Homeward Bound!

I'm currently sitting in Chicago airport waiting for my final flight home : )   It's been quite the day, it started with my 5am pick-up in China.  I dragged my bags to the curb outside of my apt where I awaited foe the rented car.  I heard my car before I saw it...why?  Perhaps because the driver was driving without headlights in the dark hours of the morning.  Oh China, I thought to myself!  The driver was so nice and helped me get my bags onto a cart so I could check in.  The flight from KMG to Shanghai was uneventful, the only obnoxious part was that they made me pick up my checked bags in Shanghai and re-check them which ended up adding a long, annoying step to an already long day.  One of the other families living in China (not the city that I am in) was also flying through Shanghai on the same day at about the same time as me... we hung out during our layover which was really nice.  I've had a tough time thinking about leaving China and I think that it was good to have the company during the long layover to avoid being the crazy, crying foreigner, a role I have played far too often duing my time here : ).  The airline wouldn't let me check my bags in until 12:30 (I arrived around 10:45) and I was standing in line as soon as it opened.  When they opened check-in, it was like letting the horses out of the gates at Preakness!  Everyone was anxious to get their bags checked and head through security.  The first wave of travelors went up to the counter and then stood there.... FOR OVER AN HOUR!  The computer system for all of United Airlines in Shanghai was down and they didn't know when they were going to get it fixed.  They just kept making announcements saying that they are unable to check anyone in.  I started to panic... I've been away from my fiance for eight months and enough is enough, I was ready to board that plane.  What I didn't know is that boarding the plane was only half of my long day of airline travels... The plane from Shanghai to Chicago had all sorts of crazy going on.  First it was late, then we boarded and sat at the gate for almost two and a half hours!  The story of why we were sitting there changed with every apologetic but nonetheless annoying, announcement.  First it was traffic controls fault, then we were waiting for maintenance.  At one point the had to shut the plane down to fix something which cut the AC off.  It was so hot I thought people were going to have heat strokes... Luckily I have seen the Chinese remedy for heat strokes so I was ready to jump to the rescue with Eastern medicine!  Well by the time we got on our way I knew that I wasn't going to make my connecting flight in Chicago, the question was whether there was room on the final flight that night o whether I would have to spend the night at the airport which would have been terrible.  The flight went shockingly fast considering that we were on there much longer than we should have been and there weren't personal tv screens which make the time go faster.  The airport in Chicago was a little stressful because so many people either missed their flights and were mad or were close to missing their flights so they were frantic.  I no longer like O'Hare... We really need a better system for incoming international flights... This getting your bags, re-checking them and going through security again is bananas.  It took a really long time, but I got my favorite moment... When the customs officer says "welcome home"  I LOVE that!  Everytime leave, I remember home much I love my home :  ). I also wanted to belt out patriotic songs at the site of the American flag : ).  My mood dampened a little bit when I boarded my last flight and they announced that we were running late because they didn't have the pilot... Unreal United Airlines, unreal!  We only ended up leaving half an hour late which is an improvement over my earlier flight. Right now I'm skimming through Skymall wondering if you can register for wedding gifts from them... I love their inventions they truely are genius!  Really I'm just  distracting myself as I await our descent into Pittsburgh where my Bill will meet me and we'll be with each other forever ; ).  I'm still processing through my experience in China, but regardless of what I'll be up to next,  I know that I want to be there with my Bill.  I love China and always will, but right now it's good to be home : ) 

My skymall registery: 1.  can you imagine being next to the guy inflating that massive pillow!  I really got a neck ache from laying on the tray table today and I could have used that... 2. Who says attaching a hot beverage to your laptop is a bad idea?  Not when you have this Skymall original!  3.  Jumping the gun a little here but i think our kids should be strapped onto bills shoulders by their legs that way we can't lose them : ). 4. Last but not least, voice activated r2d2 robot!!! I love it!  If I included the amazing pet inventions I could have gone on and on, but, Bill says "no cats" and I'm not encouraging the dog conversation so it ends here... If we ever have a pet, it won't ever get anything from Skymall because that's a terrible use of resources, but there are some fun contraptions for the k9 crowd to dream of!

