I fly back to the states. I'll be working with the Engles in lovely Wisconsin until my older sister Faye "pushes this baby out" (my roomate Fiona's way of saying giving birth) and then assist the rents in a cross country drive to Mars, I mean, Moab. Open Sky is overflowing with students, and I'm excited to spend some time working with them in the desert and COLORADO (hooray!) as well.
I am extremely excited and also very sad to leave Beijing. My apologies I haven't written more lately; the computer is still down and now I am in the basement of a huge mall with chainsmoking Chinese boys playing computer games to use the internet. Soul crushing.
Recently discovered I live very close to Paddy O'Sheas, a wonderful Irish pub in DongZhimen. Through G, who is now in France, I met Maggie, a marine who gaurds the US embassy and is a fabulous lady and lover of the Irish music scene. I was so surprised to see a Bodhran in Beijing! I showed her my spoon skills, much to the chargrin of all others around since she's an enthusastic player now. I sang a few songs myself last night, which I consider an accomplishment considering my stage fright.
An update: XG is in Shandong, training for his new job. When I first came to China, he'd had a month off but now it's work work work again and all the time. My friend Jenny, the girl from Sanlitun, is apparently doing some modeling work now with her Swedish boyfriend? I am not sure what that's all about but am meeting tonight. I never made it back to my ai yi's house, though I may try and say goodbye this evening somehow. My old boss called after the last class I taught and said, "You know, you actually did a good job. Our company will be very different in the fall if you come back." Hm. I have observed at least 3 start up companies in China and will be interested to see which ones are still going in a few years.
Aside from leaving, the most recent adventure I've had was my trip to Sichuan. I traveled down with Caroline and Yangyang, the founder and an employee of HuaDan. We mostly did initial assessment, networking, and preparing for the rest of the team to come down and run participatory theater workshops with the earth-quake survivers. I spent one night and three days in communities hit by the quake and perhaps it's good I don't have photos right now; the devestation was immense.
People ask how it was and the best adjective I've come up with is "broken." The buildings, the roads, the spirit of people. Many folk put on a cheerful face, but after sitting and talking late into the night with a group of adults in Guangji, a town of about 200,000 people, Yangyang and I discovered there is a lot lurking under the surface. The tent camp where we stayed was inundated with barking dogs, sirens, cars and tractors, and fighting couples late into the night. People said they can't sleep because they're haunted by those who died. There are no epidemics yet, but people are getting colds and not getting better. The kids are listless with nothing to do all day and parents don't know how to support them. If families leave their broken homes, they don't get the government subsidy to rebuild. (Only 15-20,000 Kuai, not nearly enough to build a house.) So they can't leave, but there is nothing for them to do while they stay. There is enough food and water for now, but it is going to be a long, long time before communities are able to function again. Peasants gave us heartfelt thanks for coming and while I felt inadequate, just being a novel foreinger able to crack jokes and speak a bit of Chinese, plus play games with the kids brought smiles. I wish I was staying longer to support HuaDan, to see their projects and joy in the villages, to add some of my own in a longer term project.
Prayer, that act of love-thought abounds.
On my train back from Chengdu, I read Jane Goodall's Harvest for Hope, about eating responsibly and caring for the planet. It certainly made coming home feel right. Between the southern city and Beijing, there was NO BLUE SKY. Perhaps it was just a hazy 30 hrs, but I also saw many nuclear power plants and other smoke stacks. Taking planes doesn't help the earth, I am sure.
Recently, I also read Mao's Last Dancer, by Li Cunxin. It's the story of a peasant boy born during the years of Mao who became a world famous ballerina and international citizen. I highly reccomend it, as well as the book Wild Swans by Jung Chang to understand better what the people of this country have been through in the past several decades. The courage and strength is amazing.
Thanks to all for reading and coming on this adventure with me. It's been a trip.
Much Love,
Martha
