Saturday, April 18, 2009

What I'm up to

Well I got to sleep in this morning which was nice. I got up went onto the computer a bit and then took a shower. I must say one of the hardest things to get used to would have to be the “I-ee,” I don’t know if that is how you spell it basically means the cleaner. She lives in a small room downstairs next to the kitchen; she cleans and cooks all day, and takes care of Harry. She doesn’t speak any English, she doesn’t eat with us and is not called by her name – it’s weird, I start to clean up after lunch or something and she takes the dishes out of my hand saying “bu shir” (No). She is very young and very nice she always smiles. She made me breakfast this morning, Zongzi (sticky rice and red beans wrapped perfectly in bamboo leaves). It was interesting, very sticky and filling, the red beans were too sweet for my liking but hey I tried it right?!

Spent time getting to know Bryan better, played some Wii with him and then he Andrew and I had Chinese Papa Johns Pizza for lunch – and hot wings! I took a picture of Bryan with the box and Chinese writing. I know you are all wondering so I will tell you that yes it does taste like American pizza. After the pizza the i-ee told Bryan to tell me that I needed to unpack because she couldn’t mop because it was mess. Haha I laughed and apologized – thinking in my head the only thing that was a “mess” about my room is the suitcases are on the ground and the pillows are not straight on the bed. Bryan kindly told her to leave it and I would unpack in a bit. I laughed and she gave me an uncomfortable smile. Whoops! Haha I went not a half out later and unpacked. It took a long time but I got things hung up and in drawers and realized I probably packed WAY too much. I was exhausted and was in a tremendous amount of pain because of the back problems I have had recently. I took some Aleve and fell asleep almost right away. I didn’t wake up until 3 hours later.

A bit groggy I came downstairs and had Chinese steak for dinner, same as American but marinated in soy sauce. It was so good, I love steak! After dinner Ms. Evelyn, Bryan and I went over to Ming’s house. She is a counselor at “Home Sweet Home” a 2 year school and living place for the disadvantaged and physically disabled ages 17-40. They attend the school for two years and learn English and a ton of other things needed for everyday living and the everyday workforce. I will be working there, starting Monday, for the next two weeks. I will be teaching English and possibly doing other things as well. They will be half days so I will still have time to tour and go on wild adventures haha.

We left Ming’s house and headed to go get desert, Bryan ordered for me. It was some sort of Mango thing, I don’t even know how to describe it but there were gel like bubbles in it. The closes thing I can compare it to is Tapioca, but it wasn’t it was a different flavor and stuff. I took a picture of it but you can’t see the bubbles very well. We bought some flowers from a vendor after that. People are all over the streets, especially at night, selling flowers, CDs, purses, food etc. We then came home and Bryan and I watched a movie and now I am going to bed.

Ms. Evelyn let the driver have the weekend off and so she drove around tonight. She doesn’t have a Chinese license but has an American one. I have one word for Chinese driving…. INSANE! There are no rules and the cops don’t care, lights and lines and signs don’t mean a thing and there are no speed limits. There have been cases were people will try and get you to hit them so they can get money. It was nuts! Also nobody wears seatbelts; you only wear a seatbelt if you are in the front seat.

Well it’s 2:30am here and I have to get up and I have another full day tomorrow.














Yi huir jian!

Chels

1 comment:

  1. With no rules for driving I figured you'd be on board for that ;) I'm glad you had a great day and I look forward to hearing about when you start teaching. Love ya Chels and hope to talk to you soon!

    Lauren

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