DeHart's Excellent Adventure

Bollywood Birthday!

2008-11-26T06:43:00.000-08:00

Our friend Becky turned 40 recently, giving us the perfect excuse to throw a surprise birthday party for her. The Bollywood theme was the mastermind of our friends, Lisa and Arlo, also the hosts of this event. I prepared several Indian dishes that afternoon, while Dart had arranged a local photographer to act as paparazzi - the "story" was that Becky (being driven to the party by Arlo) was a Bollywood star arriving at a glitzy party. So we all gathered in the dark, with a birthday sign, Sarah presenting roses and Ed, the crazy reporter internviewing her.

When she arrived we crowded her and asked for autographs on posters that Dart had made, photoshopping Becky's face into a hilarious Bollywood poster! Rose, one of the frenzied fans even pretended to faint at her feet, and Robb (the Director of our High School) had her sign his back in permanent ink.

We ate tons of great Indian food, and did henna on eachother's hands and had a great time. Becky was truly surprised (she thought she was coming to Arlo and Lisa's housewarming party!)

I figure, if you gotta turn 40, this might be the way to do it!!

Hong Kong

2008-11-15T00:32:00.000-08:00

We had to go quickly to Hong Kong to get applications submitted for our Indian visas, since we are going there in December!!

So Dart and I headed in and had a lovely day of it, getting the visa apps in MINUTES before the office closed and then wandering around in Hong Kong for the afternoon.

We walked around Central seeing the old (but still in use) Justice building above. The skyline is wonderful, and we got some great views from Battery Park.

My favorite part was the gardens: they are so gorgeous, with a little stream winding through, beautiful flowers blooming and the peaceful sound of the water running through the tropical leaves. I could have stayed there all day.

But...we caught the ferry home in time to have a nice dinner with Jaya and Taj - a great day in all.

A Whole Month!

2008-11-15T00:21:00.001-08:00

I realized one whole month has gone by since I blogged. In that time I have traveled to Florida for my father's funeral, spent 3 short days in Virginia and flown back across 12 time zones with my family here to China...I came back realizing that the most precious thing in life is friendship and family. Thanks to ALL of you whose love and support have made this time not a sad time, but more of a reminder that life is lived NOW, so live it well.

We had our lovely cat to come home to, and he seemed very content to have his family home again! He is growing so fast and now, he has enough notoriety that he's on Facebook! The Chairman is on the loose!

You can see more photos of the famous feline on Facebook!

And now...I hope to get back to more regular posts.

Thailand - Game over!

2008-10-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

Last day - we'll keep it short and sweet. We played until about 10:30 and then we grabbed our shuttle back to the Phuket airport. We flew uneventfully to Bangkok, had our last delicious Thai meal in Thailand, and then our flight on Air Asia left for Shenzhen...home sweet home. However, about half an hour in, our captain announced that we'd be RETURNING to Bangkok, because the CARGO DOOR WAS OPEN!

Okay, that didn't make us feel real good...but we survived. The second time was a charm!!

Then, after the roller-derby style taxi drive home (to give you a sense: the ride TO the airport took 45-50 minutes. The ride HOME took about 15-20 minutes. It was INSANE) we plopped exhausted in to our own beds.

Happy to be home, but we'll always think of our great trip to Thailand!!

Thailand Day 6

2008-10-15T01:02:00.000-07:00

Well, another day in paradise! The breakfast buffet here completely boggled our minds...I wish I'd taken a picture of the full spread...although I'd probably need panoramic view to fit it all in: there is a whole section of dim sum, another full table of Asian/Thai breakfast. Then the two huge tables of fruit next to the bread bar with about 25 choices from buns to croissants to doughnuts. Then there's the omelet bar where you can also order eggs done ANY WAY you want them if you are not in the omelet sort of mood! The two long tables with bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes, waffles, chocolate sauce and whipped cream were favorites with the boys (okay...I didn't shy away either!)

We waited long enought to digest our huge breakfast and then we played in one of the five pools, until the boys were in the beach mood and they left me under an umbrella in the shade and went off to have fun in the sun. The whole day was filled with lots of nothing (aaahhh...) until dinner. I'd called our friends Cliff and Becky earlier...they were staying at the Sheraton about 45 minutes north of us, and we'd arranged to meet! They came to our hotel and we headed out in a tuk-tuk to a GREAT rasta place on the side of the mountain that Dart had found on his motorcycle adventures earlier.

