Westridge China 2010

1. Asian babies are SO CUTE!
2. It rained.
3. Terra-cotta warriors in person is unbelievable.

Mother Earth decided to give us some rain today which was pretty awsome...to be able to see China through a rainy day. Umbrellas and hoods ready we took on another day full of unbelievable experiences.

First stop, Terra-cotta warrior making. At first it seem pretty simple to make a mini warrior but it turns out its harder than it looks! We paired up and added local clay to the models and then waited for the clay to harden a bit so we could take them out of the model. After a few minutes we each took out our warriors which turned out to look a lot different from the perfesionals...suprise suprise. Although our warriors had a few holes and extra clay everyone seemed to enjoy the outcome. After we finished the mini tour of the world of making Terra-cotta warrior replicas we made our way to the exit, which ofcourse was after about 7 different gift shops. Sellers desperate to sell and a few Westridge girls ready to bargain.

Next we took our anxious hearts to the Terrra-cotta Warrior Museum. Walking in and seeing the exact same image we have all seen a billion times in school, movies, books was absolutely surreal. After a wonderful presentation about the Terra-cotta warriors by Clare (without her notes might I add) we roamed the different pits filled with soldiers and horses. Overwhelmed by the amazing life sized, detailed warriors we were all ready for lunch. Lunch was delicious...as usual.

After lunch we drove to the Starfish Children's Foster Home. Everyone was really excited and anxious to give their love to the babies and toddlers. I knew 52 babies was a lot and it was going to be difficult but I had no idea how much work it really was until I walked in an saw about 6 nannies and 26 babies all in a little apartment. I expected to be really rough when the founder of the foste home, Amanda de Lange, said the "yuckiest" case was a baby boy who was born with its bladder exposed, so from his belly button to his waist there was a hole that exposed this bladder. Although I was a little frightened by this I tried to go in completely open minded and willing. "My" baby, as everyone called the baby they were paired with, was Antonia and she was SUPER ADORABLE (as all asian babies are, but mine was extra cute!). When I got there she was drinking a bottle and she was really shy. We played a little game of hide and seek in the kitchen while she started to warm up to me. After a couple of minutes she went to the little car and finally she let me pick her up and help her get on the car. I was so excited the first time I made her laugh because I was afraid she would be too shy. Unfortunately Antonia and many other babies had to take baths but there were plenty of babies to play with. While Antonia was bathing I sat down to play with this cute little baby boy that was playing by himself. I played with him for about an hour while Antonia was bathing and eating some solid food. After about an hour of playing with this boy I realized that I didn't know his name so I asked one of the nannies and she said Thomas. I was so suprised and excited that I was able to make Thomas giggle and smile and have fun even though he had "the yuckiest" (as Amanda said) case. Having his bladder exposed didn't stop him from having fun like all the other kids which was really reassuring. After Antonia finished eating I played with her (and Thomas off and on) for the rest of the time. While we were all getting ready to go and saying bye to "our" babies I noted that there was a piece of paper taped to the front door that said Antonia, mom (and a picture of a woman), dad (and a picture of a man), brothers (and a picture of two young boys), and Canada. I quickly asked Jonathan if he knew if that was "my" Antonia and he asked Amanda and she said that "my" Antonia was getting adopted. It was SO EXCITING to hear that Antonia was being adopted...my face got hot and I got the chill I was so excited! Sadly we had to leave and I said bye to Antonia and Thomas. It was a really cool experience to give our love to the babies at the foster home! As many Westridge girls says (and I totally agree)...asian babies are the cutest ever!

After a tiring yet super fun 3 hours of playing with babies we went back to the hotel to eat dinner. Dinner was different than usual because a bunch of raw food was layed out and we each had our own mini pots with fire and we all added whatever we wanted into our soap. It was fun! The table I sat at had almost 3 plates of bread rolls with condense milk..so yummy! And we also had watermelon with condense milk which Ari discovered and is also really good! Meal times are always really fun because we all make jokes and laugh and bond...plus food is always good.

Now some of us end the day by visiting the internet cafe which is filled with people. Gamers and smokers are the majority of the people who come here. The guy next to me smokes. Who knew internet cafes could also be part of the many experiences in China!

Good night, don't let the bed bugs bite!

-Metzli

p.s. HI DAVID! i miss you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!!