[hospitablehearts]

 ahhh. lots has happened the last few days, mostly meetings with the administration of the hospital, but i cannot explain to you the gratitude i have towards the hospitality of these people. they bend over backwards to meet any need that you have. the four of us were informed of this before we left, and so we are very aware of the need to realize what we say. for example, jordan, lesly, and i were talking about how much we love coffee. a few hours later they gave us a bag full of instant coffee.
anyway, we had a meeting today to finalize our schedule in the hospital and at Zhejiang University. we will have mandarin class two days a week, and we will work on the units two other days a week. we will also focus our time in two units, spending 3 weeks with a preceptor in these units. I'm going to be working in cardiovascular medicine and day surgery, just like at home =]
i wanted to share some pictures with you. richie took all of these with his incredible camera. and since my iphoto doesn't want to work, i'll probably be stealing and sharing lots of richie's photos.

first formal dinner

fire breathing dancer at the 

restaurant

the chicken that lives in our apartment complex

our very first meal

the canal next to our apartment

bomb fruit and rice cakes

last phone use before boarding the plane

all of us on the plane

guess who is who =]

our very first picture in china

 describes my feelings right now

Some prayer requests:

-I'm still sick =/ almost done with antibiotics, but i don't feel great

-I'm home sick, missing my family a lot. 

-Communication. The internet is fussy, making communicating difficult. 

-I think the biggest lesson I will learn on this trip is radical dependence. I thrive on independence. But here I have to rely on people for everything. This is sooo hard for me, and I just pray that I would shift this to deepening my dependence on the Lord. 

also, if you want to send me a letter, ask me for my address and i'd be happy to email it to you =]