Random Eclipses Are My Life Now, Plus Food and T-Shirt Pics

Yesterday there was another eclipse here; I had no idea it would be happening, so it was quite random to look up in the sky and see the moon partially blocking out the sun. R. and I were on the bus going to meet up with folks for dinner, and I noticed people along the side of the road taking cell phone pics of the sky. I thought maybe a new building had been lit up or something. Then we happened to pass empty air space and see it, briefly, mostly obscured by smog of course. It was pretty neat, and pretty random. But too many buildings and too much smog, so no pics this time. It didn't get fully dark or cold like the full eclipse last summer, though, which is still one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed.

I thought you might like to see one of the Chinese dishes I make here for myself. This dish is chicken, tiger prawns (which are like a cross between a green pepper and a jalepeno and I love them), green onions, garlic, Sichuan-pepper infused oil, french-fry cut potatoes and spicy chili black bean sauce. I think it's very good, and super easy. I've learned that stir fry is so popular in China because it uses very little fuel; small pieces of food cook quickly. For so long people have not been able to afford much fuel, so stir-frying evolved as a solution. Baking a potato or a cake is a luxury here, because it requires a lot of energy.

I leave tomorrow for training at Peace Corps headquarters, held in a neighboring province. It's a chance to see people who are assigned to other parts of the country, so I really enjoy going. Of course, we also have city pride, so we wanted to make a t-shirt for those of us here in Chongqing. I made this design in Photoshop and had it printed up yesterday. This t-shirt cost $6.00 and took ten minutes to make at the t-shirt shop.

A few in-jokes in the design:

• We call Chongqing "The Chonx." 
• Posh Corps refers to the fact we get hot running water, unlike many other Peace Corps volunteers in the world. (However, we also deal with psychological hardships they don't, but that is another post.) 
• 1415 refers to our program year designation: I'm a China 14, meaning I came in 2008, the 14th year of the program. The volunteers who came in 2009 are China 15s. (When I leave, I'll be replaced by a China 16, and so on.) 
• The 'yellow glow' is, of course, a joke about our lack of sunshine. 
• The gray background is supposed to be smog. 

I like making t-shirt designs, it turns out. I'll probably make some more before I leave.

I think I'll have internet access while I'm training, but I'm not sure. If I go MIA, that's why.

Hope you all had a great weekend!