Let the Countdown Begin!

Well, we officially have 7 days left in China and all I can think about is how quickly it went by. It seems that we got here years ago and now we have become accustomed to the life here. For example, when crossing the street I have started walking out before looking like the Chinese do. It's more a game of walk and dodge rather than waiting. People are gonna think I'm crazy when I get back home when I just jump out in the street! I have also resigned myself to buying a new suitcase because I have bought so much stuff I can't fit it all in my other two. As far as finals go I have finished my final economics paper which was most likely the worst piece of writing of my college career. I had a very difficult time writing a paper solely on economics. We have our capstone paper due next week along with our Chinese final and our society final. They are both going to be difficult so along with packing and buying gifts this weekend I need to study! AHHHH!!! Of course, I could have started studying earlier this week but that would ruin the severe case of procrastination which I've caught from everyone else in the program. As far as leaving goes, I'm excited to return home and see my family and friends whom I miss a lot but I also don't want to return to the "real world." I like the concept of just having to pass a class for credit :)

On a good note, for those of you who have been keeping up with my blog you will no longer have to read my sarcasm and wonderful wit. You will be able to experience it in person once again! Please, try to hold back your excitement.

Dec. 7th- Final Day in Beijing

On Sunday we woke up at 8:30 and packed all of our stuff. The front desk said they would hold our bags for us for the first part of the morning and then we could come back and get them. Once again, Bill tried to convince me to get a Chinese breakfast and, once again, I refused. The stubbornness I have inherited from my parents was firmly set in place on that topic :) After we ate we headed to the Drum and Bell Towers located to the north of our hostel. Like the Great Wall, the Towers had steep stair wells but the views were great. I liked Beijing better than Shanghai because it didn't have the hustle and bustle. It's much more cultural than the thriving metropolis that is Shanghai. After the Towers we returned to the hostel, got our bags, and took a cab to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple is located in the middle of an enormous park and it took a lot of weaving to get there. It was absolutely beautiful. The painting on the outside was incredible and the sheer scale of it was awesome. And, have no fear, we got some Doritos pics there too :)

After the Temple, we walked around Beijing until it was time to leave. We walked back past Tiananmen Square and ate dinner in a hole in the wall restaurant. We considered getting Beijing Duck but they were extremely expensive and at this point both Bill and I were lacking in cash. We headed to the train station and got there early enough to sit in a rest stop to play more gin rummy. As we sat there Bill realized that it was the 7th of December and began to recite Roosevelt's speech from memory. He then pulled out his ipod and made me listen to the speech and then to other Churchill speeches. After I said I was done listening to it he continued to recite them for me. He said it was payback for making him eat a regular breakfast for two days in a row. Fair enough. Our tickets had a one on them so walked to the first car and when the ticket checker looked at our tickets she told us that our tickets were for the minus one car... located at the far end of the train. Bill and I looked at each other and then started running to the back of the train. I'm not really sure why we felt the need to run because we had plenty of time walk to the other end. Anyways, we finally got on the train which was much busier on a Sunday night than it was on a Thursday so we couldn't lay down this time. I want to sleep around midnight, woke up at 3:45, and couldn't go back to sleep.

We arrived in Shanghai at 7:45 and took a cab straight to class. We didn't have our books so we were completely unprepared but at least we went. The trip was a much needed vacation from the work load that has been piling up in the last couple of weeks. Of course, the more I travel the more I don't want to do anything with my life besides travel around the world. Who knows, maybe one day... :)

Dec. 6th- Day Two in Beijing

On Saturday we woke up 7:30 and got dressed quickly. The hostel provides a complimentary breakfast of a fried egg with toast and fruit. It was delicious. Bill has tried to stay loyal to just Chinese food since we arrived but I refused to eat Chinese rice porridge for breakfast so I dragged him to the free breakfast. Again, it was delicious. After we ate we took a shortcut through back alleys to the bus station that would take us to another station which went to the Great Wall. We changed buses at the station and then rode the next bus for an hour. By the time we reached the Great Wall the bus was packed and we pretty much had to crawl over people to get to the exit. Once outside the bus we bought a ticket and started to climb the wall. This section is more touristy than the section we visited during the Silk Road trip. We began with the left side of the wall but there were more people on that side than the other one so we switched sides. We quickly found out why everyone preferred the left side because the right side was MUCH steeper. The whole wall was lined with hand rails. One set of stairs we climbed were the worst I have yet encountered in China. They barely fit my whole foot and were from my foot to right above my knee. Needless to say we took many breaks on the way up.

Once we reached the top we sat down on the stairs and pulled out our Ritz and Doritos for a snack and photo op. I know, we're nerds. We walked along the wall for about two and a half hours and then headed back down when we reached a dead end. We got back on the bus that returned to the city which took 2 hours because of traffic. Once we were off the bus we found the nearest subway station and went to the Lama Temple. It was originally built in the 1600s and it had new construction done during the 1700s. It was pretty similar to the temples we saw in Tibet but it still couldn't touch the atmosphere that we felt there. It did have a Buddha, I can't remember how tall it was, made from the trunk of a sandlewood tree. It was huge and I couldn't believe they carved it from one tree. After the Lama Temple we hopped back on the subway to go to the Olympic Park. When we got on the line that travels the whole Olympic Park we decided to get off at the last stop and make  our way back. When we got off at our stop we immediately noticed how eerie the area was. I can't even imagine how busy it was during the Olympics but it was completely empty. Now it's just this huge empty concrete space. We walked for a good 20 minutes before we saw more people gathered around the Olympic Stadiums. There was some kind of event going on at the National Indoor Stadium but we didn't think just standing there would get us in this time. The Water Cube was awesome. They had it blocked off but the color of it was so cool. The Bird's Nest was also really neat. I took pictures of us in front of them and if you want to see the air quality in Beijing just look at those pictures. There are particles in the air in every picture that I used a flash for at night. Scary.

While we walked through the park Bill had mentioned that he wouldn't mind eating Pizza Hut so we walked out of the park and tried to find the subway so we could go to a street that was more centrally located. We asked several people where it was and every one of them pointed in the same direction but we never found it. We walked around for about 30 minutes looking for it when we came across a Dominos. We decided it was close enough to Pizza Hut so we ate there for dinner. After the pizza we continued to look for the subway and after walking around for 20 more minutes looking for it we just waved down a cab. In the cab, we drove by the subway station and were glad we got a cab because it was much further than we had thought. When we got back to our street we went to the same bar as the night before and played gin rummy for a while. We returned to the room and we this time we didn't have any roommates. I listened to his Patsy Cline playlist yet again and then went to bed.

Dec. 5th- First Day in Beijing

Our train arrived in Beijing at 7:15 and when we got off we were hit with ice cold wind. Thank god I got my long coat made because I never would have made it through the weekend. I had my coat, hat, and gloves on and was still freezing. We left the terminal and headed over to McDonalds. I got pancakes and was so happy! I miss American breakfast like crazy!!! We stayed in McDonalds until our hands thawed and then we headed back outside to the subway station. There were two entrances, or so we thought, to the subway. Apparently one of them was the exit and one was the entrance and they were on opposite sides of the train station square. Of course since it was 10 degrees outside and we were freezing we accidentally walked to the exit first and then had to walk all the way back across to the entrance. We finally got down to the subway and I immediately noticed how much more convenient the Beijing subway was. The subway in Shanghai is very spread out and you have to walk a bunch to transfer from line to line. All the lines in Beijing are near each other so it's much easier to navigate. We took the metro from the train station to Tiananmen Square. 

At this point we had gone through 4 security checks. When we got to Tiananmen we had to go through another security check. There were guards and military stationed everywhere through the square. We tried to get in to see Mao but they told us we had to check out bags across the street. We went back out of the square, checked our bags, went through security again, and went in to Mao's tomb. We had to go through another security check at the entrance and then we finally got in. They ushered us through like cattle so Bill and I went through twice. It was so immense to see Mao in his tomb with the communist flag draped over him. You could hear the Chinese people holding their breath as the line moved past him. A few of them kneeled down in line. Again, you don't realize how big he was until you see how much they still revere him. It's still considered a huge honor to be a member of the communist party here. After we left the tomb we walked around the square. It's huge and you can definitely see how so many people could gather there during the riots. Of course, certain areas were blocked off so we had to walk in a very roundabout path and turn around and double back several times. Once we made the rounds we claimed our bags again and then headed into the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City is absolutely huge. We spent three hours walking around and got so cold we had to take a break in a small tea cafe. It was hilarious watching Bill trying to text using only his index fingers because his hands were numb. I couldn't even hold my tea because it hurt my hands too much. While we drank our tea we both mentioned how we had Ritz crackers and Doritos for snacks. Bill made the suggestion that we take pictures of us and our snacks in front of all the places we went to. Since I spent $10 on my chips and waited for a month to open them I decided there was no time like the present. They were sooooo worth the wait! Never have I been so appreciative of Cooler Ranch Doritos. When you've been eating Chinese food and snacks for 4 months a little taste of home is fantastic. We walked around the city for about one more hour and we took many pictures with our respective snacks. Once we reached the end of the city we got a cab to our hostel. We were numb and tired and we wanted a little time to unwind.

