The last two weeks have been busy ones. We have continued to spend time each day studying Chinese. We have a teacher from our church, Michi Chen. She patiently listens to us butcher the pronunciation of every phrase. She says we sound like foreigners. Go figure. We can say a few standard opening phrases, but really we are building some vocabulary and some structure. Ni hao, ma? Hun hao! Wo zai kan su. Ta zai tiao wu. Nimen shi de women peng you. Try and figure that out. (How are you? Very good. I am reading. She is dancing. You are our friends.)We are in Winston-Salem this weekend with our son, Ned, and his wife, Lia and daughter, Anna Rose. My sister, Janet, and her husband, Dan, and grandson, Jacob, also came up to say goodbye. It is the first real goodbye we have had. It was hard, but they will get worse. We will get home Monday night and then leave for Istanbul, Turkey to visit our daughter, Lee and her family -- husband, David, and children Rebecca, Joshua, Samuel, and Peter. It will be a long time away from home, but it is important to make the connection.
There is movement on the home front as well. I think we have solved the social security riddle, but I still need to work on the supplemental insurance. 
The house has been taken care of.
The house has been taken care of. Jesse Bean and his wife Tanya will be living here for our twenty seven months away. The Ford Focus was sold to our Ukrainian friends who now have their first car. The Taurus is spoken for but the details need to be worked out. There remain a lot of nitty gritty things we need to do to get ourselves ready. Pray for us.
We were shocked as much of the world by the 7.8 earthquake in China. The location of the earthquake is right in the area where we will be going. The Peace Corps has contacted us and reports that all current volunteers are safe. 
The center of the project is Chengdu, 60 miles from the epicenter, but that city was not damaged and the program and timing remains the same. We have also been in contact with several of our friends in China and they also report that daily life continues. One of the places we are likely to be placed had the volunteers evacuated not for damage or danger, but because they were foreigners. They hope to return, but we wonder how the Chinese in this area will feel about new foreigners arriving. While the Peace Corps seems in good shape, the Chinese country side needs much help and support. We hope that we can be agents of some comfort for them.
The center of the project is Chengdu, 60 miles from the epicenter, but that city was not damaged and the program and timing remains the same. We have also been in contact with several of our friends in China and they also report that daily life continues. One of the places we are likely to be placed had the volunteers evacuated not for damage or danger, but because they were foreigners. They hope to return, but we wonder how the Chinese in this area will feel about new foreigners arriving. While the Peace Corps seems in good shape, the Chinese country side needs much help and support. We hope that we can be agents of some comfort for them.
