FAMILY

It all started way back in Beijing when we thought we had bought tickets to Vietnam. Unfortunately when we arrived to the airport, they had no record of our tickets. Awesome. We had all these signals leading us into dead ends before we "purchased" our tickets. Needless to say we were in the airport, bags packed, barely any chinese currency, ready to leave Beijing. A couple nights before, I had told Helen a story of a friend who went to the airport & had the airport saleswoman buy him a random flight when he realized he had extra time off. We both agreed that it would be so fun & spontaneous to do the same. If we only knew what was in store....

So we booked the cheapest most random flight out of Beijing to the island of Hainan, China. Of course, Helen happened to have long lost family living in a small village on this Island.

Helen when she realized we were going to the the Island where she had family!

We were on the flight with no more Chinese currency & absolutely no plan. We met the cutest girl who helped us get a shady hotel for the night. When we woke up the next day we relocated & Helen put a call to her parents checking to see about her family. We had pretty much canned the idea of going to see her family because we really wanted to get to Vietnam and it was going to be more complicated then we thought. We ended up heading east to a popular beach spot for a few days and bought our flights to Vietnam.

So on one of our last days on the Island I am in my bathing suit & sun dress ready to go to the beach, I make a quick run to the ATM and when I return Helen is on the phone talking to her family. The next thing I know we are on a "3 hour" bus headed to the small town where Helen's great uncle lives.

When we arrive (2 hours later than anticipated,) Helen's second cousin whose name I still am yet to be able to pronounce scoops us off the bus & we are flying in a taxi to there family chateaux-like compound.

Right when we arrived they showered us with coconuts & other delicious fruits. We only stayed one night but we had 2 of the best meals I had when I was in China.

Helen's great uncle is her grandmother's youngest brother. His whole family lived in this village. Every family had their own building but It appeared like they all shared 1 bathroom. All the elders spoke Cantonese. The parents, and children spoke Cantonese & Mandarin. Helen spoke Mandarin and English. Try to imagine what it was like to give me 1 message or ask me a question. Remember I was the first American they had ever met. Although I love the movie Lost in Translation, I find it hardly did this scenario justice.

Here is Helen's 2nd cousin that took us around the whole time with his 3 month hold baby boy & his grandparents.

After we ate dinner, Helen's cousins took us out for a night on the town. We drove about 20 minutes into town by taxi & saw the main city square. Even though it was only a tuesday it was buzzing with people. They had this one area that was filled with all these people doing traditional dancing. It reminded me a bit of Criders for all those Kerrville people (except with a Chinese spin!) They said that during the summer it is always packed because it is so hot in their houses that everyone comes to the square to cool off.

After we saw the town square they really spiced it up by taking us to the main discoteca/ karaoke hall. There was this moment where I was dancing on the dance floor to some cheesy eighties ballads in my same sun dress & bathing suit where I could hardly believe my life - we were supposed to be going to the beach & instead we are having one of the coolest most surreal family encounters.

This of course was a super special occasion for the cousins to go out & they showed us a fantastic time. On this trip I really have not gone out much. Its exhausting always being on the road, plus the same cheesy touristy bars are boring. This night along with a few others with LOCALS are by far the most memorable!

Unfortunately this picture does not do the whole meal justice because the food kept coming but I was too busy eating to take any more photos. At this meal I unknowingly tried the most unusual food... I had already eaten it the night before in the soup. Later at this brunch Helen was "sweet "enough to inform me I was eating PIGS BLOOD. Which slowed me down a bit. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

After brunch, we took photos, and then we were on our way to catch our flight to Vietnam. Here were my favorite family shots: