Midterms are done, bags are packed, and we're on our way to begin our adventure on the Silk Road. After our crazy week, long nights, and hours of Chinese exams, we were all ready to get going. We set out this morning at five a.m. and took the book to the airport. It was interesting traveling with 26 students and three teachers, getting through the airport was very different. We made it though and flew Air Canada and I was surprised it was a really nice airline. They played a funny Chinese show called wedding diaries which was just ridiculous. I bet in Chinese it made sense, but the English translations were just hilarious.
When we landed they made the whole plane get on a bus in order to drive about two seconds to the door. We all had to laugh because it to longer to both get on and of the bus than drive on it.
We met our tour guide or 导游 (daoyou) took us to lunch. We ate at a good restaurant and had family style lunch. They just kept bringing out dish after dish. Our first dish was horses ear which I did not know till after I took a bite, it was not pleasant. The following doses were everything from cauliflower, beef, pork, chicken, potatoes, rice noodles and sprouts, hot lettuce, green veggies, tomatoes and egg, sandwich buns and other food. It was delicious, and I ate wayy to much.
We got on the bus again and afore I knew it I was asleep, only one hour of sleep finally got to me. We stopped at a has station and I had to use a squatter. If you've ever used a squatter you know what I mean.
After a few more hours we finally made it to the Tibetan orphanage. We were split up into four groups and each group had a class they ha to teach English. We taught ours the body parts and even taught them a song. After that they took us outside to dance. They taught us one of their traditional Tibetan dances and then we all did gangnum style and had so much fun. The whole courtyard was filled with people dancing it was great. After that, they made us dumplings, made of yak meat, definitely different. We tried to take a picture with them but weren't allowed to. Apparently if the government finds a picture they censor it and then close down the school. They don't want to let people see the sad conditions of the school, which is so sad because if more people knew about them, they might get more support.
It was a wonderful experience though and I had a great time there.
We got back on the bus and headed to our next city, Xiahe 夏河, we're we got dinner. We ate family style and of course it was delicious. We were all really tired at that point and all we wanted to do was take a shower. Our guide told us we couldn't shower though, since we were at such high altitude, we would probably get altitude sickness and showering would only make it worse.
A few of us decided to get together and hang out but soon we were all dead tired and turned in. It was nice, since there was thirteen of us, I was the lucky girl and got a single. There was a moment of being scared since I was by myself and we were in some town in the middle of nowhere, but I was surrounded by everyone else in the other rooms.
As soon as I hit the pillow I was out, but I had had a great day.
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