We had a couple of good-bye parties and activities. We only went to two of them as the last one was held in a bar and we didn't think it was a good idea to take the kids there. We had to miss out on barbecue that night (sigh).
The last, but most important person for Aolani is her friend Joey. Joey is 9. She's the daughter of one of the American teachers here and she is also our neighbor. They played together almost every day for the past 9 months. They've formed quite a friendship, and I was truly sad for Aolani. For her part, Aolani has not been upset or cried about it yet. Maybe it will just be one of those things where it doesn't hit home for a while, or maybe she's truly okay with the situation. I know that she will miss Joey alot though. All the children here have moved away and it's just our two kids left. That's a bit sad for all of them.
Cyprus isn't too heartbroken about the situation because they were all girls. He often felt excluded by them, so he's okay with them leaving. I think that for him, this is a good thing because he can get his playmate back. He and Aolani have been at odds ever since she formed a relationship with the other girls here. I hope that they can be friendly with each other once more.
We haven't only been saying good-bye to people, but we've been saying good-bye to the streets and homes around us. The city is going through some major restructuring and the resulting images are pretty sad. We took a few pictures while we were out exploring the area last weekend.
We gave up the hunt and decided to search for some summer time clothes for Cyprus. It has been so easy to get girl clothes here, but there seems to be very few boy clothing shops. Mark told us that there's a street that sells cheap clothes near the underpass of the train station. We've been there once or twice, but it was winter then. We decided to give it another go. Once we got there, we found that there were indeed a lot of clothing for boys, but the style is very Chinese. The pants all have elastic bands at the waist and the bottom of the legs. The shorts come down to the ankle and are very puffy around the hip area or are super skin tight. After some searching, we found some nice shorts, but the price was ridiculous because they were fake Nike shorts. We ended up buying some shorts for 30 yuan each. The lady really liked me and gave me a discount even after she said the shorts couldn't be discounted. I had several of the on-lookers laughing as I was haggling with a bit of humor. I really didn't think the old lady would agree to my price because she never said yes or no. She just took my money and gave me back change which was correct for the amount I'd haggled for.
I'm off track now...My point is that while we were out, we found a new place where the homes were being torn down. At first, we thought some disaster had happened, maybe a flood or an earthquake or something. We just kind of stood there staring at it. We saw semi-destroyed homes, carts with furniture in them, televisions sitting on the side of the road, it was just really sad. People were digging through the rubble and loading their trucks up with whatever items they could find. We found one girl who had tied her dog up under a rubbish pile. She was sitting on a beat-up couch right on the edge of the street. It was all very strange.
The rumor is that these people were all given several years' notice about this. Every 10 years or so, the government destroys and rebuilds areas in each city. This gives people jobs for a year or two, forces others to spend money trying to relocate, and really doesn't help with the economy at all. It happened while we were in Jingzhou, so I guess this place is no different. Even though these people had notice, it really appeared that they were not ready for this situation. We walked down several blocks and it all looked just like the above pictures. |
Eventually, we became tired of walking and we caught a taxi home. The trip home was a very long one. We saw devastation and destruction most of the way. Shops in areas where we always go were being torn up or were already vacated. Stray clothing lined the floors, yellow caution tape draped across doorways, and the demolition was underway. In some ways, it's sad for us too. A lot of times this situation affects us too. It's very difficult as foreigners who don't speak the language well to adjust to the life here. Once we find a place that is foreigner friendly and that allows us to shop, eat, or rest without being ogled, we tend to make that place a part of our lives. In some ways it's sort of like finding a place where you can just take a deep breath and let it all out. I become to think of the waitresses there as cousins or aunties. They know us, we know them, and despite the language barrier we are able to communicate. There are few places like that in China besides our apartment. It's slightly devastating to go out to your favorite place to eat and find that it's not there. Sure, that may seem shallow, but when you consider that there are only 3 restaurants on our street, and only one of those three has a waitress who understands our Chinese and keeps the people from taking pictures of us while we're eating dinner, then maybe you can see where we're coming from. It takes weeks and sometimes months to explore every nook and cranny in order to find comfortable, safe, and clean places to eat, shop, or just hang out. Many times we never find those places, so when we do, the businesses and the people who own them hold a special place in our hearts.
Of course, our own small loss is nothing compared to the people who are losing their homes or businesses. For them, they must start over from scratch. I couldn't imagine starting over in this country. It's no consolation to them, but I really do sympathize. As I look at the devastation caused on these streets, I find it hard to hold back the tears. I know what it's like to not have a home, or to not know how you're going to start over again. I understand that much. I hope that all of you will join us in lifting these people up to the Father. Though it's no hurricane, earthquake, or other natural disaster, it's still a disaster.