MORE ABOUT OUR ARRIVAL

Hello all....... Here it is Monday, Jul 3, 2006. Susie and Cindy are out shopping.... what a surprise! Ben is taking one of the Peruvian team members back to the doctor today. Be thinking of him... he may have to have an appendectomy.

Thankfully it is not too hot here since we have no AC. The daytime temp reaches about 80 degrees in the apartment. At night it cools down to about 65-70.

China is beautiful.... farming on terraces everywhere. Green valleys, mountains, and rivers are abundant. The day we arrived in Linxia (by the way, we are in Linxia city, Linxia Prefecture, Gansu Province of China) we first drove to a Folk Music Event near Linhua Mtn about 35 miles from Linxia. The event features the Hua'er Folk Music of this region. There were thousands of people walking (many were singing as they walked) up the mountains and hills to a mountaintop area where they all gathered to sing this music. It was a very cultural experience. Most significant to us was the fact that Ben, Susie, and I were the only Americans among all these people. Everyone stared at us as we walked along with them. In America, when someone is looking at you and you look at them they usually lookaway. Not so here..... they keep looking and looking and laughing and talking. You know you are the center of attention. Ben overheard one person saying, "Hey look, there is an American". Ben tapped the guy on the shoulder and said "Yeah, and there is one behind you too!" Obviously the guy didn't know that Ben understood him. We saw another group of people in the crowd where one guy was singing the Hua'er music (sounds similar to a Middle Ages chant). We got as close as we could so I could video him. After a few moments, Ben said we need to move on because we had become the focus of everyone... not the guy singing the chant.

With every gone, I am alone in the apartment with Gabriel. He is sound asleep. By the way, the picture is of the region close to the Folk Music event.