,

Malaysia Continued

Im writing from an airport that is so small that it looks like a drivers ed. course.  The size of the runway makes me wonder how big the plane is going to be...Im a little scared!  This place reeks with adventure... even sitting in this airport makes me feel like I am in another time.  Its an open air waiting room with big fans to keep people from passing out from the oppressive heat.  The runway is lined with palmtrees and backed by a mountain.  I feel like I'm on Lost... where's the men in the jumpsuits working for the Darma Initiative?  Better question.... where's Sawyer?  Joking... I'm an engaged women : ).  My trip to the airport was also an adventure.  I love when public transportation and extreme sports collide into one.  It's a good way to feed your need for a rush and get where you're going in one bill.  My transportation here was a speed boat.  It was a really nice ride and I got to see the waterfront on some of the other resort beaches... I liked mine the best, it wasn't in the tourbook so I think its less known making it less populated.  I do have some complaints about the "resort."  When I got there I was absolutely exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, but first I needed to ensure that I would never make the trip that I had just made... it was way too long and complicated and ate up too much precious time.  I had seen that there was an airport on the island but never looked into a flight because I assumed that it would be too expensive.  While I was waiting for the ferry to the island I went to KFC and used the WiFi to look up a flight.  It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought so I booked it, or so I thought.  While sitting on the ferry, I looked at the screen shot that I had taken of my flight information and saw that it wasn't the final confirmation page.  This was a serious problem because I had booked a one way boat ticket to the island and they said that there is no way to book ferry tickets once you are on the island.  This meant that if that flight was booked, I was stuck.  Im running a pretty tight ship here and don't have much room for error... Only one flight goes to Kunming from Malaysia a day and if I miss it, I'll miss my flight back to the States.  Soooo my first order of business was to look into this flight.  The internet at the "resort" didn't work.  I politely talked to the receptionist about it and explained that I reallly needed internet to book a plane ticket.  She was neither helpful nor concerned.  I tried to hold the "ugly American" in me back but this place advertises that it has internet... THIS IS FALSE ADVERTISING... I wanted to scream.  One thing that I've learned is that customer service is viewed very differently in different countries and I don't really know if they care about false advertising here.  I was almost in tears.  I went to her again and she agreed to call the airport.... they were closed. As I walked to my room, I carefully crafted the review that I would post online about this resort.  It couldn't be overly bitter or it would be cast aside as the ravings of a lunatic... I would get my revenge one way or another.  Then I went to my room.... the key didn't work... so I dragged my suitcase back to reception... the women there looked like she wanted me dead... they called maintance and then I dragged my bag back to my room.  He opened the door for me... the pictures online displayed a nice, clean room... FALSE ADVERTISING!  I actually think that there were more bugs in the room than outside.  Luckily they weren't scary bugs, they were fairly small.  Although a couple of them were jumping around happily on my bed... "are those flees?"  I wondered.  I don't know... there's no internet so I can't look it up!  Then I saw the bathroom.  When you flush the toilet the water runs all over the floor.  A lot of water, truely it floods the bathroom.  On closer examination, I noticed that the water running everywhere is coming from the pipe in the back so at least it should be clean.  After showering I watched half of "The Butler" (great movie!) and went to bed.  In the moring life was better.  I called the airport and booked my flight... as I sit here Im laughing at myself for my panic... there are five people in this airport, its unlikely that the plane will be full.  Internet access returned after I booked my flight over the phone which was good because I wanted to let Bill know that I had made it.  One more comment about the room... the next day I noticed that the pillow was the moldiest piece of material I've ever seen.  Half of me was concerned for my health since I sleep on my stomach and basically inhale my pillow, the other half of me wished that that pillow could talk.  Oh the tales it must have.  How could a pillow get that moldy?  Was it in a flood, perhaps it was shipwrecked... I can't even fathom what could make a pillow that moldy.   There weren't moldy pillows in the pictures, but there might be after my carefully crafter review!  I love the power that internet gives the consumer, we always have a voice and I like it!

