Truthiness

Last night I had a dream I got a shot that wouldn't stop bleeding. I felt very weak, so the nurse told me to fall asleep. The rest of the dream was me watching myself sleep. I don't think this dream is telling me everything is okay right now. Luckily, I know why it's not okay.

I love that we can't hide from our subconscious. It never lies. Our mind? Tells us the lies we need to make it through. But subconsciously, we always know how we really feel. I believe stress is a result of our subconscious knowing when we are liars.

New Cell Phone

So those of you who know I had a crappy phone in the U.S., I picked up a great new cell phone in China today, a Samsung (which goes by 'AnyCall' in China). Some things I like about it:

-A mirrored face, the screen appears when you use the phone like the Evil Step-Mother in the mirror in Snow White. It's very cool!
-Connects via bluetooth for easy downloading of songs, pics etc.
-3 mp camera and camcorder
-MP3 player
-Touch screen with vibrating links
-FM Radio
-The wallpaper is animated, and changes with the time of day
-Old fashioned circle clock option for the time, the dork in me loves this

I can send picture messages again! And the phone is unlocked, I think I'll be able to use it in the U.S.

Chungxi Road

Two views of Chungxi Road in downtown Chengdu:

Notice the Dior, Nike, Budweiser and Pizza Hut logos? Chungxi is closed to motorized traffic. (The umbrellas you see are for sun shade, not rain.)

Almost every block near my university has at least one facial products boutique, and usually several, so I was not surprised to see the Mary Kay sign. However, there are more lotions and skin lighteners for sale than make-up. I explained to my language teacher many Americans are looking to be more tan; in China, it is the opposite. White skin is valued, hence all the lighteners and umbrellas.

(click pics to enlarge)

Pizza and Strawberry Milkshake

Last Saturday I ventured with my language teacher and a few other volunteers to Chunxi Road in downtown Chengdu, the equivalent of Madison Avenue in NYC. Some great shopping! But also...

...when we first got to China, we avoided "American" products because we wanted to immerse ourselves in China. But now? We decided it is not so bad to have an American product every once in a while. After all, I have two years to enjoy many Chinese foods and products (and enjoy I do). So we had lunch at Pizza Hut (real cheese!) followed by a strawberry milkshake at McDonalds.

I not ashamed to say I savored every swallow.

P.S. Some of you have asked what you can send me. Clif Bars. Any flavor.

Massage

A massage in China? Less than $5.00 an hour.

A few other things:

DVDs: $.80.
Can of Diet Coke: $.43.
Laptop speakers: $5.00
Button down shirt: $3.00
Blackberry Pearl: $155.00

Yes, I am shopping my way through China.

Food in Dough

Food in dough: does it ever taste bad? No. Empanadas, quesadillas, ravioli, even Hostess fruit pies, I've never eaten food in dough I don't like.

The dumplings here are delicious. Instead of being filled with spicy meat, they are made with plain meat or veggies, steamed or boiled, then dipped in a spicy sauce. They are a favorite of the volunteers. The other day we had them for lunch and ordered a second bowl, they were so good. I could eat dumplings infinity! On the street they run about $.50 a bowl.

Here is a little video I took at dinner of me eating a dumpling.

Calligraphy

A calligraphy teacher taught us some basic Chinese characters. My teacher said my second row was very good! I guess I am a bit of a Chinese calligraphy prodigy. Who knew? I also used my calligraphy brush to draw these pandas. I still suck at drawing, however.

This little pup was outside our classroom. I think they breed tiny dogs here, every dog I have seen is teacup size. We are not supposed to play with them because they often carry rabies. They are so cute, it is hard to resist them. I compromised by snapping this picture. (I have received a vaccination series for rabies, in addition to meningitis, Japanese Encephalitis, typhoid, Hepatitis, and I can't remember what else. But basically every Friday we get shots.)

The Eel Who Loved Me

I went today with my host mother to the open air fruit, veggie and animal market. There were kiddie swimming pools filled with snakes, eels, frogs and other live animals. As I walked by an eel pool, one of them somehow managed to "jump" out of the pool and landed near my foot. I think he knew I was a vegetarian. I had to leave him to his own devices, though. Quickly leave him.

The open air market was amazing: fruits and veggies, bread, dumpling dough, meat, chickens, ducks, geese, birds, pigs, (both live and in parts), everything you could ever want to eat that hadn't been processed and treated. Most things are measured in jin, which is a half a kilo, which is just over a lb. My host mother (who does not speak English) made me ask for prices. It was great practice with the language, but also a chance to see how much things cost when a local, rather than foreigner, is buying them.

Almost all fruits and veggies cost about 1.50 RMB per jin. There are currently about 7 RMB to the dollar. Tomatoes were even cheaper, 80 mao (cents) per jin.

Also, here is a picture I took at lunch yesterday. The Americans? Not always so good with the chopsticks. Those hashed potatoes were a killer. It is easy to spot where the Westerners sit.