Our hostel was located on a pedestrian street with several artsy shops, restaurants, and bars. It was very cool. We checked into a room with 4 beds and when we first arrived we didn't have roommates yet. We hung out in the room for about an hour and then caught a cab to the National Art Museum. It looked small from the outside but the inside was very windy and the art was great. Even modern artists in China hold true to the traditional style so most of the paintings from the 2000s still looked old fashioned. We spent about an hour in the art museum and then returned to walk around our street. We went in to a small CD store to browse and I was hoping to find a Patsy Cline album. When we were in Shaoxing someone had mentioned Patsy Cline and I sang "Walkin' After Midnight" in my head the whole weekend. I know the song by heart but I was desperate to hear it. I was appalled when we returned from the weekend to Shaoxing and I discovered I didn't have Patsy on my iTunes. When I didn't see an album in the CD store Bill mentioned that he had her greatest hits on his ipod so when we returned to the room I stole his ipod for an hour and listened to the playlist over and over again. After we ate dinner we went to the experimental theatre next to our hostel. They were showing the musical "Fame" in Chinese but we didn't have tickets so we just stood there until the security guard waved us in. We must have looked so pathetic standing there trying to get in :) Overall I would say the musical was a combination of High School Musical, Rent, and every high school movie ever made. It was extremely entertaining because the translations from English to Chinese didn't make sense sometimes. After the play we went to a bar, had a few drinks, and returned to our hostel.

Two Australian guys were in our room when we got back. They were just staying the night because they were heading to Mongolia the next day. It was 10 degrees in Beijing and apparently -20 in Mongolia. As a citizen of Texas for the past 13 years I can't even imagine going to such a place, I wouldn't last a day. We went straight to bed and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. We planned to wake up at 7:30 and head to the Great Wall the next morning.

Dec. 4th- Off to Beijing!

So I absolutely can't do anymore work today so I am finally going to blog about my weekend trip to Beijing!

We had class on Thursday morning until 11:30 and then culture class from 1:30 until 3:00. I was packing in between these classes when I realized that my favorite pair of jeans which I absolutely refuse to get rid of until they completely fall apart had two holes in them. Since the weather in Beijing had highs in the 20s I decided that I should patch them up. I went to Lawson's, got a traveler's sewing kit, and sewed up my jeans. Granted they'll probably fall apart in 5 minutes but I hope they'll last for the weekend. Honestly, if I'm not forgetting my tennis shoes I'm trying to wear clothes with holes in 20 degree weather. I thought someone told me that studying abroad would be a learning and maturing experience :) Anyways, I then went to class and all I wanted to do was leave for the trip. Our train left at 7:30 so we headed to the train station at 5:30 to allow time to get food. We ate KFC at the train station and then sat in our waiting lunge until it was time to board. We almost missed our boarding time because we weren't sure if it was our train or not so we decided that sitting there was the best option :) However, we did get on the right train and thankfully on a Thursday night there was room for all of the passengers to spread out. The soft seater cabin has 2 seats across in each row, it looked a lot like an airplane. Bill and I played gin rummy for about 2 hours and then called it a night around 11. I slept pretty well considering the cramped conditions but I did wake up a few times with a cramped neck. We were scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 7 AM.

Weekend in Shaoxing

Going to bed at 2:30 AM after Thanksgiving dinner and getting up to travel to Shaoxing was a bit of a struggle. Selina didn't wake up to her alarm so I had to run in and wake her up. We both threw clothes into a bag and headed down to meet everyone for our organized weekend trip. We ran into Tammy and Tran in the elevators and they asked if we remembered our passports. Selina and I looked at each other, sighed with resignation, and instead of getting out at the lobby we pushed the 14 button on the elevator. I held the elevator for Selina as she ran in for her passport and then she held the elevator as I ran in for mine. We were the last people on the bus and were met with applause from the rest of the group. We felt better when we saw that Maggie looked as tired as we were. Shaoxing is about a 3 hour bus ride from Shanghai so we slept the whole way there. We arrived in Shaoxing around noon, dropped off our stuff, and went to lunch. I was not a fan of the Shaoxing cuisine. They eat a lot of dofu and they really like the stinky dofu. It smells awful and tastes just like it smells. They also like fish a lot there because it's a water town. They have over 10,000 bridges in the city and about 5 million people. I loved the way the canals swept through the streets. It had a more authentic China feel than Shanghai does.

After lunch we visited two factories. One factory made shirts and the other factory made pants. There were rows upon rows of men and women sitting at sewing machines making different parts of clothing from pockets to collars. They said that they are paid based on how much they make in a day. We walked around both of the factories for a while and then we were given free time before dinner. Bill, Kyle, and I went walking through the residential alleys. The level of peace in the back alleys was incredible. You couldn't here a single car and there were families and children sitting outside their homes. We passed by a man dissecting a turtle for his dinner and we stopped to watch. It goes to show how China has desensitized us when we can stand there and watch him and ask if they eat the parts he was pulling out. He asked us if we wanted to stay for dinner but we respectfully declined. We met with the group and ate dinner and then Bill and I embarked further into the alleys in the dark. He made the remark that in the US you would never walk down alleys in the dark no matter what city you're in but Shaoxing we didn't feel threatened. As we crossed what I believed to be bridge number 6,581 an old woman with her grandchild stopped to talk to us. The little girl was the cutest kid I have ever seen. She found my hands fascinating because I had leather gloves on. As we stood there the lady asked us if we were a mother and a father to which we said no. She seemed convinced that we were because we liked playing with her granddaughter so we finally said that we had two children and that they were in America. Bill said we were on vacation and that's why they weren't with us. At this point the woman reached out and rubbed my stomach. She asked if I was "something" but I couldn't understand. I assumed she was asking if I was pregnant again and I nodded my head just for fun. She looked super excited and rubbed my stomach several more times. After she left, Bill and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. It was a very unexpected encounter.

After the bridge we headed over to the Shaoxing performance hall. We walked inside just to see what it looked like and a guard told us there was a Chinese opera being performed. He pointed to an open door on the side and said if we wanted to go in we could. We walked in and were shown to two seats. One thing I have noticed about any kind of performance here is that Chinese people talk through anything. Anywhere else you could never talk constantly during a performance but they definitely do here. Bill and I joined in and didn't stop talking until we left and not a single person told us to stop. We returned to the hotel and Selina and Maggie followed shortly after. At this point it was 9:00 and all three of us went to sleep. There was a KTV, Chinese karaoke bar, on the floor above and it sounded like it was in our room. This didn't bother me though and Selina said I fell asleep in less than a minute. It was a wonderfully uninterrupted and much needed sleep.

We got up on Saturday at 8:00, ate breakfast, and then took boats down the canals. It was really cool to relax in the boats and watch the locals go about their morning routines of washing clothes or making breakfast. We got out of the boats and took rickshaws to Luxun's old house. He is a famous scholar in China and literally everyone knows who he is. We saw where he used to live and where he went to school. After the house and school we had lunch and then climbed Screaming Mountain. It wasn't like climbing to the gazebo but we were all winded by the time we reached the top. There is a Buddhist temple being reconstructed at the top and it was the first temple that I have been able to take pictures in. The entire place was deserted except for two dogs walking around. The view would have been nice but it was really hazy. After the mountain we had the whole afternoon off so everyone went back to the hotel to take a nap. Kind of pathetic, I know. We went to dinner and then to mix things up about 8 of us went to an arcade with pool tables and a roller skating rink. We roller skated for about an hour and I'm proud to say I didn't fall once. My days of street hockey have finally paid off! Selina and Maggie were limping the next day from their wipe outs and they kept giving me looks of disgust because I was injury free :)

On Sunday we went to an old town just outside of Shaoxing and had lunch. We walked around more alleys and then got on the bus back to Shanghai. We got back around 3:30 and then spent the afternoon doing pretty much nothing. Overall the trip was really fun. It was great to have the whole group together on a trip once again. We don't get to see each other as a group very often because of our class schedules.

Tomorrow Bill and I are leaving for Beijing. We will get there around 7 AM on Friday and get back around the same time on Monday morning. It's an 11 hour overnight train and we got soft seaters instead of sleepers to save money. That'll be interesting :)

Thanksgiving in China

Hey everyone, sorry it's been so long since my last post. As the semester winds down I find more and more stuff that I have to do that I should have done weeks ago. Funny how that always seems to happen :) 

Last week I had two Thanksgiving dinners. The first was held in a restaurant right next to our apartments. The Alliance reserved it for us and we all cooked our own food. They bought two huge turkeys for us but we made pies, cookies, potatoes, deviled eggs, and spaghetti. The restaurant also supplied us with Chinese food as well. We all thought it was quite an eclectic spread for Thanksgiving dinner. Our Chinese roommates thought the turkey tasted just like chicken. Most of them had never eaten turkey before so they were really excited to try it. They decided that although it tasted just like chicken they like chicken better. We finished eating around 6 and then we all departed to our rooms. Selina, Maggie, and I had made reservations at the Boxing Cat Brewery for 8:30. The food we made was, well...interesting, but we wanted to have real Thanksgiving food too. We left the apartments at 7:30 and it took us the whole hour to get to the restaurant. It was way outside the city and at first we couldn't believe that an ex-pat restaurant was all the way out there. However, after asking many people for directions, our cab driver finally got us there. The place was packed and the food was GREAT. They had everything from sweet potatoes, turkey, stuffing, and green bean casserole. Don't worry dad, it wasn't good as yours :) It was set up buffet style with free flow wine and beer. We got there at 8:30 and stayed until 1:30. During that time we fulfilled our obligations to eat way more than necessary and we had a couple of bottles of wine... o.k. so maybe we had more than a couple :)

After we returned to the apartments I video chatted back to my house and I got to see my dogs!!!!!!! Oh, and it was nice seeing the family too ;) Thanksgiving is the first time that I have felt a twinge of homesickness since we got here. Seeing everyone on ichat helped a lot with that though and now I find myself reluctant to leave in the coming weeks. Like I said before, when we first got here it seemed like we had so much time and now we have 3 weeks left! Instead of making my list smaller I keep adding more and more things to my To Do List. These last few weeks are going to be a scramble!!!

