Monique Cowart: 2009

These are some blogs that Jason wrote for me while I was in China. He used WordPress so I am transferring them to this site because I liked them and because this site is connected with Google. So here they are . . .

5.4.09 Off to China!!
Posted 3:02 pm by maddowdle

We took Monique to the Airport yesterday (Sunday) with a big group of students. Some are going to China for a psychology class and others for biology. We had to get up at 3 in the morning to get them to DFW in time! But we made it!!

Lots of hugs and kisses and then she was through the security check! We won’t see her for over three weeks.

She was all smiles and so excited about the trip!.

Keep her in your prayers for traveling safety.

5.4.09 Just heard from her!
Posted at 3:07 pm by maddowdle

I just talked to her on the phone. They landed in Chicago safely. They fly from Chicago to Hong Kong today, but will not arrive until tomorrow at 4:45 pm. It will be about 15 hours for us, but they will lose a day.

She said they were on the tarmac for an hour at DFW. The engine wouldn’t start. Umm…not such a good morale booster I know! But they got it working and she is safely in Chicago.

She said she will facebook me when she lands. She was in really good spirits.

Again keep her in your prayers – the whole group as well. The flight from Chicago to Hong Kong is a long long flight. BUT she has her Nintendo DS, my ipod with a bunch of music and family guys, and a lot of snacks so she should be ok.

I’ll update you here when she lands. Hopefully she will post some pics when she lands in China.

5.5.09 UPDATE – Hong Kong
Posted at 1:38 pm by maddowdle

I just spoke to Monique on Facebook IM and she is in China (Hong Kong) and is jet lagged! She sent an email.

Here is the text:
So I landed in Hong Kong at 3:15am American time! We just got finished watching the Hong Kong Harbor light show. I was pretty neat! We are trying to get a phone so that I can call you – maybe tomorrow! China is packed and there is lots of shopping I can do!! I miss you a lot! It is 9:06pm here in Hong Kong and I am suffering from jet lag. The flight was SOOOOOOOOOO LLLLOOOOONNNNNGGGGGGGG!!!!! I am not looking forward to the flight home!I had to sit by a little old man who was grumpy. Every time I had to go to the bathroom he would get mad that he had to get out of his seat. I can’t help it that I have to pee!!! But anyway – the food was horrible that I ate tonight in Hong Kong. Hope that the food is better tomorrow! Tomorrow we go to Kowloon Park to start our first school lesson! I am super excited! I LOVE Y’ALL!!

She did say that it was super crowded and nasty there so far. So the first leg of the trip is finished with her arriving safely. As she said she will be at the Kowloon Park tomorrow.
Information on Kowloon Park can be found here: http://www.aviewoncities.com/hongkong/kowloonpark.htm

If you want to send her an email, she’d love it! Send it to maddowdle@gmail.com
I don’t know when we will hear from her again as internet and phone use will be sporadic. Keep checking the blog every now and then for updates!

5.6.09 Phone Call From China
Posted at 1:37 pm by maddowdle

I spoke with Monique a few minutes ago. She sounded SO tired! They went to Kowloon park today (it’s 9 pm there now) and to the Temple of 10000 Buddhas. She said she was surprised to see that the majority of the Buddha sculptures were skinny, not fat, like we are used to.They also went to a place called Mongkok that had a Ladies Market. She bought some shoes and some other things. I asked her about food – you know she hates chinese food – but she said she had KFC for lunch and Pizza Hut for dinner! Who’da thunkit!??!

She said it was unbelievably packed. So many people and she can’t understand any of them. The only ones on the street who speak to them are people trying to sell them stuff and hand them cards to buy their stuff. But the ones who they have contact with, meaning the people at their lodging and who are guiding them, are very very nice. Tomorrow they are going to the Mai Po Marsh. Here’s a link for more info: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/attractions/nt-maipo-wetlands.html

They were meant to go to the Temple of 10000 Buddhas tomorrow, but since they did that today, they will be going to the Temple Street Night Market in Hong Kong. Here’s a link for more info: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/attractions/kln-temple-street-night-market.html

She sounded very tired. Jet lag has caught up to her, and they spend most of the day walking. Hopefully she will get good rest tonight and be ready for the day tomorrow. Keep her in your prayers for strength, rest, and safety. She was able to call by using a calling card owned by Debra Wainscott, an ETBU employee from the International Office and a coordinator of the Biology portion of the China Travel Study. She will have limited calling, but will be able to email and facebook more often. Bookmark us so you can learn more about her travel.

