This is for you....my beloved people group.

I have been thinking a lot about them lately....of course every summer when this time comes around...i start to think about them...because it seems 3 out of the last 4 summers i have been in Northwest China. Its hard to imagine a summer without them in my life. Lately I have been dreaming and seeing a lot more about my beloved people over there and I wanted to write about them and the things I miss and hope that one day very soon in the future I shall be there again....joining in the midst of the people there..

Everyday I woke up, I had my window curtains a bit opened and I would see bright blue sky that was outside. It would be around 6:30 am or 7:00 am and waking up to that bright blue sky was amazing. It made ANYONE want to wake up. When open up the window, the wind and air is so crisp and overlook the beautiful city....not like radiant like the big metropolitan- but beautiful and unique in its own way.

My favorite part was walking this typical walk from the hotel to the mosque. It never changes- it will be a street packed with vendors that sold Nan bread and different nan bagels, burnt smell of kebabs, wooden trolleys of watermelons and sweet melons, little vendors that sowed and patched shoes or bags up that cost nothing then 10 cents, cars and bikes and motercars and people crossing the road...

The beautiful mosque...that I probably took it way for granted. Massive amount of people hanging out outside of the mosque, homeless men and women sitting on the steps of the mosque in search of food or mercy from others....

I loved the memory of my date with my roommate in summer 2008. We took lunch off and let her take me to her favorite restaurants. It was definitely a special time of hanging out. We walked to this amazing restaurant and had pumpkin dumplings and dumpling soup along with tasty tea. Then we walked to the people square in which we got some yummy ice cream. My roommate kindly forced me to try it and I realized that it was really really good....I am lactose intolerant, but we had a good time.

I miss having the never ending days- as the sun will go down around 8 or 9 pm. I miss seeing the sun go down. I miss the dry heat and the breezy mornings when I had to run and get stuff for people....

Everyday there seemed like my fast pace life and time stopped. I felt like I was there finally living in the present and I barely cared about the future. Time stopped....and it was good.

I hope that the day I return will be soon....