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At 8:53pm on August 23, 2008, gustavo de Dios said…
hola zizi como estas soy gustavo de Dios de Buenos Aires
At 2:56am on July 19, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
Yesterday was our last day with our students! It was a sad day for everyone. There were no dry eyes all day. The students each brought a covered dish to share with us during lunch. All the dishes were delicious! I learned to make new foods!
At the end of the day we handed them their certificate for finishing their training with us. At the end we all got our pictures taken. I have never had so many pictures taken of me in my entire life. I felt like a famous star (a poor one of course!)
Last night, one of my students & I went out for dinner to celebrate her b-day, we had a lot of fun trying out a new restaurant & their dishes.
Today we visited the ZhengZhou museum, which had beaautiful historical artifacts. Now we are finally home, getting ready to back so we can leave at 8AM to Xian. This is my last posting till I return to Houston. I will no onger have acccess to the internet.
I will miss all the wonderful new friends that I have made here & hope to one day soon return. On the other hand, I really miss all my family and friends at home.

I thank God, my family & all my friends for making it possible for me to come to mission in China! I know God is pleased with our work here. Please keep these wonderful people in your prayers!

See you all in less than 1 week! :)
Zizi
At 10:16pm on July 17, 2008, Davidius Leith said…
What were some of the differences? (Apart from a sermon that lasted as long as an entire service....)
At 3:24pm on July 17, 2008, Sue Blackmon said…
Zi, That is so awesome! How exciting to share Jesus with someone who has never heard of Him. I know that was really a special time. You and the others in your team have planted seeds that will make a difference for eternity.

Tomorrow is my B-day and Clint and I are going to the Astro game so I probably won't get a chance to talk to you anymore until you get home. Have a safe trip and call me when you get back on your time schedule!!!!
At 7:03am on July 17, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
I cannot believe that it is already Thursday night & that we only have 1 more day with our students, tomorrow!

All the students are starting to feel that it is the end and they all want their picture taken with us. All we get from them are wonderful & beautiful compliments, they are so giving! I know that they will be missed by all of us!

This morning we watched the Christmas production put on at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston in 2007. They loved it! Some of our stuents had never been exposed to our religion and they were interested in learning about it. We had people request a DVD, but we only had 1, the one that we brought!

After the performance, some students approached us to ask us about Jesus/God. They were interested in knowing why we believed in only 1 God. Many of them were also moved by the message the pastor had on the DVD. Before lunch, some of my students & I went to the computer room so I could show them the site of our church. They were excited that they would be able to listen to the pastor's message weekly. It was exciting to see that people came to see the Lord for the 1st time ever. After lunch we listened to Christmas music, made crafts and talked about the "Christmas Story".

Tomorrow we will celebrate Easter with them and wind up the day with a good bye party :(

In our classes today, teachers read parts of the bible that talked about the meaning of Christmas. The Chinese stuents were happy to be able to follow along in the bilingual bibles that we brought with us.

It was a very special day indeed at school today!
At 5:14am on July 15, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
Today was great, we made all kinds of foods including homemade vegetable soup. They had never eaten soup that way. They liked it with noodles! They also made zucchini casserole, mushroom casserole and coconut pie casserole. They were a hit!

I think I have gained 20 LBS eating in china!

Tomorrow after school, one of my students, July will take me shopping at an open market where they see all kinds of traditional chinese items ( & cheap).

I am exhausted! The cooking was fun, but making new friendships was even better. All of them are wanting to get their pictures taken with me. I will miss all of these wonderful people, I learned a lot from them in the last 3 weeks. I am sorry to go! It will be very hard saying good-bye on Friday :(. I hope I can cope with it!

It has been confirmed! We are leaving Zhengzhou 1st thing on Sunday morning to go to Xian. The bus trip is 6 hs long. We will stay there for 2 days & then fly into Shanghai. I cannot wait to see more of China!

Miss u all
Z
At 4:39pm on July 14, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
Please note that after Saturday I will not have access to a computer, so I will not be able to update the blog nor email you. We will be on the road to Xian and from there to Shanghai.