The room came with a free breakfast buffet which was nice.  Unfortunately I mistook the fish sauce on the table for syrup.  That was disappointing as I have really been craving pancakes... I didn't expect fish sauce to be a staple for breakfast.  Next I embarked on my goal to relax.  I relaxed for about 45 minutes and then got bored so I decided to go for a hike in the jungle.  My hike was cut really short... I started to enter the jungle but a huge reptile jumped out at me.  I don't know what it is called (I asked a local person but they told me the local name which I forget) but it was basically an iguana the size of an alligator.   I ran and never ventured into the jungle again!  So that drove me back to relaxing and let me tell you, I need a hammock in my life.  I love them!  I was a little sad as I ate dinner at the ocean front restaurant.  The waiter asked if I was alone and I said yes.  My adventures have been amazing but Im ready to have an adventure buddy for life with me ; ).  Miss you Bill!  I went to bed pretty early.  Im used to traveling alone, but this country makes me a little nervous.  The guide book recommended that women not travel alone, which I didn't read until I was on the plane here and it was too late.  That warning made me a little nervous because they said that people think of western women as being loose and can target them.  Its hard to know the line between being cautious and being paranoid, but with two days left, I'm not taking any chances.  This morning I returned to my hammock until taking the boat to the airport.  I can's wait to see this plane!  

Pictures of the airport!

Update:  I have a whole new respect for aviation.  You really realize the miracle that flight is when you are on a plane with a propellor. I sat in the window seat right next to the propellor and realized that if anything stopped that little device from spinning, we would fall into the sea in seconds... It was a terrifying realization, followed by another terrifying discovery.  I looked at the arm rest that I was clutching and saw the rectangular metal box with the word "push" carved into it... AN ASHTRAY!  How old is this plane?  When was the last time people were allowed to smoke on a plane?  

I'm now sitting at my hostel.  I went out and saw the towers but that was all that I had time for.  My hostel is in a shady area and I was afraid to be out at night so I'm getting up extra early tomorrow to go visit a mosque.  Also I can't believe how western this place is... I forgot how amazing it is to have so many food choices... My head was spinning from the choices!  

W.S.

This trip was my second time to W.S. this year.  I was there for about three weeks in March right before I came home for a visit.  I had a rough time during my last visit.  I moved up there right around the time when my nephew was born and internet was tough which meant that I didn't get to call Bill or my brother and sister-in-law very easily.  Then I found out that my grandpap was receiving hostice care.  It's really hard to be away from home during times like that.  During my time in China, this was the period when I was the most homesick.  Unfortunately, W.S. is the site (I feel) that has the most amount of opportunities for me to get involved in and I was struggling to keep myself focused.  I spent a lot of time walking and crying in the evenings after work, it was tough.  This was also the site that was the hardest in regards to the language barrier.  The team that I worked with are all local staff members with the exception of one person and she speaks fluent Chinese.  Also, they have a local dialect which I don't understand at all.  This meant that I really didn't understand anything that was happening ever and that I had a hard time communicating with everyone.  The women that I stayed with are AMAZING!  They never stop, they had people over almost every night and poured into so many people's lives.  I was so blessed to see their work.... it was just tough on me (I'm not complaining just explaining) because I didn't want to be rude so I hung out with everyone but didn't understand ANYTHING.  It's really tiring and lonely to be in that situation all day long.  All of this to say that I had a tough time last time I was there, but felt much better and got a lot accomplished this time.  Also, one of their staff members stepped up and said that she wanted to be committed to making a speech therapy program there which was really exciting!  It's tough to just give general tips to everyone (although its good to do that), I like to have at least one person to really pour into. 

