Village Visit

Last week Mimi and I went to visit a friend of ours who lives in a village on the outskirts of town, near the river. Here's a picture of my friend taking Mimi for a walk. It was really cold (no heat in the village, and the electrical wires won't support electric heat), so that's why Mimi is wearing two layers of clothes, a dress and a pullover sweater, to stay warm. Village life is WAY different than city life. You have to be tough to live in a village. Next is another village photo taken from inside the house. My friend adores my dog, and has taken care of Mimi when I had to be out of town. Unfortunately, without a heater or air-conditioner in their village home, Mimi can't stay with her during the middle of winter or the middle of summer. Mimi, and I, are not quite tough enough for that!

Winter Blast

It hasn't been above freezing for about two weeks, and on Saturday it finally snowed! I was in town when the snow started around noon. I took a picture of myself in the local city square (left and below left). Then when I got back to my apartment building, all the kids (of all ages) were out having snow ball fights, building snowmen, and all the things that we do back home. Apparently the fascination with snow and what to do with it is pretty much the same worldwide! The funniest thing I saw was these little girls about ten years old having a snowball fight with the guards at the gate of my apartment complex.

Clothes Drying

People who live south of the Yangtze River tend to hang their clean clothes outside to dry; they do not do this in the north where I live. I think modesty would prevent me from hanging my longjohns out to dry like these people did. This apartment building is in downtown Shanghai, one of the largest and most modern cities in the world!

Party Pooper

Here is a picture of Mimi sulking under the Christmas tree to protest the wearing of a Chinese silk outfit. As soon as I took it off of her, she perked up again. She's so funny!

Me in the Airport

Hi. Here's a photo of me taken in the gate area of the airport in Bedrock on December 3rd. I took the photo myself...I was the only one in the gate area! After six and a half hours, my flight was finally officially cancelled due to fog that refused to dissipate. Everyone else had given up a lot earlier than I did. I eventually had to hire a driver to take me to another airport 4 hours away where there was no fog.

Winter Vacation

The airline I use most threatened to "delete" my frequent flier miles if they were unused, so I decided to use them to come home to America for Christmas. I arrived back in Texas on December 5th, and will leave to return to China on December 27th. Sorry I didn't have much time to let everyone know. Mimi is back in China, staying with friends. I am staying at my parents' place. More later!

The Oddest Thing

I was sitting at lunch today, and it was a little too surreal. Could I actually be sitting in a restaurant in BEDROCK and yet be eating at a PIZZA HUT????? It was just too much for me to take in. Yes, today is the first day of Pizza Hut being open in Bedrock. To most of you, this is no big deal, but you have no idea how huge this is. When I first set foot in Bedrock eleven years ago, I felt as if I had stepped back in time about 300 years or so (except for the occasional car). Now in just a few years, we've gone from the Flintstones to the Jetsons. I remember thinking in 1998 that if all went well, by 2050 Bedrock would have a grocery store. Now it already has grocery stores, KFC's, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut. Donkey-pulled carts have been replaced by rich people driving BMW's. (Don't get me wrong, there are still poor people, but you cannot begin to imagine the changes this place has seen in the last eleven years. No place I have ever been has changed so quickly.) So today when I sat in Pizza Hut, it was just the oddest feeling. Everything has changed.

I was sick twice in October for a total of 3 weeks. That's why there were no more blog postings.

I'll try to post some pictures of things other than my dog in the future, but I think she is just SO CUTE that I like to show her off. The weather has turned really cold here, so I put a sweater on her when we go for walks. The children in my neighborhood just think this is the cutest thing they ever saw, and shriek (in their language), "Mom, look at the doggy wearing clothes!"

A Dog in a Box

Mimi likes getting packages. It means new toys for her. I don't mean that people send her toys (although some do), I mean the BOX becomes her toy, or her bed, or whatever. Isn't she lovely? :-)

Silent Holiday

Today is a traditional Chinese holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival. It comes at the mid-point of autumn according to the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Some folks liken it to American Thanksgiving, as families gather together in the evening for a traditional family reunion meal. (Most people work until noon on this holiday, and kids go to school until noon.)

Well, for the past few weeks, there have been roosters taking up residence on the grounds of my apartment complex, waking me up at 4 a.m., and driving my dog crazy on walks. Suddenly, today, the roosters are silent. They are tonight's dinner. I like Thanksgiving much better, when we go down to the grocery store and buy a frozen Butterball, and the slaughter of dead birds' blood isn't on the grass where my dog plays. I pity the poor roosters who were so beautiful and friendly just yesterday when I saw them. (See the photo of my neighbors cleaning the birds on the grass a few hours ago.)

Which brings me to the next topic. All my neighbors are Beverly Hillbillies. No kidding. They were all poor villagers a decade or so ago, and came into money. They moved to the big city, bought a nice apartment, and bought a Mercedes or BMW...but mentally they are still poor villagers cooking their possum soup and killing roosters for family dinner. My neighbor on the second floor is the absolutely worst, and I've called her Granny Clampett for years now. She builds fires on the driveway (I haven't figured out why yet), dries food on the driveway, cooks up potions and brews, the whole bit.

Sometimes I feel like my life is a pilot for a TV sitcom.

Emotional Grass

Sign seen yesterday at the public park that just planted new grass: "Grass also has feeling, it will sob when you hurt it." Who knew grass could cry?!