Need to get ready for school this morning, bye
Z
At 5:09am on July 14, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
Tell your son that the moped only went 30 mph and NO I was nor screaming! One of the teachers got a great picture of us riding into the sunset! hahaa

I am sad to say that this is my last week to teach. The group of students I had today, I will not see again! :( I hope they email me when I am gone.

It rained very hard all night, so parts of the city was flooded. This caused delays in our day, students could not get to school. Students took pictures on their cell of the flood where they live, it was BAD! None of them wanted to miss class because they all wanted to cook. They are too funny.

This group was ok with mashed potatoes, but loved hashbrowns with onions and freid eggs!!!! They said that it was yummy! Then 1 of my chinese students, Anna made a chinese pancake, which is almost as thin as a crepe with green onions and sesame seeds in it (1 cup of flour, 3 eggs, fine chop. green onion, salt and sesame seeds and oit to cook in or butter). In china, they use oil, because nobody can afford butter nor margarine. I promise to make these wonderful pancakes for you when I get back!

I also learned that when chinese people are making pancake mix, they use 2 chopsticks to mix, they do not use a spoon nor a mixer. I think we could add sour cream to their pancakes and have a wonderful meal.

The dumplings in this area have a teaspoon of broth inside the dumpling with the meat. It is yummy!

Tonight I cooked dinner for the team and for the administrators of the school. I made baked potatoes with everything on it. Remember, I am in china & people here besides restaurants do not have ovens! The school bought 1 for me to teach cooking! It is a tiny commercial grade oven, it has 1 rack and no window to see in. The door is very heavy & takes 2 hands to open it. You must also put the top part and the bottom of the oven to cook, unlike our ovens. It takes a while to get used to.

This was a huge treat for many of them and for us! We imporvised because of the price of dairy products and because they do not have sour cream. Nobody could tell that I had used other products to make their dinner yummy. Some of our toppings were: ham, mushrooms, green onions, 1 slice of cheese, margarine & plain yougurt.

Tomorrow I will be making breakfast items for the team (for dinner).

It is very tired and hot! As soon as you walk 1 step you are covered in water from the humidity and heat. A cold shower is all we need after work!

I am glad that many of you are keeping up with my fun and wonderful trip. I will be back home late on July 25th, but I promise to call you on the 26th!!!

Miss u all
Good night/good morning to all!
At 8:23pm on July 13, 2008, Sue Blackmon said…
Zi, I can only imagine you riding around China on the backa of a moped!!!! Clint wants to know if you were scremaing!!!!???? I hope someone got a photo of you. It sounds like you and your students are getting along famously. But I already knew that would happen. Well, if you are considered super fat, what does that make me? Elephant size? I'm glad you found something to wear. I saw Anna at church this morning and we can not wait for you to get home even though we know you are having the time of your life. Love ya, Sue
At 5:49am on July 13, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
When we walked out of KFC to catch a taxi, there was my student passing by on her moped. I was on my way to meet her so we could go to a store where her boyfriend works. Her name is Cissy and we both have the same chinee name! That made her happy.

So, instead of getting in the cab with my friends, I got on the bike with her and we toured the city! It was the best time of my life. on these bikes you go 30mph and because of it I was able to see everything and to take pictures while she drove.

The store where her boyfriend worked is huge. It is 3 stories high and all they see are items needed for hotels & restaurants of all sizes and class. They sell huge appliances to teaspoons, from fine china to robes and pillows. The things he had were amazing and beautiful. I bought a couple of things there @ wholesale prices. Then, Cissy took me home.

I cannot believe that this is our last week with our students :(
On the 20th the school bus will take us to Xian to see the terractota museum and other cites there. Xian will be even more crowded because there are 8.2 million people there (unlike 4.2 here in ZhengZhou)

I know you all know that I am a kitchen freak and that all I wanted to do was buy kitchen stuff, but I didn;t. You would have been proud of me! I did get a beautiful pair of PJ's that fit me. According to chinese standrds I am super fat. It is 100% egyptian cotton, cream colored and has light pink accents. It cost me less than $8

I also ran to the open market to buy the vegetables that I will be using with my class tomorrow. We will be making mash potatoes, hashbrowns, french toast & vegetable egg casserole. I am sure this group will also love it!