Lashan

This was a sign on the climbing path to see the Big Buddha in Lashan.

There are also several beautiful temples, but I was taught in Thailand it was disrespectful to take pictures in the temples, so I did not. But, it is okay to take a picture of the mountain buddha.(Click picture to enlarge)

Chinese Food

Or as they call it here, food.


This morning I realized I wasn't thinking about how to pick up my food with chopsticks, I was just doing it. Progress! Breakfast was two hard boiled eggs, tomato slices with sugar sprinkled on top (there is no salt here, so you put sugar instead of salt on some raw veggies) and egg bread with a sweet coating on the bottom. Lunch today was green beans in a spicy sauce, pickled and finely chopped soybeans mixed with a chive-like veggie of some sort, and a spinach-type veggie with a spicy sauce. Sorry, I don't know yet what is actually in the sauces, but they are extremely tasty. Oh, and rice and peeled grapes on the side.

All raw fruits and veggies have to be peeled before they are eaten. Most veggies are cooked in a spicy oil with hot peppers and spices. As one of my fellow volunteers said, the food here is often high calorie, but it takes so much effort to eat it, you don't end up eating very much of it anyway. It is all very delicious, though. This region of China is known for having the most flavorful food in the country.

Fun Cultural Differences

-In China you don't say "bless you" or any similar phrase when someone sneezes because they have a tradition that if a dog sneezes, it is good luck and means the weather will be pleasant the following day. So if you bless someone who sneezes, you are likening them to a dog who brings good luck. Also, you don't say "Excuse me" when you sneeze, because the Chinese do not think you need to apologize for things you cannot control. They think Westerners are extremely polite when we apologize for things like sneezing. A couple of other things:

-Diet drinks, foods etc. are not popular here and extremely difficult to find outside of the large Eastern cities. Every time I come across a can of diet Coke, I buy all they have in stock. So far, I have only run across two stores that had Diet Coke, a total of 6 cans. I enjoyed every drop. They eat very spicy, and very sweet, foods. (The fruit drinks I water down with half water.) It is a party in your mouth all the time!

-Is there anything cuter than a Chinese baby? No, there isn't. I can't take my eyes off of them in the street. Babies and small children do not wear diapers; instead they wear clothes with big slits up the front and back. I am not sure how their parents take care of their kid's business, because I have yet to see it in action.

-The average clothing size is about a 2. I am huge by Chinese standards.

-The local Peace Corps staff got us a Western-style cake for the 4th of July. We served it a bit differently. :)
One thing remains the same however: Texas rules! Even in China.

Volunteers

Some of you have asked me about the other volunteers I traveled with.

There are 36 of us, including three married couples. Our group has a higher median age than most Peace Corps groups, due to the work and school experience needed to be in this program. There are several girls around my age who have also never been married or had kids;, yay, I am not a freak after all. Our group is about 60% female, 40% male. 14 volunteers transferred to the China Program after completing two years of service in another country. It is encouraging to know they enjoyed it so much, they signed up for a 2nd tour.

Most of us have advanced degrees, but a few joined the Peace Corps as a part of their Masters Program. One guy has an undergrad degree in Physics, but most have English or Education related degrees. One of the married couple retirees has a PhD in education. We are in China at the express invitation of the Chinese government, so our work and education credentials were vetted by the Chinese Embassy in the U.S. prior to our arrival. It is intimidating to think they believe I can do this job. It is an amazing group of volunteers, their experiences and credentials are inspiring.

At times when I feel overwhelmed, a bit homesick, unsure of myself, frustrated by my inability to communicate in the language, it helps to know there are 35 other people feeling the exact same way.

(I tried to add some pictures to this post, but could not get them to load. Not sure if firewall or internet connection problem. I'll try again later.)

I am lonely! Please email me and say hello. I promise I will write back!

1. I have arrived safely in China. My flight over the arctic circle went off without a hitch and I didn't have to eat anyone.

2. Diet Coke here still has a silver label, so even though I don't understand the characters, it is easily identifiable, phew!

3. The food so far is INCREDIBLE. Very flavorful and spicy. For breakfast today I had eggs and tomatoes, dumplings, a few different rice noodle salads with assorted cooked veggies, a very yummy sweetbread filled with a kind of sweet cream, tea and a hot citrus juice similar to Tang. For lunch we had 18 different dishes brought to our table!! They bring 2 or 3 at a time, you eat those, and then they bring more. Continuous food for an hour. You eat a little bit of everything, rather than a lot of one thing, so you get many different flavors and tastes in one meal. It is delicious. I am still working on using chopsticks, but imagine the best Chinese restaurant you have ever been to, times that by ten, and that is what the food is like here. And a great majority of it is vegetarian.

3. I had my first language classes today and learned to say my assigned Chinese name, WenLan, which translates as Educated Precious Blossom. I also learned hello, goodbye, good morning, my name is, his/her name is, teacher, and a few other words. The language is beautiful. It uses very different throat muscles and breathing patterns, but I am very excited for this chance to learn Mandarin.