We had a FABULOUS dinner with them and their son Owen, and then went and hung out on the soft white-sand beach until way past our bedtimes! It was great.

Thailand Day 5

2008-10-15T00:27:00.000-07:00

After another amazing breakfast, where special Thai-style doughnut treats were brought for the boys, (yum) we were taken to the Chiang Mai airport, where we said fond farewells to Nat and Da Wan.

We arrived quickly in Phuket, in the south of Thailand and were shuttled right to Kata Thani beach, where we were staying. Again, what a nice place. We missed the personal touch of Nat's place, but this place was nothing to complain about. We spent the rest of the day "chillaxing"...

...until dinner time, by which point Dart had rented some bikes: these are a cross between a motorcyle and a moped - they are TONS of fun (although you can't tell here by Taj's expression!!). We toured around until we found a good place to eat...and then with our bellies full, we played on the beach until "lights out!!"

Thaliand Day 4

2008-10-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

We woke up and ate quickly ate so we could continue learning about the elephants and spending more time with them. Jodi, an American who has lived there (on and off) for over 8 years, gave us a walking tour. We learned about elephant friendships, rescues, torture and salvation. One example: this elephant was forced to mate with a bull, and he crushed her hips and permanently crippled her, but she is coming along well with love and care - she will never be able to have a baby, however.

We watched an ADORABLE four-month old baby frolic with his mother and "aunt" and the boys even played with "push" with it:

After our walk we had a relaxing time, chatting with other visitors, feeding the elephants again and after our lunch, they got another bath in the river. Then, sadly, 5:30 came too quickly and we had to head back to Chiang Mai. We were truly inspired by what Lek Chailert is doing to give elephants in Thailand a better life; here is a shot of her down by the river conversing with our little friend:

We arrived back in Chiang Mai tired and hungry, but were soon feeling pampered and spoiled: we took a swim in the pool while Nat and crew ordered dinner for us and we ate in their sublime pavilion, poolside. Thai food is just too good, and to dine al fresco, after a lovely dip in the pool...we felt like royalty!

Thailand - Day 3

2008-10-08T06:17:00.001-07:00

This morning we were treated to an amazing breakfast, of croissants, fresh coffee and hot chocolate and local tropical fruits. Mmmmm!

We then hopped on a little minibus to travel over an hour to the Elephant Nature Park. This is just the most amazing place you can imagine. "Lek" Chailert is a tiny Thai lady from a northern hill tribe whose mission is to give working elephants a place to come to recover from overwork, abuse and just to have a safe haven in old age. Her philosophy is that Asian elephants should be treated not as livestock (as they are classified in Thailand) but as the magnificent, intelligent and threatened species that they are. She is truly an inspiring presence and the nature preserve she has built is a testament to her determination, and her love of ALL animals, elephants in particular. Taj and Jaya loved that in addition to the pachyderms, there were 43 dogs and 12 cats in residence, not to mention the water buffaloes and cows!

Before our own lunch, we got to feed the big guys:

And after our own delicious lunch, we got to give them a bath in the river:

And while they were drying off, they were kind enough to give us a few smooches:

Later that evening, with dinner, we were serenaded by students from a nearby village and a local shaman came and performed a ceremony blessing and welcoming us to the Elephant reserve. I was one of four people that he blessed with holy water and he tied a ceremonial thread on my left wrist, which I have yet to remove... Then off to our wonderful cabin to sleep in the glorious quiet, knowing that just outside our window, there were great beasts, happily eating, sleeping and keeping each other company in that large gentle way that only elephants have. Here is the view from our bathroom window:

Ready for Day Four!!

Thailand! Day Two.

2008-10-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Chiang Mai at 7:15 a.m. after watching the gorgeous mountains of northern Thailand flow past the windows. We escaped the mob of taxi drivers - we took a tuk-tuk to a resort that our friend Susan had recommended. But our driver didn't REALLY know where this hotel was and so we got a grand tour of Chiang Mai before arriving in, basically, paradise.

The owners of Oriental Siam Resort, Nat and Derrick, live in Shekou...they are essentially our neighbors. But Nat is Thai and she and Derrick (British) built this deluxe resort near Nat's family land. We got a great discount and REVELED in the kind hospitality they provided, with the five star facility to boot! I was feeling ill, so I showered and went to bed - what luxury!Meanwhile, Dart and the boys embarked on a great adventure in the VERY COOL Jeep that Derrick and Nat provided - they headed out to distribute gifts to the local Buddhist monks that were having a ceremony that evening. I was SO sad to have missed it...but they had a GRAND time, were blessed by the monks AND got to witness beetle fighting. Much more "humane" than dog fights or cock-fights!