Golf, Doritos, and Motorcycles

As promised I was a little more active this weekend, well not on Saturday, but I was very active on Sunday. I got up early to begin my economics midterm which was thankfully an open book exam. I finished the first question and then went to breakfast with Selina. After breakfast I made a reservation for Selina, Maggie, and I for Thanksgiving dinner. Most of the western restaurants downtown are hosting a feast and we selected the Bob Cat Brewery for our night out. The menu sounds absolutely delicious so hopefully it won't disappoint. Oh, and to my family who's visiting my casa for Thanksgiving, be ready for the iChat call!!! I will try to stay awake long enough so most of y'all will be at the house :)

After I made our Thanksgiving reservation Bill and I left at 12:30 to go to Pudong to find a driving range. We ended up going farther on the subway than ever before and it was very strange to be in Pudong but not have huge skyscrapers surrounding us. Without big buildings everywhere you can really tell how poor the air quality is too. We took a cab from the subway to the driving range which was located in a suburban neighborhood. It's the first suburbia that we've seen and it was just like any neighborhood back home. The one difference was that none of the houses were identical, the colors and structure were different for every house. We rented a seven iron for an hour and went to the second level of the range. Bill is left handed but hits right handed which I found fascinating. I was pleased to discover that after not hitting a golf ball for about 3 months I hadn't completely forgotten how to swing. All of my shots went relatively straight and I only got one blister on my hand. For the whole hour Bill was asking me all kinds of questions about playing golf at school. We hit balls for the hour and then headed out to find another cab. Although the weather wasn't that great we wanted to visit Century Park which is the largest park in Shanghai. We grabbed a cab and headed over there. While riding in the cab Bill quizzed me on what direction we were going in. Whenever I go anywhere with him he always asks me direction questions because he knows I have no sense of direction. I actually get frustrated when I can't guess which direction we're traveling in. I can tell he enjoys the looks of utter confusion and exasperation passing across my face during these quizzes!

We got to the park around 3 and walked around for two straight hours. The park is HUGE! It took us two hours to finally walk around in a circle and there were many territories that we didn't discover. It was very crowded with a younger crowd and many families. If the weather had been more accommodating I would have taken a nap in the grass, it was perfect. We walked through a flower garden, saw some cool statues, and saw really old bonzai trees. When we were walking towards the exit that lead to the subway we saw a crew of workers planting a tree. They had the tree, which was huge, attached to a crane and they were lowering it into the middle of a bunch of other trees that had already been planted. It was very different to see them plant the tree that way. I also enjoyed the park because for a while Bill didn't know which direction we were headed in. I kept asking him where we were going and he kept getting more and more frustrated because he couldn't figure it out. It was pretty great :)

After the park we headed to the central part of Pudong for food. We ate at an Italian restaurant in the Super Brand Mall and then we tried to find the western grocery store. Looking for this store was a lot like being with Selina because neither one of knew where it was. We walked down many an unnecessary street, saw an ice cream store, bought some ice cream, and finally called Maggie to look it up for us online. We finally found the store and we each made a few purchases. I got a bag of Cooler Ranch Doritos. Guess how much they cost. Are you ready for it? One bag of Doritos cost $1o. Ten US dollars for a bag of chips!!! I am saving them for when I am stuck in my apartment writing my 15 page capstone paper. I have a feeling I will be needing some comfort food. Once I selected my chips I saw they had a huge wine and beer section. I don't know why but the fact that I can buy alcohol from a store hadn't hit me until that moment and I got really excited and bought a Guinness and Carlsburg. When I was checking out I noticed that both of the beers combined cost less than the bag of chips. A little absurd, is it not?

We took the subway back and when we got to the station closest to the dorms Bill asked if I wanted to take a rickshaw or motorcycle taxi back. I had never been on a motorcycle before so I immediately opted for that one. Technically that motorcycles aren't licensed to be taxis but the locals use them all the time. I told the driver where I wanted to go, hopped on behind him, and off we went! There was a red light when we first started out but my driver just wound in and out of the cars and I was amazed that he didn't hit any of them. We went through a huge intersection and didn't really stop to look if there were any cars coming, he just kind of did a stutter stop and kept going. I had a little heart attack at that point. It was about 60 degrees outside so the weather was perfect for the ride.  He was going to drop me off at the back gate of Fudan but I didn't want to get off yet so I told him in Chinese to keep going and I showed him where the dorms were. We got off and paid them and I turned around to Bill and said "That was awesome!" and he laughed at me. I absolutely LOVED riding on a motorcycle. I plan to ride many more motorcycle taxis before I leave.

Tomorrow I'm going to a traditional Chinese opera downtown with a few people. I've heard that you either love Chinese opera or you hate it so we will have to see. We've also moved from book 2 in Chinese to book 3 this week. Some of us are more excited than others but it doesn't look too bad so far. I also added pics of Sunday on my picture site. http://www.flickr.com/photos/29895521@N02/

A Few Updates

Well I have officially given myself 1 hour to procrastinate before I start studying for my test so I thought I would give you all a few updates on what's been happening. As most of you know my ability to contract sickness when the weather changes is unparalleled and I'm thrilled to inform you that that aspect of my immune system has not changed. Going from the dry and extremely cold temperatures of Tibet to very humid and warm temperatures in Shanghai wreaked havoc on my sinuses and I was sick all last week. I don't have any Thera-Flu or medication over here so I used sleep and water as my defense. After missing class on Tuesday, sleeping all weekend, and remaining inactive for the whole week I'm feeling much better. My parents have suggested trying acupuncture to help with my sinuses and I think I might try it out just to see what it's like. And who knows, maybe it'll help.

Last week I did manage to accompany a group of my classmates to the new 007 movie at a movie theater. It was in English with Chinese subtitles. We debated going to see it in the theater or waiting until they have it on DVD two days later but we decided that Bond deserved or company at the big screen. It was really good but a little frustrating because when the characters started speaking in Spanish the subtitles were still in Chinese. I know a little Spanish but not enough to follow when they speak so fast. Hmmm... that's awfully similar to my Chinese situation :) The rest of the week was pretty uneventful but I did make an observation about class attendance. Usually at this point in the semester you start to notice a little thinning in the class ranks. People start to skip class more often but they show up most of the time. I have never seen so many students skip class as often as they have started to do here. And I will not exempt myself from this group either. I can honestly say that getting out of bed to go to class is a very difficult internal struggle. Even doing my homework takes all of my will power. Having the same class every day is starting to wear on all of us and it's only going to get worse because we have two 15 page papers due on the 23rd of December. We are all at the point that we just want to travel and not do any more work. We have one more 3 day trip to a small province that's 2 hours away and a few of us want to take a weekend trip to Beijing as well. Hopefully those two trips will help with the restlessness that's been spreading.

Yesterday I finally made it over to the fabric market to get a few jackets made. It is 4 stories of every kind of fabric imaginable. You can select one of their designs or bring in a picture of what you want made and they measure you and tell you to come back a week later. I can't wait to see how my stuff turns out! After the fabric market and our trip to Tibet I have decided that I will have to buy another suitcase if I'm going to be able to bring all of my stuff back. 

This week for our contemporary society class we had to interview one of our Chinese friends about the one-child policy in China. We had a series of questions about what they thought of it, how they felt about the preference for a male child, and whether or not they wanted siblings growing up. We had to type up field reports and email them to our professor and she selected a few of them to present in class. She selected mine because I talked about being an only child and how Ruby's experiences were similar or different from mine. It's a pretty interesting topic because everybody's interviewee was in favor of the policy. They all believed it was necessary because China has so many people. If I was in the politics class I would consider doing my final paper on the one-child policy. However, I'm in the economics class and have no idea what I should write my final paper on. Economics isn't exactly my forte :)

Well, my 1 hour is up and I don't have much else to tell you because all I did was sleep last week. I plan to go on a few adventures this weekend and next week so I will have some more stories later. Oh, and I also have one request for all of you: on Thanksgiving, no matter how full you are, eat an extra plate for me!!!

Oct. 31-Nov. 2-- The Train Back to Shanghai

We got up at 7:30 to eat get ready and eat breakfast. We met Joe downstairs at 8:30 and headed to the train station. I, however, was not ready to leave. The prospect of returning to Shanghai with two months of class left and only a 3 day travel weekend to look forward to didn't hold great promise for me. There is a tour that goes through Tibet, down to Nepal, and then over to India that I would like to do some day in the future. Perhaps after law school :) We got to the train station at 8:45, said goodbye to Joe and Mr. Huang, and entered the station. We waited for about 45 minutes and then boarded the train at 9:30. At first we thought we had the compartment to ourselves, Selina had a bottom bunk and I was in a top bunk, but at the last minute an old Chinese couple came into our compartment. They caused us to constantly worry for two reasons. Number one, the man had a severe cough that made it sound like he was drowning in his lungs. This cough made solid sleep very difficult for the next two days. The first night I found myself laughing in my bunk because every time I was about to fall asleep he would start coughing again. I could hear Selina below me and she was having a hard sleeping as well. Number two, the woman was on the other top bunk and was too short to really reach the foot holds when she was getting down. She had to turn backwards when she got down and I was so scared that she was going to fall every time. However, she was very sweet and kept offering us food because she didn't think we were eating enough. I think she found the two us very entertaining because when we got off the train for our stretching breaks she laughed at all of our shenanigans. Her husband also laughed at us on the train because we would talk by me bending over the side of the bunk and we would hand each other snacks by waving it around until the other saw the waving hand and took it. Overall, they were very nice and made the trip very interesting.

I wish I could tell you that there was a great murder mystery on the train and that we were all gathered into the dining car and individually questioned by the police inspector only to discover that it was Miss Scarlet in the kitchen with the candlestick but, alas, it was relatively uneventful. I finally finished "The Stand" and also read "The Invisible Man" and "The Time Machine." The TVs in our compartments worked this time and I watched Forrest Gump and Harry Potter 3 which were both dubbed in Chinese but I've seen both of them so many times I didn't need the sound to know what was going on, and sometimes what was being said. On Friday night Selina and I went outside our compartment and pretended to trick or treat outside each compartment door. We had bought some Dove chocolates in Lhasa and used those as the candy. We had a great time celebrating our Halloween on the train. We went back into the compartment and took pictures with the night vision on my camera to add to the creepiness factor. This train ride seemed longer than the last one because we didn't have anything to look forward to, just class and homework.

