Here in the ARCC office it is officially SUMMER! We may go by a different schedule than the rest of the world. Yesterday we welcomed three of our leaders who are leaving for China, TODAY.

Seasoned leaders, Sophia W, David M, and Pete R, spent all day getting equipment, making journals, going over all the details of their upcoming trip with Pacific Ridge to China. The three will fly to China today and meet up with Max C. who will also be leading our first summer trip. The group will have one week to further prepare before meeting the Pac Ridge students and teachers!

Goodbye to our China leaders and Hello to SUMMER!

Well the journey is quickly coming to a close – we are have the next two nights in Beijing and have realized that it is not nearly enough time to see and do all that the city has to offer.  Our plan is to do what the ARCC students do in 2.5 days in about half that time – I think we can do it.  We’ll be on a whirlwind tour of Beijing – seeing the parks and Tiananmen square in the early hours (hope to catch the flag raising) the spend the day at the Great Wall and the rest of the time checking out the hotels/restaurants for the groups.  Will be a busy schedule but then we have a 12 hour flight to sleep on!

Here are some pictures from our time in Shangri-La and Tibet….stories to follow when there is more time.  I am not usually a plane photo-taker, but the views flying to/from Lhasa were incredible….as you can see.

It’s true when they say the food in China is not the same as Chinese food that we are used to eating in the US.  I admittedly was nervous about this before heading over to China, as I am one who really enjoys food and did not really know what to expect – all of those concerns were quickly laid to rest as I have had some amazing food all over China. A few highlights include:

• Steamed dumplings for breakfast – filled with veggies and egg…. like a breakfast burrito but Chinese style, yum!
• Just about every type of vegetable dish you can imagine – spicy shitake mushrooms with eggplant, tofu with tomato, egg with tomato, spicy snow peas
• Fried rice – one of my favorites in the states…is way better here!
• Fresh Walnut bread (sort of like a Dunkin Donut munchkin with a walnut inside)
• Lots of pickled vegetables – they are super healthy (good for digestion) and people here eat them with most meals

I could probably write about food all day – but I am off to visit some parts of Shangri La – the Tibetan area in the southwest.  Here our students will work to help a small village in Napa Lake to create the tourism infrastructure they need in order to give the local families a source of income.  These families don’t have much in the way of land so they are not able to grow their own food or make money from the land, so the hope for the village is to make it an environmental protected area that attracts tourists (mostly on bicycle).   

One other quick note about the Tiger Leaping Gorge hike – it is AMAZING!  Some of the most scenic views I have seen in my lifetime.  See some photos from the hike.

The journey to Zhaoxing from Chengyang Dong was an incredible drive through the mountains  – passing villages so small that if I had even closed my eyes for a moment I would not have known that we passed by another one.   Despite it seeming like we were in a place where few people lived, there were always people working in the fields each time I looked out the window – if not working they were walking to work, carrying buckets of water, bundles of freshly harvested vegetables and a metal tool with which they do their work.  Often the heavy loads were precariously balancing on a large pole over their shoulder.  The work ethic here is strong and even in the rainy conditions people were outside doing the day’s work – which also seemed to involve a long walk from their village.

The quaint Dong village town of Zhaoxing is a maze of small streets and walkways, each alleyway with vibrant colors of artisan crafts or a vendor selling their delicacy. The small village is surrounded by a number of even smaller villages and I was thrilled to have the chance to visit several schools to determine where our service work is most needed this summer.  In June, our Pacific Ridge students will be working on building part of a playground for a primary school in the mountains; we will also be planting trees in the schoolyard.  Of course the students will also be helping the local students with their English through lessons, games and activities.  I have no doubt that the students will be a huge hit for the kids – they were very excited to meet me and of course wanted their pictures taken, this time they were not as interested in having me in the picture, they just liked to pose for the camera and then immediately come running over to see the digital image on the screen. 

Our time in the small village was somewhat limited as we had to get to Yangshou and explore all that this charming town has to offer.  The amazing landscape here is full of huge rock formations jutting out from the land, there are several rivers that intersect and the scene is really quite breathtaking. 

Off to the Yunnan Province…next update to include details on the culinary differences in the regions I have visited, and perhaps some insights into my favorite foods thus far (I think it will be hard to choose – lots of great food here!)

In Chengyang Dong I got my first glimpse at what life as a celebrity must be like, more on that in a moment.  Michael and I spent the early part of the afternoon walking around and exploring the villages surrounding his home village – there are 8 different villages that make up the area where he lives.  Each village has about 1000 people living in it and all of the people are from the Dong Minority – I noticed Michael talking with the other villagers in a different type of tone and assumed that it was a dialect to the region, however I was then informed that it is actually an entire different language  – called Dong language, Michael speaks this, Mandarin and English! 

