this is my new favorite fruit, the name translates to "hairy red fruit".
it is kinda sweet and sour and is soooo yummy! if there was a way for me to bring some home i would for sure, but international customs says no. oh well, i will go on a hunt when i get back home to hopefully find some.
yesterday we went through some back ally villages in the outer parts of the city and met a lot of people, i met an adorable old man who is 72 years old and when he and i started talking he offered me his chair. that may not seem like very much, but in chinese culture for an elder to offer his chair to a younger person and a woman at that speaks volumes. i told him thank you, but he could sit on it and i would be happy to sit next to him on the floor. he even invited me to dinner at his house later that evening, but i was not able to go because of logistical reasons. i felt so very honored to even be invited. i will try to go back this week to see him.
we went walking through the neighborhood and met tons of people, and one time we had about 30 men, women and children following us. we were the first americans to go through their area and they brought everyone out to see us. i bought some cookies earlier in the day and i shared them with the children. mothers were coming out to show off their babies and let me touch them and everyone wanted their picture taken with me. as i walked to streets i made the most of my time, i love these people, i would love to spend every day among them. they showed me their neighborhood god/protector and i got to see his little temple. these people have my heart and i will not be settled until i am here. i am planning on coming back to study chinese over the summer. i found a nice apartment building and i know that being in the culture for so long would really help me learn. peter taught me how to write eight chinese characters today and he said that i did a very good job, but i have a feeling he is just trying to make me feel good.
every night setting up our morning wake up call takes about 30-45 mins. first we call down to the front desk, then they call us back and say a time back to us, normally it is the wrong time and then finally they send someone to our door for us to write the time down for them. well last night i called the front desk and talked to someone who only speaks chinese and then hung up, and expected a call back within the next 10 mins or so. well about 5 mins later a guy calls and here is the conversation:
chinese man: "Hi"
crystal: "Hi"
chinese man: "giggle....nigga"
crystal: "giggle..."
chinese man: "morning call six sirty?" (thirty)
crystal: "yo"(yes)
chinese man: "giggle...click"
well, "nigga" is the chinese version of "umm" or "uh" so he was just nervous talking to me, it was so funny though. i have started to notice it a lot now and it really makes me laugh, it would not go over well in the states that for sure. oh and of course, they called us with our morning call at six am instead of six thirty....oh well, we are on china time, it can differ an hour or so in either direction and its totally acceptable.
today we found a very old village in the middle of the city and we explored it. we met some kiddos who quickly latched on to us. we went and enjoyed tea at a little place on the side of the road and sat there drinking our pot of tea for an hour or so and it only cost 2 yuan total, which is about 24 cents american. after tea, we followed the kids through their village and got to meet some immigrant worker families. they come from all over china to help build the huge buildings that are going up all over the city. their live in what would be small storage buildings in the states with the rolling metal garage door and everything. we got to sit and talk with a family for awhile and sow some seeds.
while we were walking the streets of this village, we saw a small store that sold all sorts of snacks and candy for children, so we told the kids with us they could all pick something out and we would buy it for them. their eyes lit up and they were so very excited! most of them picked these big lollypops and one little boy picked a package of cookies. i taught them how to say "lollypop" and "cookie" in english. they were so adorable. i think there was about 7-10 little boys following us around.
at one point we had to use the restroom and so we asked the boys where the closest one was, and they took us about 3 blocks away to some strange place where we had to pay an old lady 30 cents (chinese, only about 4 cents american) to use the squatty potty.
one thing i have seen here that i have never ever seen before is the pants the babies wear. the chinese children are potty trained by the time they are one to one and a half years old, and to help them learn is they wear these strange pants that are totally split open from the top of the butt to the front side along the seam of the pants. the babies bottoms and family "jewels" are there for all to see. it is not uncommon to see babies going potty in the stores on the floor, on the streets in the market or going "number two" in the park. also the little boys seem to just prance around with their little "thingys" showing to everyone...it is so funny.
i have been making a dvd of all the pictures i have been taking here and i am so excited to show it off to yall. i made the thing and it makes me cry! haha!
anyway, it is getting late and im pretty tired from all the walking on beautiful feet.
remember, as you go sow....there is no excuse not to make the most of every opportunity.
