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December 10, 2000
Saturday in Changsha (1)
I woke to a sunny and warm Saturday. A play day. The previous week was grueling with papers and meetings and interviews. I declared a vacation day. I leaped from bed and headed for the shower to discover no hot water. No bother. I took a quick and cold wash, heated water for my coffee in the foreigners kitchen on floor above me, brewed it in the great French press I got for my birthday, and settled at my computer to read the news of the world. I started with my three email addresses and progressed to the Post-Dispatch and USA Today. The New York Times charges so I avoid them.
The power went off while I was in the middle of an article on locating the Christmas lights in St. Louis. This is the third day in a row this has occurred so, no bother, I went outside where it was warm and sunny and read my current novel. I sat on the steps that lead from my hotel to the garden
A girl around one and a half, with both her parents in attendance, was in the garden. The mother was reading and the father was staying in close proximity to their child who was delighting in climbing the steps. Up and down, up and down, up and down. She stopped and stared at me for a while. I said hello in both Chinese and English. She came over and sat next to me, mimicking my posture. Then she laughed. Her father knelt down in front of her and coached her to say, "Hello Grandma." She didn't take to the coaching, but during the rest of my time there she periodically came and sat by me in companionable silence. I had become her rest stop.
Adam and Keren, American teachers from another college in Changsha, arrived around eleven and they and Kathy and I left for exploration. We first stopped at our local market. I love the market, except for the caged dogs that will be killed for their meat. They pack them into cages until there is no room to move or even sit down. They are piled on top of one another awaiting their fate. Dog meat is a delicacy in China and they believe it is good for your health to eat it in the winter.
We made a detour to buy some bread from a street vendor. It is like pizza bread. One is so spicy my mouth burns when I eat it. We bought the milder type. Then a quick stop at the Kodak store to leave off negatives and pick up photos and we hopped a cab for the 15 minute ride to Martyr Park.
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