The group is at Yale

We've received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in New Haven, CT. All of the Global Action World Issues groups have settled into the dorms at Yale University and students are preparing to put the final touches on their presentations.

Tea picking with Mr. Xie

Dear Family and Friends,

We are about to sit down to dinner with the Xie family, but wanted to send a quick blog home. The Xie family lives in Fuxi village at the foot of the Yellow Mountains. The total population is only about 100 people, yet we have internet access! It's amazing that in a country where no one can drink water from the tap, many people have cell phones and a way to get online.

We slept in today, exhausted from our hike to the peak of the mountains yesterday. Nevertheless, we had the energy to go tea picking this afternoon. Mr. Xie taught us how to pick the best leaves and how to cook the tea. It's delicious and we'll be sure to bring some home for all of you!

We're looking out at a beautiful sunset now, preparing to eat the dumplings we made for dinner. We also slaughtered a chicken for tomorrow's lunch. Another new experience for all of us!

One more day in the village, and then we're off to Shanghai, our final stop. Time has really flown by.

See you all soon!

Mike, Julia, and the China crew

A Solar Eclipse in the Yellow Mountains

Hello friends and family,

Quick blog update from the top of the Yellow Mountains. . . We just saw a total eclipse of the sun! We are lucky enough to be in one of the few places on Earth where the full eclipse was visible, and it was the longest eclipse in 300 years. To make the event even more amazing, we sat at the top of "Learning About the Truth" mountain, one of the peaks of Huang Shan. Just above the crest of a series of jagged mountains, the sun was swallowed up by the moon, and we were plunged into a few minutes of total darkness. Unforgettable!

Tomorrow, we hike down the mountain to a village not far away. We will be staying with the Xie family on the bank of a river that comes down from the peaks. The Xie family will teach us about tea farming and take us to a local middle school so we can do some teaching. We will be with the Xies for a few days before heading on a night train to our final destination: Shanghai.

We are excited for the long hike today (and a little nervous!), and looking forward to a refreshing swim when we get down to the village.

We miss you all!

--The China Crew

Three Gorges Dam and Chongqing

Dear friends and family:

It's been a while since we've had access to a computer, but we are now in Chongqing at the heart of the largest municipal region on earth--some 40 million people fill the valleys of this mountainous area in the dead center of China. There are internet cafes all around us, as well as dumpling restaurants, high-rise apartment buildings,"bang-bang" men carrying huge loads on their shoulders, and massive crowds of people. The super-rich rub shoulders with the dirt poor in this hard-to-describe city. The city has forced us to reasses the simplistic description of China as a "Communist" country. It has forced us to confront startling poverty and to ask some hard questions about how we travel. It has given us a chance to reflect on the global nature of pollution and commerce. And it has offered a strange contrast to the westernized avenues of Beijing.

Our Chongqing adventure began at the docks after leaving the cruiseship that sailed us westward along the Yangtze river. We saw the Three Gorges Dam as well as Fengdu, the "city of ghosts." For some Taoists, Fengdu is the mythical location of hell-- statues of angry demons lurked in tiny grottos and larger temples. It was a spookyplace.

The cruise was a nice time to relax and recharge our batteries. Our time in Chongqing has been a whirlwind. We spent a day with local students, chatting in small groups about everything from High School Musical to the recent riots in Xinjiang. We also shared hotpot with them, quite possibly the spiciest food you can find.

Tomorrow, we head for Shanghai and the Yellow Mountains. We will be in the perfect location to view an early morning total eclipse of the sun: if we get a clear day, this once in a 300-year occurrence should be quite memorable!

Our adventure continues!
-Mike and Julia

Yale Information

Hello family and friends,

Yale is less than three weeks away! This will be the final communication from Putney before the end of the program, and we hope that it will provide you with plenty of information as you prepare for your time at Yale University.

Presentations and Picnic

The final presentations will be held on Saturday, August 1st at Sudler Recital Hall at William Harkness Hall, 100 Wall St, New Haven. Global Action students will attend all of the presentations. Please plan to arrive a few minutes early so that we can keep to our tight schedule; your child will meet you there. The presentations are each approximately one hour long and will take place the following times:

9:30 AM: Welcome
10 AM: India
11:30 AM: El Salvador
2:30 PM: China
4 PM: Cambodia

Presentations will be followed by a picnic for families and the entire Global Action community at Timothy Dwight College. We hope you will join us!

How to RSVP

If you plan to attend the presentations and picnic at Yale, please RSVP by email to putney.gaia2009@gmail.com by Friday, July 17. Please note your name, your son/daughter’s group name, and how many there will be in your party (do not include your son/daughter in that number).

