Hot & Spicy Girls 重庆麻辣女人

I'm taking advantage of the MacBook Pro I use for work and putting together some movies of my pictures and videos from China. Between that and the book, it's one reason I haven't been around here much.

I keep finding treasures in the crevices of my picture files, like this picture of a 'ma la' skirt. In Mandarin, 'ma' 麻 means 'numbing' and 'la' 辣 means 'spicy', and 'ma la' is a phrase commonly used as slang to describe Chongqing girls; the weather and the food are numbingly hot and spicy, and so therefore are the women. This is an adult woman's skirt. As you can see, it's about half my size. I can't imagine getting even my butt in this thing, let alone my legs.

Chongqing style is very ma la: short, tiny, tight, bright, covered in sequins and embellishments. Chongqing is sort of the Rio of China, I guess. I had a girl once tell me, while dressed in tiny panty shorts and a see-through shirt: "I am a traditional girl. But it is very hot here." Indeed.

We still use 'ma la' to describe things, i.e. "That is a very ma la outfit/dress/girl" etc. (One thing I loved about being with my China friends in Boston and NYC was using Chongqing slang with each other. 'Ma la' made several appearances.) Here is another ma la girl:

We are Chongqing girls now. We are ma la. We embrace it. At least, that's the excuse I tell myself for having purchased these shoes (although I am sure it has more to do with my Spanish blood than anything else):

I can't help it. I love them.

Clothes-es, and Other Chinese-isms

Chinese students almost uniformly make the mistake of pluralizing 'clothes' into 'clothes-es' and we are the kind of teachers that mimicked our students most common mistakes when talking to each other, so now I say 'clothes-es' all the time in my head. Other things we said:

Deeleeciours (delicious)
Advices
I wish you happy every day!

I miss speaking Chinglish on a daily basis. Luckily I still talk to folks in China so when they say things like this, I write them down. You think you won't forget, but you do!

Did you know in Chinese culture it is normal to wear the same clothes for several days in a row? (Not underwear, that I know of!) You wear them until they are dirty, then change into new clothes and wash the ones you've been wearing. It was really hard to get used to at first, but then I loved it. It's much easier than having to choose new outfits every day. My students thought it was really strange Americans change our clothes every day. I don't know if they thought we were showing off how many clothes-es we own, or being impractical, or just weird. But they definitely noticed the foreign teachers changed their clothes all the time. I started wearing the same thing several days in a row to fit in, and because: lazy. I miss it.

However, when I was in college, this was my favorite sweatshirt of all time; I got it for $10 at the GAP and wore it constantly. I was Chinese and didn't know it!

My students often told me that Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) was very special when they were growing up because it was the only time they got new clothes; now that people have more money, people own more clothes, and Spring Festival is not as special.

Gratitude And Socks

You guys, let me be honest for a minute: the past month has been tough.

I gave up my apartment in San Antonio to go to China, and just before leaving I moved all my stuff to my mom’s. So that’s where I am while I job search, at my mom’s. This is not a bad thing at all; I’m closer to my brother and sister and extended family, and my mom is easy to live with. BUT, it’s certainly not where I want or expected to be. I’ve had to change my attitude the past week or so; I’m choosing to be grateful for gifts and opportunities I have in my life right now, rather than focus on what (I think) I lack. One of the great things is that my mom lives in a colder climate than San Antonio, so I get to indulge my love of socks.

I LOVE socks—cute and versatile and less expensive than buying shoes and purses. In San Antonio I hardly ever got to wear socks because it’s just too warm most of the year; I had an extensive collection of chanclas, but hardly any socks.

In Chongqing, I wore tall socks all winter long because it was so bitingly wet and cold and I didn’t have indoor heat. My sister sent me some great thigh-high gray socks, and I had a nice collection of argyle over-the-knee socks. It was popular in Chongqing to wear thick ‘skin colored’ (meaning, Han skin coloring) footless tights with socks over the top; I did this look with skirts and chunky heels mostly:



I wore through most of my socks and threw them away when I was packing to come back. Now, with winter approaching, I get to replace them!

Some of my favorite socks I get at REI; Smartwool socks are very warm and long-lasting—these were the only socks I took with me to China that made it back with me. I highly recommend them, and they come in both cute and functional. This pair is now on my wish list:



You can see some more here.

