Day 3 and 4 of traveling...continued:

Jet lag is still my enemy even though it's been a good fight for the last couple of days. I was afraid that I would once again sleep through my flight, but my little friend Monsieur Jet Lag woke me up at 1am, 3am, 4:30am. Our flight from Beijing to Kunming went smoothly and Lei Lei came to pick us up to bring us to her parents house. The day was spent trying to stay awake and eating bowls of rice noodles. Once it was time to say good night, my body hit bed hard...literally. The beds so far feel like they have been made out of bed rock and cusioned with a sheet. As I was just about to fall alseep, the noises of Kunming were ringing through my ears. It reminded me of the nights when I was in Dakar, Senegal when I would hear cat fights, mangoes dropping on the tin roof, and goats yelling to one another across town. But this time, the noises weren't coming from animals. All of the noises that I heard were "Old McDonald had a Farm" on an accordian, video games that sounded like they were life size, and sound effects that seemed to be coming from animated slot machines.

In the morning, Jeanee and I went into Wal-Mart (which is more colorful and cute than our Wal-Marts...it almost feels like you are walking through aisles of cartoons) to buy bread for our bus trip to Xizhou, where the center is located. We met the bus on the highway with our 9 pieces of luggage and got comfortable for the 5 hour trip through the mountain passes. While we were passing through breathtaking scenery, we were watching hilarious Chinese zombie movies. As we got clsoer and closer to the center, the energy was rising. We were all excited to first, get off of the crowded bus and second, to finally get to our destination!

Brian Linden, Adrian, and others greeted us at the gate and helped us carry all of our luggage. I am now living in room #11 with two double beds and a bathroom. Everything is so elegantly decorated. I told my family that I was absolutely speechless with the circumstance that I am in right now. The Linden Center is beautiful to say the least (I will post pictures so you can all see...or visit me so you can see for yourself!). After dinner, I went back to my room to unpack and unwind. I tried to stay up as late as possible by unpacking and making myself at home since I am here for the next eight months!

More about the first two days teaching and living in Xizhou to come.
So far: no awkward encounters, just poorly spoken Chinese on my part. But I have a feeling that they are coming soon! haha

I hope all of you are all staying healthy, wealthy, and wise. Miss you all. For those of you who have Skype, I just set-up my account and my account name is martha.aurelius.

Love, peace, and sweet travels,
Martha