When they got back I was feeling much better, so we piled into a taxi and headed to the food market where we had an amazing dinner of much Thai seafood while it poured in an end-of-monsoon shower. Then we headed to the night market for a fun night of shopping. The prices in Thailand are SO cheap because of the political unrest, the flooding and the favorable exchange rate (comparatively), so we picked up quite a few things for very little money!

Then...back to our lovely abode to catch some shut-eye before heading to the Elephant Nature Park the next morning!

THAILAND! Day One.

2008-10-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

So, we are back from our wonderful vacation in Thailand. Since I didn't blog while we were ON the trip, I thought I'd do a post for each day NOW and we can pretend I was doing it DURING, not after. Here goes:

After our (delayed) flight arrived in Bangkok at 2 a.m. we took a taxi to our hotel and crashed! Woke up, had a great breakfast and headed to the pier for a one-hour canal and river tour - it was fantastic. The river was swollen with monsoon rains, so it was quite a ride!

We were dropped off near the Grand Palace and Wat Po, but it was a holiday and the larger temples were closed...so we took a tuk-tuk (motorized rickshaw) around to some of the smaller temples. One was tucked away in a shopping district - it had a great reclining Buddha:

We saw another gorgeous Wat with amazing glass and mirror work around the doors, windows and eaves. The workmanship and the wood here in Thailand is just so stunning.

A few more stops and then back to the boat dock which had a great outdoor "food court" where we ate DELICIOUS lunch for about $6 for the four of us! Then, back to the hotel, a quick swim in the lovely pool and then off to the train station to catch our overnight train to Chiang Mai!!

The train was just great: we had a sleeper car which was really two adjacent rooms with seats that later a lovely fellow came in and VERY efficiently made into 4 beds. The real treat was dinner - the food on the train was mind boggling! We fell asleep to the lullaby of the train's rocking, happy as the Thai countryside passed outside our windows.

Taj update

2008-09-25T04:50:00.000-07:00

This is Shannon Haggard, Taj's teacher. He used to teach in Phuket, so he was a great help in planning our trip to Thailand - we are leaving tomorrow night!! Taj is lucky...Mr. Shannon is a great teacher and lots of fun. In fact, Taj's class is going ice skating at a local rink tomorrow, and they had popcorn and movie day today! So life is treating Taj well, as you can see!
I won't be blogging until we get back from our trip, but I hope to have lots of pictures and fun things to post after we have been in Thailand for 8 days! See you later!

Chinese Traditional Medicine

2008-09-23T05:35:00.000-07:00

So, as I mentioned in the last post, we toured the Chinese traditional medicine district in Hong Kong Central. There was SO much we didn't recognize, and all of it was very intriguing. Here are some quick shots of a few of the items on sale:
The roadside store shrines were our favorite thing, though. We found the little cubbies filled with incense and calligraphy and offerings very charming and peaceful in the midst of this busy city.

Hong Kong!

2008-09-22T03:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we all made the trek in to Hong Kong! We left by ferry, just down the road from us; it takes about 45 minutes. We landed in Central, found our bearings, and then toured the area a bit. Our first locale was ALL shops full of Chinese medecine ingredients...more on that in another post.

After riding the double-decker cable car for a short distance, we found an Indian restaurant (priorities, you know!) where we pigged out!!

Next Mission: the metro across the bay to Kowloon to find the Toys-R-Us! After some sign-language and broken English with a cab driver we found it and the boys were VERY HAPPY...they'd really been wanting some Lego! Shopping in HK is a BIG DEAL - not really our thing, but it was an adventure.

(We found a book store, so that made it worthwhile for me!) Back to our ferry and home by 7:30 p.m. - we were tired but happy.

International Brunch

2008-09-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today our school hosted the International Brunch, where everyone comes in their native dress and brings something good to eat from their culture. Our school has 46 countries represented, so there was such a variety of tasty dishes and wonderful outfits.

It was so much fun; the food was ridiculously good and, as you can see, the kids are so so cute. The teachers are cute too...

Dart made a great slide show on Facebook, so if you wanna see a few more shots, go to http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30138042&l=382e4&id=1023629318

Little Readers

2008-09-10T06:41:00.001-07:00

The kids here are just so CUTE. They really love to read, even though for some of them to read in English is a real struggle. They really make it so easy to love my work here, even though some days by four o'clock I feel like I was hit by a large truck!!