The Joy of Socks and Amazon also carry great over-the-knee and knee-high socks. Target, too, but I couldn’t find any online today.

Happy socking!

Autumn Can Change Your Life

Caution: this is kind of a girly post.

For those who don't know me personally, I am half Chilean, half American. I inherited my mom's darker Chilean coloring and my dad's American features. I'm a mutt! And all my life people (salespersons, friends, etc.) have been telling me my coloring is Winter, because I have dark hair and dark eyes. Winters have pink undertones in their skin and look great in lots of white, black, navy blue, cherry reds, purples, etc... And gray. I LOVE gray. My mom would always tell me I looked like I was constantly dressing for a funeral because I wore so much black, gray, and white. But I noticed in lots of pictures, I looked kinda terrible. I thought I just really didn't take good pictures.

So one day I'm in China innocently looking something up on the internet and I read that many Latina and Asian women are not Winter, they are Autumn: dark hair and eyes but with gold undertones to their skin, not pink, and that a quick way to check if you are Winter or Autumn is too look at the veins in your arms and legs: are they blue or greenish in hue? I checked: totally green! I've been an Autumn all along! So really, I should be wearing browns, golds, brickish reds, and warm colors, not cool. Changed my life, y'all. I started replacing all my blacks with browns, whites with creams, and cherry reds for warmer hues. It really did change the tone and reflection of my skin. I looked much healthier and less pallid. The gray is really hard to stop wearing, though. I still love it.

Two related stories:

1. I emailed my mom and said, "Guess what? I'm an Autumn, blah blah blah" and explained to her the whole theory. My mom is very fashionable from her days as a singer, so she likes this topic. I got back an email in all caps that simply said, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO WEAR SO MUCH BLACK." Touché mom, touché.

2. T. and I were sitting talking when a Chinese girl told him out of the blue, "You look like a Brazilian soccer player, but that shirt is wrong for you." He looked at me and I said, "Yeah... she's right. Let me see your arm." Blue veins! He was wearing green, an Autumn color, and he is definitely a Winter. I had a chance to color code a few of my American friends in China; I know they are all SO grateful for my help. (I'm pretty sure things like this are the things they tolerate about me.) I also share this example because I love how in Chinese culture, this was totally normal for her to say. I don't know if I'd ever tell someone I didn't know well and wasn't being paid to help that their shirt color was all wrong for them. But in China, it's totally fine to do that. Your business is my business, mi amour.

In China most people are Autumns, and I noticed that the clothing for sale reflected that: lots of yellow and green and brown and warmer colors. And I've noticed here in America, it's all white, black, blue and red. It's harder for me to find those warmer colors here. Just an observation.

Check your veins! It might change your life. (Spring is the fairer version of Autumn, Summer is the fairer version of Winter.)

New Dress, Special Gift, and Buddhist Mountain Friends

I decided to have a traditional, formal qipao made for me before I left China. It's black with gold dragons, and ankle length. I picked out the fabric and the style and a local tailor made it:

And here it is from behind. See what I told you about my butt?? Oh well, I'll soon be leaving you behind, Chinese stairs:

The teacher at my school assigned to help me the last two years also became my friend. His father and grandfather survived the Cultural Revolution and have a collection of Chairman Mao pins from that era. It was important to show your allegiance to Chairman Mao, and one way to do that was to wear these pins. He gave me a pin from his family's collection as a going away gift; I was incredibly humbled by his generosity at giving me part of his family's history. I will treasure it always.

I went to a Unesco World Heritage Buddhist mountain site near my city. It was a very Chinese adventure! It took me 3 buses to get to the mountain top, and I was 'adopted' by an old man who was fascinated with talking to a foreigner; he even got on the mountain bus so he could keep talking to me, but the other people on the bus kicked him off so he'd leave me alone. It was such a Chinese thing, and something that would have freaked me out two years ago, but now was just what happens here. The old man turned me over to the care of the young guy in this picture, a random guy from Beijing who didn't speak English but spoke really good Mandarin (as they do in Beijing) and was backpacking across China. He was really cool! The two ladies are English teachers from a city southwest of me called Kunming and they approached me because I speak English. (Do you see how HUGE I am compared to Chinese ladies? No wonder I now have body dysmorphia from living in China.) They were so nice, and we all became mountain friends. Thus is the magic of the Buddhist mountain.