5.7.09 Checking In
Posted at 6:39 pm by maddowdle

I just spoke with Monique’s mom and Monique called them last night at about 3 am. That would be 4 pm for her. She was having a great time, but still very tired. They walked all through the marsh and did some more shopping. In fact, Monique said she think she walked a hole in her sock and she feels like she has walked all over China! She is still in great spirits! Vivian said she was talking 90 miles an hour! They got to see more fireworks over the Hong Kong Harbor as well. In all she is having a wonderful time! I’ll update you all when she calls or emails again

5.8.09 Monique on Facebook!
Posted at 2:04 pm by maddowdle

Monique chatted me today on Facebook! It was good to hear from her. I have been really missing her a lot. Her internet connection was really bad and it knocked her offline several times. But she did say they were doing ok. They went on the longest escalator in the world yesterday. random i know. Everyone seems to be having fun. with the exception of one who Monique says is complaining about everything. There’s one in every bunch I guess!
She did say she was going to be in great shape when she gets back. They walk EVERYWHERE! Today (it is 10 pm there now) they toured the Hong Kong Wetland Reserve. They went through a huge butterfly section and also saw a huge snail. She said it was really fat.
She was so happy to get to eat some McDonald’s today. She is not liking the food at all!They also went to the Jade Market in Hong Kong. She said she bought more things. Naturally lol. Tomorrow they plan to go to the Night Market. Here’s the link: http://www.hk-stanley-market.com/
She is pretty sore from walking but otherwise doing well!
Keep her in your prayers for safety! I’ll repost when I hear from her again.

5.9.09 Here’s an Update
Posted at 1:43 pm by maddowdle

So every night I sleep with the computer on the bed next to me with Facebook up so that if Monique chats or sends me an email, I can wake up really quickly and catch her. Boy am I glad I do that!She chatted me at about 7:30 this morning and I was sound alseep, but i heard the little “blip” noise that sounds when you get a message!She is doing great! They are headed to Chengdu tomorrow where the panda reserve is. That means a couple of things: 1. she is so excited! She has been looking forward to working with the pandas for a while. but 2. phone and internet service will be drastically limited so i may not hear from her for a week. :~( I instructed her NOT to bring home a panda. I figured 20 years in a Chinese jail for stealing a national symbol would not be the best thing for her or our relationship lol. Here is a link about Chengdu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu and for the Woolong Reserve: http://www.ahfan.com/wolong/ Here is a pic of the entrance:

Also she told me about her day: They went to a wetland that was man made. The wetland was destroyed by man and so they decided to rebuild it and make it an educational center. She said it was really fun. They learned a lot there. They went to Stanley Market, which I mentioned in the last blog. They did a lot of shopping. She is buying a lot of jewelry so far! A jade bracelet, a necklace, a set of pearls, etc. Spend that money baby!! Also they went to a place called Victoria Peak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Peak)

vic

Here is the view they saw from the peak! She said on the way up her ears were popping. You are literally towering above even the highest skyscrapers. And on the way there she said they got separated on the buses. She said the transit system is confusing. I asked about where they were staying…she said it was in Macau at the Mirador Mansion Hostel. I am not sure if that is perfectly correct, and I couldn’t find any information that I knew to be correct. Monique finally found Chinese food that she liked. Chicken Fried Rice. That is funny. She and Debbie, the wife of her professor Dr. Darville went swinning in a huge pool in Kowloon Park also. She said that was nice!

