My week in review....

Well as previously mentioned We've officially completed one full 2 week camp and that marks that we've been here for almost 4 weeks ( Friday was our 25th day here I believe). I feel caught in a strange limbo where i'm unsure whether it feels as if i've been here a long time or I have a long time left. It's the rainy season/typhoon season here, so in my mind any heavy rain is a typhoon so i've added some new words to my vocabulary one being typhooning- it's a verb. It's likely not a word, but heavy rains qualify as typhooning outside...currently on this rainy sunday it is typhooning outside so once the rain lets up ( and if it doesn't I still plan to or i'll go stir crazy) I intend to go wandering in Wan Chai

Well this week went well it was just certainly a tiring week. It was Laura and I turn to lead camp this week so it meant taking on a whole new set of challenges and responsibility ( crap.. reality check i'm working here too not just here to explore, shop and enjoy all that Hong Kong has to offer, but of course that is an added perk) Laura and My's theme was sort of like an around the world adventure where we taught kids about the continents and different cultures while also teaching them English. They seemed to like our theme. Day one we studied Africa and baked elephant ears ( yes we baked not fried them... The thought of frying something in an unairconditioned area- fire hazards aside- seemed like a torturous idea so we baked them) the kids helped put the ingredients together and roll their own elephant ear and then we put them in the oven and baked them for them. it was quite the yummy treat. Tuesday we studied Asia and kind of compared cultures. We did 2 different crafts ( generally we try to cook something with the kids and then do a craft because crafts are fun as is cooking and also then they get to eat the snack which always makes for happier kids...) Now on the day we did Asia we didn't even attempt to cook anything because considering what we consider chinese food in America ( fried chunks of chicken and fried dough with crab in the middle or perhaps chicken globbed with sesame sauce.. I've yet to see any of that fine American Chinese cuisine here) we weren't quite prepared to attempt to cook authentic asian food plus we figured they probably eat enough of it as is soo why make them cook more.... Wednesday was a public holilday so we didn't have camp. Instead we went to the beach and some of us ( myself included- mind you this is with SPF 50 sunscreen on) got terribly sunburnt.. ( if you've ever seen or been on Young Life spring break with me i'd say it's comparable to my worst days there...) I've been radiating heat since Wednesday.. Too bad it's not snowy here. Anyways Wednesday was interesting because it isn't celebrated with fireworks or parades instead people flood the streets protesting! The protest marched along and seemed to continue for hours! it was insane! Ohh yes and on Wednesday we went out for Dim Sum with Abby and Amy and ClareBelle - 2 volunteers for mother's choice on a 1 year term ( Abby is from the UK she has a phenomenal accent and Amy is from South Africa- she also has a great accent so basically we spent the entire dim sum just listening to them talk because there accents were so captivating... if I come back with a British accents it's only because I feel as though I seriously wish I had some sort of accent here. Even the guy who reads scripture in church has an awesome Irish accent... It's great!) Anyways Thursday was our outting day and on our outting day we visited a nunnery which was beautiful and also the space museum which was awesome and then we had lunch at the Clearwater bay country club which was delicious. I've discovered a new love for asparagus and especially asparagus soup. It was great to have American food again... After that we played a few games of tag on the playground there ( If you tag someone that doesn't mean you're not it anymore... you're still a tagger. The goal is to be the last one not tagged. Then you become the first tagger the next game. that probably makes noo sense but it does if you play it) It was quite fun I joined in and felt like i was like 7 again... Then Friday we had a rap up day and review and all day the kids were just bouncing off the walls (little did we know it was because they were like mega excited for a party they had planned) they put on a dance for us ( it was to High school musical) and they served some american food ( pasta) and spring rolls, fruit salad, etc. noo fishballs and nooddles! and we didn't have to hide what we didn't want to eat because we wanted to eat EVERYTHING! it was soo great! They gave us precious cards and it was sad to say goodbye. We'll be back at the small group homes for the last week to work with the older kids who served as our translators.

Now when I started this post I hadn't gone outside but since then i've gone out and done some exploring in Wan Chai and i'd like to share my biggest upset about shopping in Hong Kong.... SHOE SIZES! they never have sizes above like an American size 7. Now I am well aware that I don't have dainty little feet but i'd also like to note that my feet are not awkwardly large either...in fact I can always find shoes in the US no problem. I now understand the struggles that people with large feet face... here I have large feet. FRUSTRATION!

Well new pictures at http://tinawestra.shutterfly.com/
Check them out if you want.
thanks

Cheers
Tina