From Samantha Fouhy

May 10, 2010
Let me start off by saying I miss my family. I talk to my mom everyday sometimes twice. Now I don’t have the Internet yet to email her so it’s really hard. Beijing was absolutely beautiful and when Paula said that Beijing was our vacation she was not lying. Chongqing is completely different. I was miserable the first night, which was last night. I was hot and tired and it was raining. Our partners are super nice and accommodating but I am not a touchy feely person and I don’t really like having someone always in my face asking what I need. But I am so grateful for having them here because they help order food, and do anything we need. The language is so difficult I wish I knew it already. I went into a little store earlier and I was trying to ask to see a pair of earrings and the women said something in Mandarin. I just stared at her. I felt helpless and it is extremely frustrating. Overall I am already realizing how lucky I am to have the things I do have and the living conditions they have are so much different than I expected. We have really nice dorms compared to what I have seen during the drive here. I am excited but nervous for this experience. It’s hard when you don’t know what to expect as a whole. But I am learning as I go, it’s all that I can do!