This site has a therapy center which was providing physical therapy services and wanted to start speech therapy but hadn't yet.  They also go into the state run orphanage (Im planning to talk about the orphanage in a later post).  I spent my time in W.S. working with the new speech therapist and teaching her how to assess and provide treatment for the kids there.  I also worked on leaving some materials for them to use.  My heart is to not just focus on speech therapy, but also special education services.  None of these kids go to school so unless their parents or our center teach them academic skills, they won't get them.  I see a lot of kids that have average or close to average cognitive skills but don't have the academic skills that they should have because no one is teaching them anything.  I've also found that when we teach them these academic skills, it really impresses people (becasue they think of these kids as not being capable of learning) and changes the way that people (including their parents) view them.  I love when I'm either teaching kids or doing an assessment and we find that they are capable of things that people never expected.  Some of these kids are trapped in their bodies and just need someone to advocate for them/teach them how to advocate for themselves.  

I'm really hoping that the work that was done at the orphanage carries on, but I don't know :(   It is a trickier sitaution because there are less staff members who go to the orphanage so I wonder if the special education portion will be lost as it seems that the physical therapy takes priority :(   I'm hoping things will carry on and did all that I could to encourage.  Along with training the org. staff, I also shared  my ideas with some of the foreigners who also volunteer there hoping that between everyone, someone will teach the kids something.  I feel like my experience with the two older girls who are currently job training was a big eye opener.  The orphanage kids also don't go to school.... what's going to happen to them when they age out?  When you release kids with no skills its a disaster for eveyone.  I made a special education program (mostly math with some literacy components) that goes up to 2nd grade skills.  Right now the kids are not even at pre-school skills so it will take them a while to get them up to 2nd grade skills.  I think that this is important not only because of the skills that it will teach these kids but also the fact that it will make them learners, give us an opportunity to build up their self-esteem and resilency, give them respect that they deserve but aren't getting and teach them how to operate in a learning environment.  I won't get into the situation at the orphanage on this post but will say that they exhibit textbook orphanage behavior.  I did a poster presentation in grad school about institutionalized kids so I read a lot of the research... they acted exactly how the authors of the articles described.  Basically there is no structure in their day so they roam around doing nothing.  This leaves them with no abilty to participate in group activities, persevere or interact with peers.  It's sad and regardless of where they end up, they don't have the life skills that they need to be successful.  HATE IT : (  It was the most heartbreaking setting ever.  I cried on my way home EVERY time I went because you could see another aspect of sadness everyday.  Just when you thought that the world couldn't knock these kids down again, it did.  But... I pray for a miracle in the life of every kid there.  I pray for families to swoop in and give them their hearts desire... To feel loved.

ZD

I'm a little behind with blogging but as generally happens, I catch up while I am traveling.  Right now I am sitting on the floor of a bus station in Malaysia where I will be waiting for my bus for the next 10 hours.... sometimes I make really stupid travel plans and this is one of those time : ).  Anyway, just wanted to write about a couple of things that I haven't had a chance to talk about. 

In the beginning of May I spent some time up in ZD.  I love it up there because it is basically as close to Tbt as I may ever get.  The scenery is AMAZING... I love looking at the mountains and the people up there were really rewarding to work with.  While I was up there, I worked with an ex-pat who has been providing special education services for some of the kids at the rehab center.  Some of them also have speech needs so I did assessments, treatment plans and staff training.  It was a real blessing to see how involved two of the parents in particular were.  One of the girls is about 13 and has cerebral palsey.  She doesn't go to school but her family has taken the time to teach her academic skils at home and she is able to read.  This is pretty unusual so it was really encouraging to see them treat her as someone who can learn and lead a productive life.  There was another parent of a younger child that was so attuned to her kid.   This little girl has pretty severe cerebral palsey but does seem to have fairly good cognitive skills.  She is unable to speak and is also unable to use her hands... this makes communication tricky and it also makes it difficult to determine understanding since we generally have kids who are unable to speak touch pictures to request items and/or touch pictures to answer questions.  I was trying to encourage her to use her eye gaze to make selections and that was going pretty well.  When I asked her mom if she has found a way to communicate with her, her mom told me that the girl makes certain faces to communicate certain things... for example, there is a milk that she likes and the container has a person making a particular face so this little girl makes that face when she wants that milk.  This may not seem that exciting, but it is!  This mom considers her child a communicator despite her severe impairments and encourages her to use whatever she can to communicate (most parents want perfect speech or nothing).  Wait for it, it gets better.... We dropped in on this mom unexpectedly one day and she had made a tent in her front yard where she was doing physical therapy with her daughter when we drove up... she considers herself her childs teacher/therapist!  This is EVERY teacher/therapists dream... to have carryover at home!  I love this lady!  

