Things I Saw

As I was walking to the store this morning, these are the thing I saw in the space of about 30 seconds:

1. A woman clad head to toe in what looked like pink and black fleece cheetah patterned pajamas. They were hooded. They were fuzzy. They were incredible
2. A man on a bike with about 20 stalks of 15 foot high sugar cane.
3. A man carrying a dead rooster. It had feathers, and every time he took a step the wings flapped. I’m not actually sure it was dead. It was upside down…it’s possible the it was still alive and its blood had just rushed to its head.

Never a dull moment…

Rat on the Bus

I wouldn’t say that I’m afraid of many things. I’ve jumped off the side of the mountain tethered to a Venezuelan and a parachute, I work with teenagers; it takes a lot to rattle me. So, I didn’t really think there was much that could scare me on a simple bus ride. Until I saw a rat under run under my seat.

I’ve been riding the faculty bus to work for the last six months, and nothing even remotely eventful has happened. I’ve listened to music, read magazines, studied Mandarin, tried to nap; it’s all been pretty routine. But yesterday was different. We were about 20 minutes into the 30 minute ride when I saw it. A big, fuzzy brown blur scurrying under my feet. And I did something I never thought I would do in the presence of a rodent. I screamed like a little girl. The rat continued its journey under my seat to the back of the bus, one seat behind me. It had nowhere else to go, and after a minute or two, it ran back under my seat and up to the front of the bus.

I can think of little worse than having a rat run up the leg of my pants. So I sat with both of my feet pulled up onto my seat on rat patrol. He didn’t come back, but I don’t quite trust the bus anymore. Who knows where he is lurking. I’m going to have to sleep with one eye open from now on. And I’m going to have to accept the fact that mice really do make me scream and jump up on chairs. Who knew?

I'm Cold

Technically, Guangzhou is below the Tropic of Cancer. And while it doesn’t really ever freeze here, I can tell you that 50 degrees with no heater in your house is far from pleasant. I have spent a lot of time since I returned from Christmas break huddling under blankets, layering sweatshirts and socks and generally feeling cold. There is very little heating in this part of the world, generally speaking. I was reminded of this on the faculty bus to work the other day. I sat down, and noticed that I could see my breath. Busses…no heat. Could I buy a heater? Sure, but I keep thinking about news stories about people that snuggled to close to their space heaters and burned to death. I don’t want to burn to death. Ever. So, I guess, until I learn how to read the characters on my air conditioner remote control to discover if they provide heat, or until it warms up again, my green fuzzy blanket is my new best friend. So much for the tropics.