CHINA - XIAN

So Amanda & I have had two days of shopping buying loads of stuff. Yesterday we bought 16 pieces of furniture from secondhand markets (which gives 17 in total as we bought one earlier in the week) as well as material for new curtains, covers & sheets & paint to match.

Today we organized some of the curtains & covers to be made & what a trial that was getting them to understand what we wanted - & that was with Amanda speaking Chinese. It's a bizzare system where there are seamstresses lined up against a wall outside all sewing their little hearts out. Maybe it actually makes common sense as you can buy the material & get it made up straight away - although we brought ours home to wash & dry it first in case it was going to shrink. I wish Mum was here as we could have them made ourselves - & made them properly! We also bought more paint - another strange system where you pick the paint you want mixed up, go & pay for it, take your receipt to the mixers, wait for them to make it up & then go back & pay for your other items. I guess it's so you don't get paint made up & then change your mind.

Today six people Amanda knows have here for about 4 or 5 days to help paint & basically do whatever needs to be done to get the apartment ready. As I write this they are still painting & it's 11.30pm. I am going to be doing the furniture restoration - we picked up a nice little Dewalt sander today - so tomorrow it's Ipod in & the first day of sanding, sanding, sanding, varnishing, varnishing & more varnishing.

However the most amazing & moving thing that has happened in the last few days is this. When we were at one of the second hand markets yesterday I noticed a little boy of about 7 or 8 years old who eyes were big, blue & very cloudy. (The people actually live at the markets - they have a tiny area to sleep in & a bit of space to prepare food - when you are looking at the furniture you can see where & how they live, it is very humbling). I thought he was blind so I told Amanda & she asked to speak to his mother & look at the little boy. Although he basically is blind it looks like it's something like glaucoma or cataracts which can possibly be treated. The mother said she had taken him to a doctor & surgery would cost 10,000 Chinese dollars. The average wage in China is apparently 500 dollars a month so surgery is completely out of their reach. So Amanda gave the mother her card & asked her to come & see her as she is going to do whatever she can to help this little boy -even pay for it. She has already been talking to people to track down an Opthamologist. I wish I had my camera with me so I could have taken a photo of this little boy & where he lived. Let me tell you, we live like Kings!