Good night/good morning to all :)
Z
At 2:46am on July 13, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
This morning we attended a church service that held around 1,300 people. It was packed! The interesting thing of this church was that all the single men sat on the left side, all women in the middle (married w/husbands & unmarried women). I could not see the right side from where I was, sorry!
After the service, we walked around the church and noticed that the prayer room was packed with people. The room was maybe 10x15 and you could net even get a foot in.
Parents with children sat outside the church while listening to the service. At the end of the service it was a huge traffic jam! All the mopeds and bikes fought to get out. It took as long for them to get out as it does for us to exit Champion Forest Baptist!

All the people welcomed up with open arms and wanted to know if we were foreign pastors visiting China. They were impressed that we were carring our chinese-english bible around. They identified with that.
As usual, people would just stare at us!

After church, we went out for lunch to KFC. I had a fried shrimp sandwich instead of the traditional chicken sandwich, It was very good. My meal included the samdwich, a drink (ice tea), a coleslaw salad that included cold corn. The meal cost me around $3.50.
At 6:40am on July 12, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
We just came back from our mini trip.
We started out at the Dragon's Pavilion (see below). There shows are beatiful. People are dressed in typical costumes of that era. I got a very special taken today. I rented the QUEEN's dress and head piece and got my picture taken in many different poses. It was a great deal at fun & it only cost less than $6.00 dol.

After that we went to the most popular resturant in the city (for the locals). Their main specialty are dumplings. The truch is that the Principal of the school ordered 25 dished for us to try! You should see the pictures of our table!!!! We were 10 adults & 2 kids. There was still food left over, imagine that?

Among my top 3 were: grilled fish with a sweet sauce, thinly sliced eggplant cooked and covered with a sweet & sour sauce & the pork dumplings. All of the dishes were fantastic!

In China they start with the appetizers (there were 8): grilled & salted cashews, fruit salad, fresh vegetables, and more! They also served a thin cold beef that tasted libe our brisket, chicken breast, 3 types of soups, mushroom dishes & more.

We all ate way too much as you can imagine.

After lunch we went to Millennium City Park where we walked around for 3 hours watching shows and buying little things here and there.

It was so HOT, I thought we were all going to die on our 3 hour walk outside!

We just got back and I had a sandwich & I am getting ready to go to bed. I need to get up really early tomorrow (Sun.) to make it to church by 8AM.
We will be going to a different church from the past 2 weeks. I will keep you updated!
Good night/morning to you!
At 5:08pm on July 11, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
Some of you were curious about the chinese olympic mascotts. So here it is:

The official Olympic mascots has been unveiled at the evening show on November 11th, that marked the 1000-day countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, the Five Friendlies will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace--and blessings from China--to children all over the world.

Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, the Five Friendlies also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals--the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow--and the Olympic Flame.

Each of the Friendlies has a rhyming two-syllable name--a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together--Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni--they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of the Five Friendlies as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

The Five Friendlies also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature--the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky--all stylistic rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

Spreading Traditional Chinese Blessings Wherever They Go

In the ancient culture of China, there is a grand tradition of spreading blessings through signs and symbols. Each of the Five Friendlies symbolizes a different blessing--and will honor this tradition by carrying their blessings to the children of the world. Prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck will be spread to every continent as the Five Friendlies carry their invitation to Beijing 2008 to every part of the globe.

At the heart of their mission--and through all of their work--the Five Friendlies will seek to unite the world in peace and friendship through the Olympic spirit. Dedicated to helping Beijing 2008 spread its theme of One World, One Dream to every continent, the Five Friendlies reflect the deep desire of the Chinese people to reach out to the world in friendship through the Games--and to invite every man, woman and child to take part in the great celebration of human solidarity that China will host in the light of the flame in 2008.
At 5:03pm on July 11, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
You are too funny my dear Sue! I am having so much fun, I cannot even explain it! In 2 hours we are leaving the hotel to go on our tour.
Tell hubby & kids that I can cook! LOL
Z
At 4:20pm on July 11, 2008, Sue Blackmon said…
Zi,
Sounds like you are really having fun and getting to see lots of the area and learn about the history. I can't wait to see your photos.