During this trip I also had the opportunity to go to a leprosy village which was different.  There is still Leprocy here.  It's not that common but when it does happen its really sad.  People are forced out of their home villages and made to stay in a leprosy village.  This is done because of fear, the villagers don't want to be infected so they throw the infected person out.  This village was so far out in the middle of the mountains that we had to drive down this windy road, where we really also drove off of the cliff.... It was really narrow and it was muddy.  Driving through the mud felt similar to driving on ice... We were all silently praying as we felt the tires sliding.  If it slid too far we would go off of the cliff.  We couldn't even drive all of the way in, we had to park the car and hike to actually reach the village.  I will admit that I am not well educated on this disease and asked our team a lot of questions.  They were saying that actually 90% of peopleare immune to leprosy in the first place and that it isn't contageous once treated.  The sad thing is that even after these people are treated their home village wont let them back in so they stay in the leprosy  village forever : (.   Its especially sad to see kids of affected people there... they may never leave there because of the stigma of having a family member with leprosy.  Our team went so that the Dr. could check up on the villagers and also so that one of our team members could train them on how to harvest honey.  Since there is the social stigma around leprosy, its hard for people from this  village to have any source for cash.  They farm and herd for food, but if a need would arise requiring money, they don't have any.  One of the resources that they do have access to is bees.  So one of the team members brought in a bee hive and taught the villagers how to use it.  They had some older hives already but this new one allows for a greater return.  

Oh and on the way to this village, we found a man in a ditch on the side of the road.  He was on a motorcycle and had flipped it and cracked his head off of a rock (almost no one wears helmets here). His head was bleeding pretty bad and he was conscious but confused.  We ended up taking him to the ER and staying with him until he was stable and his family arrived...it was a long day!  Also, the ER never gave this guy any pain meds... His head was cracked open and not so much as aspirin!  I felt so bad for him, he looked like he was in so much pain : (

Here are some pictures of the leprosy village.  The government gave them supplies to make concrete houses which was nice because their old houses were pretty run down.

Malaysia : )

I NEEDED one more adventure... or did I?  I admire my enthusiasm until it gets me taking a four hour flight, followed by sitting in a bus station for 10 hours overnight in a country that I don't know, followed by a 5 hour bus ride, followed by a two hour boat ride all just for a day and a half at the beach... WHAT WAS I THINKING???  I guess I was thinking that I've never been to Malaysia and that I may not have the opportunity to get there anytime soon... I was also thinking that I'm pretty tired and that I need a rest (forgetting that being up for 24 hours isn't a rest).  All I have to say is that this better be a really nice beach.  

My day today started with it's normal chaos... Yesturday I ran over to the rehab clinic to say good-bye only to find that they have a new staff member who wants to be their new speech therapist.  This is a young lady who I met and did a one day training with last year but who has just recently reappeared....I'VE BEEN HERE FOR EIGHT MONTHS AND THIS IS HAPPENING NOW???  I wanted to cry... Ive worked with this site a lot but one of the problems was that we didnt have anyone long term and it is really encouraging that they have soneone now but really frustrating that the timing is terrible.  This women is sooooo motivated and I'm excited that she is taking on this new role, I just wish that I had more time to train her but I found out yesturday and my flight was already booked : (   Soooo this morning I ran over to rehab to give her a crash course in speech pathology and also give her the resources that I made and answer any questions that she had.  After that I headed to the airport... let me go back... when I woke up I tried to call Bill and book a bus ticket for Malaysia but the internet was turned off in a couple of neighborhoods around us so I couldn't do either (remember the bus situation as i blame china and their internet for my current plight).  Then I headed to the bus station to take the bus to the airport.  I was literally just walking up to the station when the bus started pulling away, I tried to chase him but he wouldn't stop : (   Soooo I had to wait for half an hour.  While I was waiting I decided to get a drink from a place across the street that has smoothy type drinks.  They were out of coffee flavored and chocolate and those are the only two words that I can say and the menu is in Chinese so I couldn't get a drink.  Really really ready to go home!  Finally I got on the bus and headed to the airport.  Kunming China.... please have those kiosk check-ins at the airport likeevery other place in the world so that all million of us aren't standing in line behind the family that is over their luggage limit and is repacking in the aisle.  Finally I made it through the line and security and to my gate.  While I was waiting I thought that it would be a good idea to take a picture of my gnome and my boarding pass (I know its weird but I get bored sometimes).  I guess I dropped my boarding pass or left it on the seat or something because after I moved to a different seat I heard the only message over the loud speaker that was in English requesting Rebecca Fullmer to proceeed to the desk to get her boarding pass.  SO thankful for the kind soul who found it and turned it in!  

