This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. There they are:

And here I am! That's my friend Kris in front of me.

There we go out across the desert. It was a gorgeous day.






Our caravan -Don't we look like cardboard cutouts?

  Two escapees looking for a snack. Lots of screaming from the lady in back, but I was jealous!

We trekked out across the sand dunes to this oasis Temple and Crescent Lake.

It was great fun!

Next stop, Turpan. The hotel looked very impressive from the outside and in the lobby, but was pretty rundown up on the floors - wiring definitely not up to code. :) We loved walking around the town and through the lovely covered walkways.

Later we took a bus ride out in the desert to visit some ancient ruins. Quite a different  experience walking down these streets.

Hi Friends - Forty of the BYU teachers just got back from an amazing week on the Silk Road tour starting in the NW China city of Urumqi - 8-9 million people, but very isolated by desert and distance from the big cities in the east. We stayed in a beautiful hotel and joined some locals for tai chi in the morning.

I've had a few technical difficulties. I got to class early on my first day. There were a few students that were also early so I asked one young man if he would help me set up the computer/ projector. He looked surprised, but tried to help me. We couldn't get it to connect, so I wouldn't be able to show my power point to introduce myself. Hmmm. Go to plan B. Well, it was now time for class to start and I wanted the students to move up into the front rows. They were scattered all over the room, and not very many of them. "Come up here, please" Nobody moved. "Come up to the front three rows." Everyone just stared. The same young man came up to help me. "I don't think they understand what you want." So I walked out into the group and repeated my request, with lots of motions. At this point I see some of them start to leave. Am I that scary? The boy then said, "This is not a class. They are just here reading or studying." We looked my schedule and sure enough it said I had a class at 1:30 (13:30) "But the next class is really at 2:00," he said. By this time everyone has vacated the room! Probably wondering who this crazy lady was. Well, I told this whole story when my actual class appeared and they thought it was hysterical! That seemed to break the ice and we had a very enjoyable time together. And I did just what my brother suggested - When technology failed me, I picked up my piece of chalk, went to the blackboard, and drew stick figures to introduce my family, a quick map of the US to show where I had lived and where my kids/gkids lived. I drew mts and foothills to show where my house was. As a backup plan I had my calendar with pictures of my gkids and showed them that. They were appropriately wowed by the pictures! .

Hi All - Thought I'd better send an update saying that things have gotten better than when I had no money, no food, no dishes, no sleep. Luckily in our group is a couple who are here for their 3rd year. They have been so generous with their time, showing us how things work around here, and where things are. Found out we can dry our clothes up on the roof (I also need to buy an indoor drying rack). We can get hot water any time from a spigot on the 2nd floor. Usually there's only hot water from 6-8am and 6-10pm and only in the bathroom. There's a cafeteria and a restaurant in our bldg (never would have know if the Campbells hadn't told us. No signs or advertisement anywhere.) My sleep schedule is getting turned around. I've been wide awake at 1am, then 3. This morning it was 5. So that''s getting better. I was very proud of myself for taking a solo trip in a taxi to go to the main bank office to deposit a certified check and trade some Am $ for Chinese currency. The Campbells loaned me some $ until I could get some cash. We take a bus or a taxi to go shopping (food, housewares, cleaning supplies, etc). There is a little convenience store at the corner of our bldg where I bought eggs, milk, and cereal, but I think I paid about $10 for the small box of Post brand cereal. I got my yucky bathroom cleaned today. The tub leaks and runs across the floor into a drain. The drain is where I plug in a hose from the washing machine that's in the kitchen, so it's damp and dark around there. Took some bleach and scrubbers to the floor and drain. It's better, but don't know how long it'll last. Classes start on Monday, but I still don't know my schedule or where I'll be teaching or how many students I'll have or where a copy machine is. They said we should know by Sunday! Okay. That's just the way it works here. By next week I'll have more things figured out. Love to all, Mona

Finally here Low on battery, so I will try to type fast. But low on sleep, so it may not be coherent. I just realized that I put my wallet in the fridge and was still holding the fruit! My apartment is going to be just fine, but is quite dirty and very empty. The other four teachers got apts of former byu teachers, so lots of stuff left there over the years. Mine was totally empty - No mop, broom, dishes, pans, utensils . Glad I brought my can opener. I have a 2-burner stovetop, but no oven, a small washer, but no drier. Grateful to have both. And a bathroom in my room, with both tub and shower! Pretty hot and muggy, but supposed to rain tonight. Hope so. Our flights all went well/on time. But didn't sleep much on the overnight flight, so I expect to sleep well tonight. I'll be better when I get some food and dishes in this place. I also need to find out how to plug in this computer. I was assured that I could, but I can't. Their 3-prong doesn't look like our 3-prong. Trying to figure out how I can buy all the things I need and then carry them home. The store is not that close. Taxi maybe. I'm glad we've got this week to figure out some of this stuff before school starts. Love to all, Mona

It was in April that I had my first panic attacks. It happened when I was previewing the coursework for the two weeks of training at BYU. I thought, "I'm not a university professor! I'm a first grade teacher. What do I know about creating a course syllabus for college students?" I really began to doubt I myself and it paralyzed me. I couldn't move forward. I have a motto "I can panic or I can pray" so I began to pray and gradually I could breathe again. I did some yoga exercises and that also calmed my mind. A scripture also came to my mind, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." OK, I'm better now. I won't bail yet. Now when these fears start to creep in, I also remember the advice of my brother Scott - "One step at a time and enjoy the process."