This weekend was awesome and tiring. Saturday morning was actually the first time in a long time I got to sit alone and do nothing for a couple of hours. Sarah, Audrey, Laurie, Adam, and Chris left at 5:30 AM for the airport. They all got to where they were going safely (the first four to the US, Chris to Guangzhou). At 11 I went to Beijing for lunch with my uncle and a Harvard graduate student he sponsors through a fellowship. Then I went to the airport to pick up Won Hee (my roommate at college). She flew over from Seoul and was able to visit for two days.
Saturday afternoon we checked into Leo Hostel near Qianmen. It's in a pretty messy area with lots of street vendors, souvenir shops, rickshaws, etc. Our room was decent, though. We checked out Hongqiao (Pearl Market) and had dinner in Wangfujing. We went to a toy store to get a doll for Chun Yu. Sunday we went to church, then to the hospital and saw Chun Yu in ICU; she was happy and responsive to conversation. It was sad to see her though because she has a tube coming out of her head with yellow fluid in it going into a bag. I think they get about 100-200 ml out each day. Her hands were also tied down so she wouldn't try to remove the tube.
For both nights Won Hee was here, we got massages at a place next to the hostel. It was more expensive than Lang Fang, but the conditions were poor. It was nice chatting with the women who work there. They work from 7 am to 1 am or whenever the last customer leaves; they live in the building they work and hardly get to go home (various rural provinces).
This morning (Monday) we went back to Bethel and Won Hee got to see the children in class and out of class. Since Chris isn't here, I taught music and had a lot of fun with the preschoolers learning a new verse of the Hokey Pokey. I also played piano for half an hour for the autistic children who aren't responsive to speech or most actions. They seemed very happy afterward; one boy hugged me, and the girl hugged Won Hee.
In the afternoon I went to the airport to see Won Hee off, and then I went to the hospital again. Chun Yu wasn't so happy this time because she had just gotten the medicine injected into her brain, and she seemed to have a fever. Still, she said hello and goodbye on command from the nanny, as usual. I gave her the doll I bought and said it had just had surgery too, so she could take care of it and be its friend. She didn't care too much for the doll. But since the day we took her to this hospital, she has liked playing with the tag and chain on my Coach handbag. So I left the tag and chain with her; she held them as she slept.
It's still too early to tell if Chun Yu will regain vision or develop into a mentally adept child. God can work miracles; another child, Xin Ju, was so malnourished and small when she got to Bethel that Delphine thought she would surely die. Instead, in the span of several weeks, she grew incredibly (and abnormally) quickly as she was well taken care of, and is now a happy, very intelligent, healthy child. I pray the same thing might happen for Chun Yu.
It's pretty empty in this building. I miss the volunteers who left. Laurie and Adam's sense of humor, talking and praying with Sarah, playing with the kids with Audrey, conversations with all of them...it won't be the same without them all here. I regret not spending time with them on weekends; I always went off with family or friends in Beijing instead of going with Bethel volunteers on their adventures. Now there's just Chris and me left to teach music and English. I'm not too good with arts and crafts, sports, or cooking, so I think I'll just stick with the classes we already have.
One awesome moment Won Hee and I shared this weekend was singing praise on the subway and on the street. We got stares; first, we were smiling, which most people do not do in public...and we were singing together, which no one does. And we sang lyrics like, "You can have all this world, but give me Jesus."
Saturday afternoon we checked into Leo Hostel near Qianmen. It's in a pretty messy area with lots of street vendors, souvenir shops, rickshaws, etc. Our room was decent, though. We checked out Hongqiao (Pearl Market) and had dinner in Wangfujing. We went to a toy store to get a doll for Chun Yu. Sunday we went to church, then to the hospital and saw Chun Yu in ICU; she was happy and responsive to conversation. It was sad to see her though because she has a tube coming out of her head with yellow fluid in it going into a bag. I think they get about 100-200 ml out each day. Her hands were also tied down so she wouldn't try to remove the tube.
For both nights Won Hee was here, we got massages at a place next to the hostel. It was more expensive than Lang Fang, but the conditions were poor. It was nice chatting with the women who work there. They work from 7 am to 1 am or whenever the last customer leaves; they live in the building they work and hardly get to go home (various rural provinces).
This morning (Monday) we went back to Bethel and Won Hee got to see the children in class and out of class. Since Chris isn't here, I taught music and had a lot of fun with the preschoolers learning a new verse of the Hokey Pokey. I also played piano for half an hour for the autistic children who aren't responsive to speech or most actions. They seemed very happy afterward; one boy hugged me, and the girl hugged Won Hee.
In the afternoon I went to the airport to see Won Hee off, and then I went to the hospital again. Chun Yu wasn't so happy this time because she had just gotten the medicine injected into her brain, and she seemed to have a fever. Still, she said hello and goodbye on command from the nanny, as usual. I gave her the doll I bought and said it had just had surgery too, so she could take care of it and be its friend. She didn't care too much for the doll. But since the day we took her to this hospital, she has liked playing with the tag and chain on my Coach handbag. So I left the tag and chain with her; she held them as she slept.
It's still too early to tell if Chun Yu will regain vision or develop into a mentally adept child. God can work miracles; another child, Xin Ju, was so malnourished and small when she got to Bethel that Delphine thought she would surely die. Instead, in the span of several weeks, she grew incredibly (and abnormally) quickly as she was well taken care of, and is now a happy, very intelligent, healthy child. I pray the same thing might happen for Chun Yu.
It's pretty empty in this building. I miss the volunteers who left. Laurie and Adam's sense of humor, talking and praying with Sarah, playing with the kids with Audrey, conversations with all of them...it won't be the same without them all here. I regret not spending time with them on weekends; I always went off with family or friends in Beijing instead of going with Bethel volunteers on their adventures. Now there's just Chris and me left to teach music and English. I'm not too good with arts and crafts, sports, or cooking, so I think I'll just stick with the classes we already have.
One awesome moment Won Hee and I shared this weekend was singing praise on the subway and on the street. We got stares; first, we were smiling, which most people do not do in public...and we were singing together, which no one does. And we sang lyrics like, "You can have all this world, but give me Jesus."
posted by Ann Chao at 7:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home