Pneumonia or Emphazema??? (sorry for the spelling errors…Microsoft Word is in Chinese on this computer) We really did have to ask ourselves that question while on our 19 hour bus ride back to our meeting place in China. The Chinese love their Cigarettes!! It was either breathing in tons of smoke (Emphazema) or opening the window, allowing 10 degree wind to blow in our faces (Pneumonia). We definitely opted for pneumonia knowing there is a cure…but it was a tough decision.
Stefan, Estee, Anna Marie, Christian (our translator who doesn’t speak much English) and I (TEAM NOODLE) really enjoyed our time together in our little “Tibetian Paradise.” We arrived in our little city and were greeted by 30 Tibetians who can stare really WELL!!! I felt their eyes tearing into my flesh! We finally found a hotel, after a great search. The three girls shared a room and the two boys shared a room. The rooms had beds, smelly blankets, a heater (if you want to call it that), and a window.
Down the hall there was a beautiful bathroom. I am exaggerating!!! This bathroom smelt so bad. Too bad to even describe….but I will try. It smelled like 20 teenage boys who have worn the same socks for a month while running in a dirty swamp everyday! I don’t even think that description does this bathroom justice. I am serious! I stuffed toilet paper in each nostril before I even entered the hall to the bathroom. I did what I needed to do in there and then RAN back to my room. Everyone must have thought I was crazy. All the while, I am thinking they are NUTS for not stuffing toilet paper in their nose.
Besides the hotel not being anything like the Ritz (which I have never stayed in…just for the record), our town was wonderful. We toured a Monestary, talked to some Tibetians, met a cop (Robert), taught some teenagers English, watched Monks play pool on the side of the road (interesting), and prayed A LOT!! We did all that in a day and a half!
I really enjoyed my time in “Tibetian Paradise”. Thank you for your prayers while I have been in China. We are leaving tomorrow on a 36 hour train ride to Hong Kong. The American’s are going to Macao while the South Africans are going to stay in Hong Kong (flight differences). We then go to Bankok and have a few days of rest (which is NEEDED by all). After Bankok, we are going to the BEACH!! Sounds like rest, but we will be helping the victims of the “big wave”. I am hoping to spend some quality time with my Uncle, Aunt and my little cousin who will be in Thailand the same time as me. Please continue to keep me and the other world racers in your prayers. The massive amounts of travel we have and will undergo has been tough on all of us.
Thank you!!! Love, Kim
ps. If you have any April Fools jokes for me to play on my friends….let me know!!!