Communication with Putney

All communication with Putney from July 30 to August 1 should be directed to our Yale office:

Office Line: (203) 436-1577
Cell Phone: (561) 504-6325
Email: putney.gaia2009@gmail.com


Travel to/from Yale

Each Global Action group has chartered private buses from the airport to Yale University on July 30. While at Yale, students and leaders will be housed at Timothy Dwight College, 345 Temple St. (at Grove St.), Yale University, New Haven, CT.

We hope that families can arrive to Yale in the morning of August 1 and stay in New Haven that night. There will be group presentations and a final picnic on August 1, though the programs do not end until the morning of August 2. Students should be picked up from Timothy Dwight College on August 2 between 9 a.m. and 12 noon. (Putney will provide transportation to the local airport and train station for students that are returning home on their own.)

In the information we have sent to your digital locker, you will find directions to Timothy Dwight College, a list of area hotels, and a customized map including parking information that you should bring to Yale with you. Yale has also provided us with a user-friendly online map at http://business.yale.edu/map.

We look forward to meeting you on August 1st!

The Great Wall

Ni hao, friends and family. We just returned to Beijing after an exhilarating three day trip to a small village at the base of the Great Wall of China. To reach the village, we hiked along a little known and unrepaired section of the wall-- it took us about 4 hours to reach the village from where our van dropped us off. The village had ten families, one of which--the He family-- has a few rooms they open for travelers. Kaitlin, Shibani, Grace, Shelby, Catey, Molly, Allegra, and Meridith all shared one large "kang" style bed. The boys split up into three rooms and shared beds of their own, with Harrison, Jake, and Sam on one kang, Brett, Jeremy, and Ben on another, and Eric, Jacob, Daniel, and Dan on the final kang.

The He family was amazingly friendly. We had a long talk with Mr. He about his life on the farm and his hopes for his son. He was open and honest, sharing his feelings about everything from the economy, to politics, to music. He asked for some help on the farm, so we cleared a small field of weeds and planted beans, then helped plant walnut trees. It was hard work!

Mrs. He was just as kind. She taught us how to cook jiaozi, or pot-stickers. We also got to meet Grandpa He, an 85 year old man who has seen just about everything.

Life in the village was a welcome change of pace from the hectic schedule of Beijing. The village was high enough in the mountains that the evening weather was chilly, and the skies were a brilliant blue (after the smog of central Beijing). We spent a lot of time playing traditional Chinese games, including mah-jiang and "kill the landlord."

Our first stop upon our return to the city: Peking Duck! We followed up our rustic, country-side adventure with an extravagant meal at Beijing's best and most famous restaurant.

Tomorrow, we head back into the country-side to an orphanage. More busy days ahead!

Goodnight, and we miss you all,

The China Crew

Beijing: the Great Wall, hutongs, and tai chi

Greetings to friends and family!

We are here in Beijing, preparing to head to the Great Wall tomorrow. As Chairman Mao said, “you are not a real man, until you’ve been to the Great Wall.” We are excited for the trip into the countryside, though in only two full days in Beijing we already feel like we’ve done so much!

We began our first morning with a Tai Chi lesson in Ritan park. We were not nearly as flexible as our teacher who could do back flips and move like a swan. We were more like tree sloths, but he was happy with our effort. By the end of the lesson, we had attracted a large crowd, amused at a group of Americans failing to do the simplest moves of this Chinese pastime.

Our hostel is located just south of Tiananmen Square and is right in the heart of a traditional hutong district. The conditions around us certainly aren’t rich, but we are learning our way around and have gotten to know our neighbors. A hutong is essentially an alleyway that has existed for hundreds of years. It is the major residential area for many Beijing residents; more than 1 million of Beijing’s people live in these tiny streets. The hutong is a multisensory experience. We can smell public bathrooms (gross!) and barbequing meat (yum!); we hear kids playing and talking; we hear bells and horns from the bicycles (cars have trouble sneaking down the alleys); we hear people inviting us into their tea shops, clothing shops, and trinket stores; we feel the thick Beijing humidity.

This morning, we met with a non-governmental organization (NGO) seeking to preserve traditional Chinese culture in the hutongs from the threat of the high-rises that are sprouting like mushrooms throughout the city. We have been challenged to think about how to modernize sensibly, and with a sensitivity to history.

After visiting the NGO we had noodles for lunch just outside the gate of the Lama Temple, the largest Tibetan Buddhist structure in Beijing. We learned a bit about Buddhism in general, and the particulars of Tibetan, or “Yellow Hat” practices. We also dove into a discussion of the Chinese government’s oppression of religious freedoms. Another intense discussion!

When not engaged in these heavy exchanges, we’ve been learning new Chinese words, meeting new friends, and eating delicious foods. We are collectively happy, tired, and ready for more.

More to come soon.

-Mike and Julia