A few pictures of the mountain carvings:

Seaweed Pringles and The Power of Cod

A few random pictures I took last week:

Seaweed Pringles:

Eating 4th of July 'American Potato Salad with Chinese Characteristics' with chopsticks:

The NBA is super popular here; this is a kid's team practicing on my campus, outfitted in Lakers jerseys. Licensed by the Lakers? I have no idea...but I'm guessing no:

Guy sitting across from me on the subway; his t-shirt says "Cnly Cod Can Judge Me":

My Stripper Days, Plus Dancing Bebe(s)

So, true story: when I was around 7-8 years old I thought stripping was the best thing ever. I wanted to be a stripper when I grew up, and I used to put on my dad's soundtrack to The Sting, crank up Hooker's Hooker, put on all the clean clothes from the laundry room and play stripper for hours in the living room. (I always stopped at my own clothes! I only took off the extra laundry!) My parents, being the laid-back parents they are, didn't freak out or chasten me for playing stripper. In fact, I don't remember them ever saying anything to me about it, ever. And one day, I just stopped thinking I wanted to be a stripper. Please note that at age 8, I had only a marginal idea of what strippers actually did; I thought it was just wearing pretty clothes and dancing, two things I still think are pretty awesome.

As an adult, I asked my dad why he never told me to stop playing stripper or to stop saying that when I grew up, I wanted to be a stripper. And my dad told me, "I knew you'd grow up and realize there was more to you than that."

I was a dancer from the time I was could walk. I try to tell people, it's in the gene pool; Latin babies just know how to dance. (For those that don't know, my mom is Chilean. And she was a Chilean pop star when she was a teenager. I should write about that sometime.) And here is proof:



If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth a watch; this kid is something else!

Klutz, Butts, Nuts

Have I ever told you I am a klutz? I am. A big one. Here is a hematoma I acquired on the train ride home last weekend. When Andrew saw it, he said, "How on earth were you walking that you hit THAT part of your arm?" Good question! But I was holding a heavy bag in one hand getting on the train, so my arm was akimbo. It doesn't hurt so much today, and is a lovely green-ish purple.

I have a theory I should have been taller or shorter because I seem to not have internalized how long my arms, legs and head are. I hit them on everything. The other day I hit my head on the street phone booth while climbing out of a taxi in the rain.

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Speaking of proportions, I was talking with R. this week about butts. Specifically, how ours have changed thanks to climbing literally flights and flights of stairs and hilly streets everyday for the past two years. The LAST thing I needed was a rounder butt, but here I am. (Muscle, not fat, but still?) I heard that if you have a round butt, you shouldn't work out on stairs or inclines; that's for flat butt girls. I live in the wrong city for my body type. Also, for my lungs. I shouldn't be embarrassed about my butt, but I am. Mostly because it's hard to find pants that fit. Hence, I wear a lot of skirts.

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Did you know Chinese-produced pine nuts can change the taste of all your foods? I recently came across this article. Interesting. We often joke about needing heavy-metal detox after living here, but honestly, I don't think it's such a bad idea. I wonder how much lead, mercury and other assorted metals are swimming around in my bloodstream.

Pajamas As Fashionable and Cool Daily Wear

A recent article in the New York Times about the attempt to curb the wearing of pajamas as daily wear in Shanghai tickled my funny bone and made me realize how much I forget to write about here. (Click here to read the article.)

You see, it is very common to see people in their pajamas at all hours of the day walking the streets of my city. And it would appear, other cities in China. And it is so common place, I've never written about it, because it has ceased to surprise me.

My first year here, I was sort of in mini-meltdown mode 3/4 of the time. And a lot of the wonderful and strange things about China I should have been writing about then, I wasn't. And now...I forget they're remarkable. I have failed you, my dear blog readers, for bringing you the thorough reality of life in China!

But here's one: people wear pajamas as daily clothes. I suppose it is not so different from running around in gym clothes/track suits? The most popular pjs here are quilted. They do look very puffy and comfortable, I admit.

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!

Chinese Pageant Dress, Plus KTV Lights Up My Life

That Christmas Pageant Andrew and I are hosting? Turns out it's a much bigger production than I anticipated. We'll be doing the introduction and closing, as well as making commentary between each act. Watch out, Dick Clark??