The Dong people have many of their own traditions and customs including all of the weddings of the village taking place over the course of 5 days, starting on the last day of the year and concluding on the 4^th day of the new year.   Each wedding lasts for the duration of the 5 days and includes many different celebrations, animal offerings, processions and traditional song and dance.  Sounds like an incredible time to visit and Michael invited me to come back to witness this sometime in the future – I hope I am able to take him up on that someday.

Okay, so back to being a celebrity – we made our way to the Drom Tower in the village, which is the central meeting square and a symbol of the Dong people.    Michael had told me we were going to see a dance – at the square were many of the local people dressed in their traditional attire and carrying traditional wooden instruments, at first it seemed as though I was the only one there for the dance, but then a group of students from outside of Shanghai arrived.  The dance began with beautiful music and fluid movement and when the people stopped to take a break, the students slowly moved closer to me, saying “hello” “how are you?” and other basic English phrases.  As I responded and smiled one young girl pulled out her camera and asked to take a picture with me, I said of course and before I knew it,  about 20 cameras were out and each student was running in to be in the picture.  It was quite the scene that lasted for the next several minutes and at each break in the dance that followed.  I gave my camera to a student to be included in the hype – you can see the excitement in all of us in the photos.  After the dance concluded and we continued walking around the villages, I was consistenty greeted with “hello” and a smile or a giggle.    Okay so maybe celebrity-dom is a little different than that, but it sure felt like it for a few minutes!

See the photos!

One of our ARCC staffers, Ellery, is off on an adventure in China.  She reports in for us below!

I have made it out of the hectic Chinese cities and into the countryside – it is beautiful!  Our day started out with a 4 hour drive from Guilin (I had flown there last night from Shanghai) to Chengyang Dong – the home village of our local guide Michael.  Michael is great – he is filled with knowledge about China and especially his home province Guangxi.  The drive through the mountains was incredible – with terraced rice fields abound – the fog settling over the hills made it similar to the postcard you always imagine from this rice farming part of the world. I have learned a few things about rice so far in my travels.

Turns out – not everything planted in those terraces is rice!  There is actually a significant amount of green tea as well.  The rice requires a lot of water and not all of the areas are able to produce as much as is necessary so they have found another crop that works well in that environment. In addition to being a tour guide, Michael is a rice farmer as well as the owner of the guesthouse where our groups will stay this summer. When asking him about his rice production he says that they only sell a small amount of the rice they produce, knowing that he has a lot of land, I was surprised and asked him why.  His answer was that the rice is mostly for his family – he said the average per person consumption of rice is half a kilo per day – that is over a pound of rice per person per day!  I am not sure that I have reached that intake yet, but with rice porridge for breakfast and rice for lunch, I think I am getting close…we shall see. 

View from Ellery's hotel in China

The last three days the Chinese people celebrated the Qing Ming which is the day to remember the ancestors who have passed on. There are many different traditions associated with this holiday including the burining of paper artifacts made to resemble real life  items, such as money, computers, food, etc. Picture little replicas made out of lightweight cardboard.  The sentiment is that by making this offering, the spirit of those who have passed on will be able to enjoy these items in the afterlife. There are also a lot of firecrackers that go off when burning these items.  We saw many people on the hillside doing just that – it was a nice way to remember the importance of honoring those who have passed on, regardless of the way in which it is done.

Next stop in the village is to meet the students who we will teach English to this summer – will share stories from the introduction and hopefully pictures soon.

Adventures Cross Country received this essay from Jessica Aronson for our Summer of a Lifetime essay contest and we were all moved by her essay and thought you would be too!

I was a blur of color as I flailed my arms wildly in my fluorescent tie-dyed t-shirt and traditional floral sarong, attempting to follow the angelic Thai dancers. I longed to master their smooth movements and gentle twirls, but continued to stumble as my feet wove and twisted in an attempt to imitate the complicated steps. My inability to understand the beautiful dancing custom distanced me from the culture, as I felt completely lost. However, as we danced throughout the night, my perspective of our differences was transformed, allowing me to cross the bridge of cultures.

