" Where is our gift?"

A week ago I had the pleasure of visiting Urumqi for a mere 9 days. It was everything that I know and love about Urumqi – great food, loving family, and loyal friends. To be more specific, the food is as delicious as ever. Anyone who saw me would comment on how much weight I’ve lost since I’ve been in Thailand so to that I would answer “ well, I am here to eat as much meat as possible and gain few pounds” Maybe I did not reach my goal of gaining 5 kilos but maybe perhaps 1-2 kilo hahaha. Although it was nice to hear comments that I look better with few pounds off, it got me thinking of the fact- well, I wasn’t trying to lose weight, I just don’t have a good source of meat at my site; especially when half the time I do not know which part of chicken or cow I am eating, so with that, I have sometimes stuck to a diet of …well, mushrooms and brown rice. Therefore, dining with friends and family eating liver, lamb kebabs, Uyghur laghman (noodles), traditional chicken dishes, and nan non-stop for an entire week was very satisfactory. Good food can really uplift a person’s spirit – go get yourself something delicious J

Most importantly, it was so nice to see my Mom back in Urumqi. My mom and I have not been in Urumqi together since we left Urumqi back in 2000. So it was nice to be back at home with her – though that meant her checking up on my whereabouts every other hour –“Hey party animal, where are you?”. Whenever I am in a room with my mom, my uncles (all 5 of them), my Grandma, my cousins I cannot help but just smile at everything that is going on – it’s like I take up all the positive energy, the laughter and the love. I know, no family is perfect and perhaps right now, my family is going through a very stressful time but it just feels good to be present with them all. I know it will be hard for me when I return to the States without my Mother but seeing her with Grandma while she deals with everyday family matters made me very happy for her.

Additionally, I think I have the most loyal friends in Urumqi J It has been 10+ plus years since I have left Urumqi and every year that I am back we get together like nothing has changed, like I never left. It is crazy, some of my friends have gotten married, and some of them have serious boyfriends whom they will probably marry by sometime next year. I am so happy for them all, and I am everyday so lucky to have friends that never gave up on our friendship. I made them promise to get married between May – July (2012) so I can attend every one of their weddings.

That is the gist of everything beautiful that I took away from Urumqi and I cannot wait to experience all of it and more next year! Coming back to Thailand was very difficult. The first day I got back, people that I just got presents for last month when I went to Bali and Singapore asked “hey where are our gifts?” To that I wanted to say “ Yes I am feeling fine, thank you for asking, excuse me while I deal with an English Camp that is coming up. Wait, didn’t I just bring you back gifts last month? Gosh have some decency! ” But of course, I could not. I got back to my village around 3:00 pm on Tuesday and went straight to the school to plan for an English camp that was happening that Thursday/Friday. I realized I had not eaten anything substantial all day, waited for my landlord for dinner then was served…..OH hello, Stir Fried Mushrooms and Vegetables... I am back in Thailand.