I had a pretty remarkable experience about a month back that I'm just now getting blogged. It felt a little life changing but its really too early to say whether that wlll be true. I travelled with 80 students, 8 teachers and 4 guides to a rural village (5,000 people) in south central China for a service trip. Together we took a three hour flight, three hour bus ride and three hour hike to the village and that was just the beginning of the journey.
Students hiking through a neighboring village on the way to Xijiang Village. The village is the largest of the minority race of the Miao (pronounced meow) people.
A local boy returning the water buffalo from the grazing. Sidewalks were quite busy from sunrise to sunset. The buffalo are used to plow the rice patties. Many of you probably guessed it... and you're right. I did my share of plowing! Those pictures can be seen on the link below.
The traditional houses on a mountain side. Each house is three stories with a large window opening to a large community room in the middle. The bottom level is a barn, literally. I could hear the pig snorting while when laid my head to rest. It's too bad the rooster wasn't in my room or I would have hit the snooze the first morning when he beat the sun about an hour. It was pretty entertaining when a swedish boy staying in my house crawled down the ladder from the 3rd floor and asked, "What was making that noise this morning?"
The second floor is for family space…cooking area, bedrooms, etc….no bathroom though. The third floor is traditionally for grain storage but our house had a part of it converted to extra bedrooms. The most remarkable thing about the houses is they are built without nails. Each piece of wood was interconnected and even the boards used for walls were held in place with wedges made of wood.
The magnificent landscape was a much needed break from the concrete jungle of Shanghai.
We had great weather for most of the trip, especially in a region known for having a lot of rain. The second day was quite rainy and here I've ducked into the only nearby shed with a few of the locals while all of the foreigners (students) got wet.
As is typical for those who have ever tried their hand at a skilled labor job, its not as easy as it looks. The students learned this over and over again. What would take 6 kids 20 minutes to finish an experienced local could do in 15 without breaking a sweat or even putting down his tobacco pipe.
For the most part I was surprised by the effort the students gave during the trip. Especially during the end of the service project when they were excited to see the final product. It was definitely inspiring as a teacher to see so many students really taking in how much fun it is to experience new things and help others. The picture below was taken with less than an hour left. Students are working to finish the concrete wall that will reinforce a large rice patty wall.
I have so many fun and educational memories from this trip.
-Watching girls mix concrete in designer rain boots
-Seeing kids work as a team, using their own ideas
-Eating great food and working on my wok skills
-Dealing with a boy out past curfew
-Pushing three boys into a rice patty
-Working together as a team of 8 teachers to manage 80 students
-Students getting lost in the maze of paths amongst the patties on the hillsides
-Catching a fish barehanded in a rice patty...I caught the biggest fish!
and many more. I can't wait to go on another trip next year.
You can click the link below to see more pictures.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64284357@N06/sets/72157629966606676/