We got back to Shanghai at 12:30 and got a cab back to Tonghe. We dropped off our stuff and headed down to Hannah's for a real breakfast and then came back up for a shower. You don't really appreciate a good shower until you've spent two days on a train without one!!! I would probably need to take two to feel truly clean again :) I decided to start uploading pictures for everyone and typing up my journal notes. I was walking through my room to my bed and there, next to my closet, were my tennis shoes. Right at that moment this amazing journey came to an end. I have tried to describe it to you the best that I can but the over all influence this trip has had upon me is something I will never be able to fully describe :)

Oct. 30- Last Day in Tibet

We woke up at 8 on Thursday to drive back to Lhasa. We ate breakfast which consisted of yak baozi, steamed buns, and rice porridge and left the hotel at 9 AM. We took a different route back that followed the Brahmaputra River through the mountains. This route was weird because there are checkpoints every hour or so that monitor how fast the drivers are going. If they are caught driving too fast at the first checkpoint they are fined 400 kuai. If they are caught driving too fast a second time their license is revoked. The drivers have all seemed to find a way around this system though. We were driving too fast every time so we just pulled to side of the road for a 10 minute "picture taking opportunity." As we got out to take pictures several other cars pulled over as well for a 10 minute break as well. The only checkpoint that we didn't have to stop for was when we ate lunch for 30 minutes. Also along this road we came to a section where the road had cracked a lot from the cold so they had taken out sections of it. It was like driving through a Tetris game because all the patches of road were shaped in squares and rectangles. It was a very bumpy-zig zaggy- off roady trip for about an hour. The coolest thing about this different way back was that we got to see more villages and people. I saw a woman herding sheep along the river on a very steep mountain incline and, like the dog at Potala Palace, they made it look so easy.

We got back Lhasa at 2:15, dropped off our stuff, and headed back to Barkor street for some last minute shopping. I got a few more gifts for friends and family and then we walked around the street stalls for something to celebrate Halloween with. We came upon a cart with older looking Tibetan objects and Selina bought skulls prayer beads made from yak bone and I bought a set of 3 skeletons made from yak bone. After about an hour of walking around I noticed how much thinner my wallet was. It's amazing how much money you can spend without even realizing it!!! We returned to Tashi for dinner and got our respective teas and pancakes. We also got a very popular Tibetan dish called Tsampa. It's barley flour rolled into little balls and then you put in your mouth and then drink yak butter tea to help it dissolve. I'm not a huge fan of butter but I tried it anyways. The barley flour wasn't bad but the tea was like drinking liquid butter so we decided to dip our barley flour in the honey from our pancakes instead. Barley is the biggest crop that the Tibetans grow in their fields. We took a rickshaw back to the hotel and packed our things because we had to get up early for our train. This time I made sure that my triple checking didn't leave anything behind!

Oct. 29- Yamtso Lake, Tashi Lhuan Po Monastery

On Wednesday we got up at 7:30 in preparation for our next journey. We left the hotel at 8:30 and began the 7 hour drive from Lhasa to Shigatse. The first part of our drive took us by many local dwellings. The one thing I noticed with every house no matter how small or old it was was that they all had colors. Whether it was around the door trim or along the roof line every home was painted with blue, red, yellow, and green. I thought that was incredible. Later we drove along the Lhasa River which flows through the river valley. The river was huge and eventually turned into the Brahmaputra River that flows all the way down to India. The way the Ganges mountains reflected on the river like a mirror was awesome. In places it was as still as glass and in others it rocked like the ocean. We drove along the river for about an hour and then passed over a bridge. Once we crossed that bridge we were no longer in the Gandes mountains but instead we were driving through the Himalayas. Along the base of some of the mountains we noticed ladders that were painted in white. Joe said that the Tibetans paint them on the base of the mountain because they believe the mountains lead to heaven and the ladders act as their wish to some day reach it. It reminded me of American Indian cave paintings.

As we climbed up the mountains a certain beloved aunt came to mind as we wound back and forth in a zig zag pattern for at least an hour. The highest point we came to was 5000 meters up and you could see the river below us. Before the river had looked enormous but from that hight it looked like a snake curving it's way through the valley. We came parallel with the clouds for a moment which was really cool. Once we passed over to the other side of the pass we came upon the Yamtso Lake. It's one of the holiest lakes in Tibet and it was beautiful. I've had a hard time describing it but I will do my best. Where the sun hit the water it looked like turquoise with diamonds sparkling on top. With the water below, the snow covered mountains looked even brighter in the background. And we thought Lhasa was cold! The frigid wind up there went through your bones and didn't leave until we were in the van for several minutes. I took many pictures of the lake so hopefully they will better convey the image of it better than my description. After driving for another hour in the van we could still the lake. I kept taking pictures through the window because the light kept striking the water in different places. It looked utterly untouchable tucked away in that Himalayan pass.

We drove through snow covered mountains for a few more hours and then stopped to eat lunch in a small town. We had yak jerky, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, rice, and potatoes. The yak jerky was pretty good and was a lot like beef jerky but it was a little tougher. Our favorite thing was the scrambled egg with tomato and we hoped we would be able to have it again. I started laughing in the middle of the meal because never in my life did I think I would be having lunch in the middle of the Himalayan mountains while exploring Tibet. After lunch we drove some more and stopped to look at a glacier at the top of a mountain. It looked like jagged snow hanging off in shelves from the peak. About an hour after that we stopped in the city of Guantse, I think but I can't remember how Joe said it, and saw a fortress built up on a small mountain. He said that in 1904 Guantse was a hero city in Tibet because the British tried to invade and they were stopped at the fortress. After the city we began to drive through the agricultural valley that was close to Shigatse. We could see many Tibetan men and women working in the fields and along the road. It amazed me to see the women carrying bales of hay or barley that were four times their size on their backs. Their strength is incredible. Also along the road we could see herds of sheep, donkeys, cows, and yaks. Wild dogs also ran around freely. The donkeys and sheep hung the closest to the roads while the yak stayed secluded in the fields. It was so cool to see how most of the Tibetans spend their days. They work, and by the looks of it, tirelessly.

We arrived in Shigatse around 3:15 and Joe let us unwind for about an hour before taking us to the monastery. Shigatse is the second largest city in Tibet with about 50,000 people while Lhasa has around 250,000 people. When we got to the hotel we were given a key and led into room 2207. After resting for an hour we met Joe down in the lobby and drove to Tashi Lhuan Po Monastery. It was built in 1447 and houses the Penchan Lama when he lived in Tibet. The Penchan Lama and Dalia Lama are on the same level. The stones in the monastery had been worn smooth from centuries of being walked on. The workers and monks were repainting parts of the walls because at the end of every rainy season they put new coats of paint on. The first room we entered housed the largest bronze indoor Buddha in the world. It was 30 meters tall and used a half a ton of gold plating on it. It was magnificent and I was surprised when Joe told us that the inside is hollow despite the heavy bronze and gold layers. The next room we entered was the tomb of the 1oth Penchan Lama. It was HUGE and used 600 kilos of gold plating. On the walls around the tomb there were thousands of Buddhas and other murals. Joe said all the Buddhas looked the same but when you looked closer you could see that their hands were in different positions. That's how they can tell all the Buddhas apart, by their hand position and sometimes what is draped around their necks. The last room we came to was a tomb for the 4th-9th Penchan Lamas. The ceiling of this room was much higher than the others and the outside architecture was more detailed. As in the other tomb, their were small Buddhas painted on the walls but these were not filled with color, they just had a gold outline. Joe said that all Buddhists strive for emptiness so these Buddhas were showing that desire. Because this tomb was much older than the 10th Penchan Lama's the walls had turned black from so many years of burning candles. We exited the tomb and walked back down through the monastery and I discovered that I envied them the solitude that the monastery provided. It was in the middle of the city but it so peaceful and you couldn't hear a single car.

When we got back to the hotel we tried to open our door and a red light kept coming up on the lock. We kept wondering why this was until we looked at our key and saw that it had 2201 on it and not 2207. Because we were led to our room we didn't think to check that they led us to the right one. It was really humiliating trying to explain to the front desk that our key was for 2201 but our bags were in 2207 because when they asked why we couldn't really explain. We definitely felt stupid when they had to open room 2207 so we could move our bags down to room 2201. Joe took us to dinner at a local Tibetan restaurant that caters to foreigners. Like all Tibetan restaurants it was very colorful and they had the scrambled eggs with tomatoes! After dinner we headed back to the hotel and ended up talking for about 2 hours about everything from family to handwriting to boxing. It was a good bonding talk, as if the two of us need to bond anymore :)

Oct. 28- Free Day in Lhasa

Tuesday was our free day in Lhasa so the first thing on our agenda was to sleep in. I woke up at 9 and tried to not move until Selina woke up so I could stay warm. She woke up around 10 and it was too late for breakfast so we had Chips Ahoy cookies and more Ritz crackers for breakfast. I'm pretty sure we got all the food groups in there :) Once again we got ready at a jogging pace and left the room around 10:45 for our independent exploration. Technically foreigners are not supposed to go anywhere without a guide but Joe said if anyone stopped us to call him and he would come find us. Every time we passed a soldier stationed around we hoped he wouldn't stop us and thankfully we didn't get stopped all day. The rain had stopped and the sun came out periodically so we had much better weather to walk around in. In the internet cafe Selina had looked up popular local spots in Lhasa so we had a few of those on our list of things to do. First we stopped at on outdoors store to buy thicker socks. We learned from the first day that your feet get cold very quickly up there. After we bought our socks we walked for about 30 minutes to a pedestrian street near Jokhang Temple. We went into a local restaurant called Tashi for a brunch meal. It was tucked away in part of a family's living quarters and it was very colorful on the inside. They had a huge menu that was in English and Selina ordered honey ginger tea and I got some lemon tea. To eat Selina got a banana pancake with honey and some fried apple momos and I got an apple pancake with honey and steamed apple momos. Besides the braised eggplant that pancake is the best food I've had in China thus far. At this point we had been out and about for an hour and a half and I was loving it.

