I never thought I would ever write that it is too warm in April, but this last week and some have had temperatures bordering on 90’F and lots of sun. This is quite unusual for Anshun we hear, but it meant lots of time outdoors followed by time recouping. I guess we are not yet accustomed to this weather as it saps our energy quickly. We did get in some activities though in lew of the heat. On Friday, some students invited us out for a bike ride and picnic. This is a big event, as they bought food at three different places and brought it to cut and cook at our house. We weren’t quite sure what it was or if we would like it as each of the ingredients were of our least favorite foods: it included a vegetable that is used as medicine everywhere else but here (very bitter), xiangcai (cilantro), kelp or seaweed, green onions, and pickled baicai (cabbage). We put it together and wrapped them in dumpling wraps to make spring rolls. The crazy thing is that with lajiao (hot peppers) it tastes pretty good.

So we rented our bikes (3 kuai per hour) and headed out towards some place we did not know. The bike riding was uneventful, except for the fact that the bikes are really, really short. It was quite a new feeling to being crammed into something that feels like it is for a 10 year old. Maybe, we will need to buy a bike if we are planning on going more often. We made it safely to an amusement park type place mainly for kids. We found a place to eat and spread out our load of food (enough for 10 people—we had seven). We ate our fill and had enough energy to walk around the park area where there were abundant flowers and pear trees (they are quite beautiful).

On Saturday, Patty was planning on going to her student’s hometown and I had lots of correcting. About 5 minutes after she left, she called and now I was going too. They wanted another guy to accompany our friend Neil (there were 5 girls). We ended up traveling to Yunfeng, it is one of the old forts (over 400 years old) that were created by the military from the north when they were afraid of the minorities of the south during the time of Columbus. We call these areas Tunpu’s today and the people still live very similarly today. They dress in the same Ming Dynasty clothing and most are still farmers in the same villages. It turns out Susan’s family is a descendent of the original military who stayed in the area.

It was a 40 minute bus ride from Anshun, but some of the roads were pretty non-existent and bumpy, but well worth it. The village was really interesting to see. That day, they were just starting to plant rice. People where out in their high boots and sitting on chairs planting the small rice plants one at a time, while the young boys were flooding the fields. The men were plowing other fields with their water buffalo, so it was full of activity. The children (mainly young girls) were left with nothing to do, so we provided the excitement. They followed us everywhere. The student’s family provided tons of food when we arrived, enough for a small army. After eating, they wanted Patty to try on the Tunpu clothing to take some pictures. This was super exciting for the women and children. You will have to check out the pictures on Flickr. Many people came to see the blond girl in the Tunpu clothing.

After all that excitement, we headed out for a walk to the top of a mountain a mile away. At the top is a temple, after climbing the 969 steps. The view was well worth every step. You could see for miles with mountains and fields surrounding us. The fields are still full of the yellow youcai plants (about a month more and they will extract the canola oil). We ended the day walking through village after village in the area, before getting on a bus exhausted and ready for bed.

On Sunday, we rested a little and at night we had our Open House. Students were excited to see some pictures from home and our travels, and then we taught them to play Cribbage. We thought maybe it would be too difficult, but they caught on quickly, so maybe we will have a few more Cribbage games. Today, the senior students returned from their teaching practice with great excitement and little desire to be students again. It was a tough class, but they will only be here for a month more before graduating.

There are two more competitions the next couple of weeks. Maybe my competitive side will come out. The first is a ping pong competition for the area, so maybe hundreds of people will take part. The second is a cooking competition—I do not think I will take part, but I did volunteer to be a judge. One of my students will come and practice at our house tomorrow night, so that will be fun. We wish you many blessings in all you are doing. Another interesting note, Patty’s picture made it onto one of the huge boards of pictures as you enter the college. It is a small 10 X 14 picture of her signing a poster for World AIDS Day. It is fun being married to someone famous. Anyway, we send you some of the warm weather and lots of love.