[happyheart]

i got to celebrate heart day for almost 2 days (we are a day ahead here & then everyone from home celebrated today). i don't typically like this holiday, but the last two days were wonderful! 

heart shadow at dinner 

yesterday, we slept in, which is always glorious. i got to skype my boyfriend and talk to my best friend, katie a little! we skipped breakfast, which meant for once, i was actually hungry at lunch time. ellen, our director, got us all chocolates for valentines, which was so sweet! she took the 3 girls to the bank to exchange the rest of our money, which was quite a process. i also mailed 14 postcards/ notes, so one may be showing up at your door soon. (if not send me your address, and i will do my best). we ended up going to the silk market and hefang street, a traditional tourist site which used to be main street. i did do a little shopping, but not too much. hefang street is near the church we think we will go to, so we decided that we would venture back a day it was not raining. 

rain & umbrellas 

bhudda

candy. lots of candy.

silk scarves

sugar coated fruit

:)

richie joking with lesly and jordan!

since it was our faculty member's last day, the nursing directors took us out to another fancy pants dinner. SO GOOD. the nursing directors, joked with ellen about finding a boyfriend in chinese. so adorable to see adult women joke around about matchmaking.

centerpiece

chicken feet

bean trees on the coolest spoons

locus root

pigs kidney. i got out of eating this one since it had soy sauce

cucumber salad

tofu tower

mini treats. 

anyhow, we ended up at home and did a fun little skype sesh with all of the nursing students in south africa

now to talk about my favorite things, feelings... (note the sarcasm). this blog has been wonderful for me to process through my thoughts and feelings to what's happening. it's also been a wonderful way to reflect. i'm missing home a lot more than i thought i would, mostly my friends and family, not my freedom which i thought i would miss. this has been a wonderful opportunity to seek God through different avenues. i've learned that i don't put enough attention to God, not even here where i have been. i'm not about to join the convent but i wish i could spend days on end reading the word, reading peoples reflection on the word, and just in prayer. i'm also learning that i am still bitter about south africa (see my first post [thebackstory]. ) still processing through that, so we will see where that goes. 

prayer requests

-keep my attention upward

-my back. i got in a car accident in august, long story short its still injured. the beds are SUPER hard here, so my back is taking quite the beating