Travel Blog #2: Introductions

Nî hâo! (Hello)

I just woke up (remember, it’s morning here) and I’m very hungry. I need to find some good food to eat! I came here with the idea that I’d probably lose weight because I’m so unfamiliar with the foods here and there were foods I was advised to not eat by the doctor, but something has to give. *sigh*

Day 2: yesterday was the first day of class. It was great! We have two classes a day, on most days: a morning and an afternoon session with a lunch break in between. In session one, we learned the Chinese alphabet, or “pinyin.” I learned my chinese name, which is Kē lā. My class is very diverse. We come from The USA, England, Poland, Germany, Ireland and a host of other places – it’s amazing!

For lunch, Veronica and I went to an eatery on campus. I got noodles again, and unfortunately I didn’t like it. I’ve learned that it’s difficult to eat some of the meals here because you just order chicken, beef or vegetables with noodles and they just throw other things in there and because I’m a picky eater and allergic to a lot of foods, that doesn’t work for me. BUT, I persevere in anything I put my mind to, so I will find a meal that’s tasteful to my pallet!

In our afternoon session, we learned a few useful Chinese phrases that’ll help us with ordering food or getting directions. After class, I took what should’ve been a short nap but turned into about four hours, causing me to miss dinner. I guess you can say I’m not quite adjusted to the time difference yet!

At about 10:00PM, I walked to the market with Veronica, and our English classmates who we’ve befriended (Inni, Damian, Stephen and Funsho). I got a few snacks and corn on the cob to attempt to hold me over.

Lastly, though unrelated to the trip, yesterday I received an email congratulating me as I’d been accepted into a Fellowship I applied to! It’s called the Next Generation Leadership Fellowship and it involves me speaking and putting on events on women’s rights – which I already do. I’m apart of the inaugural class and it’s through the National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, located in Washington, D.C. I’m so excited!

Well, it’s time to start my day, until tomorrow,

再见 (Bye)!

Kyla