it's worth it

Here are a few pictures of YB, one of our foster babies.  What a difference one month can make - you can tell just by looking at his arms in the two pictures of him lying on the bed.  How amazing and wonderful it is to see such change.  This is what makes it worth it!

THEN

NOW!

New families

We've had two new additions to our foster care program recently!

Meet JH - he is a 12 month old boy who has been with his new foster family for a little under a month now.  He had a surgery done on his esophagus and trachea (breathing tube) when he was younger and has had trouble gaining weight ever since.  We're hoping to help him grow with increased nutrition and lots of TLC!

And here is YB! (Sorry, this hospital picture is the only picture I have of him right now...I'll post another the next time I see him.)  YB is a 10 month old boy with Down's syndrome.  He also was not gaining much weight at the orphanage, and has now been with his foster family for about one month.  He was recently admitted to the hospital because he had a respiratory infection and needed oxygen, and just left the hospital a few days ago.

USMiLE

Gas stations like these are dotted throughout the city, and seeing one always makes me think back to the days of studying for the USMLE Step 1 board exam.  All medical students are required to take a 3 part board exam, called the USMLE.  In my opinion, the first part, or Step 1, is the most grueling and painful of all three tests.  Our medical school dean frequently gave us pep talks, or "USMiLE" talks to boost optimism and enthusiasm for studying for the Step 1 exam.  I'm not sure if they made me any more enthusiastic to study...but I passed!

train of thought...

Just thought I'd share with you a train of thought I had the other day...click on the links to see the other blurbs.

Most people work 6 days a week over here, and work the entire weekend if there is a holiday during the week.  We're in the midst of two holidays back-to-back right now, and many of the weekends surrounding these two holidays have been busy with work.  However, not all the days missed for holiday are being made up - 4 weekend days are given to work, but we are getting 8 days off for the holidays.  It's confusing, I think.  So I just go along with what I'm told by our staff...and make sure that my phone is always available, in case I miss a work day!

Our two holidays that we are celebrating are the Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Holiday (equal to our Fourth of July).  The National Holiday is based on the Western calendar, so it is always during the first week of October.  However, the Mid-Autumn Festival is according to the Lunar calendar, which is dependent on the phases of the moon.  This means that the Mid-Autumn Festival can occur as early as August or as late as October.  Also confusing, right?

Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival is based on the Lunar calendar and occurs when the moon is at its roundest or fullest.  There are many stories and legends surrounding this day, with the most popular and well-known one about a beautiful young woman and a warrior prince.  They meet, fall in love, and for various reasons depending on which version you get, they get separated.  The young woman ends up on the moon, while the warrior prince remains on earth.  They are only allowed to meet in person once a year, which is the Mid-Autumn Day.

Today, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time to gather with family and friends.  Since the moon is round and never ending, it symbolizes the relationships we have with our loved ones as a circle of friends/family as everlasting.  In celebration, people will go home to be with family and eat moon cakes, which are pastries filled with various items, such as fruit, egg yolk, dates, meat.  It's like the equivalent of our fruit cakes.  Certain fruits are also popular during this time, such as grapes, fresh dates, and pears.  Everyone at work this year were given moon cakes and either a box of pears or a canister of cooking oil.  The actual Mid-Autumn Day for this year was September 22nd.

The moon on September 22nd!

Moon cakes

Moon cakes

My box of pears.  These pears are small and round, and known to last longer than typical pears.

A city called NongCun

Another name for the Lunar calendar is Nong Li.  Nong is the same word used to express rural areas - words such as farmer, farming, countryside, all have the word nong in it...which brings me to a story about one of my first language lessons.

Nongcun was one of the first words I learned shortly I arrived.  It means countryside, but for a long time, I thought it was the name of a city.  Being unfamiliar with the local area and its surrounding cities, when people told me that they were from "nongcun", I automatically assumed they were talking about another city.  It wasn't until I was chatting with my ayi (or helper) about her hometown that my ignorance came to light.  She mentioned that she wanted to show me her hometown which was in the countryside, or nongcun.  And so I responded with an enthusiastic, "Yeah, I've heard of that place!  How far is it from our city?"  And I got a funny look from her, a repeat of the same conversation, and another funny look.  After some charades, I got it.  Nongcun - the countryside, any countryside, all countrysides.  NOT a city.