Year two at SYA -- China means that I go on school trips to the same places again. In the fall, the school and I went back to Shanxi province. Not much of the trip was different, so I didn't upload a post. However, we went back to Xiahe and Lanzhou this year and there were some changes and surprises.....
Just like the 2012-13 academic year, we arrived in Xiahe to soak up life on the Tibetan life at the
Labrang Monastery. This year we arrived and met with a weather surprise!
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| SNOW!!! |
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| Unlike last year where we went to the home of our friend of the school to eat a traditional Tibetan meal and draw the "thangkas", this time we went to a museum and cultural center. |
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| "Thangkas" are always devotional in subject matter. This depicts the deity (not sure if that's the right word) of wealth! |
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| I placed fifth in the "thangka" drawing contest! |
The highlight of my first trip to Gansu last year was the visit to
Ren'ai Monastery out in the Grasslands where we got to hangout with monks. Unfortunately, it's a politically sensitive area and we weren't able to get a permit to go there this year. However, disappointment always comes with a silver lining because we ended up catching the end of a Tibetan horse race.
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| It turns out, right near Xiahe, a horse race was taking place. We only arrived as the last race was finishing, but we got to watch some kids race amongst themselves! |
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| These races are a family affair! A time to gather, eat and socialize...all in the shadows of the nearby snow capped mountains! |
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| Betting slips! Pick your horse by color! |
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| As always, some frisbee diplomacy. |
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| We had the opportunity to meet some orphan children as well. |
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| Near Xiahe, there is a school which has about 100 orphans, and through private donations (no help from the government) is housing and educating students from 4 to 18. Kids are taught through 5th grade, at which point, they move to regular schools. |
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| Seven of the kids joined us on the bus for a few hours. They sang for us and we sang for them! |
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| A couple of our students have been fundraising for a few months to earn money to donate to the school. They earned enough to purchase a new washing machine for the school! We found out that this means the older students no longer have to do the clothes washing chore! |
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| The last stop was Lanzhou. Taking advantage of the great weather, I went to the top of the hill across the Yellow River and took in the view. Great weather! |
But then the next day, the
biggest sandstorm to roll across northern China in years came into Lanzhou.
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| These satellite pictures show the movement of the sandstorm. |
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| Here's what it looked like at 2PM in the afternoon in Lanzhou. Crazy! |
