Author: tierneyturtle

Wow this is pretty crazy! As most of you know there has been a virus spreading across china and to many other countries over the past week. At first is started with 30 cases in a wuhan, and as of today there are 1400 cases and 40 people have died. There have been 15 confirmed cases in the Shaanxi province which is where I am. We have been on lock down, not leaving the house at all for the past 3 days. We bought anti virus masks and have been avoiding crowded places like the giant malls and tourist attractions. And now our program director has to talk to the government to see what to do with us volunteers. There have already been a couple organizations that have been told to send foreigners home. it’s such a crazy time to be here, hearing the news and updates day to day. Not knowing how bad its gong to get and how far this virus will spread. I’m going to find out soon if I have to come home early, I will keep everyone updated.

Update: I am on my way home. Our program director spoke with Xian local authorities last night and they said we had three days to go home. Man I’m so sad, my trip had only just started. I only made one other blog post. there was so much more I wanted to do and see. I know there will be many more opportunities, but for now my journey in china is over.

Tuesday, January 7th, 2020

I flew into Beijing last Thursday morning, and arrived Friday night. I only stayed in Beijing for one night because my volunteer program is in Xi’an. Saturday afternoon I took a 4 and a half hour bullet train ride to Xi’an, and when I arrived, David, the program director was at the train station to pick me up. I really liked the train ride, I was able to see some of the country side before the sun went down. I’ve been in Xi’an for 3 full days now and I already love it! The food has been so good and the little bit of exploring I’ve done so far has been amazing! The teaching English program started yesterday and me and my fellow volunteer, Fran, went into 3 different kindergarten classes and taught them animals. The kids were so cute and loved the games we played with them. Today we went to a different school to make dumplings, do paper cutting, Chinese calligraphy and a few other activities for Chinese New Year (which is on January 25th). I’m excited to teach again tomorrow and to continue exploring Xi’an! Here are some pitures from my trip so far.