Well, like I said it may be a while before I hear from her again. She wants everyone to know she loves us all amd misses us and to keep her in our prayers. She didn’t sound nearly as tired as she has in the days past. Perhaps she is growing accustomed to the hustle and the bustle! As soon as I hear from her I’ll blog. So until then so long!

5.10.09 Updates From China
Posted at 7:19 pm by maddowdle

So I have decided I need to go right now and get the IPhone with the facebook application. Monique has facebooked me two times in 24 hours and I missed them both — BY ONLY MINUTES MIGHT I ADD! I just got home from church. I left at 7:45 this morning and she IM’ed me at 7:46 this morning. What horrible luck!

Anyways…here is what she had to say so far:
I feel as if I have entered another world over here. It is hard being where nobody speaks your language. It makes buying ice cream really hard Their food doesn’t taste like American food. I ate some dorritos today that tasted like changalang food. How did they manage to do that? I made it to Chungdu. I sat by a guy who spoke English! Finally! He was meeting his father-in-law here in Chengdu. He was nervous. I taught him how to say Ni Hao and Ni hau ma. He was really old (like 56) and acted very feminine. However, he had been married for 8 months to his chinese wife. Anyway, he made the 2 hour flight go by fast. When we landed we had about 3 hours of down time. A group of us went to a super market and I got some dorittos and chips ahoy. The chips ahoy were great, but the dorrittos tasted like chinese sauces.
After that (around 6) we had dinner here at the hostel. They put about 13 plates of food in front of us and two bowls of soup. We had a little bowl and a pair of chopsticks. Everyone helped themselves to whatever they wanted. They had sweet and sour pork, some pork tip looking things, some really really spicy nut mixture, some mushrooms and greens of some kind, some corn and green onions, and tons of other stuff. It was all stir fried and they served rice with it. It was really good. They didn’t give us any drinks though so we all had to go upstairs and get our water. They served hot tea instead. The tea was gross.
After that we went to this mall thing. It was all outside. They had vendors on each side of the street. It was really nice. They had it decorated like it would have been in ancient china. I can’t wait to show you my pictures.

That is all we did today. Tomorrow we got to the Panda Research Center. I am really glad we finally get to see Pandas. I think we get to at least. She said she would try to call me when she exchanged some american currency for chinese currency so I am really looking forward to that!

More updates to come!!

5.11.09 PANDAS!
Posted at 3:28 pm by maddowdle

So Monique called this morning! It is night time over there now. She finally got to see the pandas! She said it was awesome. There were several little ones as well (around a year old she said). They were big bundles of fur and made noises like a horse. I figured they would sound more like Chewbacca from Star Wars.
They are leaving in the morning to go to the Woolong Panda Reserve for three days. I may not hear from her during that time as it is in the mountians.
Here are some links:

This one has a live webcam! Click the “webcam” link along the top: http://www.pandaclub.net/index_e.jsp

This on is just information: http://www.ahfan.com/wolong/

So until she calls again keep her in your prayers! Bye!

5.14.09 No Calls…
Posted at 1:19 pm by maddowdle

Well, I haven’t spoken to Monique in about 3 days now. They are in the mounains at the panda reserve so there is no phone or internet access. I gotta tell ya, it has been really hard! But as hard as no communication is for all of us, it is tough for her as well. SO why don’t you take a minute and leave her a comment?? All you have to do is click on the word “Comment” just below this post, type in your name and email, then leave her a message in the box! After you submit the comment, she will be able to read it and hopefully it will make missing us all a little easier!
They were supposed to be in the mountains only 3 days so hopefully I will hear from her soon!

