Somehow, I seem to have taken over 500 photos during the two weeks I was in China. Digital cameras: a blessing and a curse. Lucky for my gracious readers, I will spare you the dreck. Only good stuff on this blog.Let's start at the beginning, which we'll call Day One (really, it was two days, July 31-August 1, but all that traveling fluidizes into one in my mind). Almost 20 hours total of flight time, not counting stopovers... Once a non-believer, I really appreciated my TED hose on this journey.
Above, you can see my carriage awaits.
The international arrivals gate at Shanghai-Pudong. It was a wild scene; I also received my first mosquito bite of the trip - on my right index finger.
After arriving in Shanghai (finally getting to the hotel, perhaps around midnight, with my woefully inadequate Mandarin), a quick night's sleep and off to the breakfast buffet! I started out strong, with not one - but two - breakfasts that first day. An embarassingly large proportion of my photos are of food; but as you'll see, my appetite could not keep up as the weeks wore on.
You know I'm a California girl when I'm taking pictures of this man lighting up cigarettes with his buddies at the breakfast table. While eating. The horror!
After breakfast, the team met for the first time in the hotel lobby, and it was time to get on a series of buses - one to take us from the hotel to the Pudong airport, and another to take us from Pudong to Hongqiao, where we would finally figure out how to get our boarding passes for the flight to Changde.Krista, one of our incredible PACU nurses, is seen above, figuring out if she's got what it takes for a different kind of day job.
The amount of luggage we had collectively was staggering (to be fair, close to half of it was medical supplies to be donated to the people of China). The bus actually ran out of room underneath, and in a very Chinese kind of way, we stuffed the remaining bags in the front seats, in the aisles, on the steps - thoroughly blocking any entrance or egress.
And we survived the flight from Shanghai to Changde. The domestic Chinese flights are very interesting. I wouldn't personally recommend China Spring Airline, unless you're into group calisthenics in lieu of entertainment and random products being aggressively hawked on the broadcast system the entire duration of the flight (Mickey Mouse towels, anyone?).
We were finally claimed at the Changde Airport, a humble little spot that reminded me a bit of the old airport in my hometown in Ohio. Tiny, simple, intimate. Dodged the smokers to take a quick squat in the restroom, pocket pack of Kleenex in hand. Aaahhhh... welcome to the real Asia.
Some local boys gawking at the airplanes.
More food! First, we met Ron Brown, the director of the China Agape Foundation, who helped us settle in at our hotel - which would become our home in Changde for the next week and a half.
Then it was off to the hospital for a lovingly cooked meal. The hospital staff was extremely concerned about us Americans getting enough to eat. They prepared an entire feast of "westerner-friendly" dishes for dinner. Forks and spoons, nary a chopstick in sight that night. And then, inexplicably, there was the fishball soup.
You can see the unstoppable Stef, one of our great OR nurses, reaching for the ubiquitous watermelon. So refreshing!
We then had an official meeting at the hospital. In the picture above, you can see the backs of many people's heads. I believe they belong to, from left to right, Heidi (our awesome medical student), James (trip coordinator), Sophie (his girlfriend), Joyce (another RN extraordinaire), and Maggie (translator, who had actually been on trips with the China Agape group before).
At the meeting, many important people were introduced, including the local hospital officials. We also received our nametags. They got my last name right, and since I hadn't given anyone my Chinese name, they made a great attempt at transliterating "Angeline" into Chinese characters.A funnier attempt was seen on my friend Charles' nametag. They managed to break down "Charles" into three syllables: "cha" + "li" + "sheen" = Charlie Sheen?
Some high expectations, already.
The eye clinic on the first floor of the hospital was commandeered for our use.Gratuitous treatment, indeed.
By the time we got to tour the hospital and OR, it was rather late when we finally got to see the patients for the next day. The babies were asleep already (mostly).
The parents were excited to see us; the babies, less impressed.
All of the babies with cleft lips and palates were so sweet and wonderful.
Ready for a big day tomorrow.