Badminton, anyone?

2008-09-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night is Badminton Night for the teachers at our school gym, and this was the first time I felt well enough to go. I LOVE badminton; I played throughout my childhood, so I am pretty excited to be able to do it on a regular basis!

David, Ivy, myself, and Wendy after a fabulous game of doubles!

Old and New

2008-09-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

Dart has captured some snapshots in which the old ways of China bump into modern ways in this town. The area around Shenzhen (The Special Economic Zone) was created as an economic experiment in the late eighties, and whole cities were built on what had been fishing villages and shoreline. So it is particulary noticeable here how traditional China mingles with the new, Western ways.

Art-chitecture

2008-09-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

This building is on the way to Shenzhen from Shekou (where we live).

Dart and I think it is one of the coolest pieces of architecture we've seen here or anywhere!

Him Again!

2008-09-03T01:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, I waited a whole week before showing off the kitten some more! He's growing a ton and is full of mischief. I think he'll eat us out of house and home!! He does have a few cute-n-sleepy moments a day - thank goodness:

My Library!

2008-09-01T17:36:00.001-07:00

When I first got here I was a bit afraid, because my library was shrink wrapped (there was construction done over the summer) and filled with dust! But we got it cleaned up, got rid of a lot of junk and now it is quite cheery. Still working on the smell, though! (it smells like new play-doh!)

There is a big dragon that wraps around my reading area, which I didn't get a picture of, but I'll get one soon. You can just see its tail in this shot.

I work with two lovely ladies, Maggie (on left) and Jane (on right). Jane is my full time assistant and Maggie works in Dart's library in the Middle School but comes over to help out here a lot. We are "Team Library!"

Here is one more view:
I teach 25 classes a week, so I am SWAMPED, but the kids are so much fun and are avid readers, so of course, I LOVE MY JOB!

Smart Growth

2008-08-28T06:46:00.001-07:00

Living in this city is different from our home in Virginia in so many ways it is hard to even make the comparison. But one thing that we notice all the time is the energy efficiency of walking to school, riding the bus and living within walking distance of pretty much every thing we need. So I LOVE the Shekou version of a parking lot: This is actually only one small part of this covered bike lot...it goes on in the other direction for a LONG way! Dart also thinks that "green buildings" are the wave of the future:

Hard Life

2008-08-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

There is no pool at the school, but just around the corner is a four star hotel with a really nice pool that you can buy a pass for. We think it is pretty nice. The part I like is that you can have a lovely person come right out to the poolside and give you a foot massage while the boys swim. Oh yeah....

Song Dynasty

2008-08-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

The boys are really enjoying school! The whole 6th grade broke into four groups representing different dynasties. They had to come up with a flag, a cheer, a motto and interesting facts about their dynasties. These will be the groups in which they do intramural sports and other activities for the whole year.
Jaya was chosen to be the spokesperson for his group, the Song Dynasty, as they display their flag with a dragon and the Chinese character for "Song".
(I'll steal the camera from Dart and take some pictures of Taj's activities so I can update you on his fun stuff soon!)

Market Day

2008-08-27T05:25:00.000-07:00

Up the road from us is an open air market that really boggles the mind. There is EVERY kind of meat that you can imagine (yes, there are dogs) and live animals, as you can see! Let's just say that you DON'T want to wear sandals or flip flops to this place.

There is also a veggie section to the market which is very nice...MANY types of vegetables, some of which I don't recognize. We mostly get our fruit from a stand by our apartment, and our ayi does a lot of our shopping, so we don't go often, but it is an adventure here.

Smitten!

2008-08-27T04:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, as promised (or threatened) here is more information about the new kitten. We named him quicksilver in Mandarin, 'cuz he is gray and really zips around the place. The Chinese for this is:

水銀猫 -- which sounds like ShuiYinMao (quicksilver cat). Our nickname for him is "Chairman Meow".
I have never been much of a pet person, but I am totally taken with the little guy. He is hilarious -- pouncing on every little thing, curling up and purring in our laps, sleeping on the boys at night, and generally keeping us highly entertained.

The Chairman

2008-08-26T15:34:00.001-07:00

I have not blogged in a couple of days because we have been so busy with the newest member of our family. We adopted him off the street and took him to the vet to get wormed and get shots and now we are COMPLETELY SMITTEN with our kitten.

I have to go to work but I will of course be bragging about him OFTEN so stay tuned!! He's meowing to be fed...

Confessions...

2008-08-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

One of the most amazing things about living here is having an "ayi". This technically means "aunt" but it is used as a term of respect for older ladies or women that help around the house.

Ayis are hired by most teachers, and they are amazing. They cook, clean, do laundry,iron, shop, and take care of just about anything you need. It is mind boggling-- I come home tired after a day at school and this is what awaits us:

The laundry is done, the beds are made, the dishes are clean and put away and if the boys have come home early (or were at home all day on prep days) they are fed. I feel sorta guilty, but boy, I am getting over it REALLY quickly!

We feel especially lucky, because our friends Ron and Nicci who lived in Shekou for 3 years recommended their ayi, Yu Mei, and WE LOVE HER. She is so lovely with the boys, and is teaching them some Chinese. She is fabulously efficient and a good cook.

We will ALL have to work hard to not become completely SPOILED.

Climb Every Mountain...

2008-08-18T15:38:00.000-07:00

There are some "mountains" in Shekou, which we look at (or not - depending on the day's air quality) on our way to school. Dart and the boys climbed it the other day and got some lovely views. (I didn't go because I am still sunburning so easily from the meds I am on-- that really bummed me out.)

The path was essentially just stairs, which they counted as they climbed: 859 steps!! Taj and Jaya stressed that the steps were not just regular steps, they were steep and slanted, making it extra challenging. Despite the heat and the climb, they loved it! (although you wouldn't guess it from their expressions here!!)

Living the High Life

2008-08-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

One thing that takes some getting used to, at least for those of us who didn't grow up in the Big Apple, is the sheer quantity of PEOPLE and how they are all right here, stacked up together in high rise apartment buildings. These towers of people are EVERYWHERE you look...

We are lucky, because in the neighborhood between our apartment and school, it is pretty sparse and we have big shady sidewalks, so we never feel crowded or claustrophobic!!

Beach Boys

2008-08-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

The school sponsored a trip to the beach on Saturday for the new teachers. It was GREAT! You can tell our boys had a blast.

The day was hot and clear and there was a nice ocean breeze. You can really see the rise in wealth for many Chinese families: they were enjoying para-sailing, a HUGE zip line (probably 100 metres long), nice open air restaurants, and souvenir shops.

We thought the container ship was a fitting South China contrast: recreation and industry always side by side in this hard-working and increasingly affluent nation.

Adults Only

2008-08-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

So, we were sitting having an early dinner with friends at our favorite place down the road and Taj, who has finished eating, asks if he can go across the street to the Toy Store.

We say "Fine, just go with Jaya so you can cross the street together." So they cross and we are chatting with our friends, a lovely teaching couple from Georgia, and we distractedly note that the kids have returned very quickly and have a rather peculiar look on their faces.

I suddenly realize that we have just sent them to visit a store whose first three letters (starting with S) are hidden from view!!! NOT KID FRIENDLY, if you get the gist.

Our friends thought this was the funniest thing EVER and we were all, including the kids, cracking up for the rest of the night every time we'd think of this. Our boys were VERY cool about the whole episode, we thought.

Lost in Translation

2008-08-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

In A-BEST, which is a local department store, this is the sign you see as you come up to the 3rd floor where they sell: you got it -- brooms, pillows and smokes. We nearly fell down the escalator laughing. Now we love to say, when we drop or spill something..."SWEEP THE THING!"

Happy Feet!

2008-08-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

Today, after orientation, the entire new staff of QSI was treated to a SEVENTY minute "foot massage". What this really means is a neck, back, arm, hand AND foot massage!!

As you can tell from Dart's and our other colleagues' expressions, it rules. Here is the lovely young man who was my masseur.

This gives "Happy Feet" a whole new meaning.

Patching the Sky

2008-08-12T05:14:00.000-07:00

This lovely lady is NuWa, a Chinese goddess, whose statue is just behind our school. I did a little research about her, and she is responsible for so many things and there are so many versions of her feats, that I will try to distill it to what is (somewhat) consistent between the different tellings. First, she is NOT a mermaid, she is a goddess with the tail of a serpent.

