I'm sooooo sorry this is taking so long. Soon I'll tell you about my day to day and you'll totally understand about my lack of time! :)
Day 5: Tibetan Elementary School, Longwu Monastery, and Upper and Lower Wudan Monasteries
So we went to a Tibetan Elementary School to give the children the gift of notebooks and pens. In return, they gave us the joy of laughter.
The same thing but in Tibetan
Since the people in this area have never or rarely seen foreigners, the kids were shy at first. But that quickly changed.
When we got to the school, we were split up into different classrooms. (The kids above were in my class.) We went outside with them and did exercises. This made the children crack up at us, I guess we look funny while doing jumping jacks. :)
After exercising, somehow one of the guys started chasing the kids. It was the funniest thing I've seen in a while. They would run away from him in waves. Then they would go back and push him or pull on him.
Unfortunately, the bell rang and the chase had to end. We went to class and taught the kids some English words and gave them English names. (The boys were named after guys in our group.) In return, the kids taught us some Tibetan. (No, I don't remember any)
I left the classroom early in search of a bathroom but on my way back I was attacked by children. They somehow believed that I could also chase them around. Well, I guess they were right. We ran around and growled at each other like lions. When I caught those little monsters, I picked them up and swung them around. It was soo much fun! Somehow no one heard the noise or knew what happened until the kids wanted to play some more later. :)
I wish we could have stayed longer but school was almost over. Before we left, the teacher showed us some artwork that the kids did.
These are Tonkas. They are pictures of Buddha and other Buddhist symbols. This region is known for making great ones and they teach the craft to the children early.
After saying goodbye to our small friends, we drove to the Longwu Monastery. (Which is a Buddhist Temple)
View of the surrounding city from the temple
Yep, there were random donkeys at the temple and the guys decided it was a good idea to pet them
After leaving this monastery, we went to another monastery called the Upper and Lower Wudun Monasteries. (Yes, I know we go to a lot of monasteries. No, I don't know why.)
Day 6 and 7: Qinghai Lake
On this fateful day, we drove to the edge of the desert and decided we should take a 10K (give or take some Ks) bike ride.
I only completed about 2 or 3 Ks before the altitude got to me. :( But that's okay. I took pictures from the bus and hanged out with our cool driver.
Those are yaks not cows. They are crossing the road in front of us
We eventually got to the campsite, ate a gigantic lunch, took a nap, and played uno. (Some ambitious people continued their bike ride but I decided sleep was more enjoyable.)
When everyone got back we had dinner and made smores over a campfire. While we sat around the campfire, a family that lived next to our campsite joined us and sang for us. In return, we had to sing some American songs we knew. It was pretty fun though it was really cold.
When we were heading to bed after the campfire musical, we were hurried along by the sounds of an impending storm. When we got into our tents, we were surprised to hear hail pummeling our tents . (Reminded me a little of Oklahoma.)
We woke up the next morning, had breakfast, and went to Qinghai Lake. The lake was absolutely gorgeous. It almost made the freezing night worth it...almost.
Sunrise
Some random house by the lake
The lake
Day 8- Family Farm
Our last day dawned bright and warmer than normal. We drove to the farm house of the man who organized our trip.
They decided we were great sources of cheap labor. So went to work harvesting potatoes.
To thank us for our hard work, they fed us
This is the food after we finished eating. We tried to eat but there was just sooo much. People in China believe that Americans eat a crazy amount of food. I don't know why.
After dinner, they gave us moonshine that they made at the farm. (I felt like I was in the US during the prohibition era.) Since China doesn't have a drinking age, it was perfectly legal to give us "minors" alcohol. (To put your fears to rest, I had a sip so that I wouldn't seem rude. But I gave the rest away.)
After this, we set off some firecrackers and then went to the airport for our flight back to Beijing.
It is finished!!!! I hope you guys enjoyed my trip to Xining and I'm really sorry it took so long to finish!
