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.