Comments:
Jason said, May 14, 2009 at 1:21 pm
hey baby. i miss you like a fatty misses his lunch break. i hope you’re doing ok. i can’t wait to hear from you! I love you

Dina said, May 14, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Hey Monique. I hope you are having the time of your life! Have fun and be safe. We will see you when you get home. Take lots of good pictures of the panda bears…

mom said, May 14, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Hello monique,i have a face book page now but i don’t know how to use it. lol
jessica’s getting married june 6. so we busy planning her wedding. it will be at maw maw’s church. oh yeah, i said that you would be happy to be in the wedding. i have voluntered you for all sorts of things. see you can’t even run away to china to get out of this.lol we have your dress, it’s LSU purple. but it is pretty. you’ll make anything and everything look good. i can’t wait to have you home. we miss you lots. i hope you are having a wonderful time be safe be happy i lone you. mom

Angela said, May 14, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Hello dearest Monique! Carl and I are SOOO excited that you are in freakin’ CHINA! We are praying for you and your team’s safety as you travel, and of course we’re praying for your hubby too. MUCH LOVE.

Earldean Loggains said,May 14, 2009 at 2:33 pm
We have never met, but I am Charles Dowdle’s cousin in Melbourne, AR.
He sent me the info about you being in Hong Kong and I have kept up with you on the Blog. I sent Jason a message telling him I was doing this. Sounds like you are having a good trip and I know you miss you husband and family. But you will have lots of memories you can share and always remember. Some time I will tell you about my trip to Europe without my husband and how homesick I got.
Have fun and you will be home before you know it. Earldean Loggains

Gail said, May 14, 2009 at 3:24 pm
We miss you sooooo much!! I have been praying for you daily and we all love you very, very much. I hope that you are having a wonderful time. Jason is missing you alot. He talks about how much he misses you on facebook all the time. I’ll be glad when you are back home, safe and sound. Love, Gail

ron moore said, May 14, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Well I am a little behind on my email and did not know Monique was in China. Whats the deal? Ok hope your are having a great time. There got to be some wild stuff over there. take lots of pics.

Dr. Cone said, May 14, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Monique! did you get to hug a baby panda? Everything is fine here at ETBU. We’ve had a lot of rain but no flooding. I’ve been busy registering lots of new students. Silver came by yesterday and she has a torn meniscus in her right(?) knee and must have surgery. I told her “welcome to the older generation!” By the way -56 IS NOT that old! Just ask Dr. Darville. I look forward to seeing your pictures, hearing your stories and veiwing all the lovely things you bought. When you come back I’ll take you to eat some american chinese food (lol).
Say HI to everyone. you’re in my prayers – jcc

Gwen said,May 16, 2009 at 4:14 am
Missing you…hope all is well….Heard the baby pandas are cute balls of fur.

5.16.09 SHE CALLED IN!!
Posted at 1:49 pm by maddowdle

So i just got off the phone with Monique! It has been about 4 days since I had heard from her. A very very long and lonely 4 days lol.

She is doing really well! The were at the panda reserve this whole time in the mountains which is why she could not call. They worked very closely with the pandas there. She said she got to play with them a lot, feed them, etc. They did tricks so she got them to do tricks. She said that she got to touch them. She said they had to clean out their living areas as well. She said there was a lot of panda poo lol.

Yesterday they took a huge group of orphans to the zoo. She said it was so sad. The children lived in poor conditions and all had some sort of deformity. She was sad. She said even the animals in the zoo were sad as well.

She told me she had a ton of pictures!. I sent her with 2 4gb micro sd cards and she has taken nearly 200 pics and has not even filled a tenth of the card yet!

She told me they had an “English Corner.” This is when you meet with a large group of Chinese people and sit around speaking in English. Chinese people want to know English so badly so when they have English speakers in the area they want to have English corners. She said that in Chinese they talk so loudly, but when they speak English you have to get so close to their mouths because it is hard to hear them. I asked if it was because they are scared to speak in English. She said she didn’t know but that the whole thing was interesting. She said their English was not very good and hard to understand.

They are flying out in the morning to go to Guang Zhou. This is where there is a college. They will have a lot of interaction with the college students and hold 4 more English Corners. They leave at 7:30 their time which is 6:30 pm tonight for us. Here is a link to the college for more info: http://www.gtcfla.net/EnglishVersion/ Each year they send faculty to ETBU as international professors.

index_11

She did say that she was having a great time, but that she missed me and the rest of the family a lot. She wanted me to tell everyone hi and that she loved us all.

