Busy times are Good

I've been in China now for 9 days and am already nice and busy. Last Monday I went to the bakery at the Special Education school and helped the kids make bread. It was great fun - they sing and dance and are all smiles. I learned how to use one hand to gracefully roll the dough into a perfect ball. The children are much better of course! They make 7,500 sweet red bean bread rolls each month! I must admit - they are tasty! :)

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I will be going to the rehab room at the Special Education school. I began last week and things went better than I expected. I was nervous about my knowledge in pediatrics but reminded myself of the basics: if it's weak strengthen it; if it's tight stretch it. Of course there is so much more than that (balance, coordination, gait, sensory integration, speech issues, cognition, etc) but reminding myself of the basics helped take some pressure off :) I LOVE the children here! They are precious as are the two rehab techs (called teachers here). Karen, the PT who was here for 4 years, did a great job training them. Nate has been a big help translating too!

Beginning in late May, I will be doing the hippotherapy program out at the ranch Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. The children are so excited for this to begin! I am too but there sure is a great deal of work involved. This past Thursday I went out to the ranch to get familiar with the area, the horses and Zaibin - the ranch hand. He speaks some English but not a great deal. We've already decided that he will learn some English words from me and I will learn some Chinese from him. I will spend the next few weeks preparing the horses for the sessions - getting them used to people again, riding them and desensitizing them. A man named Jessie is normally here to do this but he is back in the States because of family issues. We hope to see him in June! I will speak with the principal of the Special Ed school to work out a schedule for this program and discuss which students will participate. Who gets to ride is up to her - not me. Finally, I need to find volunteers who are available to help and then train them. Whew!

I feel very honored that in the short time I have been here I've already established a good relationship with Patricia and CY Kim - the founders/leaders of CRAM. That being said, they've asked me to act as an assistant to them. This means I work in the office (it's at the Special Ed school) frequently. The work for them never ends so I'm very glad to help. This job alone could keep me busy for my 6 months :)

We have many teams coming to visit this May! Most are here for 10 days. I have been helping in the office to prepare for their visit - organizing who comes when, what they will do when they are here, who picks them up and drops them at the airport in Yanji, hotel reservations, etc. I can tell you I will not be bored in May, ha!

Other things I will dip my hands into: I hope to hang out with the children at the special ed school in the bakery, the art room, the sewing room, and out on the playing field. I will take a Chinese class however, I'm thinking that cannot occur until June. There is a family here who is planning on starting an orphanage out in a nearby village - I want to visit that village with them "often." There is a home for the elderly about two hours away - I'll go there a few times :) AND the CRAM staff gathers together on Saturday mornings at 7 and Sunday afternoons at 4. Hmmm - then there is "play" time and building relationships time.

Simply put - things are hoppin'! The emotion is under control now and I feel at ease here. I can't say I expected to feel this way and so quickly in China but I'm thankful that I do. I wish that I could tell you all about some of the deeper and more serious matters that go on, however under the circumstances I cannot. That being said - not exactly sure how this blog thing will work out this time around. I'm not even sure if people are reading it, ha! If it seems no one really is then I'm going to skip it. It takes time and energy :)

Hope you all are well! Stay in touch~