"As Goddess of Creation, she molded yellow mud into a figure in her likeness, the figure then came alive and was the first human being. She then created more figures, both male and female, and these too came to life."1

She is also credited with saving the world from destruction, as we see her in the above pose, by patching the sky after a great battle between the God of Fire and the God of Water. She then further protected the world by taking giant tortoise legs to hold up the sky.2

What can I say...Girl Power!!

This is by no means a scholarly or comprehensive report of the MANY MANY other feats and powers attributed to her!!

Because I teach classes in plagiarism, I was compelled to cite my sources. :-)

1http://emperor.heavengames.com/gameinfo/heroes/nuwa

2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCwa

China Olympics

2008-08-11T04:45:00.000-07:00

Night before last we were trying some new dishes in a local seafood restaurant and the opening ceremonies of the Olympics came on television.

It was great...we were all watching together and you could FEEL the pride these folks have in the spectacular show their country gave the world.

On our walk home, many restaurants had big TVs out on the sidewalk and all the diners were watching together. It was very communal.

Here is one of the fish dishes (and it was SOME fish!!) Jaya and I shared. It was DELICIOUS.

Paint the Town (or just our room)!

2008-08-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

Our bedroom, we discovered on arrival, was bubblegum pink. It really felt like sleeping inside a cartoon.

So we asked the school about painting it and found out that they pay for painting if you want white...otherwise the tab is on us. We chose white.

The painters arrived not long afterwards. They had very cool brushes: more like two dozen small brushes woven together.

They were a bit "enthusiastic" with the paint, but in the end we ended up with a very nice non-PeptoBismol bedroom!

Go Fish!

2008-08-07T04:59:00.001-07:00

Well, we got fish, in true Chinese fashion, as fish are very popular here and goldfish border on sacred. Sounding like a Dr. Seuss rhyme, we got one mini-catfish, 2 red fish and 2 blue fish. Oh...and two goldfish.

Their portraits for your enjoyment:

and last but not least....Al G. Eater:

I will say here that we are particularly fond of Al, because he survived a near death experience. The day we got him, he started floating upside-down with a huge bloated tummy. After much consternation and Google searching and a trip to pharmacy up the road (where Dart had to use a pharmacological translation dictionary and THEN find a substitute for epsom salts), we put Al in a special "epsom salt" bath overnight, bringing him back from the brink of death. We love Al.

Dude...

2008-08-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I really need to say ANYTHING for this photo.

Cookin' With Gas!

2008-08-04T19:58:00.001-07:00

Here is a shot of our little kitchen, which is great despite its small size; I am enjoying its compact usability.

There are no ovens here...the Chinese don't really bake, so our toaster oven is all we have for baking. We'll make do, although Taj LOVES to bake and is a little bummed!

Another kinda funny kitchen thing: they have a few skillets and saucepans at the local Walmart, but about 35 different kinds of woks! I LOVE our wok...I use it for everything now.

Juicy Fruit

2008-08-03T15:51:00.001-07:00

All around town there are "mobile fruit stands"...guys with bicycles with built-in tables on which are tons of lovely tropical fruits.

This is a sampling of what we had for breakfast the other day: mango, a type of lychee (little brown ones), plum and mangosteen (the white center).

It is making our resolution to eat more healthily easier!!

2008-08-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

This is one happy gardener on the balcony off our living room.

Dart has really gotten it looking so great, and without a car, it has been a bit of an adventure, getting soil and plants and tools home.

A few days ago, Dart came home on Taj's new bike, with a kid from a nearby nursery carrying a huge bag of soil on his mo-ped! It was quite a sight, and Taj got it "on film"...

The next adventure is getting the fish bowl and live fish home...

2008-08-01T19:18:00.000-07:00

There are two neighborhoods outside our compound gate. If you go left, you hit the "expat" area with McDonalds, Starbucks, Subway and Papa Johns. If you go right, you hit a more "local" neighborhood, which appeals to us far more!

Last night, at a tiny little corner dive 2 blocks from our apt., we used sign language and pointing to have one of the yummiest dinners we've had EVER. You pick your veggies and your meat (raw) and they cook it and bring it out to you with rice. It was truly DELICIOUS, and as you can see, Jaya enjoyed it a bunch!

First post: Friday August 1!

2008-07-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, first I want to thank Gary Hicklin, because his blog (www.pedalscience.blogspot.com) inspired us to do this!
A picture is worth 1,000 words, isn't it?

So,here is....WALMART, Chinese style. Those are shrimp and fish. They also had live fish, frogs, turtles and crabs.

Shopping is truly a different experience here, and we love it!