She told me that she would call again before she got on the plane, so if you want me to tell her anything, let me know!

Also…Thanks also for so many comments! I know that she will love to read those when she gets back to internet access!

Comments:
Dr. Cone said, May 18, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Monique – how is your Chinese? Are you able to understand what people are saying? Have you had jellyfish for breakfast yet? I’m praying for all of you.

5.16.09 About to Fly
Posted at 11:09 pm by maddowdle

I just spoke with Monique. It is about 7 am over there and they are all about to get on a plane headed for Guangzhou.

She said she is ready to come home! She also said she had made a list of things that we will be doing on the way home on the 26th and for that whole week after. That list included: eating at Outback, eating at Cheddars, getting a Sonic blast, etc.

I told her I was going to take her straight to Pe Pei’s House of Chinese Food. lol She said she was never having Chinese food again, HA!

Be in prayer for her about the flight and if you want leave comments!

Below I have placed 2 images. One is a picture of an Air China transport in which they will fly. The second is a map in order to orient (no pun intended) yourself with where Monique is in China. They flew into Hong Kong initially, then they flew to Chengdu. Now they are flying to Guangzhou. So there you have it

Comments:
Auntie Anne said, May 21, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Hey there Nickkie Pooh: Just thougt I would let you know that LSU purple, clashes with JADE. SOOOOO, on your way home from the airport I think that you should take the tyler exit and get yourself an M&M Blast w/extra whip cream. Then you can drop all your JADE off at my house in Tyler, on your way home. Sounds like a great idea to me!!!! Love you bunches

5.18.09 Monique in Guangzhou
Posted at 1:55 pm by maddowdle

I chatted Monique today on gmail. here a the chat:

Monique: we ate breakfast – yummy (Lots of breads) then we went to the botanical garden it was really humid, I mean like so humid I was drowning

me: lol

Monique: It has been sprinkling here since we got here so i am using my little pink umbrella a lot

Monique: it was a huge park! (the botanical garden) it is about 800 acres

me: wow thats a lot

Monique: we only went through about 1/5 of the park, if that. there were lots of pretty places to take pictures. we need to take pictures there someday babe. lots of orchids and palm trees. it is a tropical climate here. then we went to the school (we are staying in the dorms) to have lunch

me: how were the flights?

Monique: the flight was horrible. we had a 45 minute delay because of engine trouble and the plane kept making weird funny noises. like, they were working on it (up in the air though). so I do not recommend Air China

me: lol

Monique: anyway …

me: that is scary!

Monique: after lunch we had a siesta. apparently the students here get up at 6:30 to go do exercise on the track (the whole school!) and then go to class and then they get lunch from 12:00 to 2:00

me: holy cow

Monique: the exercise is mandatory. boo. so after lunch i had a nap

me: ha hah

Monique: then we all got dressed up and we went to this fancy restaurant. we had our own private room with a tv and karaoke. it was all zen like and the table had a lazy susan in the middle and the table was all fancy with pink napkins and fancy chopsticks. there were also couches in the room

we were meeting a guy named Mr. Jackson who is really important over here at the college

oh wait – before lunch we toured the art school. they showed us a room that had the ‘history’ of the school. we watched an infomercial on the school and we looked around the ‘museum’ and then we went and looked at art, sculpture, videos, etc. that the top students had made.

they were pretty cool

however after lunch we had to get all dressed up for the dinner we had tonight, so we took the tour with our dress up clothes on because we wouldn’t have had time to go change

so back to the dinner…we were meeting Mr Jackson for dinner and we had steak, shrimp (a shrimp the size of my fist), and lots of other food. they serve all their meals family size and you help yourself. most of the food was really good. they kept taking our plates and giving us more plates and serving us coke and sprite!!! YAY!!! Usually they only serve green tea. apparently Chinese do not drink cold liquids with their meals

me: weird

Monique: after dinner Mr. Jackson left he had somewhere else to go and we sang karaoke. Debra, me, Megan, Katrina, and Dr. Darville and Mrs. Debbie all sang. It was really fun!