On our last night at Kenoi, a tranquil Thai hill tribe where I spent a week volunteering with a dozen American teenagers, the villagers planned a celebration full of traditional Thai dances. My companions and I climbed the splintering wooden steps to a small plateau, where the ceremony was held, and were guided to dusty lawn chairs, surrounded by dozens of villagers sitting on the damp grass. I felt like we were royalty, perched on thrones as we were presented with various embellished Thai outfits from each of the tribes. I watched the villagers on the floor, whose piercing black eyes stared curiously back, and was disturbed by the sense of superiority that came with the privilege of sitting in the plastic chair.

As we observed each tribe demonstrate their unique traditional dances, I led the bravest of my group to the center of the verdant dance floor to join the heavenly performers. I much preferred being a part of the Thai culture than watching from a distance, even if it meant dancing as ridiculously as my eight-year old brother on Christmas morning.  However, despite my former incompetence in mastering the various wrist-flicks and toe-taps, I became relatively skilled in the art of Thai dancing after the third performance. As I copied the elegant moves of the Thai goddesses, I observed the Americans and Thais absorbing the exuberance of the evening, and began to realize the parallels between our cultures’ simple pleasures. I could see the common unbridled joy for dancing and laughing as I spun throughout the crowd. Each step I danced led me across the cultural bridge, refining my understanding of our similarities.

After the sophisticated dances of the experienced women, fifteen of the village orphans presented a simpler performance. While the adult dances were calming, filled with fluid motions perfectly paced with the soft ripple of a deep drum, the orphans twirled with enthusiasm and energy. They hopped around the field, watching each other for clues as to what move was next. As I joined them, I was reminded of my kindergarten ballet recitals: a mob of carefree children prancing around joyously, not caring about where they were going. Suddenly, Zai, a shy Thai girl dressed in grungy, checkered shorts and a faded, threadbare sweatshirt, grasped my hand. I looked across the matted lawn, and watched as a multicultural chain of Americans and villagers linked together, holding each other’s hands and moving in unison to the vivacious beat. The performance had evolved from pleasant entertainment to a stimulating celebration of cultures, sparking unity between the seemingly incomparable worlds. At that moment we were one; we laughed from the euphoria of each other’s company, and cheered when anyone joined the circle of diversity. I, an American freckle-faced teenager, whose comfortable life and family had prepared her well for a successful future, was connected with those who had spent their whole lives in cramped bamboo huts. I had finally crossed the bridge of cultures, and was completely enthralled by our countless similarities. ~ Jessica Aronson

Sarah Dutton was one of our entries for our Summer of a Lifetime essay contest and we thought her essay was definitely worth a read!  Sarah was an alumni of our 31-day blue water adventure to Tahiti, Fiji and New Zealand last summer – she actually wrote this essay for her college applications.  Good luck to you, Sarah!  We think any college would be lucky to have you!  Read on and see why we thought this essay was noteworthy…

Sarah Dutton
Common Application Essay

I was in the ocean halfway around the world with fifteen people I had known for only nine days trying to breathe underwater. What the heck was I thinking?! I had a history of panic attacks and hyperventilation problems. I had just spent three long days in a hot classroom watching cheesy videos about scuba diving. I had seen children, teenagers, and adults frolicking underwater and diving like life was one, big, happy underwater picnic. But when placed into the situation myself, infamous butterflies fluttered into my stomach.

We drove to the dive site, and before I knew it almost everyone was ready to go. I rushed to get my equipment together as the nerves built up in my stomach. One of our instructors came over to help me get ready faster. He motioned for me to sit on the side of the boat and flip over backward to enter the water. I gave him my best “you have got to be kidding me” look. He ignored the look completely and flipped me over the side of the boat. I rushed up for air like a child learning how to swim. I’ll never forget the first time I breathed underwater. Breathing was so much harder than I thought it was going to be! Breathing in takes more effort than one would think, and breathing out is simply blowing bubbles, which threw me off completely because it was so different. And of course, the whole time I kept thinking to myself, “Don’t panic! You’ll hyperventilate and die!” which was the basic message I had gotten from the videos. As everybody rushed to go down, I reluctantly stayed on the surface and came up with reasons to get back on the boat.

As always when faced with extreme challenges, I began having an internal conversation with myself– the angel and devil on your shoulder kind of thing. I started comforting myself, telling myself that feeling uncomfortable wasn’t my fault; scuba diving was a strange, new, and potentially dangerous activity that I wasn’t familiar with. I didn’t have to scuba dive; in fact, there are tons of people in the world who choose not to! But the other part of me began yelling at that part, saying I was making excuses for myself and telling me to get over it.

