Prequel to the trip

For the trip Madison was either carried on Sebrina's back or chest in this baby-holder contraption. Usually Sebrina had baby in front and hiker's backpack in back. She kept reminding herself out loud throughout the trip that she was crazy to be doing this journey into the countryside with a wee babe.





First we set off to Kunming city in Yunnan Province.
After we arrived we visited some old friends of Sebrina and Justin's from the year they lived there. One of the couples we saw were Hillary and Charles, a sweet older couple. These pictures are the view outside their back window. They practically live in a Tibetan temple!
So cool...

Back in Kunming

I'm back in Kunming after 10 days of traveling around Yunnan Province, staying in villages and accompanying my sister in law while she took pictures and studied the lifestyles of minorities.
It was quite the adventure.
I'll post a ton of pictures soon when we return to Beijing.

On the trip I realized how much having contact with family and friends means to me. I was really starting to feel isolated, but at the same time truly enjoying the time out there.


I'll write in the next few days...

to mom

hey,
I can't get gmail to work so I can't reply to your e-mail.

No worries about losing connection, I went to bed anyway.
And everything is fine now. I really shouldn't have mentioned anything anyway.

Wish us luck on our journey!

Talk to you soon,
love

farewell to blog

This is silly because I've already posted today, and only a little while ago...but I've been thinking and realizing what this trip is really going to entail.
The majority of our time will be spent in villages, sleeping in hostels, hotels or whatever we can find, and walking or busing to our destinations carrying what we've brought on our backs.
I probably won't use a computer for most of the time and probably won't have coffee to drink most of the time.
There won't be downloaded tv shows and movies to watch at night or music to listen to.
The only thing that will be familiar is Sebrina and Madison.

I've become addicted to this blogging business. Sadly it feels like a conversation I'm having with a friend who is a great listener. I'll miss it. Maybe I'll write my thoughts on paper with a writing utensil or something weird like that...

Blah.

So I didn't end up going to see the exhibit.
I turned out to have a big headache for the majority of the day and didn't want to go see art in that state, so I'll wait until we get back from the trip to see the show.

That's really all.
No news.

I'll post whenever I can.

Preview to our Journey

Starting Monday Sebrina, Madison, Shan Shan, and I are headed on an expedition.
It is literally a Journey to the West.

We're flying to Kunming, then traveling to a series of cities and villages. The projected stay in each location is 3 days. The trip will take approximately 20 days.
Sebrina is currently working on a Fulbright project where she is studying the housing styles of Chinese ethnic minorities. She already has students all around Yunnan province (where Kunming city is) who are collecting information, and this trip is so that she can get a firsthand perspective. She'll be taking architectural photos and meeting the people who live in some of the houses she's doing research on.
What's great about the trip is the ridiculous number of people going. Baby needs to go because she's still nursing. Shan Shan is going because she helps with baby, and she's a native Chinese speaker. I'm going because Sebrina is gracious and hopefully I can be of some help. Sebrina asked me to sketch the houses while we're there, so I'll give that a go. Anyway, that's four people, all needing places to stay, food to eat, and seats on buses.

Parts of the trip are going to be miserable, I'm sure, but I would hate to miss the adventure.

I don't know if I'll have internet access. If I don't I'll post when we get back to Beijing. If I do, well, I'll post pictures earlier than three weeks from now.

Also, before our trip I really want to get over to the 798 art district again because there's a show that just opened yesterday. In the description of the exhibition it said it has been designed in a 'playful' manner, with tunnels. I'll take pictures.

Alisha

I woke up this morning to an e-mail sent by my sister titled 'News.'
A title like that from her means it's something big.
And it was.

She and her boyfriend of several years are getting married. I'm stoked. They're two outgoing, fun people and they're going to be a dynamic duo, that's for sure.

Our family keeps getting bigger and bigger with new babies and marriages...when will it stop? nobody knows.