It’s been a few weeks here in Jishou, and today was the first day I actually explored this city. Alyssa, Miriam, Sofia and I rushed this morning to meet Jessica, Reuben, and Nick at a bakery. After enjoying some delicious iced mocha cappuccino, we set for the park. Little did we know we would find a crowd of old people, girls playing drums, and paddle boats! Reuben, Alyssa, Jessica and I rented a boat that, according to Reuben, was made out of two ducks. Nothing beats a Saturday morning like riding two ducks down a green river with an animal’s rotting corpse floating nearby. Very good times.

But wait, there’s more. The boat ride ends, and we find ourselves in the middle of the park taking pictures with the elderly and dancing with them. After that little adventure, we walked and walked through a different part of the city. All in all, it was a very relaxing afternoon.

I can’t publish this post until I talk about the students. There is one student in particular who I connected with this week. He allowed me to step into his mind and see through his eyes. We treated each other like brothers. We shared a feeling of unspoken gratitude one day. I’ll spare the details here, but what I can say is that every day something in me changes. I don’t like change, but even that itself is changing.

-Christian