Saturday, July 23, 2011

June 11th: Cantonese and Baiyun Mountain (Rachel's Reflections)



Today was the second day of the Diabetes Conference. The featured speaker of the morning was from Hong Kong and was lecturing about self-monitoring of blood glucose. She began her lecture off in English, but switched to Cantonese about 10 minutes into it. So we got to hear a lot of Cantonese, but unfortunately could not understand any of it. It was still interesting to be a part of the conference.


We had heard that Baiyun Mountain was a must-see attraction in Guangzhou, so we decided to go climb it. This was our first adventure without a translator, and man did we feel lost!! I had definitely taken for granted our translators up until this point. Communication is hard without them! We took a taxi there because we could not figure out the bus system. We made it safe and sound!



The hike to the top of this mountain took a little under an hour. It was a good work out for our legs J The view from the top was incredible! At least what we could see of it… It was pretty cloudy and smoggy, so visibility was not great. Nevertheless, we got a great view of the city and of all of the beautiful greenery. It was worth the hike!

A young man approached us on the way down the hill and asked if we were American. He had learned English, and he was eager to practice it. How fortunate for us!! He was very intelligent and fun to talk to. He helped us figure out how to get home, so we boarded the bus (much cheaper than a taxi.. only 2 Yuan, which is approximately 30 cents) and headed back to Jinan University!

Anja, Laurelyn, and I met Jenny, Joy, and Sampson (Jenny’s boyfriend) for dinner. We were excited to see them again! We hadn’t seen Joy or Sampson since our first day in Guangzhou. For dinner, we went to the little noodle restaurant that Rachel had brought us to at the beginning of our trip. We couldn’t imagine not eating there again before we left! It was delicious, and super cheap! Jenny, Joy, and Sampson really enjoyed it too. We had a great time with them, but sadly this marked the beginning of our goodbyes. L We have grown so close to so many people here. I never want to leave them! I hate saying goodbye. I know I will see them again someday though.

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