she's back...finally!

Yes mum. Here I am, with finger to keyboard. Finally. She has been emailing me for awhile to remind me!!
Its been a ridiculous amount of time in between blogs. And really, there is no reason, yes life is busy, but it always has been, and yes loads of things happened in the last few months – I’m trying to remember the key moments… a lot of traveling, it began with a trip to Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province about three hours north of Shanghai on speed train, where I met the only foreign Baha’i in that ‘small town’ of 4.3 million in Chinese standards, who showered me with warmth and hospitality, and the best Persian food I have had for a long time!!!!

How to sum up that experience? I don’t know what it is about Hefei, but it has a very special feeling. It is a lot less materially developed than Shanghai and people would stop dead in their tracks when they saw you, a foreigner, on the streets. I remember a young boy, of about 13, coming right up to the window of the car I just got into and peering in, hands cupped around his eyes to see if it was for real, so absolutely astounded to see a blonde (well sort of..) blue eyed girl in front of him. And you really did not see foreigners ANYWHERE. Compared with Shanghai that was quite a shock and very refreshing!!! The people were soooo curious, and those that I had the chance to sit down and chat to were the most open-hearted, honest people I have met to date. A young girl had come to join us for lunch, and she would tell me how she often feels this emptiness in her life, that it’s lacking some sort of purpose which she is craving for, so when she met my Baha’i friend she felt like this could direct her in someway. This was basically two minutes into the first conversation I had with her! And that bare honesty is something I truly truly honor and admire, and it seems to come in droves in China!

I also had the bounty to meet the Chinese Baha’i’s in Hefei, the morning after I arrived a group of us visited the grave of the first foreign Baha'i in Hefei who lived there less than 10years ago, said prayers together, cried together and then ate together. Those three seem to go hand in hand. It was quite the bonding experience!

It was in one of those typical chinese restaurants, with a private room, with never ending dishes coming every ten seconds! So much laughter and joy after a more quiet, reflective morning. Then it was time to watch the ‘Wayfarer’ dvd at my friend’s home with everyone. One of them commented to me after,
“I am so deeply moved by seeing your service in Haifa, and your dedication to the Faith. It makes me realize that I must do more.”
Do more. I think we all have that battle, ‘I could be doing more’ ‘I’m wasting time’, but everything is service, really, its all a matter of attitude. I know I constantly have that battle inside myself and also to know how to balance your activities with the things that you have to do for yourself...i'm still trying to find the line!! Anyway back to Hefei...

They were excited to learn about the children’s classes going on in my neighbourhood in Shanghai and planned to start their own. It felt like this entire journey was pre-planned, like the learning that I was getting from starting the children’s classes in Shanghai, I could then bring and share with the friends in Hefei who happened to be finishing book 3 the weekend of my visit. The whole trip flowed so naturally, and really charged me up more than anything. Sometimes the energy of a big commercial city like Shanghai can get to you, well at least to me, sometimes I feel like one energetic sponge picking up on this and that, so going to Hefei, a place where I could see the real china, it felt like being a battery being re-charged.

A Chinese friend told me she felt the same thing, having just traveled there recently, she described it as:
“In Auhui province people are especially open and curious, more real. If I can say humble it might come from the fact that they are not very rich, because for thousands of years there has been natural flood disasters, so there has not been a lot of commercial development. In that province many famous scholars and nation leaders are born. ”

No wonder! I can’t even imagine that, living somewhere that for thousands and thousands of years has struggled to get out of poverty, and still struggles today. What kind of mind-set would that develop in people? In some cultures it could create a sense of ‘stuck-ness’ or bitterness or perhaps resentment. But obviously in Anhui, and in China in general, the result is a strong thirst and burning drive in people to acquire knowledge and the skills needed to improve their lives, and their land. That is where the Baha’i teachings really come in to the picture.

As I sat on the train ride home on Sunday night, exhausted and with a big belly of Chinese and Persian food, I felt so content, re-energized, and then the lady sitting next to me offered her dinner to me – another beautiful gesture from a culture that really gets into your heart. But I had to decline…I had enough in storage for months! hehe

Hefei…a place I DEFINITELY recommend those of you thinking about moving to China to consider, it may not have the ‘glam’ and western comfort of Shanghai but it has something more intangible and satisfying in the air!!

ok, so that was travel experience no 1. more to come.