Here at NCCC

This is Tuo Tuo, 5 yrs. old. He likes to follow me around and is the most wonderful greeter I've ever had! He lets me give him kisses and even kissed me back once! Like all the other children here, he washes his own clothes. Can you tell? :P

I arrived at the orphanage last week. It seems like such a long time ago since I left the medical mission and headed to Xi'an before coming here. It feels like I haven't seen an American in such a long time! It's been about two weeks since last seeing one in person.

I'm staying in the guest room here, but one night last week I had to stay in the girl's dorm because some other guests spent the night. I enjoyed being with the girls. The original plan was for me to stay in the big girl's room, but I was kidnapped by the younger ones and couldn't free myself from them! I don't know if it made a difference or not to the older girls, but the younger ones sure did want me to stay with them! I took one of the hardest baths I have ever attempted in their bathroom. It wasn't a bath and it wasn't a shower. It was a spicket in the wall about waist-high that poured burning hot water out onto the floor (but most showers in China don't have a stall; they just are open in the middle of the bathroom and drain out from a hole in the floor). There was a big bucket of cool water under the spicket, so I dunked my hair into that to wash it(don't know who used that water earlier or for what they did, but I didn't care -- I was so dirty!) I managed to get clean by using half burning hot water and half cool water in a little plastic bowl. Another interesting thing about their bathroom is that there is no door from the bedroom to the bathroom. You just have to trust that no one will come in, or just not care if they do. There are about 5 toilet holes in the room adjoining the shower room (no doorway and no walls between the holes). I'm glad I have this guest room to myself, but I also like spending time with the girls in there rooms.

THE CHILDREN

So, who would NOT want to spend time with this kid? Dai Li, 7 yrs. old

The children are so sweet! Some just follow me around and do whatever I'm doing. That can be a very good thing, and I like them to be with me, but sometimes a girl needs privacy! I hope God can use me here and that these children will come to know and serve Him. I've have many weird emotions these past few weeks. Maybe that's part of culture shock, but I think it's mainly homesickness (maybe homesickness is a part of culture shock?!?). I was pretty well prepared for everything I've seen so far, but the way of life is much more difficult than in the States.

A couple of the precious, grimy children! Tuo Tuo again and Ma Quan, 6 yrs. old.

WATER!

Esther gave me some apples the other day, and when I went to eat one she told me I'd better wash it first. “What?!?!” I said, “With what? The water coming out of the faucets? It's BROWN it's so filthy! How can I use that clean my apple?” The water here is different at different times and if you let it run long enough, the brownish rusty color fades away for the most part. But it's still pretty nasty. Right now, our water is shut off because the machine used to supply water to us and the local school is broken or something. We hane to go to the river nearby to wash our hair and clothes. We haul buckets of water to the orphanage everyday. It's not really that bad—very good exercise! My only problem is that it is stressful on us, and we need to be careful not to get heat exhaustion. We usually go in the morning or evening when it is cooler. I went out with a half dozen girls this morning to find water to wash our clothes. The first water hole we looked at was murky (sometimes it is clear) and the second one was just as bad. We finally went to one of the local guys who lives on a small, dirty lake and has a faucet that is fed from the lake (I think it is supposed to be filtered). It took us two hours from the time we left to the time we came back with clean clothes. It should have only taken 30-40 min.! Oh, how it makes me appreciate our washing machines back in the States! They are such time savers! I hope I will never waste time again!

The children's definition of washing and my definition is a little different. Some of the children here are “washing” themselves by the river instead of hauling the water back. That kind of shower consists of getting yourself soaking wet but keeping your clothes on because there are local farmers walking around the area. You don't always use soap—just get yourself wet! That's how some of the girls are taking showers right now. The younger children are very dirty most of the time, but I am too. It's just a dirty place, but it's not like it's filthy disease-ridden kind of dirty. It's a grimy kind of dirt because it's really humid here and there isn't much grass at NCCC, so you sweat your head off everyday and anywhere you go there's dirt. So you get pretty dirty no matter what you do or where you go!


A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TEACHING

One night, for English class, I asked the children to tell what is important to them. Their answers were terrific...I was so pleased to read them! The boys wrote in red and the girls in white. As you can see, the boys don't like to participate as much as the girls do! There actually are more boys than girls here at NCCC.

Notice how "Water" is very important to some of them? We need it so much! I sure hope we can get running water again soon!