Can you guess what these are? They are dried sea horses! They were thrown out on the sidewalk to dry after they had been scrubbed.
One of my favorite pictures at the market. Isn't this beautiful?
Live chickens for sale. One woman bought a chicken, they bound it's legs and she put it in her bike basket to take home! What a fresh meal huh? They also had ducks, rabbits and pigeons in those cages.
A rare moment that I actually "catch" his smile with the camera! He is so quick!
Men at the market, just thought they were interesting.
Bins of something, I think mushrooms at the market.“It is not a good sign to be this frustrated at 6:45 in the morning.”-Kate
Today started out with the realization that our digital camera and the gifts we bought yesterday were gone. I assumed they were in our room, but after tearing it apart, we realized they were gone. Our guide has been very clear about being careful about pick-pocketers and to not carry much money, passports or anything of value with us too far. We tried to think about the last time we had them, but all the days here seem to blend together. I did remember that one time when I reached for the backpack that the zipper was part-way open. I thought it was weird and closed it. Ok, so you would think I would check to make sure everything was in tact. But I do possess the ability to put myself in a pleasant land of denial when I want to!
So, after we couldn’t find them, and the front desk said that nothing was turned in, we came to the sickening conclusion that they had been stolen while out on one of our many walks around the city. Luckily, we download all the pictures each day, so we didn’t lose any pictures, but I felt sick about losing the gifts we bought. I could go out and get more, but augh…more shopping. Oh, man! That idea just about sent me over the edge. Now, Josh and I have been really good this whole time as far as being patient, having a sense of humor, etc. But this morning we both were feeling a bit cranky and snappy. We were trying so hard to look at the bright side. “Well, if this is the worst thing that happens on our trip we are pretty lucky. We can always buy another camera, it’s just money, at least we aren’t sick, Kai is doing so well, etc.” But even though all those things are true, sometimes you are just cranky. Josh and I both said we want to keep our perspective on this trip and appreciate each day and moment. So this was a test for us. “Ok, let’s complain for 5 minutes to vent and then we’re done.” That was my deal. So, while walking back to our room we used up our complaining minutes.
When we stepped off the elevator the floor manager told us that housekeeping had found a camera and that they were going to call us about it. Anyway, housekeeping called asked us some questions and told us they would being the camera to our room to see if it was ours. Luckily, the camera still had our pictures on there, so we could prove that it was ours, as we were on there with Kai. I cried when we got the stuff back. I just felt so relieved. We had left it in the hotel playroom. Also knowing that we hadn’t been pick-pocketed was reassuring too.
Ok, back to China though. I have been trying to think about how to describe the sights and smells of China, the people, the air, the surroundings. While on a walk yesterday I asked Josh how he might describe the way China smells. He had a suggestion that I didn’t agree with, so you’ll have to take it from me. Ok, so when you walk out of the hotel, you are surrounded by a warm, somewhat heavy blanket of heat. Very tropical. The smell, sort of musty-sweet-greenhouse-meets-rainstorm-meets river-water-meets-something cooking-smell. That is the best I can do. I like the smell of China. I don’t know that it is a pleasant or unpleasant smell, it just is, I like it. A smell I do not like is what we encountered in the mall, and yesterday while passing new construction. There is some kind of factory, toxic fume smell that was pouring out of this door at the mall, which led to a dark basement of something. The same smell was coming out of the new hotel construction. It literally burned my nostrils. I worry about people getting very sick from the fumes there. I cannot imagine working in that environment. The smell shocked both Josh and I. I actually ran about half a block to get away from the smell.
Feeling energized with our camera and gifts returned and a nice conversation with my sister. (You are the best Jenny.) I usually talk to my sister about every other day. So not talking to her for very long has been hard. With today starting out with so much frustration, I told Josh. “I just need to talk to my sister.” Ok, now feeling better, Josh and I decided to cross the bridge and go over to the main area of the city, off Shaiman Island. Our guide told us about a genuine Chinese market we could go to. She told us to be careful and not take anything of value. I strapped our backpack on the front of me and we set off.
This Chinese market was amazing. Unlike the island which is solely geared to adopting families, the market was away from all of that. The most interesting thing that we saw I did not take a picture of, as I was unsure if what they were doing was legal and if they would be very angry if we tried to take a picture of them. Most people don’t mind, but earlier on our trip, we tried to take a picture of a man walking down the street with live turtles hanging from a string. He had tied a string around their shells to they were right side up with legs treading through the air. They looked like turtle puppets. Josh went to take a picture and he shouted, “NO! NO!” to him. Yikes!
Ok, are you ready?...A person was selling tiger paws. Real tiger paws,actually more like the lower limb or the tiger. The tendons were dried up and then they left the fur and claws on the paw. I felt such a sense of sadness when I saw this. I faintly remember some stories on NPR regarding tigers and how they are hunted for these things. The man showed Josh a tiger tooth for sale as well. Josh and I thought it could not be legal, but on our way back, a police car stopped to talk to them and they did not pack up and leave. Could this be legal in China? Most of the people in this market paid absolutely no attention to us, which was really refreshing at this point. We were able to look freely without following a guide around, or being approached by sales people from the shops for adopting parents.
