of the amount of steps and the altitude made the hike much harder than it should have been. When we reached the top, the view was well worth the climb.

 

In the park, we ate at a western restaurant and enjoyed more familiar food such as pancakes, burgers, and French fries! After lunch, we headed back to Nate's house where he told us about his future plans for his stay in China. It was a very emotional, tearful meeting as our Australian friends shared their experiences with travelling the world, and also what they plan to do in their hometown. They are a very knowledgeable, wise couple who taught us a lot.

 

We piled into two vans and drove to the tallest building in the city. We rode up to the 23^rd floor and ate dinner with the team. The view was similar to what we saw on top of the mountain (minus the 45 minute hike)! Many of us were feeling a little caffeine deprived, so of course we had to stop at Starbucks! We picked up some mugs and frappaccinos before heading back to the hotel to get some R&R.

 

Friday morning we met earlier than usual and met the rest of the team to drive to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. Legend has it that two hunters were chasing a tiger through the mountains and it leaped across the gorge to get away. The drive there was two hours, but full of amazing views of the Chinese countryside. Our pictures can't accurately represent the things that we saw, but if you can imagine National Geographic times 10, you're on the right track. We ate lunch at a very small minority restaurant where we got to try food from the Na xi people (pronounced Na She), including yak cheese dumplings and Na xi-style pizza. One side of the restaurant was almost completely glass, so we could see the mountains and river while we ate.

 

The team drove back to Nate's house for dinner, where we ate dumplings and chicken. After we ate, we headed over to a small English school for kids down the street. We read two books and did a craft with them. Despite the language barrier, we were able to have some good conversations with them and hopefully, their English improved a bit. The teachers from the school took us out to a coffee house after class which was a nice treat. They were so appreciative of our efforts to help their school that they wanted to treat us. We constantly appreciate the hospitality of the Chinese people and are thankful for all the people we have met thus far.

 

We look forward to seeing everybody in a few days!

 

Katie, Hunter , and the entire CARE team

Last classes with Nathan

Story time and crafts with Elementary school students 

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Team near Tiger Leaping Gorge

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