Life in the Chinese Countryside

I am now sitting in the courtyard of my home in the countryside in southwest China, in a village that is predominately Naxi minority people. My "grandma" is sitting in the center of the courtyard with another woman, both wearing big round hats to protect them from the sun, peeling little apricot like fruits and laying them out in the sun on a big round woven basket to dry. From behind me, I hear my little homestay brother (a-li-li) who is three years old and his little friend chattering away and flinging their little bodies in every direction as the TV sings cartoon-y songs in the background. Their fathers have their own conversation, unbothered by the little boys carrying on.

I just finished hand washing all of my clothing and hanging them up in the hot hot sun to dry. It was about time. In Kunming a while ago, I met this Irish traveler who had just finished a month or so in India, and he liked to talk about how much he enjoyed hand washing clothing because he loved to watch the water turn black. He found this very satisfying, knowing how dirty he had made them, and watching as the water eventually turned clear. At that time I made fun of him ceaselessly and (somewhat) jokingly offered him my clothing to wash. But I am beginning to see the appeal. I am also maybe even beginning to enjoy the dry feeling in my hands after they have been in and out of soapy water for a while, and the fact that the whole cleaning process happens slowly.

I have been in Nan Yao village in Lashihai, a small group of towns outside of Lijiang, a city in Northern Yunnan Province for something like 3 weeks now. I am living in a home that consists of a Grandma and Grandpa, a grown son, his wife, and their 3 year old son.There are also 2 dogs (one big and one small) several pigs, chickens that roam about, a water buffalo, a new baby kitten that meows constantly, fruit trees, vegetable gardens, fields filled with corn and rice, and small little canals filled with water that flows down from the mountain, through the villages, and eventually down to the lake at the bottom. Travelers from Europe and the States pass through every now and then, because the families grown daughter, a woman named Lily Zhang, runs an eco-tourism company that takes people hiking and biking and horseback riding, as well as bringing them into her home. And, ofcourse, for the last 10 days or so, one of the Dragons summer program groups has been hanging out up here.

For the first week that I was here, I was basically on my own, responsible for visiting the homestay families that the dragons students would be living with in the village, but not much else. During this time I read 4-5 books (Three Cups of Tea, Love in the Time of Cholera, Train to Pakistan, Tuesdays with Morrie, and part of Karma Cola) and went for long walks and bike rides up and down the mountains, through villages, and around the nearby lake. I also played a lot with my new three year old best friend whose hobbies include toy cars, computer pinball, watching me draw a superhero named aotoman over and over again, farting, playing with fire, dancing, and brushing his teeth with me. It was a really relaxing week, but for the first couple of days I was a little bit lonely, mostly due to the fact that I was having trouble communicating in a meaningful way. The people in this village mostly speak Naxi language, which is completely different language from Mandarin, and while most also speak atleast a little bit of Mandarin, general rule of thumb is that the older the person is, the less likely it is that I will be able to understand. This was pretty frustrating to me at first because I have gotten used to being able to understand a lot of what is going on, and so it was humbling for me to be put in many situations with people where there was not much I could do but nod and smile. It took a few days for me to really start feeling comfortable here, but after about a week, my nainai (grandma), one of the few old people in the village that I can usually understand, said to me, "Cushy! (my name), you seem really happy here now! The first couple of days you seemed a little sad, but now you seem really happy and it is like you are my own daughter!" It made me really happy when she said this.

For 10 days 12 students (aged 15-17) and 4 instuctors (aged 23-34) came to hang out in Lashihai with me. It was really lovely having them all here and spending time together. They were a really amazing group that I genuinely enjoyed spending time with. While they were here, each student lived with a different family in the village. In the morning they studied Chinese for 4 hours and in the afternoons they had lessons on Chinese culture and society, went hiking and biking, and played ping pong, basketball, ultimate frisbee, and majong. Three days ago they left the village and we all went trekking at a place called Tigers Leaping Gorge, which is one of my favorite places in all of China because you can see these crazy towering cloud covered peaks for most of the hike and because these amazing little guest houses keep popping out of nowhere along the trail. Now this group of students has gone back to Kunming to start a second city homestay there, and I will remain here in Lashihai, where this afternoon a second group of students is going to show up. Never a dull moment.

I am nearly finished with a book called China Road written by Rob Gifford, who was an NPR correspondant in China for 6 years and has been in and out of this country for about 20 years. This book records his farewell journey across China, from Shanghai to Xinjiang by road, and all of the people he talks to along the way. He touches on anything and everything: politics, economics, development, culture, minority issues, the environment, history, humanitarianism, philosophy and religion, and the endless humor of being a foreign person in China. I may just like this book because it echoes a lot of my own opinions on what I have observed during my time in China, and also because I would really like to write this book myself. It is also possible that the average person (who has not been in China for almost a year) wouldn't really get it. All the same, I recommend it to anyone who wants a really interesting peak into modern China, written in a really funny, easy-to-read way.

I will be back in the states in less than 3 weeks. I don't really feel like reflecting on this right now, but in general I am trying to continue to enjoy my remaining days, while at the same time mentally pumping myself up for all the things that I am looking forward to at home. Like Crescent Ridge Ice Cream. And Veggie Slop.

Editor's Note: Lexi e-mailed this post to me since she could not access blogspot at her current location. Being the kind brother that I am, I proofread bits and pieces and made between 1 and 275 grammatical corrections. When she gets back to America, I think we all should help her transition back to our society by continuing to call her "Cushy." Who's with me?