I think with all the cooking classes you are doing, we should sign you up to be the food network's Next Cooking Star!

Love ya,
Sue
At 7:30am on July 11, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
The mall was moder, had a/c and was as beautiful and expensive as Galleria in Houston. We bought nothing!
We ate out at a fast food place that seemed like KFC. The food was ok. They definetly uses different spices than we fo in our chicken dishes.
Good night/ good morning!
Z
At 7:27am on July 11, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
Xiangguo Temple. Built in 555 AD during the Northern Qi Dynasty, Xiangguo has played a pivotal role in the spiritual life of the Central China Plain's people. Under the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) Xaingguo was one of the Empire's leading Buddhist institutions. Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) rule saw the temple's monastery grow to over 1000 monks in some 64 different Buddhist colleges. In 1644 the temple was destroyed with the retreating Ming Dynasty opened the flood gates of the Yellow River to slow the advance of the Manchu invaders. Kaifeng was washed away. Xiangguo was rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty and has been renovated a few times since. The temple's current structure includes the Shanmen Gate, the Heavenly King Hall, the Grand Hall, the Great Treasure House, the Sutra Library, the Drum Tower and the Bell Towers. The Great treasure House is home to a number of Buddhist relics and artifacts, including a Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) bronze Buddha and a ten foot high gold covered statue of the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin. You can find the temple on the west end of Ziyou Street (Freedom Street).

Dragon Pavilion This was the site of the Emperor's palace during the Jin and the Song dynasties. It was used for official purposes during the Ming era. Some of the Song Dynasty emperors are portrayed in wax and in paintings. The site has been a park since 1963.

The Iron Pagoda. This structure sits today near the campus of Henan University, inside the old city walls of Kaifeng. The pagoda overlooks Iron Pagoda Lake and a city park is built around the pagoda today. The pagoda dates to 982 AD -- early in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD). The octagonal-shaped pagoda has 13 floors and climbs to over 180 feet high. The pagoda is actually made of clay, but the color resembles rusted iron; thus the name.
At 7:24am on July 11, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
Go to the following website and see where we are going tomorrow! The city has been built on top of 7 other cities. When the city floods and gets destroyed, they rebuild right on top of the old one!
Some of the places we will visit is the last Chinese Jewish Temple in China.

In addition we will visit the following and more:
The introduction of Qingming riverside landscape garden


Millennium City Park (Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden) :
Have you ever dreamed of going back in time to Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) in China and savor the prosperity and culture of those years? If so, come to Millennium City Park (also called Qingming Riverside Landscape Garden) located in the old city of Kaifeng (the former Bianjing) in Henan Province. Find yourself in the spectacular scenery there and you are sure to realize that dream.

Millennium City Park located on the west bank of Dragon Pavilion Lake is a grand cultural garden. It covers an area of 600 mu (about 98 acres), and the construction area is more than 30,000 square meters (about 7.4 acres). The built area consists of several architectural complexes which are re-creations based on the famous twelfth century painting by Zhang Zeduan of 'The Qingming Festival by the Riverside'. This picture is a painted scroll which is 525 cm (about 17 feet) in length and 25.5 cm (9.5 inches) in width depicting life along Bian River during the Qingming Festival. The scenes in this painting are highly detailed and the spectacle is magnificent. There are large numbers of people and buildings. The people are shown in a variety of contemporary clothes that indicate their social standing and occupations. The lively throng includes many animals and it is not difficult to imagine the sounds in the street scenes where the people are crowded and noisy. We can almost hear someone bargaining with a shop owner while others are cheering entertainers. The picture is like a live symphony of life during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

When you enter the Millennium City Park, a statue which is 16 meters (about 52 feet) tall comes into view. This figure is none other than the artist Zhang Zeduan, who holds his famous drawing of 'The Qingming Festival by the Riverside'. Now we can find these scenic spots such as City Gate Tower, Rainbow Bridge, distinctive shops and others which are re-created in the Park according to the scenes in the painting.

