trip journal #3

It's Saturday here, and although the plan was not to have a plan, we've been running most of the day. :)

One thing I did, because I didn't get to journal yesterday after we arrived, was to make a list of things that we have done...I may go into details later...or if anyone has questions....ask them of me and I'll try to answer them....

Friday:

J/J met us at the airport, they had hired a driver (taxi van) and he had waited with them for our flight to come in....which was late (of course!).

Our bags arrived with us.

I got to use a "squatty potty" at this airport (the other one had both SQ's and "western style" toilets....for which I was grateful....but no toilet paper....but J said that they don't use it here, so that was common).

If the Mississippi River is "ole muddy" then this is the city of mud. It was foggy/smoggy and there is mud everywhere. Not like thick mud, but similar to how it is after a snow...just sort of covered in yuck. There's a lot of pollution in the air on the roadways...and so much traffic.

Our driver is incredible...maneuvering in and out of traffic like a pro (well, he IS a pro!). I can't get over how it moves so quickly, yet so slowly, and how bumper to bumper it is.

Our van is really small...probably not much larger than our Focus at home! The seats have no padding, and you feel every bump or dip in the road. I'm both too tired and exhilarated to care. :)

I'm amazed at how there are gardens of vegetables growing on the sides of the road, as if they tiered the land up to the homes/apartments and just leveled it off and started planting. With all the ice and snow they had, I'm amazed to see anything growing at all.

We got to their home without incident. :)

After getting things up, unpacked a bit, and us oriented, we decided to go for a walk to get lunch. We went to the local noodle place they like to go to for "Muslim Noodles"....actually just Lan Zhou style noodles, which is a province with a high Muslim population, so that's how they've nicknamed them. Tasty noodles, handmade right there, with roast beef shaved off into them, served with beef broth, and cilantro (Chinese Parsley) and maybe green onion too. Mark and J2 also mix red pepper paste into theirs...I'll play it safe.

I'm amazed at how hilly the area is...they say that's why there are not many people on bicycles here.

There's more mud everywhere...not always thick, or deep, but covering everything. The fact that there is constant construction doesn't help.

We walk to the actual campus where they attend school, although it is closed for break still.

We also walk by one of the local parks, and to a friend's apartment to feed their cats.

On one of the streets by their house there is a street market (the morning market) where you can buy fruits and vegetables nearby. There's also people selling seeds (sunflower, etc) to snack on, and other wares.

Where we ate at is in a row of shops near where they live, not far past where the market street is. There is a real mod podge of sites, smells, and WE seem to be the oddest thing around!

We went to a little eating place on campus for dinner, they call it Gong Yu, sort of like a restaurant for the students. The building it's in used to house the foreign students, but then they built a different housing place for them. We ate some of their favorite dishes like miziqiezi: egg plant prepared with ground pork and chopped peppers and pepper sauce; ying jiang rousi: Peking duck style pork (little pieces) served with slivers of green onion; tang cu liji: sweet and sour pork; and tu dou ni: mashed potatoes prepared with onions, bell peppers and bacon. This was all served "family style" with white rice.

Yes, we've been using chop sticks to eat with!! Even the noodle dishes!! :)

TODAY - Saturday

Our "plan to have no plans" day consisted of going to lunch, and then going to market, and then coming home. For lunch we went to the city market and getting "jaozi", or dumplings, and we chose to go for fried ones rather than steamed ones. J1 is not a big dumpling fan, so we also went around the corner and got some fried chicken (REALLY!) on a stick!! J2 says that they can pretty much put anything on a stick here...and they do...and sell it on the street. It was funny at the dumpling place they give you a little plate with chopped green onion in it, and you can mix your own sauce to dip them in (think PF Chang's) with soy sauce (in a tea pot to serve), rice vinegar, sesame oil, and on a table across the way other seasonings that you can add to it (red pepper flakes). They were incredibly good....really yummy. The chicken was good too!

Going to market is crazy!! The large city market is full of people, in every imaginable kind of clothes. Women wear high heeled boots with everything. really. everything. People are in the street with every type of clothing, Sunday best, pj's, ethnic clothing. Lots of people smoke, and because it's so busy today there are a lot of cars on the road too...which means lots of pollution. There are many cars, large and small buses, carts, and motor bikes on the road. It's really busy, and even more so since the sun has come out. It got into the 50's, really nice for being outside, but since it was cool when we left the house, I've got my down coat on and long johns too!

J1 bought chicken and vegetables at the market, and then we looked in some other stores too, including a supermarket (not walmart), and an ethnic store that was really neat. We'll go back there (or to another ethnic store) to do some shopping before coming home.

Once we got home, we put up the groceries, and Mark and J2 worked on getting our laptop on line (it's not, so I have to borrow theirs), then Mark and J1 went to feed the cats and buy some milk (the only thing they didn't get earlier). I guess they got some fruit too, but I haven't seen it yet.

Now J1 is getting dinner ready (broccoli, chicken, rice in a skillet type meal), and Mark is grinding coffee for tomorrow morning (by hand).

Looking back at today, I'm amazed at what we have seen, and how empty the faces are around us have looked. People stare, and I can't blame them, but when I smile at them, rarely do they smile back. Even children seem like they are empty inside...there is no joy, or little joy, in their eyes.

Tomorrow we'll meet up with friends, and it seems that it will be another long day....so exciting and new!!

Until later....