Sunday, July 15, 2012

Day 5 Chenzhou



8:37am

We just ate breakfast. Breakfast is big here and most of us aren’t used to that. I think everyones kinda  getting tired of the breakfast.

We are going to the church today.  Everyone is dressing in their nicest clothes they have. Which in most peoples case isn’t very nice. And yes I am one of those people.  We didn’t even know they had a church in Chenzhou, and being able to go to it is even better! Even though we are pretty confused on how it’s going to work. It’s going to be in all Chinese. So we won’t understand any of it. But I was told it’s our presence that counts. That it’s for our guide, Fawn.  And the nannie that is going with us.

Ok got to go we are leaving for church!

1:32pm

Just got back from lunch.  It was good. One of the best foods in China is fried banana . I don’t know why it’s not famous in America, I mean it’s fried and unhealthy. It’s all American.

Anyway one of the sweet nannies that works with the babies gave us all gifts today. We each got a necklace and she gave the whole group a bag of fruit to share. I was the brave one who tried the fruit, it tasted like cantaloupe that was full of seeds. 

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 (The fruit)


We went to the church. It was quite the experience. Inside it looked like a normal church. It had flashing rainbow lights on the steps which was kind of weird and distracting. But overall it was cool. When we went in there was a lady singing. She would sing one line of the song and then the congregation would repeat it.  We tried sneaking in to the back rows where no one could really see us. But soon a lady came over and told us to follow her. She ended up taking us to the very front pews and making the people in them either scoot over or move to sit somewhere else. Just so we could sit! The service was pretty similar to the services at our church. There was worship songs and a choir and then a sermon.  We couldn’t understand a thing they were saying though. At one point the preacher said something and everyone started clapping. So Megan and I started clapping along with them when all of the sudden Amy’s like “There clapping for us.” So we all had to stand up while they “welcomed us” The people were so excited we were there and I’m glad we went. At the end of the service some of the girls from the choir wanted to take pictures of us on the stage of the church so up we went onto the stage to get our picture taken. 

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 (Us at the church)

After church we went straight to the orphanage to play and do crafts with the older kids. Today I got to sit with a little boy named Jacob. He is desperate for attention just like all the other kids, but his way of getting attention is by slapping or hitting you.  And he hits hard! He has something wrong in his brain and the nannies say that’s why his is so rough. He has calmed down a lot since the beginning of the week. The kids seem to pick on him a lot so he kind of keeps to himself. As I was sitting with him I noticed he refuses to look you in the eyes but when I was with him he just sits and smiles. He has an adorable smile. He loves getting attention just like every single kid in there. 
 
(This is Jacob)

I also got to play with the little 3 year old, Paul. He just came in like three days ago. He has down syndrome and is the sweetest thing ever. He is just so smiley and giggly. He was pretty scared when he was first brought in. But he is now starting to finally warm up.  He also loves getting attention just like every kid in there. 

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 (This is Paul)


Some of the kids are pretty tricky. Macy has this little plan she does on me ALL the time and I still fall for it every time. First she asks for me to hold her and most of the time I say yes. Then she yells at one of the other kids and since I can’t understand her I kind of ignore what she is saying to them. Then every time I find out that she was telling them to jump on my back. And when I’m holding her and another kid jumps on my back its quite hard to keep my balance. I usually stumble around for a while and when I finally get my balance that’s when the other kid decides to let go.  And off they both go giggling away. 

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 (Macy)

After we left the orphanage we were walking home and a huge rat ran right in between all of us. And a lot of the girls screamed VERY loudly. And no I wasn’t one of those girls. But I had to add that in there because everyone quite enjoyed that.

9:01pm

We went back to the orphanage this afternoon to work with the babies. There are a lot of little babies this year. For some of the time I held the tiny baby named Jake. He is a heart baby and is very tiny. His legs are like sticks and when you look at his chest you can see his ribs. He is so sweet and laid back. But his heart just pounds inside his little chest. 

 For the rest of the time I held my little girl named, Claire. She fell asleep in my arms today. So for about half the time Claire and I laid on the floor together while she slept.

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(Jake, Claire and I)

It was Blossoms birthday today. (My moms baby she fell in love with) She turned one.
(Blossom eating her birthday cake)

After the orphanage we decided to eat at KFC which we had already eaten for lunch yesterday, but I think everyone is getting tired of Chinese food. When we walked in every person in the restaurants head turned to look at us. One little girl started squealing and jumping up and down in her chair with the biggest smile on her face when she saw us. The restaurant was packed and it took forever to get our food so we ended up taking it back to the hotel. I’m starting to feel bad for Fawn. It seems so hard to do her job. But she is very good at it. She is just so funny. 

 

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(US at KFC)


Right after dinner the nannie Liz, who had given us the gifts earlier came over to show us where she had gotten the necklaces from. So the whole team piled onto a bus, which was defiantly a new experience for us and followed Liz. We ended up on a side walk by a lake that was full of people selling things. She took us to a little stand that her friend owned. All us Americans are ya know checking out the necklaces and slowly more and more people start sneaking over to see what is going on. And soon we have a whole herd of Chinese people crowding over us, watching our every move. Oh good times, good times.  

My mom got a chance to talk to Liz through Fawn. She found out that she goes to church and that she is Buddhist. So we are defiantly going to be praying for her.

Now we are back at the hotel, eating random junk food we found at the Super mart next door.  Tomorrow it is back to our normal routine with the kids. So for now I am going to sleep. Have a good Sunday everyone!!!

-Makenna


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