What you are eating is not Chinese Food...

At the urging of my family let me tell you about food here. First of all I have yet to see some Orange Chicken or some pork fried rice.

The food here is pretty good. We have been eating twice a day, usually noodles for lunch and dishes for dinner. The noodle shops are dank. Today I ate Gampan, which is like spaghetti with a meat gravy. You can also get this served as a soup with a spicy broth. I like Mein Pien which is small square noodles and zuccini and peppers but the noodles are kind of difficult for me to pick up since they are so small.

The dishes are real good, some are spicy some are sweet. You can also go to dumpling shops and there are tibetan restaurants.

No forks, so I am quickly learning how to use chopsticks, much to the amusement of our friends.

The best thing is the price...today my huge plate of Gampan was like 4 kai which is about .50 cents.

In other news...

We have been doign a lot of shopping in the last couple of days, stuff for our apartment mostly. Yesterday I found a great Rolex knockoff and I figured I would buy it since it was about $12. So don't tell anyone. There are all kinds of stores, malls, night markets and freemarkets which are kind of like swapmeets. I am also told there is an international market which I would like to see.

Our apartment is kind of ghetto to say the least, but when in Rome... At least it is pretty secure, there are bars on the windows and you have to go through 2 front doors to get in. It still needs a good cleaning and maybe a whole new bathroom before it feels like home.

I guess this is one of the difficulties we are having. My assesment of the situation is that we are at an optimal negotiation with the people we are working with, however we still lack several important things like a shower and just from talking to people I know that some of the other schools pay more. But I feel like this is the right place to be based on the help that I have already received. On the other hand it is nice to have a safety net incase something goes wrong with the situation as it now stands.

Moving into the apartment will solve another slight difficulty (I hope)...since we 3 don't speak the language we have tended to be attached at the hip...and this can be a bit strained sometimes when you are talking about people that don't know each other at all. It's difficult enough needing someone to order food for you or to show you where to buy a blanket for your bed but I can't cry about the way I wish it was, I need to deal with the way it is. I think this will settle itself as we go on picking things up and getting adjusted but it is difficult somedays.

I am happy with the way things are going for the most part and I am looking forward to beginning lessons next week. This will fill up a lot of downtime obviously and it wil help me establish the routine I am already getting into. There is another park near the apartment where I can do dips and pullups and they also have a basketball court. Who knows maybe I can even find a gym. Since I have a private place now I can get back into my spiritual practice routine as well.

Some things are very difficult...things like noise, traffic (where the horn is used excessivly) and people staring at you whereever you go (now I know why celebrities dislike papparatzi...why is it exciting to watch me shop for a pillow?). On the other hand I think my Mom was right when she said that roughing it on the farm with Gramp would get me prepared for roughing it on the other side of the globe because believe me I would much rather have the outhouse than our bathroom.

Anyway in the words of that old song I will survive and it will probably seem like a paradise when I return. I just needed to vent a little bit so don't think I am just tearing my hair out...you just have to take the sweet with the sour.