Independence

In the first days here, we didn't do anything without Rob. He took us on the bus, showed us how to pay, where to pay, how to push and shove our way onto the bus and where to go to buy essentials. Yes, I said push and shove. The bus could be empty and people would still rush on without regard to the size or age of the person next to them. It's funny watching people my size push Don.

On Saturday, we ventured out by ourselves. We took the bus to get some groceries and even managed to get back here. It's hard to orient ourselves when the signs on the roads and stores are all in Chinese. There are some road signs marked with English but the names are not that easy to remember at the moment because they are names like "Ji Shi Lu". For now, it's also hard to pick out landmarks. I'm sure that'll change.

Last week, I managed to get our water dispenser refilled. We get water delivered with the help of the building's superintendent, Mr. Huo. Unfortunately, he doesn't speak English. Through the universal sign of talking on my imaginary phone and showing my empty water container, he understood that we needed more water. A nice lady came by very shortly after and with more gestures I paid for the water and sent her on her way with a xie xie. Misson accomplished.

The street right outside of our apartment complex is filled with vendors selling household items, clothing and more importantly food. We went out for a walk yesterday to take a look at the offerings and finally decided on a stall to try. We bought these round cakes that looked like pancakes. Problem was we only wanted 4 but ended up getting 8. Oh well. The other problem is we didn't know how we should be eating them so we put peanut butter and jam on them. I think there's a better way so we'll have to ask. Don had the brilliant idea of asking one of his students to walk with us up and down the street and explain the various food options to us. Can't wait. It'll save us buying from a different stall each time we go out just to try everything.

There is one stall that we know to avoid though. It is obviously marked by the smell. There is a delicacy here called Stinky Tofu. Before we came, I thought that I'd like to try it. People say that if you can get over the smell, the taste is great. I cannot see me overcoming the smell. I haven't been able to come up with a proper description yet since I plug my nose as soon as I figure out it's near. We'd be walking along, la la la and then wham, it hits you. Don says it's the worst thing he's smelled and that it just crawls down your throat and punches your stomach. In his opinion, there are so many other good smelling things out there so why eat stinky things. Wise man!

J