The flight went smoothly... I had the whole row to myself because there are not a lot of people flying from China to Malaysia right now.  Now the sad story starts, although Im realizing that this day was doomed to begin with.   I was going to have an "Amazing Race" adventure.... My plan was to run from the airport to the trasit train that goes to the long distance bus station and then catch an overnight bus to the ferry station and then a ferry to my island.  Let me just add here... Bill told me that this was a bad idea and wondered why I wouldn't just stay in a hotel for the night... I told him that that wasn't as fun....  BUT I will tell you Bill that I am currently typing on the wireless keyboard that you insisted that I would never use so that's one point for each of us ; )  

My Amazing Race moment went well in the beginning.... I FLEW off of the plane almost knocking everyone out of my way as I tried to beat the whole plane to the immigration line (which I did).... little plug here for Malaysia as I like to give credit where credit is due... they don't make you fill out an arrival card!  Genius!  Someone finally sees how much of a waist of paper and life those cards are... just scan the passport... it knows where I was.  Way to be leaders in ending stupidity at the airport Mayalsian Customs!!!  After making it through customs, I did well with finding an ATM and making it onto the correct train.  The bus station is where I was U-Turned....the bus was full : (   I landed here at 9:30pm and was hoping to catch the 11:30pm night bus but now I have to take the 9am bus... Im pretty sad about this because I'm really tired and don't want to stay awake all night, nor do I want to fall asleep and get robbed.   All I can think is that if someone takes my passport I'll miss my flght to that States on Sunday and that would be tragic!  More than that, I'm disappointed with how much of my day tomorrow will be waisted sitting on a bus and a boat : (  Oh well, nothing to be done.  The good news is that my time over here is almost done and I think the entire region is rising up to give me sign after sign that it's time for me to go home... for that I thank them.... I will miss a lot of things but I won't miss sitting on this cold hard floor for 10 hours.

Southeast Asia scores another point.... Southeast Asia 985   Becca 0    

On a more positive note and to update you all on the bathroom situation... there is a squatty potty- it does flush, it also has what one of the hostels in Cambodia referred to as "a bum gun" (I'm actually not sure what you really call them) but here is the big news... it has a sanitary way to dispose of feminine hygiene products!  Yay for taking that grossness out of the bathroom scene : ) 

One another happy note... There is a Dunkin Donuts at this station that was closed when I got here but I'll probably be their first customer tomorrow morning!!!  I need a happy thought to hold onto for the next seven hours and a half hours... I still have SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS.... I'm crying inside... never again... my ridiculous adventuring days are over to be replaced with travel plans that make sense and are pre-booked and don't require this level of awakeness during the middle of the night : ) 

Two updates.... Police came around at about 330 am and started yelling, it scared me because I didn't understand what they were saying so I just sat there... It worked they took two people away but left the rest of us.   Also, I was the first person at dunkin donuts, I started creeping on them around 5am but the didn't open til 8.  It was a long wait but soooo worth it!  Also, hostels in kl cost $8-$10 a night.... Why did I sit in the bus station for 10 hours?  I don't know.