From my computer I can see almost 2.5 dozen high rise buildings

Dear Friends and Family,
Today was a quiet one. The constant action has finally caught up with me and I needed to take a 'mental health day' so that I can make it through the rest of my trip. I tried to just take the morning off but since I have been sleeping poorly (On a mattress three inches think) and that the new food hasnt really been sitting well I have been tired. And if you have known me a while you know that without sleep I am pretty much useless.
Hi Sharon! Yes all of the buildings are air conditioned. My room is also air conditioned. Since I am here for just a week the price of the air is included in the room rate but if I was a student here I would have to pay about 1.3-1.4 HongKongDollars (Which is about 20 cents) per hour. I dont think I would have made it this far without sleep without the air conditioner to help.
Today is Wednesday (Night) and the conference goes until Friday at noon where we will have a closing ceremony and dinner. Saturday we pack up and leave the student dorms for the air port around 5:30 am to go to MainLand China for one week. (We will be in hotels starting Saturday night and I am thrilled!!!!) I will inlcude the itinerary when I have it near me.
So I missed the activities through the conference tonight which should have been really cool. It was the President's Dinner. (The president of the organization International Consortum for Social Development) Desie just called me and told me that they keep feeding her and bringing her drinks. I dont think it would have worked very well for me so I guess its ok that I couldnt make it.
Today I had a chance to reflect a bit about how I feel abou this whole trip. I am not as overwhelmed as I was yesterday but I am still up in the air about what I really want to take away from this trip. Mommy said that it wasnt until she landed in JFK after her two years in Columbia that what she was to take away from her adventures dawned on her.
I have learned so far that:
China is not under all of the sand at the beach,
Hong Kong is like NYC, Mexico city and Epcot (Disney) all rolled into one times 20,
poverty doesnt care what country you are in,
Chinese is difficult to speak,
Not that many younger people are at this conference which makes me a little sad ( I still havent decided why but it might have to do with money..or something else...),
people still pass the begger on the street without even skipping a beat (even when they see the same person everyday on their way to work),
and finally as of 9:40 PM on July 18, 2007 I have learned that 12 hours ahead is still a lot and I need to get back to sleep.
My friends should be back from the party soon and they will probubly pass out too so I wont be missing much.
With love and sleepyness,
Rita