So it seems they are still having a pretty good time! She will be coming back in 8 days! I will repost when I hear from her again – most likely tomorrow morning.

Don’t forget to leave her comments! She is going to love reading them!

Comments:
Silver said,May 18, 2009 at 4:24 pm
I hope you got video of Dr. D singing!

WALLY DOWDLE said,May 18, 2009 at 8:21 pm
LOOKS LIKE YOUR HAVING A GREAT TIME, LEARNING AND MAKING GREAT MEMORIES. I MISS PICKING UP THE PHONE AND CALLING YOU ON THE WAY TO WORK ( and talking to your answering machine). MY OTHERWISE QUIET HOUSE GETS VERY LOUD WHEN YOU HAVE CALLED. I THINK EVERYONE WILL ENJOY YOUR SOLO AT JESSICA’S WEDDING (oh Mom told you that you were singing, huh). WE LOVE AND MISS YOU. I HAVE TO GO, I HAVE SOME PREDICTABLE THINGS TO DO. DAD

5.19.09 Update…
Posted at 1:30 pm by maddowdle

Hey there. Monique chatted me on gmail again this morning. AT 5 AM!! I had the computer next to my bed so that if she did, i could catch her. I kept hearing these weird beeps in my sleep, then I woke up and figured out what was going on. It startled me there for a minute! She asked me if I were sleeping. I said of course I am sleeping! it is five in the morning – she said she knew that it was that early. I don’t think waking me up that early bothered her in the least bit!

We chatted about a lot of things, how she was, how the day was going, etc. She, at the same time, was typing out an email to some family and friends that I will post now as her update for the day.

Here it is:

Hey,

So I’m in China (if you didn’t know!) and we have 7 days left in our trip. We are in Guangzhou right now, in fact we just went to a safari park today! I have had a blast here in China! We went to a botanical garden, Kowloon park, Temple of 10,000 Buddhas, the worlds longest escalator, Victoria Peak, the Panda Breeding Center, and the Panda Research Center, and several other places. There is so much to do here in China! The panda’s have been my favorite so far. We had to clean their cages which – was not so much fun – cleaning poo and picking up tons of bamboo! We also got to feed them and train them to do tricks and pet them. My partner and I worked with three panda’s – Shui Shou, Shen Zhi, and La Sheng. Shui Shou was a female and she was missing half of her left paw. She was a wild panda and had been hurt when they found her so they had to amputate it. She was so precious! She was my favorite panda! I have learned so much here! I can understand some Chinese words, but not enough to hold a conversation.

Another one of my favorite trips was the Chengdu Zoo trip. We took some orphans to the zoo in Chengdu. I felt bad for the animals at the zoo because it was in poor condition, but we were told that it was one of the better zoos in China. So we each were assigned a child and we took them through the park to see the animals. All the kids in the orphanage had a deformity – mostly cleft lip so we were told that they didn’t get much interaction with other people. They had a blast at the zoo! We took them to eat and then we took them on some small fair rides. Their ages ranged from 6 to 10. So the fairground rides were perfect for them. My little girl didn’t speak a word of English – none of them did – but by the end of the day none of the kids wanted to go back to the orphanage! When we got to the orphanage we were allowed to go and see the babies. It was so sad. The facilities at the orphanage were not really great and the babies were all bundled in winter clothes when it was summer. We were told that the Chinese people always bundled there babies because they thought it was healthy. All but 1 of the babies had cleft palate. The other had down syndrome. Apparently it is common to give your babies up if they have a deformity because the families here can only have 1 child. There were in total about 7 babies.

I still have 7 days left in China! I am a little homesick and the food doesn’t sit well with my stomach, but I am enjoying every minute of being here! Thank you so much for praying for me while I have been in China! It has been a long adventure, but well worth it! I love you all! See you back in the USA!

Monique

Today they are going to another zoo in Guangzhou. Like she mentioned in the email, she only has 7 days left! I go to pick her up next Tuesday. Her flight arrives at 4:11. She has already told me we will have a long drive back full of food stops lol. I thought about having flowers ready for her, but I am thinking I better have a Sonic M&M Blast with extra whip cream in my hand AS WELL AS flowers lol.

