This week the grandmother of the people’s house we stayed at the first month died. She was in her late eighties and had a large family with great and great-great grand kids. We decided to visit and bring the family some flowers a few days after her death. We forgot that three to five days after the family has a funeral serves of sorts. People will gather, eat, and pay their respects to the dead. We happen to come on the day that they were having this party in preparation to move the body to the mountain. We came in to the court yard and laid the flowers in front of the body. Then we were asked to bow before the body and we respectfully declined. On this day it would be very rare to see the family, so we decided to leave. Before we could take two steps out people were telling us to stay and eat. The food was pretty good. The local people’s funerals are very interesting the first few days after the person dies the family will clean the body and put rice and a coin in the mouth. Then the body will either be burned or put in a casket like box. Then the family will have a feast for the village and carry the body to the mountain to be buried. This mother to so many children a few weeks earlier heard the entire message. I hope that she received father’s message. Please keep this family in your thoughts to Dad.
This week I also took some of my Chinese finals. During our time here Jesse and I have been enrolled in three Chinese courses Speaking, Writing, and Chinese Made Easier. We have both been working very hard to learn the language, so it is a relief to be ending school for a while. My major concern is that as we are preparing to return to the United States we will lose sight of propose. This is an important time for us and a great opportunity to share with our friends more openly than normal. Sometime this next week we will through a Christmas party for our friends. Please talk to dad about this party and that we will have ample opportunities to share.
