Last days of Jianghua

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Songs I had never heard them sing.

As we stepped back from our daily routines the light shone more brightly in the student's eyes. Mine had experienced their first foreign teacher. For many the first foreigner they had ever seen. Keren's had had many before but upon leaving shared with her that she had been their favorite. Through their teenage facade she had put her heart out there and gave them all she had and in the end I think they knew that. Mine had not learned that the foreign teachers will come and go like the tide that we are there only for a short while in their long school days. The respite we gave them from their otherwise wrote memorization was not always as welcomed as the known sit and stare blankly method of many of their other classes. These our first classes will be in my memory for the rest of my life. The first days of my fear with the many days of their fear. That fear of standing up and trying something different and new only because it is. That is what we were a glimpse of something different in hopes that it would spark a few like Berry, Sophia and Kelly who I am sure will go on to excel in whatever they do and take a little bit of that English with them. For many others we will be a memory from when they went to school and saw a foreigner.

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Photos

mummys of halloween
Halloween Party

rooster in a bag
It is common to buy live chickens to take home for dinner

Ornate concrete windows
Very common decoration for windows is the concrete design form. There were many forms this was one of my favorites.

Tree farm
Here they scar the tree and hang a bag to collect pine sap.

Baby back bundles
Babies are wrapped up then tied on with a length of fabric

Street scene
Motorcycles and man man yos are the common town transport. A man man yo is 3 wheel motorcycle with a bench seat and inclosure.

Muslim lamb kabob vendor
Cooked on open coals in a grill that looks like an I-beam a muslim grills lamb kabobs. Not as common in our area but this man and a few others would come out just after dusk to make up this spicy treat.

Landscapers
They were putting in a new garden behind our house. Here they are very thoughtfully placing river stones in concrete to create a pathway.