One of the special things I
got to experience in China was going to a local Chinese home. This was not just
anyone’s home but, the home to one of my favorite Ayi’s at New Hope. She was on
the cleaning staff and took care of the side of the house my room was on and
the preschool room. I saw her a lot and even though we did not speak the same
language we were able to figure out what the other was saying. She would also
come and check to make sure I went down to eat lunch if I was busy working on
something in the preschool room.
When Stephanie and Callie
arrived it made it a lot easier to communicate with her as they spoke Chinese.
Right before Stephanie left she invited us girls to come over for dinner at her
house. This was such a fun and wonderful experience and I don’t think I have
ever had so much food!
We started off by eating ice
cream….yes, you read that right we had dessert before dinner! She went to the
store and bought like 40 different types of ice cream because she did not know
what we liked. This was so sweet of her and she was so funny pulling all the
ice cream out of the bag. I had a yummy chocolate and vanilla one.
After our ice cream she
wanted to give us a tour of her house. This was the house that her husband grew
up in. She lives with her mother-in-law, son and daughter-in- law and husband.
She shared lots of old pictures with us of when they were younger and also all
the upgrades they have made to the house. It was such a beautiful place. We
were also able to look at the wedding and engagement pictures of her oldest son
and daughter-in-law. They were cute and fun!
We walked out and saw all the
veggies and fruits they grow in their garden and were even sent home with a bag
full of fresh goodies. Her husband is the cook of the house and made us a super
yummy meal. I have included pictures of all the yumminess.
My favorite was the bread
stuffed with egg and chives. I think I ate 3 of them as she kept putting more
on my bowl. We ate and ate and ate some more!!! We enjoyed listening to her
tell stories about working at New Hope over the past 8 years. After we
convinced her that we could not eat another bite we headed over to the living
room.
Once we sat down they brought
in plates of fruit! I was like oh-no more food. We learned that it is tradition
to eat some fresh fruit after a big meal in China. So there we went finding
more room for some fruit. We were able to get a group picture of everyone. This
was so funny because I did not realize my timer was set to take 4 pictures in a
row. By the third one everyone was laughing at the fact it was still taking
pictures.
Overall, it was a wonderful
evening and she was so glad that we came. One of the things she shared with us
was that we were the first people to come over from New Hope. I would have not
traded that evening for anything and I am so thankful that it all worked out
and will treasure that memory forever.