Pageant hosting in China is a really big deal, so yesterday my school took me to a dress rental shop to find a ballgown length pageant dress to wear. We found a beautiful cranberry gown that actually fit me (I am a giant here), I was shocked. And happy. I love wearing beautiful dresses! It's being held outdoors and I can't wear a coat while I'm onstage, brrr, but even so, I'm pretty excited to get to wear the dress. (And because my gown is floor-length, I'm totally going to be rocking some legwarmers. Shhh...) Definitely a new experience in my Rebecca Life Handbook.

Btw, a cultural note: variety shows are extremely popular here, and the girls who host the shows on tv are known for being charming and beautiful. If you are a variety show hostess on tv, you have probably the same cachet as a flight attendant in the 1960's in America. It's a very interesting subculture of Chinese culture, and I'm still trying to understand why they are so popular. At any given time on local tv, you can find a pageant or variety show.

So anyway, I'm sure you want to know more about my dress, right? It's a heavy, thick, satin-type material in deep cranberry with silver embroidery details. Here's the hemline (the red is the lining, it won't show when I'm wearing it):

Here's a shot of the bodice detail:

We'll take some proper pictures that night, I'm sure. I have to wear four inch heels to keep the hem from dragging too much, good thing I've been doing my foot yoga high heel practice. And as I told Andrew, I'll so be wearing hand warmers in my underwear, ha. (Note: I have since learned this is a bad idea, it burns. Nixing this.)

Two of my students will be on stage to translate for the audience, a girl and a guy, and they get to dress up too. Here is her dress. How cute is she?

We had a lot of fun picking out the dresses. If my life were a movie, it would have been a great montage scene.

Last night we had a birthday party for one of the T.'s, and I shot a short video while we were performing to Prince's "Cream" at karaoke, known locally as KTV. I watched it today, and my first thought was, "Why did we think it was a good idea to leave the strobe lights on in our room all night? Hello, epilepsy!" On the other hand, it kept us awake. I love that you can do all night karaoke here. Hope you've all had a good weekend!

5 Things I Won’t Miss About China

Let me say, this list is far smaller than the things I WILL miss. But there are a few things that have been the most difficult for me to adjust to and/or live with:

1. People blowing loogies out of their nose and onto the street next to my feet. (On the bright side, I have lightening fast snot-avoidance reflexes now.)

2. People trying to rip me off because I'm a foreigner and they think I don’t understand.

3. People telling me I am too fat to shop in their store. And even hiding clothes so I can’t buy them. (Yes, that last part really did happen.)

4. Train station waiting rooms!

5. Chinese is hella hard, y’all. Even after a year and a half, I don’t understand nearly as much as if I'd lived in a Spanish speaking country. I won’t miss the language barrier I constantly run up against.

The next '5' list will be the things I am looking forward to most about returning home.

The Bra Strap Triangulation

As soon as I discovered my bra had removable straps, I knew the next step would be losing one of 'em. Sure enough, a strap went MIA only the second time I took them off. Bra straps are my new bobby pins! Luckily it's fashionable right now in China to have fancy, exposed bra straps, so I went across the street to the accessories store and bought these as replacements (along with a clear set):

(Perhaps these are also now fashionable in the U.S.? I'm not keeping up on the home trends very well.)

It's one of the dichotomies of life in China: a very conservative culture in which it's completely acceptable for your bra and panties to show through your clothes. And by panties, I mean the 1/2-inch inseam denim shorts in size -3 that are so popular here. They're pretty much denim underwear. (And Chinese girls have no cellulite, so they look great in them!) In my city, a popular summer outfit for girls is denim panties, fancy-strap bra, long sheer shirt, and high heeled shoes. I cannot pull this look off.

They also sell bra straps with big rhinestone bows, butterflies and flowers attached, but they were close to $3.00 USD, which was too much for me to buy even as a joke. (The ones above were about $.60 and $.20 respectively.) But you must have at least one set of Hello Kitty. It's just a rule.

Little Miss Jail Bait

I'm way past being jail bait (which, by the way, was what my older cousin David called me when I was 13 and I didn't know what it meant, but I knew I should be annoyed by it), but I saw this shirt on the street last night and couldn't resist adding it to my collection. (Although, Chinese screen printing is apparently only for A cups.) This isn't Chinglish in the strictest sense, the grammar and spelling are correct, but contextually? It's got Chinglish soul. It would go well with the 'I Just Scored' t-shirt I saw this week on a young teenage boy (!).

