had to tell him to slow down a few times. After that the three of us headed to Shanghai. We made it from the train to bus station with only a little confusion (the main route was under construction, in our defense). There we waited for Cao Xingxing（曹星星), our good friend from the university. She lives kind of close to Shanghai, so she met up with us for a few days on her trip back to school. While waiting for her at the bus station, my parameters of the believable were once again extended. A man passed us carrying a box. This isn’t anything special, he was carrying the type of box which I see all the time on the train and bus, a box which used to have some plates, wine, electronics, or something, that has been re-filled and is taped and tied up. I never really thought as to what could be in the boxes. Well, live poultry now empirically fits into that category. As he was a bit past us, his box very strangely came undone on its own, and two chickens, yes two live chickens popped out. Luckily he was able to grab them, and then nonchalantly put them back in the cardboard box and went along. If there is one thing that the Chinese people and this culture as a whole do well, it’s that they always keep me guessing.We had a good time in Shanghai. Some of the tourist sites were repeats from our orientation sightseeing with CIEE. They were fun in a different way though; as it was really interesting to see Jocelyn’s reactions to everything we saw and did. The way in which her reactions differed from mine showed in some ways how much I have adapted to life here. At times she was astounded or appalled by things at which I didn’t even bat an eye. Some things, though, incited very similar reactions, so there are certainly some things (like the public pushing) that I might be used to, but can’t yet ignore or accept. A very nice perk to having Jocelyn with us was that her dad’s business associates arranged a private car for us, so we saved out on the cost and hassle of some metro and taxi rides. Dave and I picked up some awesome (recreated) Cultural Revolution era propaganda posters with Mao and some other ‘comrades’ on the front. I think the best part about my poster, of Mao speaking to a crowd, are all the different ethnicities in the crowd. This country is 92% racially homogenous, and the Cultural Revolution wasn’t exactly about “acceptance”, so its propaganda level is over the top…exactly what I was looking for.
A very non-Chinese highlight of the trip was our dinner at a Mexican restaurant which Jocelyn’s dad’s associate recommended. There are many, many things I miss from home (hulu.com, reliable Internet, cheese) and Mexican food is definitely near the top of the list. Jocelyn had brought us a bag of Taco Bell, but day old Taco Bell just doesn’t taste the same as it does at 1 AM in the drive thru (no complaints though). So, getting freshly made Mexican food was exciting. It was no Mazatlan or Rio Verde (if you’re not from Clive or TU, then disregard the references) but it was good. I had a car
nitas burrito that was delicious, and the Corona with lime was the perfect compliment. The meal was also fun because it was Xingxing’s first encounter with Mexican food. We ordered hard shell beef tacos for her, as a basic Mexican introduction, and I did have to show her how to eat them. She said it was all very good (probably sensing we would criticize any other response) but she was a little shocked at the fact the rice was red, mixed with beans, and full of spices. I will say that the Chinese might grow and eat rice like no one else, but the Mexicans sure make it tasty. We saw Jocelyn off the next morning and I think she had a great trip; I had a great time showing her around.
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