The rest of our group gets here later today. Tomorrow we go to a Buddist Temple and somewhere else, which I forget. Should be a good day.
Today started out with the realization that our digital camera and the gifts we bought yesterday were gone. I assumed they were in our room, but after tearing it apart, we realized they were gone. Our guide has been very clear about being careful about pick-pocketers and to not carry much money, passports or anything of value with us too far. We tried to think about the last time we had them, but all the days here seem to blend together. I did remember that one time when I reached for the backpack that the zipper was part-way open. I thought it was weird and closed it. Ok, so you would think I would check to make sure everything was in tact. But I do possess the ability to put myself in a pleasant land of denial when I want to!
So, after we couldn’t find them, and the front desk said that nothing was turned in, we came to the sickening conclusion that they had been stolen while out on one of our many walks around the city. Luckily, we download all the pictures each day, so we didn’t lose any pictures, but I felt sick about losing the gifts we bought. I could go out and get more, but augh…more shopping. Oh, man! That idea just about sent me over the edge. Now, Josh and I have been really good this whole time as far as being patient, having a sense of humor, etc. But this morning we both were feeling a bit cranky and snappy. We were trying so hard to look at the bright side. “Well, if this is the worst thing that happens on our trip we are pretty lucky. We can always buy another camera, it’s just money, at least we aren’t sick, Kai is doing so well, etc.” But even though all those things are true, sometimes you are just cranky. Josh and I both said we want to keep our perspective on this trip and appreciate each day and moment. So this was a test for us. “Ok, let’s complain for 5 minutes to vent and then we’re done.” That was my deal. So, while walking back to our room we used up our complaining minutes.
When we stepped off the elevator the floor manager told us that housekeeping had found a camera and that they were going to call us about it. Anyway, housekeeping called asked us some questions and told us they would being the camera to our room to see if it was ours. Luckily, the camera still had our pictures on there, so we could prove that it was ours, as we were on there with Kai. I cried when we got the stuff back. I just felt so relieved. We had left it in the hotel playroom. Also knowing that we hadn’t been pick-pocketed was reassuring too.
Ok, back to China though. I have been trying to think about how to describe the sights and smells of China, the people, the air, the surroundings. While on a walk yesterday I asked Josh how he might describe the way China smells. He had a suggestion that I didn’t agree with, so you’ll have to take it from me. Ok, so when you walk out of the hotel, you are surrounded by a warm, somewhat heavy blanket of heat. Very tropical. The smell, sort of musty-sweet-greenhouse-meets-rainstorm-meets river-water-meets-something cooking-smell. That is the best I can do. I like the smell of China. I don’t know that it is a pleasant or unpleasant smell, it just is, I like it. A smell I do not like is what we encountered in the mall, and yesterday while passing new construction. There is some kind of factory, toxic fume smell that was pouring out of this door at the mall, which led to a dark basement of something. The same smell was coming out of the new hotel construction. It literally burned my nostrils. I worry about people getting very sick from the fumes there. I cannot imagine working in that environment. The smell shocked both Josh and I. I actually ran about half a block to get away from the smell.
Feeling energized with our camera and gifts returned and a nice conversation with my sister. (You are the best Jenny.) I usually talk to my sister about every other day. So not talking to her for very long has been hard. With today starting out with so much frustration, I told Josh. “I just need to talk to my sister.” Ok, now feeling better, Josh and I decided to cross the bridge and go over to the main area of the city, off Shaiman Island. Our guide told us about a genuine Chinese market we could go to. She told us to be careful and not take anything of value. I strapped our backpack on the front of me and we set off.
This Chinese market was amazing. Unlike the island which is solely geared to adopting families, the market was away from all of that. The most interesting thing that we saw I did not take a picture of, as I was unsure if what they were doing was legal and if they would be very angry if we tried to take a picture of them. Most people don’t mind, but earlier on our trip, we tried to take a picture of a man walking down the street with live turtles hanging from a string. He had tied a string around their shells to they were right side up with legs treading through the air. They looked like turtle puppets. Josh went to take a picture and he shouted, “NO! NO!” to him. Yikes!
Ok, are you ready?...A person was selling tiger paws. Real tiger paws,actually more like the lower limb or the tiger. The tendons were dried up and then they left the fur and claws on the paw. I felt such a sense of sadness when I saw this. I faintly remember some stories on NPR regarding tigers and how they are hunted for these things. The man showed Josh a tiger tooth for sale as well. Josh and I thought it could not be legal, but on our way back, a police car stopped to talk to them and they did not pack up and leave. Could this be legal in China? Most of the people in this market paid absolutely no attention to us, which was really refreshing at this point. We were able to look freely without following a guide around, or being approached by sales people from the shops for adopting parents.
The rest of our group gets here later today. Tomorrow we go to a Buddist Temple and somewhere else, which I forget. Should be a good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment