China day 1
Who would have thought that you couldnt access livejournal in China?
Certainly not me.
Anyways, In an effort to keep everyone abreast of my recent travels I'll simply pull my journal entries from myspace and plop those suckers down right here where they belong. Try to imagine that this was posted a week ago while I was still actually in China and let the magic take you away.....
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Nanchang day 1
Greetings from Nanchang China,
I think it's about 1 or 2 in the morning now but I wouldnt swear to anything as my internal clock is completley fubar. Arrived finnally yesterday at about 3 in the evening with most of our luggage intact (Mom lost all her clothes but whatchoogonnado?) My feet didnt quite fit into my shoes anymore as my ankles had swollen from almost twenty hours of cramming them into the tiny airplane seats. It didnt help that my mother decided she needed to lay down sideways across our row and slung her legs on my lap for half the flight, Balancing my sister precariously on her side as she slept.
We've spent most of our time here trying to catch up on sleep and havnt had much time to explore the city other than a quick stroll to the local market last night for some essentials. (bottled water and juice with slimy globs of fruit in it)
My first impression is that their is a very obvious distinction between the wealthy and the poor here. Their arn't a lot of cars on the road but the ones that are have been very well kept, most look like they just rolled off the lot. The houses are terribly squalored and dilapidated, many missing windows and doors and all rocking the same peeling water damaged paint job. One could imagine that with the proper upkeep and a little money put into them it could have really been a nice thriving community.
Dinner last night was my first real taste of what to expect dining here. The food at the Hong Kong airport was odd but still very americanized and felt somewhat safe.....The food in Nanchang ,however, scared the bajeezus outta me. My mom woke me up from my jet lagged nap and drug me to the dining room buffet disoriented and blurry eyed. Immediatley I regreted not being of clear mind as I am certain choosing the wrong dish could have serious reprecussions. I avoided the grey eggs and anything with seafood in it as well as most milk based products, Instead deciding to gamble on the lamb chops and the chicken bits. The chicken had obviously been out a while and was quite dry but I am certain I made it through unscathed. The lamb on the other hand was peculiarly overspiced and very chewy, I'm no Gordon Ramsey but to me that spells trouble...more on that as it develops.......in my bowels.
Tommorrow I believe we are taking a train to visit my sister Zoe's foster mom who raised her for about a year when she was a baby. This will be the first time they've seen each other since Zoe was adopted 3 years ago. Zoe made her a blanket a couple months ago and thankfully it wasnt lost with the rest of her luggage.
In the meantime I have yet to take a shower, or a proper shit for that matter, so will be using the time before my family wakes up to make myself more presentable.