Thanks for all of your comments! She said she really appreciated them this morning. Well, she should be chatting me either tonight or early in the morning again, so when she does, I’ll post again! Have a fun day!

Here are pics of the zoo and a link: http://www.lifeofguangzhou.com/node_10/node_35/node_155/node_525/node_526/2006/05/09/11471613102848.shtml

5.22.09 Update on Monique in China…
Posted at 11:10 pm by maddowdle

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days. I haven’t heard from Monique since May 19. From what I understand the availability of internet and phone service is limited and when it is available, it is sub par. As far as I know they will be taking a train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong in a few hours (it is currently 6 pm here – 7 am there). They will be in Hong Kong for a couple more days and then catch a flight to the states. I am set to get her at DFW Airport on Tuesday. The flight is scheduled to arrive at 4:11 pm.

My boss, Mike Midkiff went to pick up his daughter, Allison, on Thursday. She went with the psychology class to China. Their trip was about 5 days shorter than Monque’s group. Allison’s group’s flight from Hong Kong was cancelled and they had to catch another plane to the states. Mike and Allison didn’t get home until one in the morning. PLEASE pray that this doesn’t happen with Monique’s flight. Pray for no complications and for everything pertaining to her return to the United States to go well.

Hopefully I will hear from her very soon. It has been pretty difficult not getting to communicate with her. I pray she is well and the group is safe.

Thanks, Jason

5.23.09 I TALKED TO MONIQUE!!
Posted at 1:35 am by maddowdle

Monique chatted me on gmail about 30 minutes ago! I had sent her an email before I left to go to the Chinese Kitchen in Jasper with my parents that said i was going to go eat and if she did get online, to email me that she was fine, etc. She got on and asked her friend Silver to text me. So I got the text just as my food came out. I looked at my folks and mom asked if I wanted to take dad’s truck and go to the house really quickly. (They only live about 3 miles away from the restaurant.) I grabbed the key to dad’s 2008 Dodge Hemi and I put my foot down! I bet I was doing 100 mph trying to get home soon enough! I just left the folks sitting at the restaurant!! So funny! But I FINALLY got to talk to her. She said that there were only a few computers they had access to and every time she tried to go in and use one, someone was on it and they would stay on for an hour.

They are taking a train to Hong Kong – in fact I bet she is on it right now. She said she was going to try to get a calling card in Hong Kong and call in. It will be the first time I have heard her voice in over a week and a half. Boy how you realize how much you love someone when they aren’t able to be reached! What they say about absence is definitely true.

While we were talking she said that just last week the Chinese government blocked youtube.com. I wrote “LOL. Those Nazis!” She was like “Don’t say that! They monitor everything!” So I wrote “I was just joking about the Nazi joke! China is cool!!” I tell you this just so you can see what a different world she is in right now. Wild Wild Stuff.

She said that she was really tired and ready to get home. I’ll post again when I hear from her. YAY for Tuesday!!! I can’t wait!!

5.23.09 She’s Back in Hong Kong!
Posted at 1:32 pm by maddowdle

So I was laying in bed asleep at about 6 am this morning an Monique IM’ed me on gmail! She is in Hong Kong now but told me about a little adventure they had! Here is the chat history so you can see:

Monique: so we had an adventure today

me: oh yeah?

Monique: the train tickets that brian (chinese guy that organized everything) booked had yesterday’s date on them. Apparently he booked them for the day before the day we were supposed to leave. So we missed our hong kong train. So Dr. Darville and Lindsey (Monique’s roommate on the trip and classmate at school) gave about 400 RMB to buy us tickets to Shenzhen on the border of Hong Kong, then we had to take the subway train to Tsim Sha Tsui

me: holy cow

Monique: where our hostel is…ALL IN THE RAIN

me: oh my goodness

Monique: and my luggage was soooooooooooooo heavy

me: aw it all got wet?