Well, this battle lasted all day and actually went into the night when I recorded the day’s activities in my journal. “It’s just stressful being underwater because I love air so much. I just want to be able to do it. I have to. I HAVE to! Blah. It’s just so hard to breathe that it’s not fun, you know? I’m going to try harder tomorrow. I’m going to try harder and succeed tomorrow. I can do it.” ……Jeez woman, make up your mind!

Well, I had never conquered a challenge like this before. Prior to diving, I knew there was a pretty promising possibility of not earning my scuba certification, and I was okay with that. I thought to myself, “As long as I try, that’s all that matters.” I would have been okay with not scuba diving. But I realized that I didn’t want to be just “okay” with a decision. I didn’t want to try one day, have breathing be hard, and give up. Not earning my certification could have been enough, and usually it would have been enough, but this time I decided I was not going to let it be enough.

Day 11, July 8, 2009: The group dive. Today was the last day of our Fijian scuba-diving experiences. We sailed out to the middle of the ocean with nothing but a fantastic blue all around us. People began getting their gear on and flipping backward into the water. I flipped into the water and started tensing up. I could feel my breath shortening. The fear swarmed back into my body; I didn’t think I could do it. Again the internal conflict began: “I tried, I really did, but I just can’t do this. Some people can’t scuba dive, and it’s okay that I’m one of those people.” But that other part of me fought back with all its might. “No! Not this time! I need to scuba dive! I need to prove to myself that I can do this! I need to take this challenge and I need to conquer this fear. Never in my life have I done something like this before, and who knows when I will get the opportunity again. I need to do this to prove to myself that even when I’m sure I can’t, I can.”

And so guess what? I did. I descended down that rope and I went nineteen meters underwater.  I did it. I have never felt prouder than I did during those forty-five minutes. Scuba diving that day was a great accomplishment, and I hope it is the first of many. Now I know that when all hope is lost, when fear has overwhelmed my body, and when I’m sure that I can’t, I can. Thank goodness I tried again.

Always wanted to go to Europe but in a different way than traditional sightseeing?  Do we have the trip for you!  Our 28 day Southern Europe Multi-Sport adventure begins with a visit to the Parthenon and the Coliseum in Rome and kayaking around the Elba islands.  You will then backpack through the rolling hills of Tuscany to classic Italy, Cinque Terre.  From there, incredible whitewater rafting adventures in the Alps lead you to the highest peak in Europe, Mont Blonc.  Our  Southern Europe adventure will definitely leave your thirst for thrill-seeking and adrenaline quenched!

Read why the Southern Europe Multi-Sport Adventure is 28 days you will never forget!  Here is a blog from last year’s program, highlighting the end of their incredible journey, the stunning sights explored, and the wonderful friendships created.

A Strong Tour Finish!
A trip log from Southern Europe, 2009

After 8 days on trail our group has emerged and settled into Bourg Saint Maurice. We arrived during the same day as the 16th Stage of the Tour de France! The group gathered about 1km from the finish line of the stage and cheered on the competitors, especially Lance Armstrong. It was a great (and unexpected) finish to the Tour de Mont Blanc: During our 8 days the students had some reflective time to themselves where they had these thoughts (in no particular order):

Mike: “The backpacking through the Alps was one of the best experiences of my life. It is so something we will remember forever and every mountain we climbed was worth the view.”

Samantha: “The TMB was so neat walking through the villages in the valleys so secluded from the rest of the world. Each hotel was a great treat after a great day of hiking. The second to last and third to last days were the hardest but each step you knew you were getting closer to the top of the mountain, and once you were up there the views would make it so worth it!”

Chris: “We had so much fun being with each other and doing some awesome group activities. I had such a great time and I can’t believe it’s over. I’m really going to miss the mountains. I loved being in the Alps.”

Sarah: “This 8 day hike was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life. We had some long days and some points were challenging but together we made it through as a team. Nothing could stop us! The sights were amazing from the tops of mountains to the waterfalls coming off them to the valleys that never end. The refugios we stayed in were really unique, they all had different vibes to them. I love this trip and don’t want it to end.”

–Southern Europe 2009

Imagine having to stop in the middle of the road for a family of elephants crossing your path.  Or riding in an open-air bus while gazing at lions sunbathing, giraffes snacking on the highest tree branches and hippos cooling down in the water.  Now imagine that on this very same adventure, you are helping to improve the lives of children in school, repairing classrooms and creating soccer fields for the community.  All the while, you are bonding with a group of people who will impact your life forever, as you will impact theirs. 

That’s what our Tanzania Service ARCC Alumni did last summer – they opened their hearts and their minds to the people of Tanzania and came home with stories and experiences they will not soon forget.  Check out this awesome video that documents their adventure!