I
have two EXTREMELY exciting announcements to make.
1) THE CORKSTER IS COMING TO
BEIJING! That’s right. The woman, the myth, the legend, Corkie Blackwater
herself is meeting us in Beijing for the finale of The Walk! She bought her
plane ticket this week. I think I may have guilted her into this by accident. I
was so emotional about leaving Zhongshan in February, and after drinking too
much whiskey with Annimal’s father on the first night of our journey, I called
my parents in tears (don’t mix Baijiu and emotions) to tell them how amazing
the day was and how sad I was that they had missed it. My parents know how
important this walk is, and they scraped up the cash for Cork’s plane ticket. I
am so motivated by this and BEYOND excited to celebrate this huge
accomplishment with my mom. She’ll also come back to Zhongshan to celebrate my
birthday with me before heading home to the US of A. (PS- if anyone in Kaiyin
has a room that we can rent for a few days, let me know) Look out, China! Hurricane
Corkie is comin’ in hot.
2) I GOT ACCEPTED TO UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY!!!!!!! I
am so relieved. Last year I spent hundreds of hours applying to grad school:
studying for the GRE, traveling to Hong Kong to take the Graduate Record Exam,
writing essays, sending transcripts, and filling out applications. After a few
days without internet, I finally received the email today that congratulated me
on my acceptance into the Social Welfare Masters Degree program at the
University of California, Berkeley. If I decide to go and figure out a way to
fund it, I’ll start my masters degree this
Now
onto more important matters- sunshine. We saw the sun for the first time in
over a week! A few days ago it was so warm that we could walk in short sleeves
without a jacket. We had a day and a half without rain. We were in heaven. Then
the rain started up again. Thankfully, the weather is slightly warmer than last
week, meaning we are wet but not freezing. I’ll take it.
Yesterday
was an interesting day. After walking 15 kilometers we wanted to be done for
the day. It was a bad day- wet and chilly. I was struggling because my zombie
toe still hasn’t healed completely and I’m a little bit sick. I think it may be
allergies. I’m allergic to China. Annimal was struggling because she received
the news that her mother-in law, Anne Grey, passed away yesterday. Ann stopped
walking and turned back to me with tears running down her cheeks. We stopped
for a moment of silence on the side of the highway. Trucks whizzed by us as we
embraced and said a prayer for the late Anne Grey. What I’m about to say sounds
made up, but I swear to you it’s true. As soon as we finished our moment of
silence for Anne Grey, the rain clouds parted and we were immersed in sunshine.
It was the only five minutes of sunshine we saw that day. It was beautiful.
Thanks, Anne Grey.
Even
though we wanted to be finished after walking 15 kilometers, it wasn’t in the
cards for us. Immediately after talking about catching a ride, we came upon a
traffic jam. It was the longest traffic jam we’ve seen, spanning over 5
kilometers in each direction. We weaved in-between semi trucks and cars to
avoid puddles, mud, and piles of rubbish. For 10 kilometers we walked to avoid
heaps of trash, orange peels, sunflower seeds, cigarette butts, and even human
feces. The truck drivers had obviously been stuck there for a long time because
they all had accumulated these piles on the asphalt below their cab windows. It
was disgusting. When we finally saw the hold- up we couldn’t help but stop to
take pictures. Two trucks had collided, hitting their corners head-on. The
contents of one truck had flown everywhere, littering the road with crushed and
dented pots and pans. What a mess. Since traffic was at a standstill and
catching a ride was impossible, we ended up walking almost three more hours
until we found accommodation- the upstairs bedroom of a family’s restaurant.
The price was 40 RMB (7
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