You've got to marvel at the game design Peace Corps has going. We're heading by train to tease our senses or perhaps test our mettle with or against what is soon to be our port of call. While there we've been advised by the tutorials from above to complete several important fetch quests.
The trip should take about 20 hours. Upon arrival, we are to set up a bank account, acquire a cellular phone, network with the locals, and draw a map of our site. We'll be in the region for about three days before we head back. Of the ten or so people I was really hoping to be placed near we were lucky enough to be in the same region as two of them. We're about 45 mins away from two pretty cool guys whom I hope we'll be friends with but much further from anybody else who went to the same university for TEFFL training.
In fact, one of my best friends here in China is going to be so far south that it would be easier to meet up with him in Vietnam than it would back in Chengdu.
Right now we're negotiating with our host grandparents who insist that they find a friend to drop us off at the station in lieu of us taking two buses or an expensive taxi ride. The grandmother actually got up in the middle of her lunch to find us a driver, even after I successfully used the phrase she so frequently aims at my good intentions, "Mei guanxi."
Apparently, the host father normally gives PCVs a ride, but he's on vacation with his immediate family at the moment. She found us a ride and now we're due downstairs in an hour.
I gave her a side hug and told her to eat.
She laughed and agreed.
I'm on the lookout for something she could use, or eat or love on this trip.
I guess I'm a little nervous about sanitation on this trip. Chinese people will wear spit and breath guards when preparing or serving food. It's taboo for teachers to sit on desks. They even hand-wash their underwear and socks to leave the rest of the washing-machine load unsullied. That is to say that that they are very concerned with cleanliness. But the toilets in public places are as bad and often worse than a row of portapotties at a four day concert. Plus you have to provide your own TP and there will be no hand soap. Sometimes I'm kind of proud of the environmental shortcuts China takes but damn, ya'll, sometimes I just can't hang.
I have a few more observations I meant to share with you but I've been very busy with language training and health and security sessions -for instance we had a really great language/security crossover exam that I want to tell you about when I return.
I have to find out about at least one class I'll be teaching the first semester and turn out a syllabus for that before I do, however, so I shall have to leave you here in the lurch.
In case I have more time to post photos than I do to update you, you can always check out my flickr feed here: American Barbaric
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