Yesterday I was in Changsha. We were walking around looking for some place to eat. The streets are always lined with beggars especially on the wide sidewalks in the center of Changsha city. I have been told many times that these people are mostly just actors looking to con some extra money off people. But I am not convinced that is the case for many of these people; no one can act like they have a deformed hand, or just pretend to have their leg cut off at the knee. What really breaks my heart though is the parents begging with their sick children at their side. There was one in specific that stopped me in my tracks. It was a mother bowing at the feet of those passing, at her side was a little girl who’s eyes were rolled so far back I could not see her pupils her mouth was hanging open slightly and she could not sit up unsupported. That girl should be in the hospital, not on the streets. I wish I could speak the language so I could see what I could do to help, buy them food, or buy them medicine, instead of just giving them money and walking on. The people I was with were so used to seeing these things they did not even think about it. One person I was with told me that if I gave even small change to every beggar in Changsha I would go home broke. The thought has been resounding in my head ever since. I have seen poverty before, but I hope that I never grow callused to the pain others experience. I know how easy it is to adapt and grow used to our surroundings; that has very much been my experience here for the past five weeks. Still I hope that I always have a soft heart when relating to others, especially those who have been given so much less than me.
Later on, I got to see the second movie I have seen on this trip. I saw Transformers Two with my friend Jane her friend Lee (pictured below). I thought it was a pretty awesome movie, but of course I am a huge sucker for action movies, and movies with gadgets. So the fact that I loved it was of no surprise to me.
Later on, I got to see the second movie I have seen on this trip. I saw Transformers Two with my friend Jane her friend Lee (pictured below). I thought it was a pretty awesome movie, but of course I am a huge sucker for action movies, and movies with gadgets. So the fact that I loved it was of no surprise to me.
Aside from working in the lab this week I have had several other highlights. The first was I finally got to go to walking street. Walking street is the most famous and by far the biggest shopping street in Changsha. It is literally what the name implies, there are no cars or bikes allowed, everyone is walking down this huge street with shops on every side. I must say that it was a little overwhelming. I did not find many things but I did have a lot of fun looking at all the merchandise and all the people bustling down this busy street. After that Ms Deng, her sister Lan and Huang Jing took me to a 100 year old traditional restaurant. They are all such nice people; we had whole lot of fun. We also went and saw a tea performance where a lady showed us how to drink tea like in the ancient days.
I think my favorite event of the week however, was when I attended the Longping High-Tech ten year anniversary. Longping High-Tech is a huge hybrid rice seed company and I was invited to represent the international classes at the center. Eleven of us bravely took the stage and danced our best in front of the very large crowd. The performance went about as well as I expected. I really cannot complain because I did not trip and fall while walking down from the stage when we all went down to give Professor Yuan a token of appreciation. Though I have no dancing abilities everyone seemed to enjoy seeing our diverse group which was the main goal anyways. The real reason why I had so much fun was I got to spend a majority of the day with my friends from the English speaking class. It was so great to be surrounded by people who speak my language. They taught me Chinese words, new inside jokes, and they told me all about their lives out in the fields. I am so thankful I get to see them again before I leave, they return to the center 5 days before I leave China. How lucky for me!
The final highlight of my week was going to Window of the World with Ms. Deng and some others. It is an amusement park near Changsha. It’s called the Window of the World because inside it are small replica’s of many famous buildings and monuments such as the statue of liberty, the Sidney opera house, a castle, an old English church and many others. It was fun to look around but it was so hot and humid out it took a very short amount of time for us to tire out and leave.
I also spent a lot of time in the laboratory this week. I tested some new primers and had some good results, except at the end of the week. I will have to extract the DNA for my experiment once again because it no longer is giving me good results. The DNA extraction method I am using is so quick and easy it is really no trouble at all. The only down fall to this very fast and simple technique is that the DNA can only be used for about two weeks.
Some exciting news is that I talked with Dr. Xin and gave her a copy of my results for the past few weeks. She affirmed my suspicion that I finally have my result. All I have to do now is confirm it by performing several trials using this primer. I will be doing this work on Monday; I sure hope it works out. If not, I will just try again. That is one of my favorite things about science; the motto is try and try again, something I am very good at.
Workingat the institute has been a great place for me to do my experiment. The girl pictured below is one of the staff at the lab I have been working in. I have had some time to get to know her more in the past few weeks. She speaks very good english and I was suprised to find out that she has been reading the Twilight series! I find it amazing how international somethings are such as books, movies and media. I am going to use this to my advantage in the near future because the new Harry Potter movie is coming out, and I cannot wait till I get home to see it!
Some exciting news is that I talked with Dr. Xin and gave her a copy of my results for the past few weeks. She affirmed my suspicion that I finally have my result. All I have to do now is confirm it by performing several trials using this primer. I will be doing this work on Monday; I sure hope it works out. If not, I will just try again. That is one of my favorite things about science; the motto is try and try again, something I am very good at.
Workingat the institute has been a great place for me to do my experiment. The girl pictured below is one of the staff at the lab I have been working in. I have had some time to get to know her more in the past few weeks. She speaks very good english and I was suprised to find out that she has been reading the Twilight series! I find it amazing how international somethings are such as books, movies and media. I am going to use this to my advantage in the near future because the new Harry Potter movie is coming out, and I cannot wait till I get home to see it!
