'Manly Women'- Nuhanzi

Let’s get something straight. Before we left Zhongshan, Ann and I sat down to write a mission statement. In the corner of a coffee shop, we brainstormed and wrote both personal and general goals that we wish to attain throughout this journey. Ann wants to find her voice and become more assertive with her wants, opinions and ideas. I see more of this in her every day, which is a

very good thing because Ann has a lot of great ideas and intelligent things to say. As a team, we set our goal to walk 2,000 kilometers, as we knew we would most likely be earning RMB/kilometer from donors. We also thought this to be a good number because it gives us the flexibility to achieve a practical daily goal without forcing unnecessary misery upon ourselves. This allows our days to look like this: we walk to reach a distance goal for the day (usually this is just over 20 kilometers, which takes us about five hours) then we are free to find alternative transportation to the nearest hostel or hotel. If we are in a rural area, we camp. Lately, volunteers have been meeting us in the afternoon, walking the last few kilometers with us, then taking us to dinner and a hotel. We have been very happy to meet these good-spirited people in many towns we walk to. And they are absolutely OVERJOYED to meet us. Some people think of this as cheating, to which I would say,

Piss. Off.

If you want to read about a hard-core borderline masochist struggling through a life experience, I suggest ‘Into the Wild’. If you want to read a heart warming, fun-filled account of a brave 40 year-old Chinese woman and an in-over-her-head American woman hacking their way through a self-designed challenge through China, stay tuned. It has been a wild ride so far and there is more nectar to come. 

Chinese New Year in Shaoguan was the beginning of something beautiful.

The local volunteer association hosted us. The night before we left, they held an official meeting to honor us, as well as the volunteers who came up from Zhongshan. 20 volunteers sat around a large table and talked about the projects they completed in the past year, as well as their altruistic plans for the year to come. Then it was our turn. I was up first. Ann translated for me as I introduced myself in Navajo and English, and then told my story of how The Walk came to be. I told the story of meeting Gordon, Jerry and Ann. I told the story of the New Day children and how Feng Ming’s life and death inspired my bravery to start planning The Walk. As I talked, hot tears rolled down my cheeks. I hadn’t spoken of Feng Ming (Matthew) in ages, and my memories of him caught my heart off guard. I cried through the rest of my speech, trying to hold it together to finish my story. Ann then told her story, also tearing up. There was something in the air. We must have touched their volunteer leader as well, as we haven’t gone one day without a local volunteer group meeting us since then. The volunteer leader in Shaoguan talked to the volunteer leader in the next town, who talked to the volunteer leader in the next town, and so on. It is great to see our project bringing so many people together. We are equally thankful and exhausted. Everyone is so excited to see us and they want to talk to us and feed us and give us food and gifts. Unfortunately, when you’re walking there’s not much ability to carry bountiful food and gifts. We’re finding it difficult to say ‘no’ to good-hearted people who want to help us in the wrong ways. Unfortunately, most of this falls on Annimal, as I can play the ‘ignorant foreigner’ card. Though, it is all part of her journey, finding her voice to express her wants and needs (and in this case, expressing what we don’t need).

I also have goals for The Walk. I am trying like hell to learn Chinese. I am so tired of not being able to communicate in this country. I am a social person, and not understanding or being understood by people KILLS me. My Chinese is getting better, and more importantly, my listening and understanding skills are improving. It is a slow, difficult process. There is something else I am learning from this walk that I equally hoped for and dreaded before our departure. It’s a bit humiliating, actually. I’ll tell you anyway.

It’s no secret that the American society puts a high price on beauty. All you have to do is look at Barbie’s impossibly huge rack or open a Cosmo magazine to see the problem- an impossible standard of flawless 'beauty'. I’ve known for a while that I am a brainwashed American in this respect. The media teaches us that attractive people are funnier, more popular, smarter, and more worthy of love than ugly people. Perhaps it’s human nature. Perhaps it’s consumerism bullshit. Either way, I knew I needed to change this harmful lie that my brain has accepted as truth for so long. And I knew it was going to be uncomfortable. The first time I posted a picture of my face without make-up on I was terrified of what people would think. Before I

posted it, I forced myself to really look at it and to think about the amazing adventure behind the picture, remind myself of the bravery in my heart, and see the beauty in my bare face. It is incredible and a little bit scary how difficult this was for me. This was a huge, sobering reality check of how media influences my brain like a drug that I need to detox from. Fast forward to The Walk. Last week the volunteers in Shaoguan made us an encouraging banner that named us as Nuhanzi- ‘women who do manly things’. It’s a compliment, I think. They had no idea how right they were. We have bruised, purple toenails, our legs are becoming more muscular by the minute, and my hair needs an oil change 90% of the time. When Ann’s family came to visit us, we sent back with them many things that we haven’t used or don’t need. See, even though my pack is almost as light as can be, by the end of the day I can feel every ounce that I'm carrying beating down on

my knees and feet. This feeling is motivation enough to discard everything I don’t absolutely need. I threw away my razor and deodorant ages ago. Priorities, baby. When Ann’s family came to visit, I sent back with them some souvenirs from the Buddhist temple, donations from the Buddhist nuns, my foundation compact, my mascara, and my hopes of ever having a boyfriend again. Mascara and sex appeal are small prices to pay for this amazing adventure.

Packing light comes more naturally to me than it does to Annimal. I’ve been giving her a hard time for holding onto every little thing like a common pack rat. Every day her pack seems to grow larger, consuming everything in its path like a tree shredder in a rainforest. Like an Encyclopedia Britannica salesman, Annimal hauls her suitcase full of books and other treasures from one city to the next. Like Annimal’s bag, we are both growing in many ways. Some were expected and other lessons come as a surprise. It is becoming apparent that we will not finish this walk quite the same as we started. That is the scary part. That is the exciting part.

Kilometers to date- 358.8