长阳

This weekend I got out of my shelter and ventured into the world of the Chinese. You may be thinking that after living here for three months I ought to be in the world of the Chinese already. True enough but at night I always retreat back to my apartment where everything is as Western as I can make it (except when I am taking an overnight bus somewhere). This time, I spent the weekend with some Chinese families. Two of my good friends live a little over an hour from here, and they invited me to their hometown. It was a wonderful weekend full of home-cooked meals, small town charm, and nature in its purest form.

We ate lunch together cooked by my friend's grandma, went hiking through the mountains, boating across the river, shopping on the city streets, and dancing in the town square. I got to indulge my taste buds guiltlessly since the food was practically being forced on me. The more I eat, the more honored the cook feels so I happily obliged. The hike in the mountains was just what I needed. I hadn't realized how much city life was suffocating me until I escaped it. We came across some beautiful waterfalls and walked on rocks that have probably had thousands of years' worth of feet tread across them. They were so smooth it was dangerous. Being from Oklahoma, it isn't hard to please my aesthetic tastes where nature is concerned. The slightest hill or green patch leaves me feeling refreshed. I mourned the sun's voyage Westward because it meant we would have to go inside. What I found inside; however, was a bed of wood coals in the middle of the room to serve as a heater, and a place to sit with friends and play Beat the Landlord until our food arrived. After we stuffed ourselves again we set out in a boat across the river, to disturb the play of the lights reflected all around us. It was thoroughly enjoyable. When we arrived back in the town square there were old people dancing everywhere so of course my friends and I jumped right in and tried to follow along. They were quite a bit more coordinated than me, but that's not hard to do. The worse we danced, the harder we laughed, so none of us cared how silly we looked.

These girls have kindly asked to spend Christmas with me so that I will not miss my family, so we are going to celebrate on Christmas Eve with a big meal and reading a story. We have talked some about the meaning of the holiday and plan to read together. My circle of friends is becoming more like family than friends. I'm very grateful for them.

“If a man has a ‘why’ for living, he can endure any ‘how’.”

-Viktor Frankl