Fog In China
Kristin
initially said the Chinese city we are in is pretty because it's always covered in
fog, which glistened at night. But this fog smelled and we soon learned that what
glistened were
fine metallic pollutants in the air, not fog. When I first arrived in China five
years prior, the scale on the air pollution index ranged from 0 to 50
micrograms per cubic meter. Now the range on the scale was 100 to 700 micrograms
per cubic meter; the air pollution had worsened by more than ten-fold in five
years.
Kristin was raised in the pristine air of America's rural Midwest. The abuse she suffered from her early childhood left her immune system compromised. She had had bouts of acne in the somewhat polluted air of southeast Asia, but it blew up in China's toxic air pollution, and she also began to experience respiratory issues. During the course of the semester, we tried the recommendations of the local pharmacists, hospitals, and even a traditional Chinese medicine hospital, but nothing helped.
When Kristin shared that the Baptist pastor's wife had mentioned in an email that her family will soon return to USA for a furlough, during which she will stay with the kids while her husband travels around to raise funds, I emailed the Baptist pastor, explained Kristin's health problems, and asked if I could please send Kristin to USA to stay with his wife to help her with their kids while he is out traveling; I will send him money to cover Kristin's food and other expenses from the salary that I earn in China, and then fly Kristin out to meet me when my semester in China ends.
The Baptist pastor said no. When I mentioned how much his wife and Kristin appreciate each other's company, and how his kids, especially his youngest daughter, love being with Kristin, he repeated his answer, then added that his family is planning to return to USA again next year and promised to take Kristin along then, but not now. After that email exchange, he and his wife cut off all communication with me and Kristin, so I surmised that he had pressured his wife to stop associating with Kristin as well, and that his offer to take her to USA next year had been insincere.