Monique: it didn’t get that wet. but we finally got here around 330pm. So after we got here me lindsey and some others went to burger king and got lunch it was soooo good i miss american food!

me: lol i’ll get you lots of food when you get home!

Monique: and then me and lindsey and megan and eryn and ryan and katrina went to the night market. it was bad though because it started raining pretty hard the whole time. it was about a 30 minute walk to the market too. so my backpack and me and my shoes (my new converses!) got soaked. so I have had quite a day

me: sounds like it! how much money was that in US that darville had to give?

Monique: 6.5 RMB = 1 American dollar. it was about 60 american dollars for 13 train tickets

Monique: d gave 200 and lindsey gave 200

me: so you didn’t get to do something today that was scheduled then?

Monique: no nothing was scheduled today. we could have gotten tickets all the way to hong kong to Tsim Sha Tsui where the hostel was but it didn’t work out that way for some reason. (So instead they got soaked)

me: oh. so you are in hong kong then that’s good. Ya’ll made it, everything is ok

Monique: yeah everything is fine. i got new converse shoes. they are red!

me: really?

Monique: they were 45 RMB

me: wow like a couple bux

Monique: 7 dollars (for a $50 pair of shoes in the States)

me: that is unbelievable

Monique: everything is sooo cheap in china

me: how much as the burger king food?

Monique: in hong kong it was 41 dollars for a mushroom swiss burger with fries and a drink (supersized!) which is about 5 dollars

Monique: hong kong is about 8 HK$ = 1 US$

me: so where are you online?

Monique: at the internet cafe here in the building. it cost about 2$ per 10 min HK$

me: oh. so what are you doing tomorrow

Monique: we are going to church somewhere in the morning and probably some more shopping. nothing is really planned

me: was the train ride neat?

did you see countryside?

Monique: it was short (1.5hrs)

me: o. how are you? are you tired? ready to come home?

Monique: so ready to come home!

me: i am ready to see you. tuesday won’t come fast enough

Monique: i know – this trip was way to long!

We talked about a lot of other things too, but that was about all she said about the trip itself. She said she would try to get a calling card either tonight or tomorrow and give me a call. It has been almost 2 weeks since I heard her voice! THAT”S TOO LONG!!

But Keep her and the group in your prayers. I’ll post when she contacts me again.

Here is a map of their travels from Guangzhou to Hong Kong:

5.26.09 Second to Last Post
Posted at 3:08 am by maddowdle

Hey All!!! Well I have spoken with Monique several times over the last few days! She is fine, but not looking forward to about 18 hours in total in a plane! But she is so glad to be coming home!!

It is about 11 am in Hong Kong now, which means that she will be boarding the plane headed for San Fransisco in about 30-45 minutes. You can click HERE and keep up with the flight schedule from Hong Kong (scroll down to the time 11:45. It is United Flight 862), and HERE for the flight information in San Fransisco (click Arriving SFO, then select Hong Kong.in the drop down box below, select May 26 in the date box to the right, then click ‘continue’ below).

PLEASE pray for safety for the flight! I leave tomorrow at about noon to go to Dallas to pick her up. I have planned for us to stay in Dallas for a few hours so she can eat and eat and EAT any kind of American food she wants!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who has kept her in their prayers. She has had a wonderful time and so many of you are a part of that!!

I will be updating my Facebook and Twitter status so that you can keep up with all of the details of her arrival.

For Facebook, click HERE. (You must login first, then click HERE)

For Twitter click HERE (www.twitter.com/jasonjohncowart)

I will be updating and tweeting all day tomorrow. Until the next post, C-YA!!!

5.26.09 Ok…Second to Second Last Posting…
Posted at 3:57 pm by maddowdle

I just talked to Monique…She was in the plane sitting on the tarmac in SanFrancisco!! They have about a two hour layover in California, then they are catching United Flight 478 departing San Fran at 10:40 am.

She will arrive at DFW gate B29 at the scheduled time of 4:11.

Keep up withe updates at www.twitter.com/jasonjohncowart

Monique Cowart

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