Let's first visit the imperial garden of the park. All the palaces and gardens have been carefully arranged. Standing inside the gardens and visible from outside, are the pavilion and the pagoda while in the distance a waterfall comes into view. Among these a majestic pavilion of 31.99 meters (about 105 feet) will draw our attention. From its appearance, you will expect it to have four floors but actually there are another three floors hidden inside. It is so tall and seems to be able to touch the clouds. This is how it got the name of Fuyun (whisking the cloud) Pavilion. It was also the place where important royal documents and traditional Chinese painting and books are stored during the Song Dynasty.

Another scenic spot called Rainbow Bridge is a well-known feature in the Park. It is a replica of one of the ten ancient timber bridges. The bridge is 5 meters (about 16 feet) high. The first bridge was built in 1050, and reconstructed in 1998. Four 9 meter (about 29 feet) high columns, two at either end of the bridge, replicate the poles that were weather vanes at the time of the Song Dynasty. A white crane sits on a disk at the top of each column and they turn to face into the wind, indicating its direction.

At each end of the Rainbow Bridge you will find many performances about folk custom. A staff of about 1,000 employed in the garden wearing different traditional clothes put on performances for the visitors from 9:00 am to 22:00 pm. On the streets you can find acrobats, puppet shows, cockfighting and even a marriage scene. While in the park you will have the opportunity to see exhibits of folk customs and traditional crafts ranging from hand embroidery and displays of woodcut pictures and official porcelain and so on. At the end of your trip, you can buy local souvenirs for your friends and family.

One of the distinctive things you will encounter when visiting the Park lies in participation. You can play a role in a traditional Chinese marriage and realize your dream of being a Number One Scholar in the imperial examinations of ancient times. These activities are sure to bring the past alive and add to your enjoyment and interest.

The whole landscape in Millennium City Park reflects an eternal theme of harmony between man and nature. It is a place where you can relax and gain inspiration.



http://goasia.about.com/library/weekly/blpicskaifeng.htm
At 2:51am on July 11, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
Here is the perfect homade bisquick mix from scratch:
This makes 10-12 cups. You can cut it in half.
9 cups of flour
1/4 cups of white sugar
2 & 1/3 of powdered milk
1 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of baking powder
2 cups of shortening

In large pan, stir dry milk, baking powder, sugar, salt into the flour. Mix
Cut the shortening into dry ingredients and mix until it has the consistency of corn meal.
Use within a month. In warm month, refrigerate in bag.
Then use as recipe call for. Enjoy! It is yummy!

I cannot believe what a hit the potato dishes were today. I will be making them on Mon. as well for the next group. As the food was cooking, they worked on piecing their quilt together and in making pop-up books. They could not believe that they could make a pop ip book! They made some beautiful pop-up cards for family members!
At 5PM the school van will be taking us to the Dennis supermarket to buy american snacks such as cereal, ham & cheese, granola bars, & butter. Across the street from the market is McDonalds & a mall. I am interested to compare this mall to the last one.

Tomorrow morning we are being picked up at 8am to go for a entire day tour. We will be back by 5pm.
When I get back tonight, I will give you all the details of the city we will be visiting.
I am sorry that I cannot post any picures from my hotel computer because it is so old and slow.

oops, need to go, the van is waiting. Have fun and a safe weekend.
Z
At 12:01am on July 11, 2008, Zizi Asfour said…
David, of course that I know you! How could I not? hahahahaa LOL!
The prices listed are already in US currency. The exchange is 1=6.8, or 1=7

I will copy and paste the perfect homemade bisquick when I get back from work tonight. It stays fresh for longer and you can control how much you make. The teachers today learned to make mashed potatoes, hashbrowns. They fell in love with both! One of my chinese students taught us on how to make a typical porridge (from the south of china). It had meat, rice, hard boiled egg, green onions, sesame seeds & sesame oil.
Need to go, my students just got here. PowerPoint, here we come!
Bye
Z

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