TheBanyanTree: China - March 2009

[Pat M]

The Chinese believe that hard beds are good for your health so most beds in
China are comprised of only a thin (1 1/2 inch) cotton-filled pad on a
wooden base; box springs and mattresses are uncommon. I am fortunate because
the orphanage purchased a box spring for me. That and my thin sleeping pad
make a nice comfortable bed.

Toward the end of February, Pingguo temperatures skyrocketed and
light-weight cotton quilts replaced our bulky warm ones. A mat of bamboo
slats was put on top of every child’s bed to help them stay cool.  It got so
hot that I decided to try out a bamboo mat too. It was a pleasant surprise
to find that I was quite comfortable and the mat really did help me stay
cool.

The day Carol and I went on our shopping spree to prepare for her departure,
the sun beat down on us.  Carol told me she wanted to buy a gift for her
mother and asked me for suggestions.  I knew her mother had serious health
problems and couldn’t do much.

“What about a nice pillow?” I suggested.  I was thinking of the lovely silk
cushions I’d purchased as gifts for my family and friends before returning
to Canada last May. When we were passing a shop, Carol stopped to look at
some strange-looking hollow objects made of bamboo tiles. (They measure 15
inches long, 7 inches wide and 3 inches deep.)

“I’ll buy this pillow for my mother,” she said.

That was a pillow?  I’d never seen anything like it.

When we got back to the orphanage, Carol said, “This is for you. I trick
you. I only say it for my mother to know what you like.”

She handed me the wooden pillow.

“Thank you.  Thank you very much!” I said, wondering if I would ever get any
use out of it.

That night I discovered I liked my unique pillow. The tiles had some give in
them because they were put together with elasticized cord, and the pillow
worked much the same way as the bed mats; air circulation kept me cool.

At the end of February, I was still coughing but no longer felt sick. My
energy returned and for the first time in over a month I was able to play
with the children, but with the change in the weather, the bugs had come
out—scads of them.  I’d purchased a Frisbee and some rollers blades for the
kids and when I was outside playing, some children pointed above my head. At
first, I didn’t know what they meant and then I saw them—a thick cloud of
mosquitoes hovering over me that followed me wherever I went. In Canada,
mosquitoes don’t like me so it puzzled me.

That night I dug through my stuff to find my Avon Skin So Soft bath oil
which I’d heard kept away the bugs, as well as two bottles of Deet-based
insect repellent. At night, I plugged in my mosquito light (attracts and
zaps them) and began using an electrical appliance used in China that warms
insecticide tabs. I am living in a rural area and there is a possibility
(albeit remote) of contracting malaria, Japanese encephalitis and or other
insect-borne diseases, so I must be careful.

With the heat the black flies also arrived in swarms and buzzed around the
kitchen landing on the counter tops, the food, the cutting boards as well as
the tables in the dining room when we were eating.  If one left their bowl
unattended for just a moment, the flies would be on it. Fly paper was put
out and every day it caught hundreds of them but not nearly enough of them.
The flies also got into my bedroom. My door opens into the girls' dormitory,
and I like to leave it open for the children. There is no screen on the
outside door and the flies always seem to find their way into my room. I
have to cover my food and dishes with a towel.

I was just getting accustomed to the heat when there was another sudden
temperature change.  The temperatures had been in the mid-30s Celsius but
plummeted down to 10 Celsius.  I’d stored my winter clothing in a box in
another building, but I had retrieve it.  And we all had to remove our bed
mats and change our quilts again.

Since early March there have been many grey days and the occasional
downpour.  The climate here is sub-tropical monsoonal; when it rains, it
comes down in buckets and batters the red-clay earth. Peter told me that the
flooding was very bad last year. I can’t help but wonder what will happen
this year and whether there are safety issues. Luckily the orphanage and
school aren’t near a hillside. About half a mile away, an entire hillside
collapsed.

These days, the villagers have harnessed their water buffalo and are tilling
the rice paddies.  The fields around the orphanage are terraced, and a
network of ditches leading off the river supplies water to them. The farmers
have opened some channels allowing water to flood sections of them.  The
workers, both men and women, are knee-deep in mud planting rice from first
light to dusk. In four to six weeks, the rice seedlings will be
transplanted.

The green-colored river next to the orphanage is the source of life in this
rural area. I find it intriguing because there is such an abundance of plant
life and water creatures in it. It has fresh-water clams (some very large),
fresh-water shrimp, eels (the kids caught one in the irrigation ditch
running through the orphanage), several varieties of fish as well as small
crabs. Our ditch is mostly used for washing vegetables, dishes and clothes,
but the children like to stand next to it with homemade nets to see what
they can catch. I’m from the west coast of Canada where many small crabs
hide beneath the rocks on the shore. Similar crabs are found in the murky
water here but the Chinese cook them until crisp and eat them whole like
potato chips.

It is spring and every few days, a different variety of butterfly visits the
flowering plants at the orphanage. Some of them are magnificent, and there
are so many of them. If the children aren't having any luck at the ditch,
they chase butterflies with their nets.  Three trees that looked bedraggled
when I first arrived are now in bloom and look quite beautiful. Until their
leaves turned red, I hadn’t realized they are poinsettia trees.  Their
brilliant red leaves are what are drawing the butterflies en masse.

These days, I am teaching English at the orphanage every evening during the
school week. I also teach four classes for Endurance Language School on
Saturdays to make a little pocket money.  I spend a lot of time creating
interesting, fun lesson plans--too much time but I can never do things in
half measures. If I am going to teach, then I want to be the best teacher I
can be. I bought a laminator and had the orphanage's color printer repaired.
I've been enjoying making colorful flash cards, reference sheets and other
worksheets for my students.

Life is simple; life is good, but sometimes I feel a little lonely...
*****

Check out my latest photos at
http://picasaweb.google.com/Ms.Pat.Martin/Pingguo#