After we finished at Tashi we headed down the shopping street to buy some souvenirs. I made a bee line for a local music store and bought a Tibetan CD. I'm actually listening to it as I right this and it's pretty cool. It's chanting with soft instruments in the background. Anyways, the first store we entered sold a lot of things made from yak wool. They had really cool stuff but we didn't buy anything since it was the first store. A couple shops later I bought a prayer wheel and a warm hat made from yak wool. It felt really warm and it looked a little ridiculous on me so I couldn't pass it up. After we finished with the big shops we headed toward the street stalls. I bought a necklace with the Buddhist chant on it and then we went looking for Barkor Street by Jokhang. Selina pointed in front of us and said that she thought the Temple was that way and I thought it was behind us. Then I looked to the right from our exact position and there was Jokhang Temple. No matter where we're going Selina and I never have a sure direction but we always seem to find what we're looking for by accident. There were many street stalls open in front of the Temple and we perused them for a while. I stopped at one of the stalls to look for a gift for a friend who will remain anonymous and I picked up a prayer wheel. I was spinning it the wrong way and didn't understand what the man and woman were telling me until they came around the cart and showed me my error. I was so embarrassed and apologized profusely and they just waved their arms and kept saying it was alright. As I now know you're supposed to spin it clockwise, not counterclockwise. I bought a gift from their cart and turned to wait for Selina to finish bargaining at another stall. As I waited there I felt a tap on my shoulder and the man from the cart I had just visited draped a string of prayer beads around my neck. His wife came up behind him and said that they were giving them to me for no money. Of everything I got on this trip those beads are by far my favorite. The man and woman looked so pleased to give them to me and I was genuinely touched at the gesture. They're very simple beads which makes it even better. They smell like the incense from the temples we visited which is so great because that is one detail that I can't really describe in the right way.

After the prayer beads I bought a t-shirt that says Tibet and has pictures of yaks above it and underneath the yaks it says "yakyakyakyak." It's the kind of shirt you would buy for a little kid which is probably why I liked it so much :) Next, we went back to the first store we went in and got all the things we liked the first time around. I bought a yak wool jacket that has fleece lining. It's really warm and Selina would say it's cozy but I like to say it's squishy because the fleece and wool provide a good padding layer. Once these final purchases were made we went to the Summit Cafe for a glass of hot chocolate and some leisure time. I read my book and Selina wrote in her travel journal. As I was reading Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" came on over the speaker and I couldn't help but smile. Only Johnny Cash would be playing in the middle of Tibet in a small local cafe. We left the cafe around 5:30 and headed back to the hotel. I got some good pictures of the mountains surrounding Lhasa that were not visible the day before. Every Tibetan that we passed smiled and some said hello in English with big smiles on their faces. They are the most unique people that I've ever encountered and I found I liked them immensely. We went to the internet cafe for another hour and then retreated to our hotel. We weren't hungry for dinner so we snacked on Ritz crackers again. Overall our free day was a tremendous success and I fell more in love with the city with every passing minute. You simply cannot go to a place so deeply rooted in religion and spirituality without having a religious experience of your own.

Oct. 27- Jokhang Temple and Potala Palace

On Monday morning we had a 7:30 wake-up call. I was so out of it I couldn't figure out where the ringing was coming from. After I remembered that we were in Lhasa I thought it was my phone so I threw it on the floor but the ringing continued. I finally realized it was the hotel phone and answered it. I was kind of warm until I thrashed about looking for the source of the ringing and then I was freezing all over again. It took all of our willpower to get out of bed and get dressed for the day. I literally ran all over the room to try to generate a little body heat. We went to the hotel breakfast which was about the same as what we had on the Silk Road Trip. The two ladies who were monitoring the buffet were wrapped up in huge down quilts. I had peanuts and 2 steamed buns. We met Joe down in the lobby at 9 and he had brought me an old pair of shoes to wear so I wouldn't have to buy any. I was extremely grateful because it was 40 degrees and raining on our first day there. Mr. Huang said that at this time of year it never rains because it's very dry. Of course, on our first day there what does it do, it rains. Actually it was more like sleet than rain. We drove from the new section to the old section to see the Jokhang Temple. 

The atmosphere around that Temple is indescribable. There were monks sitting outside and chanting with circular tins in their hands and they kept pouring some kind of grain over it. Joe said it is a very common way of praying. In front of the temple there were dozens of Tibetans prostrating. They had pads underneath them and they would bend to their knees, stretch out on their stomach, come back to knees, stand up with their hands together, reach their hands to the sky, and then repeat it over and over again. The Jokhang Temple is the holiest temple for Buddhist Tibetans and Joe said that most consider their lives incomplete until they visit that Temple. He said that many prostrate for every step they take towards the temple no matte how far away they are. Many Tibetans die while trying to make the pilgrimage to Lhasa. When we were in the temple Joe pointed out that there were teeth in the wooden pillars. He said that if a Tibetan dies while making the pilgrimage their teeth are brought to the temple and put in the pillars so that their spirits finish the journey. Hearing this and looking around at all the Tibetans gathered in the temple, some of them so old that they had to be carried on another's back, I could feel the enormous power and spirituality surrounding that place. There were lines to enter each room and many people were holding their prayer wheels chanting "om mani padme hum," a Buddhist prayer. Others carried containers of yak butter to pour into the candle holders. As I thought about how far some of those people had come just to be able pray in that Temple I couldn't help but feel like an intruder. There we were sightseeing while the Tibetans were praying for spiritual fulfillment. In the middle of the temple we saw where the monks gather for their group prayers every day. They sit on cushions that are lined up in rows. The temple was lit by candles and was very cozy on the inside. The intense spirituality radiating from that place is, to say the very least, awesome. 

After the Temple, Joe led us down Barkor street that makes a semi-circle around Jokhang Temple. He told us that on our free day it would be a good place to come to for shopping. I made a mental list of many things that I wanted to buy and hoped I wouldn't exceed my spending limit! Once we made the loop around the street we got back in the van and headed to Potala Palace. We were dropped off in front to take some pictures and Joe told us that the Palace took 49 years to build and is 400 meters across. It was absolutely huge and just perked on the side of a mountain. Apparently only monks, wealthier citizens, and the Dalai Lama were allowed in the Temple when it was first built. We finished about one hour early before our designated tour time so Joe took us to a local shop to look around and have some tea. The tea was so good and burned my hands because they were so cold! Selina and I both bought paintings of mandalas that were painted by monks with mineral paints. Mandalas come to the monks during meditation and they do a little bit at a time as the vision comes to them. The more detail the painting has, the longer it takes to paint. Selina and I are almost twins but one thing we differ on is color preference. She was drawn to a bright colored mandala while I immediately went for a black background with gold and silver paint. The shop keeper told me that mine probably took over 2 months to paint because of all the detail. While they were wrapping our paintings we sat and talked to Joe and he asked what our names meant in English. Selina told him that her name means Goddess of the Moon and then he asked me what mine meant and the only definition that I've ever found says that Cody means pillow or cushion. He thought that was really funny and so did Selina and you have to admit it's a little absurd. After our purchases were wrapped we headed over to the Potala Palace for our tour.

As we made our ascent to the upper part of the palace it began to rain harder and the thin air made me feel severely out of shape. At least I like to blame it on the thin air :) When the Dalai Lama stays in Tibet he lives in the Palace but the current Dalai Lama is living in exile in India. Joe said that the Dalai Lamas that have lived in India live longer than the ones that live in Tibet because life is harder in Tibet. We rested towards the top while Joe got our tickets to enter the upper part of the Palace. As we sat there, a small dog with legs about 8 inches long came up the stairs and made it look like nothing. He stopped to look at us and kept climbing the steep stairs like they were a flat ramp. It was a real morale booster that a dog with 8 inch legs could go up the Palace easier than we could. The first room we entered was the Dalai Lama's office. The intricate detail that was involved with every aspect of that office is mind blowing. Every piece of furniture and every inch of wall was covered with complex carvings and pictures. I've never seen anything like it. We saw where the Dalai Lama meets with his advisors, where he does independent study, and where he sleeps. In the room where he does his study only the Dalai Lama is allowed to go. There was a huge rug on the floor of that room and it was amazing to think that only Dalai Lamas have stepped on it. Colors were also very prevalent not only in the Palace but everywhere in Lhasa. Colors are very important to Tibetans and each color symbolizes a part of the earth. Blue means sky, red is fire, yellow is earth, and green is plant. The monks wear the dark red and no on else is allowed to wear that color.

After the Dalai Lama's office we saw several tombs of past Dalai Lamas. The largest we saw was for the 5th Dalai Lama and it had over 3000 kilos of gold on it. After the 5th Dalai Lama died the government kept it from the people for 15 years because they wanted them to keep building the Palace. The 6th Dalai Lama stayed in his hometown during this period and was known for writing love poems and romances. He was looked down upon because thought he only cared about all of his girlfriends. I just thought that was an interesting piece of history for you :) After we finished going through all the rooms we walked down the back of the Palace. The wet and slippery steps made the going very slow but we all made it down without incident. Joe dropped us off for lunch and then we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We went to an internet cafe for an hour and then ran back to the hotel because we were so cold. We would have walked around more but the cold wet weather did not look appealing. While our room was not much warmer than outside at least it was dry. We found several Chinese soap operas on TV and found one that was very entertaining. It had a love triangle, a crazy old Chinese man with afro hair, and an evil kung fu guy who escaped from prison. We had fun inserting our own lines in place of the Chinese ones. As dinner time approached neither one of us wanted to get out of bed and go back outside so we ate Ritz crackers with peanut butter for dinner. We hoped that the rain would cease for our free day in Lhasa on Tuesday!

