The Power Of Food (And Bathrooms)

Chongqing is trying to kill me, one infection at a time. After my last post, I caught a bad cold. At least it wasn't the flu again? I have a tradition of catching Thanksgiving colds, so if this cold thought it was going to stop me from gorging myself at the hotel, oh no it did not. I pilled-up, and gorge I did. Three servings of mashed potatoes, a half a wheel of brie and three desserts later, I was the fullest I've been since I came to China. (It was also my first time having sushi on Thanksgiving.) Our group stayed for about 4 hours, and it was such a delight to feel like my old self again, for at least a few hours. It's pretty incredible the power that foods have on our psyche.

Friday night I went out of town with a couple of friends to visit another friend for the weekend. I was still popping down cold medicine pills every few hours, and I almost didn't go, but our trip was a lot of fun! Here is a picture of us having lunch at a very typical roadside restaurant, eating steamed dumplings. Please notice the seats and the background kitchen tools etc. These are my favorite places to eat because they are very inexpensive and serve freshly prepared, piping hot food made from local ingredients. You order fried potatoes, and someone in the back starts cutting up fresh potatoes; no 'frozen thrown from a bag into a deep fryer' potatoes here. It's a luxury to be able to eat the way we do in North America, but it is definitely not better.

(I was purposefully not looking at the camera.) Our long distance bus stopped at a rest stop, and it had the biggest squat toilet bathroom I've ever seen here. So of course I had to take a picture. At this point, I'm pretty much a connoisseur of Chinese bathrooms:

My goal for December is to stay healthy! I have a lot of things to say about luxury, Chinese culture, and perceptions of Chinese culture in American pop culture, so if you are interested in that, stay tuned. Plus I'll probably have some silly things to say, as well.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!