Phew...

Wow. I have so much to say…so much to try to remember. I can hardly figure out where to begin. Yes, we made it to China safely! Sorry for not updating before now.

I have to say, though…I think I may have brought the rain. As if I haven’t had enough rain in Texas, the rainy season just happened to be starting up just as we arrived in China. One of my very first sights upon arriving was a flooded city. Great.

Unfortunately, it has been raining 24 hours a day. Literally. It’s not letting up. And, while we’re not letting that keep us from getting out and about, it’s kind of deterring me from taking pictures. It’s hard to hold an umbrella, set up a shot, snap a picture…all in the rain. And, well, how am I supposed to be getting down on the ground if there are puddles everywhere?

BUT anyway… So, we had plans to leave Friday morning to go out to some minority villages about 4 hours away. Luckily, it quit raining on Friday. I’m so thankful for that because I do NOT want to miss taking photos out in the villages. So, here I am today, back from the villages & 400 pictures later. Ay yi yi. You can imagine my post processing nightmare, I’m sure.

My parents have this wonderful little friend named Julie. She is THE sweetest thing. Julie actually grew up in the village that we were going to visit. This is why we were going to that particular village. My parents have a special friendship with her entire family. SO, Julie and all of us headed toward her family home, where they would so graciously cook for us & serve us dinner.

On our way to the villages, we drove 4 hours through winding mountain roads. Gosh…I cannot even begin to tell you how beautiful the land is here. It is beyond amazing. I wish somehow I could fully share my experience with you. It seems that I’ve always been short on words. Well, not short on words quantity-wise, but definitely short on words quality-wise. I can never seem to fully express what I’m wanting to convey. I’ve said it before…my words just aren’t adequate. I do my best, but I’m lacking. All this to say, I feel like in this moment, on this trip, my photos are lacking. They are inadequate. Yes, they may be fun to look at. They may capture some really great moments (or not,) but they just don’t capture it all. They do not paint the entire picture for you, and that kind of bums me out. I have a terrible memory. These days, this blog & my photos are where I store my memories. My mind fails me. And, so, I know that over a period of time, sooner rather than later, I will start to forget the big picture…the entirety of it. Bummer.

Let me get on with this story. Sheesh. I ramble.

On our drive, we happened across what they (someone) claims to be the world’s tallest non-suspension bridge. I believe it. Man, it’s just amazing to me that someone built that thing. And, that it works. Haha! It’s a two lane, two way bridge, and they happened to have one lane shut down for construction of some sort. (Yes, that leaves one lane and the shoulder of the tallest non-suspension bridge in the world for two way traffic to share.) Because of that, we pulled over, got out, and made our way out onto the bridge in the shut down lane. Honestly, I’m surprised that Heather & Mom had anything to do with this. (They’re both TERRIBLY afraid of heights.) But, they did, as the pictures prove.

So, here are a few pictures from that little adventure:
The girls looking over the edge:
Craig & Julie checking things out. And, yeah, this picture looks much scarier than it actually was. They are not just at the edge of a huge cliff or anything, though it looks that way! :-)
Back in the car, and back on the road… A bit more driving, and we arrived at Julie's village. A view from the highway:
I think this is a view of a neighboring village taken from the same spot on the highway. Just a guess, though. I don't really know. Haha! I LOVE the roofs!
You can tell from the top picture that we couldn't take the main highway to get to the village, right!?! Yeah...well...this is where I felt my life might be in danger. Haha! Remember how I said it's been raining NON-stop? Well, imagine what all that rain must do to a dirt road. I'm not talking a gravel-y road or anything...I'm talking red dirt. The kind that makes really, really slick red mud. Yep...up a mountain, winding & scenic road, right? Ummmm...not so much. Yes, it was all of those things, but it was not a drive that instills nice, relaxing, I'm-sight-seeing vibes in you or anything. This is a ONE lane road. ONE lane for two way traffic. ONE lane that runs pretty much right alongside the edge of the mountain with NO guardrails or anything. I'm sure my parents think I'm being high drama, but I don't care. It was NUTSO! At one point, you pretty much have to make a U-turn to turn off onto a second very similar road. Well, the road we're turning onto goes uphill fairly steeply. You can't just whip the wheel & make a U-y either. We're talking a three point turn. So, upon the first backup, I thought we were going over the edge of the mountain. OH. MY. GOSH. I think my life flashed before my eyes. No, seriously. Craig says otherwise, but I don't care what Craig says. We're talking almost NO wiggle room for a vehicle to get through, so, yeah...we're already too close to the edge.

ANYway... I go on about random things, don't I?