Oct. 26- Arrival in Lhasa

On Sunday I woke up at 7:00 and saw that Selina was still out like a light so I pulled the window back slightly and was greeted by a winter wonderland. Our country landscape had turned into miles and miles of snow covered mountains overnight. Having grown up around snow, and not seeing it all too often in Texas, I got really excited. There's something to be said about watching China's landscape change outside your window. I thought how incredibly beautiful it was and then I thought "Why didn't I bring tennis shoes?!?" When Selina woke up I opened the blinds and turned my ipod on for some music and the first song that came on was "Snow" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Selina and I looked at each other and started cracking up in our beds, it was a little too coincidental for 8:00 in the morning! We ate the same breakfast as the day before and then I read some of my book. And then I read some more, and then I read some more. I stopped to buy watermelon from the snack cart... and then I read some more. I know, I know, it's a little too much excitement :) In between reading and snacking I took many pictures of the changing landscape outside. I even got a few pictures of yaks!

After several more hours of reading, snacking, taking pictures, and sometimes napping we arrived in Lhasa at 9 PM. We were ready to get off the train but were also a little sad to be leaving our home for the past 49 hours. That feeling didn't last long as we stepped off the train and saw the Lhasa sign and felt the cold weather around us. To say we were excited is a huge understatement. Outside the station we followed the crowd of people down to the area where passengers are picked up. We were told to look for a sign with one of our names on it and Selina finally saw a man waving a sign that said "WALLACE-CODY ROSE." We waved to him and he beckoned us over. He told us that his name was Joe and that he would be our guide during our stay. After introductions were made he looked worriedly at my shorts and flip flops and asked if I had warmer clothing. I told him I had warmer clothing but that I forgot my tennis shoes back in Shanghai. He laughed and said we could go to a store tomorrow and buy some shoes. We walked over the van that we would use for our travels and met our driver, Mr. Huang. He also got a good laugh at my flip flops :) Joe took us to our hotel and told us to meet him the following morning at 9. Our hotel was a 2 star hotel which means it had hot water but it didn't have a heater. The temperatures at night got down in the 20s in Lhasa. We were absolutely FREEZING!!!!! The only time I was warm in our room was when I took a shower and as soon as I turned the water off I was freezing all over again. I slept in the fetal position in socks, sweatpants, and my hoodie every night.

A few fun facts: Lhasa is about 3,650 meters above sea level and while on the train we went over the highest railway spot in the world at about 5000 meters. Selina and I were both thankful we didn't get altitude sickness!

Oct. 25- Day 2 on the Train

I woke up at 7:30 to the view of small hills and country landscape. As on the Silk Road trip, I was glad to see the country and be out of the city again. Selina woke up a few hours later and we had bananas, banana bread, and tangerines for breakfast. After we ate I laid back down and read more of "The Stand." It's funny what random thoughts pop into your head when you've been on a train for 13 hours. As I lay there reading I thought "tennis shoes... did I bring tennis shoes?" I looked over my book and did a mental check of my bags and then I had an image of my shoes laying in my apartment back in Shanghai. That quadruple check of my stuff really paid off :) I told Selina that I forgot my tennis shoes and she reminded me that it was snowing in Lhasa. It reminded me of the time I went to see Grams and Albuquerque was having a really bad snowstorm and I showed up in flip-flops. I could just hear her giving me the same lecture as I sat there on the train! I was just glad that I forgot my shoes and not my passport or travel permits. Then we would have been in real trouble.

We stopped in Xi'an around 10 AM and got out to stretch and run around before we had to get back on the train. It felt so good to stand in a vertical position! We also got excited because now we can say that we've been to Xi'an twice. We ate our snacks for lunch to tide us over until the dining car opened for dinner. I read my book most of the day and made about a 200 page dent in it. It's so long it looked like I hadn't read anything! Before we left I bought a few more books to bring with me for when I finished "The Stand." The one I looked forward to the most was a collection of Hawthorne's short stories. Selina read this for a while and after she finished "The Minister's Black Veil" she asked me why the minister wore the veil and I just laughed. I had such a complicated answer for that question that I didn't even try to respond so I just said "That's the question isn't it?" She said she wants me to read it again on the trip and give her an English major's perspective on it. I'll probably end up boring her to death :) Later in the afternoon we played cards. We are both pretty pathetic in the knowledge of card games so we played Crazy 8s, Go Fish, and Black Jack. It's sad, I know. At least we didn't resort to playing War though! After a while I came up with a card trick, or maybe not so much a card trick but a way to entertain ourselves. It was really stupid and didn't make any sense whatsoever but we both found it to be very entertaining and hilarious. I think being on the train for about 24 hours at that point had something to do with our extremely easily entertained minds. We ate dinner in the dining car around 6:30 and then came back to the compartment to read. Our bunkmates got off around 9 PM in a city we didn't know so we had the whole compartment to ourselves for the rest of the trip.

24 hours down, 24 to go!!!

Oct. 24- Departure to Lhasa

Friday morning we had our midterm in Chinese class and I found I had a very hard time focusing. I was not the only one, however, because everyone was excited about their upcoming trips. Selina and I definitely did not study as much as we should have because we were too busy running back and forth to each others room saying how excited we were to finally be leaving. Overall the midterm was not a huge success but I managed alright under the circumstances :) After the exam was over we came back to Tonghe to triple check that we had everything and then just sat around and waited for our departure time to come. To waste some time we went to send the postcards that we had written and then went down to the ATM to get money for our journey. Of course, the ATM by school wasn't working so we had to take the bus to Wal-Mart and use the ATM over there. We returned to our apartment with an hour before take off so we checked our stuff one last time and headed out at 5:30 to head to the train station.

We decided to take the bus and subway to the train station to save money. Trying to shove your way onto a bus with a backpack, duffel, and food sack during rush hour on a Friday afternoon is quite an adventure. We literally pushed our way on and had to stand right next to the door and try not to fall out whenever the door opened to let more people on. When we got to our stop we gladly jumped off the bus and entered the subway station. I got stuck trying to go through the entrance where we slide our railway card. My bag got wedged in the turney thing and after I got my bag unstuck my shorts got caught behind me and I had to jump to get it unstuck because I didn't have a free hand. I'm sure I looked ridiculous! After clumsily making my way to the platform, we boarded the subway and sat until we got to the train station platform. As usual we didn't know which way the train station was when we got out on the street but I recognized the characters for train on a sign so we eventually found the station with about an hour to spare. We ate KFC for dinner in the station and then boarded the train at 7:30. We were so glad that we forked out the extra money for a soft sleeper and we both had bottom bunks and shared the compartment with two Chinese men. We were so excited the first couple of hours and then we realized that we still had 2 days on the train left to go!!! Let the adventure begin :)

Mental Health Day

Ni hao family and friends!!!

I apologize for the lack of blog posts lately but after our journey to the Silk Road and our second test I have been very busy and very sleepy. However, for about the 5th time in my life I did not procrastinate while doing my homework so I have some free time to give y'all some updates. The first of which is the destination of our upcoming independent travel weekend. Selina and I will be journeying to Tibet for a week starting next Friday. I cannot begin to describe how excited I am to be doing this. It takes two days by train to get there and we'll be staying in a hostel. We have no idea what our accommodations will be like but I think that's part of the adventure. We will have a personal tour guide and driver for the week and then we will have the last day before our train to explore by ourselves. We are not allowed to go outside the city by ourselves, hence the guide and driver, so we will most likely have to stay in Lhasa on our last day. We have no idea what to expect but I have never been this excited for a vacation. It's the chance of a lifetime and I'm so grateful to be doing it.

On another note, we had our second test last Friday and I made a 20 point improvement!!! Granted, my last test score left miles of room for improvement but I think 20 points is pretty awesome. I can definitely tell the difference from learning Chinese in the US and learning it here. Having to speak in Chinese and listen in Chinese everyday of the week has inspired great improvement in my language skills. I'm no where near fluent but I can manage much better than I could when we arrived in September.

Today we didn't have language class in the morning but our teachers took us to a local outdoor sports park where older people and people with children go in the mornings to exercise, dance, or just walk around. When we first got there our teachers tried to make us dance with the other Chinese couples. They were doing some form of the Cha Cha that I have never seen before but I tried it anyways. I got the footwork down but when it came to twirling I kept spinning the wrong way and my partner was an older Chinese man who just laughed at me. After failing to master the twirling, my partner gave up on me and moved onto someone else. Oh well :) After the dancing we were required to go around the park and strike up conversations with the old people or children or anyone who didn't speak any English. I talked to a woman and her daughter and an older man and couldn't understand too much because they talked so fast but after asking them to repeat it a couple times I got the gist. After a while Bill and I went to play badminton. After a few minutes Zhu Laoshi came over and we asked her if she wanted to play and she said yes. She plays for fun on the weekends so she was much better than we are but it was a lot of fun. Zhao Laoshi came over as well and everyone wanted to play against the teachers but they beat all of us easily. Overall it was a good morning.

