Dry Lips

It is the winter solstice, the season when the air is crisp and cold; it starts with a bright yellow sun and runs through the snow all summer. No one can go out into the wind because of the weather conditions. The roads are icy and snow has fallen on everything in my eyes; I do not want to go outside. But there's something else that keeps me from going out - dry lips! My lips are so dry as if they have never seen smoke, or any other scented things before. I don't know why- I think I should get some medicine for dry lips but then remember how hard my lips are, that's something to worry about. My mother used to give hot water to her mouth, but she took so long to drink, I sometimes wonder how this makes my tongue feel. Why her throat was fine...

I was born in Africa and lived most of my life in the desert. When I came to America, I knew nothing about the rest of the world. When I started school, the teacher told me that people thought I was an American girl, and we were taught very different things to be familiar with. For example, Americans knew about cowboys and saloons - they even had their own words. Also, people in Africa didn't talk much about their own country, especially in class. So, I did not know much about the countries around us. And the teachers were like parents to me. They kept telling me everything, all the time, and at times, I would get mad that I couldn't understand them. That made school a little worse, but that is what happened every day! This experience made me grow up and find my way around the world without knowing much about what is around me. I am happy that I grew up to become who I am today.

I always said I wanted to do anything I could to help people that were suffering; many years passed after graduation, and I was now living in Alabama. There was a new place with lots of people, and many people came to live here. Some people came from Texas with their families, and others came from the cities. At first, I didn't know anyone, and it felt strange when someone was introduced to me. Even though everyone seemed nice, they were quiet, so I didn't know where they came from. Many people told me they were from China and Australia, and they were all so friendly. I thought that was too good to be true. One day, I met a guy named John who had been working for the local newspaper for many years. He said he was Chinese, and he looked very smart. As soon as I saw him, I asked him questions because I was curious. His answers surprised me. In China, it was common to wear glasses. Most people could read and write at least on the level they got at primary school. So, in our case, he could also read newspapers. After talking about this man for a while, I realized I wanted to learn Mandarin. However, I still had no idea what it meant. Therefore, I decided to make friends with Chinese people and try to communicate with them.

My friend Jane was a lot smarter than me, and she worked at a small company called Kaleidoscope Consulting, which was located next door to mine. She also went to school every day because her father was a lawyer - it was very difficult for immigrant children to enter college. We became good friends and learned many things about each other's lives. After three months of friendship, I finally asked her permission to join a group studying Mandarin. Now that I lived across the street from her, I had access to Mandarin classes every Saturday afternoon. If I wanted to chat with her, I had to wait until the last minute; otherwise, there would not be enough students to help me. She said yes every few weeks and I enjoyed it very much - I always got to ask questions and see her smile.

After finishing the semester, I moved back home, and I heard about a program that teaches people to speak Cantonese, another language. It sounded like fun, and I tried to sign up, but my phone was dead - no matter how many times I checked its battery, the SIM card was gone. I wondered why there wasn't a word processing application. Then I heard about an old woman who lived in my old apartment building. She spoke Chinese fluently, and she would teach other young people speaking English or Spanish how to pronounce Chinese words. Because she lived across the street from my house, I thought I would get a chance to go meet her and ask her to come over. She asked me if I wanted to have dinner together and then showed me what a beautiful dish this woman cooked, which was grilled pork with vegetables and rice with sauce. We had such a great time. She taught my friend Jane more about Chinese culture, history, and food, as well as gave her tips on learning Mandarin. Later every week, whenever I had a free weekend after work, I'd come by to pick up her items and bring them back to my house. Her kitchen was full of Chinese cooking supplies that changed color as you cooked. Although her cooking and eating skills were really amazing, it was hard to believe that a person had lived there so long and taught everyone how to do things as simple as having a meal!

Once I realized the power my hands had, I quickly brought myself around the table to eat without asking her any questions. However, my appetite was growing rapidly, making it difficult for me to control myself, so I could only take two slices of white bread and two cups of tea. I could not stop myself from licking my fingers to taste the sweet and sour rice. Finally, I swallowed my saliva too quickly and let out a sigh of relief; it tasted okay! Then, almost immediately, my mind was filled with anxiety. My stomach was screaming inside. Could I keep drinking black coffee? Should I take medication or call Jane? Maybe I should just start taking medicine for dry lips.

I thought about calling Jane, who would also be stressed out by this sudden change in her lifestyle. However, I had already done several experiments in the past. To protect myself from getting sick, I started taking medicines to prevent dehydration. However, these pills were expensive and hard to swallow. Sometimes the doctor would give me bad advice. "Don't take these medicines." he would say, "They will make your teeth bigger, and you'll lose weight." The truth is that my body responded differently to those medicines every time. I hated my tooth! If I took medicine, my dentist wouldn't know I had taken two or three shots of Panadol at once! In addition, medicine may damage the lining of my esophagus and lungs, causing them to swell instead of shrinking. Unfortunately, medicine is not supposed to cause death, but it can kill people. People who use it usually die within two hours. When it comes to health and disease prevention, everyone needs to find his or herself, and you never know what kind of problem you have until you tell yourself that you cannot live another minute without doing something to protect yourself.

I did not take medicine for a year, and I thought of writing all the information I had gathered. Instead, I talked to friends, family, and neighbors about what is happening around me. Every day, a lot of new problems occurred. Since I was not allowed back at university last fall, I wasn't able to contact Jane and John. Two days later, however, they invited me to stay by their house to rest with their parents. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it, just because Jane and John had agreed that they were bringing me to their house. A deep breath entered my lungs, and I stood up straight and walked to their home alone. It was as if I had suddenly found safety again. Looking at the sky outside, I thought about all the places we can go and all the ways we can travel. Wherever we go, whatever difficulties we encounter, we will face them and find solutions to them together, but at the same time, we will all enjoy what we have and love each other; I am confident that we will cross paths again - and hopefully in another lifetime.