After getting stuck in the mud once, we arrive. Here's where my words will fail me. Here's where my pictures do no justice. We walked through the village, through what almost seemed like small little corridors between the homes, on to Julie's family's home. The ground was wet from the rain with moss covering some areas, both on the ground and the structures around us. There were so many nooks, crannies, offshoots along the way. So many things to catch my eye. Almost everywhere I looked, I saw a little path that interested me, that piqued my curiosity. I wanted to follow each one to see where it might lead me. The textures, the muted tones of the walls, the roofs, the walkways...I've never seen anything like it. I wish I could keep the movie in my brain playing forever, but it's already starting to fade.

We made our way up to Julie's home. Her parents & grandparents were so welcoming. Though I couldn't understand a WORD they said to me, I could see it all over their faces that they were proud to have us, happy to be hosting us for dinner. Who needs words, right?

After visiting for a few minutes and before dinner, Julie took Craig, Heather & I out for a little tour of the village. And, when I say village, it really, really is a village. There were children running & playing freely, neighbors out working...whatever. There were just people. Everywhere. I have to say...many Chinese people that I've run into so far are not keen on being photographed. For some reason, they feel that they don't look presentable. I, however, find them so beautiful, so fascinating, so full of character just as they are. I found that though they live a different lot in life, a lot that is foreign to me or one I can't imagine living, they are happy...joyful. Man, they're SO happy. And that makes them SO incredibly beautiful. They take you in with their smiles, their giggles. I found myself drawn in and studying the beauty that each of them add to the world. I admire the lives they live, the way the village works. I admire that they raise their own food & each other's children.

I don't know what else I can say about the people. They just touched my heart in a way that no one ever has. I hope that I was able to capture their true spirits. Atleast just a little.


A couple of village women hauling...I don't know...stuff...to I don't know where. :-)

This sweet little girl was so unsure about us. Poor little thing. I think we made her nervous. She was grabbing at her hands, pulling on her fingers, rubbing them together, etc. Obviously a nervous thing. The funny thing about that...Emma does the exact same thing when she's nervous. Isn't it crazy how kids all over the world are really just alike?
This is all the color & texture I was talking about...
Ummm...how stinkin' cute is this bebe!?!

This little girl came cruising down this path with her little sister on her back. Lucky, lucky me. And look how happy she is to be carrying her! Isn't it precious!?!
Little sister in a princess dress. :-) I think she's got two long lost sisters in Texas named Emma & Maya! Haha!
And, after strolling around a bit, it's back to Julie's for dinner:

After visiting over a really, really delicious meal (including bamboo prepared three different ways - who KNEW it could be so yummy!?!) Julie took us on a tour of their home. We went upstairs into a little room where stacks of rice are stored, as well as tea...both dried and fresh. Julie began to show us how they go about drying & rolling the tea.
I gave it a try, as did Craig. It was WAY harder than it looks. I kept throwing a little off the sides accidentally... Haha! I set this shot up for Heather to take of me working the tea with Julie.
These are Julie's parents. Aren't they so cute!?! See what I mean about happy...they're just happy! And he looks like he adores her, doesn't he!?!
This is Julie's grandmother (her father's mother.)
This is the same grandmother in her traditional minority group dress.

This is Julie's other grandmother (her mom's mom.)
And her other grandfather (her mom's dad.)
So, yeah...it was such a busy, FULL day. And, I mean full in a good way. Fulfilling, you know? I'm so glad that we got to go, and I'm so glad that Julie's family was kind enough to host us.

When I started post processing tonight, I had initially thought that I would share the whole weekend with you all. BUT, this is just the ONE day. It's SO late, and I'm SO tired. Though I wanted to share it all now because it all kind of goes together, I've got to wait. The next day (which happens to be earlier today) was just as cool! Watch for that...

Oh, also, just so you all know...I'm post processing on a laptop. I totally don't trust the screen, and I'm quite frustrated with the whole thing. I want my trusty ol' CRT. Alas, I do not have it. I'm having to make it work. So, yeah, I have NO idea what these photos really look like. They could be really dark or really blown, really contrasty or too muddy. I know for sure that I didn't even fool with color balance at all...whatever. Ha! Some of these I actually tried to post process the way I normally do, but I quickly became discouraged with that, so I moved on to soft light layer & vignette only for a good portion of these. What I'm trying to say is this: IGNORE the post processing. Haha!

Tomorrow I've got two little shoots going on. One is with Julie & her new husband...wedding type photos. The other is with a really nice young woman named Annie. I think they're both gonna be a lot of fun! Watch for those...