In the afternoon Bill and I played hookie and instead of going to economics class we went to a local park about 45 minutes away from our dorms. It was absolutely beautiful. It's the largest park I've ever seen and it had many peaceful spots to rest and sleep. They also have horseback riding, paddle boats, and paint ball. It was so nice to be outside and not cooped up inside for 3 hours in econ. We ventured to the cedar tree area and perched ourselves on a small hill to read and take a short nap. I was reading my book and Bill was dozing off for a bit when I thought I heard hoof beats coming from the trees. I put my book down and Bill raised his head and we watched about a dozen horses run out of the trees and around the next bend. It was so random and unexpected that we turned our heads to look at each other as if to ask "did that just happen?" About 1 minute later we could see about a dozen more grazing in the trees and then more and more horses came out of the trees and ran by or stopped to graze in front of us. Apparently every now and then they just let the horses run amuck in the park and eat the grass. We picked up our things and followed them around the bend and found about 40 of them spread out in one of the grassy areas. I grew up around horses so it wasn't the novelty of seeing them but seeing so many in a park in the middle of Shanghai running around like a wild herd was pretty cool. It was good way to end a pretty outstanding, and much needed, mental health day :)

Oct. 4- Silk Road Journey Comes To An End

We got to sleep in again on Saturday which was great because we didn't leave until 11. We ate breakfast, got our bags packed with a little difficulty, and headed down to the bus hoping that we didn't forget anything. We went to a new museum in Urumqi which had 4 exhibits. I found myself bothered by the art gallery the most because of the scenic paintings. They had beautiful landscapes but then in the background there were bulldozers and factories. It wasn't in a bad way though, it was glorifying the worker and industrialization and I was very unnerved by it. Ryan ran into me in the gallery and said how he was bothered by it too. In that museum and ever since I came to China I realized how incredibly ignorant I was about the influence that Mao and the Communist party had on China. In the states people talk about it and it's touched on in certain classes but until you come here you don't realize how huge it was. It's one of the rare times in my life when I felt truly ignorant about something. It was pretty humbling and made me think that maybe my parents are right and I don't know everything after all :) And to think Mao did all of that without finishing middle school...

After the museum we were given 2 and a half hours to walk around a bazaar that sold a lot of touristy stuff. We ate some local Weegor cuisine, lamb ribs and a superb rice dish, and then shopped for the rest of the time. I got a couple really cool scarves and I'm pretty sure I got ripped off on them but I'm a terrible haggler. I'm too passive and too lazy to get into a long haggling bout every time I buy something. We met the rest of the group at 4:30 for dinner and then we drove to the airport to get on the plane. Our plane left at 8:30 pm and landed in Shanghai at 12:30 am. It was raining and when we got our bags they were soaking wet. It was a 5 minute walk to our bus and then a one hour ride back to the apartments because they closed down part of the highway. Selina and I were worried about having to stop at every floor in the elevator on the way up and we when realized we were the first ones off the bus we grabbed our bags and began to run, actually it was more of an awkward waddle, ahead of the group and got an elevator all to ourselves. I was laughing so hard in my delirious state I had a hard time running and not toppling over. Ruby was up when we got back and she was so surprised at how far we went on the trip. We ended up going to bed around 3 am.

Overall this trip was the most amazing traveling adventure I've ever done. We went to places that people have never even heard of and went all the way across China by bus and train. At the end of our journey all I wanted to do was keep going and going all across Asia and then continue on somewhere else. It's made me realize that I want to go to as many places as possible and not to do it all by plane and fancy hotel. It's definitely a lot more genuine when other means of transportation are being used. Maybe not as fast, but it adds something that speed takes away.

Oct. 3- Tianchi Lake

On Friday we got to sleep in until 9, which was great, and the went down to breakfast. Once again the "western" breakfast consisted of fried rice among other Chinese dishes but they did have toast with strawberry jelly which was really good. We left the hotel at 10:00 to go to the Tianchi Lake located in a mountain range in Urumqi. It took an hour and a half to drive up through the mountains and the drive up was gorgeous. I'm glad we came up during the fall because the trees were changing colors. It made me want to move elsewhere for law school even more. I love seasons and we don't really get those in Texas :) We also saw wild goats and cows walking around in the mountains which was cool. They're the first wild animals we saw on the trip except for some camels in the Go-bi. Our big bus couldn't take us the whole way up so we got on smaller buses that wound their way up the mountain and finished the climb at the lake. The air was crisp and cool and the lake was like a painting that you see but don't think it's real. I climbed up on a rock and found myself wishing that I lived there just so I could look at the mountains and lake very day. We wandered around some other paths and then Tyler, Joe, and I walked off the beaten path and hiked up the side of a mountain to a small level. After we got to the top of the small incline we began our way down and Joe slid on one part of it because the rocks were loose. He pointed it out to Tyler and I as we made our way down. When I got to it I thought I was going slow enough but I definitely slid down part of it and had to grab weeds to stop myself. I ended up with a bunch of blisters in my hand. Next, Tyler came down and he tried going down backwards but he slid in the same place we did but on his knees. You'd think we'd be able to avoid it after seeing other people make the same mistake but that just wasn't the case :)

As we continued our wandering, we looked up and saw a small gazebo way at the top of one of the mountains. We thought it would be cool to hike up there so we walked around the base of the mountain looking for a good way up. We found a stair case starting from the bottom but it had a "Do Not Enter" sign in front of it so, of course, we walked around the sign and started up the steps. We quickly found out that the steps were for Chinese feet because I could only fit the toe of my shoe on about 75% of the steps. Some of them had rocks all over them and others had the cement coming out from underneath. However, we would not be deterred and continued to climb. We were supposed to meet the rest of the group at 2 down at the bottom to go look at local dwellings but we refused to go back so we called Brian and kept climbing. The higher we got the thinner the air became and the steeper the steps grew. When we finally made it to the top of the steps the view of the lake was nothing less than stellar. You could see the snowcapped mountains in the far distance and the lake looked like a small pond from that height. It is one, if not the, most amazing thing I've ever seen. Not to mention the enormous sense of accomplishment that came with getting to that gazebo. After hanging out in the gazebo we walked down the stairs, completely sideways to avoid tumbling down, and we compared ourselves to "The Lord of the Rings" characters hiking around Middle Earth :)

Once we got to the bottom we sat down by the lake and had a Snickers bar as a congratulatory treat. Then we went up to the local dwellings of the nomadic people living in the mountains. We spent about half an hour there and then got back on our bus and returned to the city. We walked around Red Hill Park for about an hour. It was kind of like a small Disney World, mostly kids and more people taking our picture. I thought it was funny that they had that game like we have that is smash the gopher with the big hammer but they had smash the dog instead. Once we got back to the hotel Selina and I chilled for about an hour then headed out to the night market in Urumqi for dinner. We each got a vegetable wrap and followed that with a fried egg pancake with spicy sauce, overall a well balanced meal :) We walked around the market and we both got goat skin gloves that are really warm. After the market we went back to the hotel and went to sleep. I was completely wiped out from climbing around the Tianhci Lake.

Oct. 2- Turpan Sites and Bus to Urumqi

This time we got woken up on the train at 7:30 and had to pack our bags and change to get off the train. I was on the top bunk and found it very difficult to get up and down to my bags. We got off in Turpan which is like the Muslim District in Xi'an but a whole city. They call the Muslim population in China, Weegors. The day we arrived in Turpan they had just ended a fast and it was the first day they were allowed to eat. We drove to a local restaurant for breakfast and I would have given my arm for some waffles or pancakes or even cereal. Eating fried rice for breakfast gets a little old after a while. After we ate we headed out on our tour of Turpan tourist sites. The first site we saw was the Gaochang Ancient City. We had to get off the bus and take donkey carts to the inner part of the city which was a lot of fun. Juan was on my cart and dropped his camera case so our driver stopped while he ran to go get it. The donkey behind us however didn't register that we had stopped so it kept coming and practically ran up onto our cart and it's head hit Jess W. in the back. I couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the trip to the inner city.  Our donkey started to drag towards the end and we decided he wasn't used to carrying a bunch of fat Americans. I decided to call him Chapetto :)

The city was extremely well preserved which surprised me because the walls are made from dirt and stone. Our tour guide said the weather doesn't wear it down because they only get 16 millimeters of rain every year, just the wind wears it down. We hung out there for a while and then hopped on the cart again and drove on the bus to the Flaming Mountain. We went through a little museum detailing the old story about the Flaming Mountain and then a few of us hiked out towards the base of the mountain. It took about 15 minutes to walk to a little hill in front of the base of the mountain. Climbing up that hill was a little difficult in flip-flops. I could never get a good foot hold and kept sliding all over but I pressed stubbornly on. Once we got to the top we looked down and you could see for miles. We climbed, I slid, back down the hill and walked back to the bus. My feet were completely red from the dirt so that made me feel even more clean. 

We ate lunch which took longer than expected so we didn't get to see all the sites in the afternoon that we were supposed to. We did go to a local family's home which has a grape valley behind their house. They grow several different kinds of grapes and make homemade raisins. Their family had lived in the same house for 40 years and they sell their grapes to tourists and to local markets. After we sat and ate some of their raisins and honey melons, the best I've ever had by the way, we walked around their house and the grape valley. The view from their roof was beautiful and walking around under the grape ceilings was really cool. We picked grapes from the vines and ate them. The small green ones were sooooo good! The family was very nice and hospitable. After about an hour and a half we got on the bus and began the 3 hour drive to Urumqi. We watched "Transformers" on the way there but I was more focused on the scenery. The mountains and rivers along the road were extremely alluring. All I wanted to do was hop out of the bus with my small bag and walk with no direction or purpose, just get lost for while. I found myself feeling this way more and more as the trip went on.

When we got to our hotel in Urumqi everyone made a beeline for the shower. I don't think I've ever felt so dirty in my life and my feet were absolutely disgusting! Selina and I headed to dinner at a Korean restaurant with 5 of the boys. Halfway through the meal our waitress came by and told us that if we ordered 30 kuai worth of more food they would give us a free bottle of Korean alcohol. Being the responsible people that we are, we ordered 30 kuai worth of more food :) After dinner, and our Korean alcohol, we went to a local bar and sat for about an hour and played the dice game like in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3." I was very good at it too. We came back to the hotel and hung out in Ryan's room for a while and then we went to bed around 1 am. It was a very good and laid back night.

