Today we woke up at 6 and packed our tents and hiking backpacks. We went down to the temple, and made sure that we had everything with us and made sure we had everyone. We walked downhill for about an hour, and finally got on a bus and went back to Yang Zhuo Ran. When we got back, we plopped all our bags to the ground, washed our hands, and headed straight for breakfast. We appreciated the meal they prepared for us and ate a ton. After that, we had a daily meeting about what had happened the past 72 hours.

This morning we woke up bright and early and started trekking down the mountain.  Because of the multiple mishaps that had occured in the days previously, Mr. T decided that it would be a good idea to change the plans a bit and get back to XiZhou quickly and safely before anything else happened.  

The people of XiZhou are very welcoming and warm to strangers. On the first day, Mr. T told us that we could step into someone's courtyard without being yelled at. At first, I doubted his words. But after spending 16 days in XiZhou, I believe that the people at XiZhou really are that welcoming. For instance, many of the people I talked to for my inquiry work were helpful. The elders that are candidates for service learning were also very forthcoming. Sometimes, we would even have to extend our etr (estimated arrival time) because we were talking to a local.

Today is the second day of the hike, and today we are going to head up to the top of the mountian, enjoy the scenery, eat lunch, and then go back down to our camping point.

we got up at 6, and ate breakfast around 7, then we packed our lunch for the day and headed up.

As we hiked, I encountered less challenges than before because that day we only had to bring our day bags, so it was lighter than yesterday's hiking backpack. We hiked for about 5 hours, until we stopped for a lunch break at a tip of a mountain.

Today was Thursday, today was a special day because it was the first time I could wellness since I fell on my knee and cut it open. Since it was wellness time Caleb, Isaac, Noam, and I headed down to the basket ball court. When we got there I found out that I had barely gotten any TZ from the bike ride I decided I had to go all out during the game to get TZ.

Today we woke up at 6:30 again. We packed up our tents then got ready to go down the mountain. Since I felt like I was stuck on my inquriy project and did not where to go from here I decided that I was going to have an walk and talk with Mr. Tafel. Mr. Tafel talked to me about narrowing down my inquiry topic which is farming in Xizhou. He gave me some good ideas about what to change my topic to. For example how garlic has changed the farming industry in Xizhou. Also how has the number of farmers lessoned and how the farming industry will be impacted by that. The walk and talk with Mr.

Today is the first day of our hike. Some of us were excited, and the others dreaded this day. We put on our overstuffed hiking backpacks and proceeded to walk to our bus. The bus ride lasted approximately 20 minutes; long enough for us to feel sleepy, but not long enough for a full nap. Before starting with the hike, Mr. T pointed to a white structure on the mountain surrounded by a forest of green. He told us that that was our destination of the day. The sheer height of where the structure was located intimidated us, nevermind the slope of the mountain.

Today was the first day of our big three day hike.  First I would like to emphasize the preparation that went into the planning of this.  We brought sleeping bags and pads all the way from Shanghai in our already overstuffed suitcases, then we went on a prep hike and and prep camping trip, all in preparation for these three days.  Now that this day was finally here, I was jittery and nervous at the same time.

Today was supposed to be the most challenging part of the three day hike. We were going to hike from 2600 to 3200 meters above the sea level. Again this morning we woke up at 6:30 packed up our tent  and got ready to start hiking.

Since I broke my walking stick from the previous day I was on the hunt for a new one. Eventually I found one and although this stick was not exactly the most straightest stick but it was quite sturdy so I kept it and it held up throughout today's hike.