I wonder if our Chinese tattoos are the cultural equivalent of Chinglish shirts? Surely we've made a mess of those, too. I'm sooo going to tell people if their Chinese tattoo is wrong. "'Love'? No, that says 'rash'." What can I say? I'm helpful like that.

Booty Jeans

I have a Latina booty, and finding jeans that fit both my waist and butt is a constant battle. But my mom recently sent me a pair of jeans that are near perfect: Lee Comfort Fit jeans. I didn't have to wear a belt to keep my privates private!  And my booty can still run free, a lot of curve allowance. Yeah, I know, Lee is not a 'cool' brand of jeans, but if you have a booty that is on the curvy side, these might be the jeans for you. You can thank my mom.

Chinglish Shirt

I think they meant 'interpretive.' However, as it turns out, 'interpersonal' is my favorite kind of dance! So I had to get the shirt.

"Your Son Is In Good Hands"

I've decided to start a funny t-shirt collection. This one isn't Chinglish, but I still thought it was funny. And I do have good hands! (This shirt is xtra large, a medium in western sizing. If you buy a Chinese shirt, be aware of the sizing difference.)

I learned today that saying 'chop chop' meaning 'hurry' or 'fast' is Chinese in origin. Maybe I am the last one to realize this? It comes from the same translation as 'chopsticks.' In Mandarin chopsticks are called 'kuaizi', which translates literally as 'fast ones.' When I want someone to hurry, I am going to start saying, "kuaizi kuaizi!" as a little Chinglish joke. No one will get it, but I will laugh inside. In other news, I am a dork.

Thongs For Your Feet, A New Interpretation

I don't know the Chinese name for these, but I call them toe thongs. Your toes go in the fabric sling, and the thong-y part goes around your heel. They're meant to be worn with slingbacks/pumps. They cracked me up so much when I saw them, I had to try them out. The thong part cut into my heel uncomfortably, but this is probably because my shoe size is 4 sizes bigger than the average Chinese woman's.

Here's what Andrew and I had for lunch today, Big Plate Chicken, a Chinese Muslim dish. (The Muslim foods here are some of my favorites.) After we ate the veggies and chicken, we added freshly made noodles to finish off the broth. On the far right side, there's a chicken foot. Andrew taunted me with it, he picked it up and made it 'talk' to me. They seem to be all bone and skin and gristle, ick. However, the last time we ordered this dish there was a chicken's head, beak and all. I guess feet are not so bad in comparison. I think of both of them like basil leaves in spaghetti sauce, just there for flavor.

Obama and The Yankees: Chinese Hip Hop Fashion

I went a-wandering today and came across a small shop selling "hip hop" fashion (their words, not mine). A few of the items for sale:

An Obama 'Hope' belt buckle:













$100 bill belt buckles:













And of course, the Yankees:

You could also buy a Mao bags, Che Guevera bags, big fake diamond earring studs and fake gold rings with "50 Cent" printed on them. And this Paul Frank monkey, wearing a military uniform and waving a flag:











I really want to go back and buy something from this store, just for the fact it exists in China. While wandering I also found these fake eyelashes with little diamond studs at the lashline:

A very productive day!

God Bless Boxer Briefs

The English majors asked me to do a lecture last night on American Fashion. Around 300 kids showed up, a nice crowd. I had put together a slide show and some videos about designers, popular brands and stores, and general differences between American and Chinese fashion. When I showed this picture, a big loud "ahhh" went up in the room, it cracked me up! Yes girls, men in boxer briefs are hot!  Also, I'm pretty sure this is how my students are going to remember me now, that American teacher who showed them a picture of a guy in his underwear. Oh well.  Two other pictures they really liked:

What can I say? My students have good taste!

What I had for lunch today: greens in garlic sauce, hot pickled peppers and pork (I ate all those peppers and left the pork behind!), beef and potatoes in red sauce, and dry fried shredded potatoes. YUM. We couldn't eat it all, but bites from each plate was a delicious lunch.




Tomorrow (Saturday) there is a big ceremony at my school, and a talent show of sorts. Andrew and two of the other foreign teachers are walking in the show as fashion models, so I'll be filming the show. I'll post any good parts later this weekend. Hope you all have a good weekend!