Oct. 1- Go-bi Desert Dunes and Leaving Donghua

We received yet another wake up call at 7:30 and dressed for warm weather. We had fried egg sandwiches for breakfast with strawberry jam and toast. I think it was the best breakfast of the trip. We got on the bus with all our bags and headed for the dunes. When we arrived our tour guide told us to take off our shoes if we wanted to because the sand was cool enough for our feet. It felt so good. It was like a multiple hour massage. We all rode sleds down the dunes on little bamboo sleds as well. It was fun but I only rode it once because I wanted to go climb the dunes and walk along the top. We could either ride a camel or explore on our own and Selina and I decided to explore on our own. On the way up the dunes, it was slow going because our feet kept sinking, we saw Ryan and Bill completely wipe out on their sleds on the next dune over. It was very entertaining. We finally made it to the top and the view of the dunes on the other side was incredible. There were no feet prints, just miles of unmarked sand and the sunrise. We'd been sitting up there for about half an hour when a man came up with a Spurs t-shirt on. We asked him if he was from Texas and he said he was from Austin. We both kind of just sat there in shock and then we told him we were from Austin as well. His and his family live in Shanghai and he's working for Dell. That world keeps shrinking by the minute. After a few more minutes Mitch came trudging up the Dunes with Ben and we walked along the top with them on our way back to the bottom. Once again, some Chinese people on the top of the dunes asked to take their pictures with us. They seemed very excited to see up on top of a dune in the Go-bi Desert.

After the people who rode camels finished their rides we went back to the night market for lunch and then headed over to the Mogao Caves. They weren't underground but were carved out of the side of a mountain. We weren't allowed to bring cameras because the light would ruin the colors and everything inside the caves. They are Buddhist caves originally done by monks over 1,300 years ago in the Tang, Song, and Qing Dynasties. One of the caves housed a Buddha that was 115 ft tall, the 3rd largest sitting Buddha in the world. The largest sitting Buddha was twice that size but it was destroyed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. It amazed me how well preserved each cave was, the murals on the walls and the sculptures still maintained color and shape. It felt strange to be standing there with so much history surrounding you.

After the caves we ate dinner and then got on another train to take us to Turpan. We were all disgustingly dirty from climbing the dunes all day but we couldn't take a shower so we were smelly and gross together. We got on the train at 8 pm and had hard sleepers once again but this time my compartment had all Alliance students. It was only an overnight train so we went to bed right away to get as much rest as possible.

Sept. 30- Great Wall Hike and Donghua Arrival

Once again we had a 7:30 wake up call and we ate breakfast around 8. The food wasn't what I would eat for breakfast, it was more like lunch food so we didn't eat much. We boarded the bus and headed to the Jiayuguan Pass. The weather was chilly in the morning because we were in the desert. The fort was huge and the view of the dessert leading to the mountains was really cool. We climbed the wall and then walked up the steps to the sentry level and walked around the wall. The view was incredible from all angles. They had arrows that you could shoot down to the first level at targets and stuffed models of warriors. Of course, all the boys jumped on this opportunity with gusto. They even had soldier stand ins that walked around the wall in armor. After we walked around the entire upper perimeter we headed back to the first level to sit and wait for the rest of the group to reconvene. While we were sitting there random Chinese people, mostly men, walked up and wanted to take their pictures with me and Jess Fay. They just came up and with each photo more and more of them came around to take one. Jess and I considered charging for the photos. It was like we were the tourist attraction and not the fort. They also took pictures of our entire group when we walked around. It's very strange to be stared at all the time.

After the fort we headed to the Great Wall. We visited the western most part of the wall and it looked like it ended at the point where we were. It was a very long way to the top. Walking up the stairs reminded me of running bleachers in high school except 50 times steeper and with much thinner air. Bill and Kyle B. ran from the bottom to the top and we gladly walked behind them and watched. Once we got to the top we could see for miles and felt a great sense of accomplishment. On the way down we walked down stairs next to the wall and Selina and I were worried our legs would give out from underneath us. They were definitely shaking the whole way down. We went to lunch after the Wall and then began our 5 hour bus ride to Donghua through the Goby Desert. When we got to Donghua we checked into the hotel and went to their famous night  market for dinner. We had a local favorite, a chinese hamburger, which is chopped up pork with peppers and onions in a kind of pancake. It was incredible! I also bought a wood carving and an old Chinese book for souvenirs. After the market we went back to the hotel and went to bed. Climbing around on the fort and the wall wore us out :)

Sept. 29- Arrival in Jiayuguan

Although we were on the train until 5:30 pm I woke up around 9:30 am after yet another night of poor sleep. I woke around 3 am and couldn't go back to sleep for several hours. I read some more of my book and walked around the car and peeked in on some of my fellow students, some were awake but most were not :) Bill and I ate lunch in the dining car and then we both went back to our bunks and read our books until the train arrived in Jiayuguan several hours later. It was different to share an open compartment with 4 people that we didn't know but it just added to the excitement of the trip. The train stopped several times and we got out at every stop to stretch our legs and the we noticed that we could see blue sky for miles and even the sun was out. In Shanghai you can always feel the sun and see its glow but you can never see it or the sky. It was very refreshing not to be breathing in humid polluted air. Along with the air the scenery was incredible. I've discovered that I could work in a city but never live in one. Being around people and noise constantly is not for me. I love Shanghai but I loved being in the country more. I also had my first experience with a traditional Chinese squatter toilet on the train. It's a little difficult when the train is rocking back and forth but otherwise they're not so bad :)

We finally arrived in Jiayuguan around 5:30 pm, went to eat dinner and then checked into our hotel. We had free time that night so 10 of us went wandering the streets. The city was pretty small so we weren't sure what we would find. After walking for a few minutes we heard drums down the street and found several local women dancing to the beat with scarves wrapped around their waists. They walked in synchronized patterns and flapped the scarves around. It was pretty cool to see something local like that. We walked around some more and found a pretty shady bar to spend a few hours in. We hung out there for a while talking about "Are You Afraid of the Dark" and how creepy that show was when we were younger. That conversation led to haunted sites around each of our respective campuses and other horror stories. It was such a random conversation but a good bonding experience. After the bar we headed back to the hotel to sleep in preparation for our next journey.

Sept 28.- Terra-Cotta Soldiers and Leaving Xi'an

Our wake up call came at 7:30 am. The phone was on my side of the room but I thought I was dreaming that it was ringing so Selina had to reach across and answer it. It was funny because the night before she was happy because I was supposed to answer it :) We got out of bed very slowly, got dressed and headed downstairs for breakfast. We had toast with strawberry jelly and peanut butter, so so so good, with cantelope and watermelon. Overall it was a very western breakfast. After breakfast we boarded the bus to see the Terra-Cotta soldiers and other sites. It was still raining and cold outside so people pulled out their umbrellas when we arrived at our destination. Selina forgot her umbrella so we both squeezed under mine. I was missing our golf umbrellas which I can comfortably fit 4 people under without any special maneuvering.

The walk to pit #1 took about 15 minutes and by the time we got there the legs of my jeans were soaked up to my calves and my shoes were squishing on the inside. The state of my feet were quickly forgotten once I gazed upon the soldiers. There are over 6,000 soldiers, not all unearthed, and none of them are alike. They all have different eyes, hands, clothing detail and body language. It was incredible to see them all standing there knowing they've been underground for centuries. From the soldiers we went outside to pit #2 which hasn't been completely excavated yet and then we went to the bronze sculpture museum. At this point the water mark on my jeans had risen up to my knees and my toes were beginning to numb. We ate lunch at the Terra-Cotta site and then got on the bus to head over to the Muslim District.

Muslim Asians are the smallest minority in China and when you visit the places where they live you shouldn't mention pork in any capacity. They made sure we understood this when they told a story about a man who took a pork rice dish into the Muslim District and they beat him to death for disrespecting their culture. No charges were pressed because everyone in the district understood why it was done. It's safe to say we all got the message. Before they let us wander on our own we went to the Xi'an Great Mosque which was very old and absolutely beautiful. Men were coming in to prey but I didn't see any women. The tour guide said that women are not allowed in that mosque except on certain days. After walking around the mosque area for about half an hour Selina and headed off to shop and find some local food. I bought a really cool painting of a bunch of small birds sitting on a tree limb with the sun setting in the background. It reminded me of the PIXAR cartoon with all the small birds and the big bird on the wire, I know I know, I'm 5 years old. After my purchase Selina and I went to find street food for dinner. We ate one jello/rice thingy on a stick that was rolled in peanuts and some kind of sweet sauce, rice cakes with red bean sauce, and some dumplings. Overall the food was very good. Next we went in search of nuts, she wanted cashews and I wanted peanuts. While walking a man came from behind us on a bike. Apparently I was in his way because he pushed me from the side and yelled something that sounded like "ahhh!" and I almost fell over. After I righted myself I noticed that the man had white chalky stuff in the back of his cart and looked at my arm and sure enough there was a white hand print on my black hoodie. It took a couple days to come off but I viewed it as a battle wound :)

After our adventures in the Muslim district we boarded the bus to head to the Big Goose Pagoda and a water fountain show. The pagoda was huge and there were several rows of fountains in front of it. It if had been during the summer we all would have run through the water when the show began but it's a little too cold for that at this time of year. The water show was pretty cool and it had classical western music playing in the background but we couldn't stay for the whole thing because our train left at 10:46 pm. This time we were in a hard sleeper car which is open to the hallway and has 6 beds in each compartment. I was with Bill and 4 other random Chinese people. I had the middle bunk which is a little hard to maneuver on. This train ride was 19 hours and took us to Jiayuguan.