Adventures in Guangzhou!

David's aunt brought out a small gong and began to sing some old chants. I was informed that she was performing a traditional operetta, of sorts, that was done in order to bring the family good luck in the new year. Apparently every family in the village was doing something similar at some point in the morning of the first day of the lunar year. I didn't understand a word but it was very interesting to listen to.

After she finished we went off with David's brother's whole family to pay respects to their grandfather. This time there was a marked grave, though it was hardly located in a cemetary. There were a handful of marked graves scattered all around a hill but it was also still functioning as farmland. I guess when space is at such a premium in the country, they wouldn't bother wasting a whole field simply for the deceased. After they finished the rituals of the incense, candles, burnt faked money, and firecrackers, we took off to one of his many uncles' house.

We had another feast equal to the one from the previous night and once again everyone ate in about 20 minutes. Wow! David and I remained at the table and proceeded to stuff ourselves silly. I mean, the food is there for a reason, right? The master of the house (a former Communist Party village secretary, a.k.a. VIP) attemoted to drown me in beer but he didn't quite know what he was getting himself into. We were 4 bottles in when he cut himself off and shook my hand. I thought it was pretty funny.

After the meal and some shmoozing, we took off to visit David's sister's husband's aunt. I'm not quite sure why she made the cut for David's family but I guess that's how it works out here. The lasy was very old but extremely spry and incredibly welcoming. After visiting so many houses in such a short time, I knew exactly what would happen when we arrived to the house. First, we would be given seats. Next, they would bring out hot tea. David and I would stand and receive the cup with two hands, thanking them profusely. There would be peanuts in shells, small clementine-like oranges, watermelon and/or sunflower seeds, and a fruit called a youzi (sort of like a grapefruit). We would drink our tea, they would refill our glass unnecessarily, and we would eat the snacks. At any point we would toss all shells, wrappers, and rinds directly on to the floor. In addition, there would always be some sort of pot in the middle of the floor with either embers or charcoal, covered by a wooden cage-like item. This allowed you to rest your feet or hands right on top of the clay pot, especially with an old stained blanket keeping the heat in. All in all, it was pretty comfortable!

As we walked back towards the town, I chatted with David a bit about his family. It became clear to me that he was the golden boy of the family and lauded as such. David was giving every single family member at least 100 kuai for "lucky money." Everyone else gave twenty or fifty. His brother was stuck in a dead-end farming job and he may or may not have a slight drinking problem. His sister is doing decently well in a factory job, but she won't see her incarcerated husband for another 15-20. I have no idea what happened there and certainly didn't pry. And then there's David who rose up out of the village to go to the best educational university in the country, located in the nation's capital. Wow.

We motorcycled back to the house and both napped for a while. I have to admit--I don't know what I'm going to do whenever I have to adjust back to a non-nap day. I love that aspect of Chinese culture! I woke up right as they were setting the table for dinner. There was a ridiculous amount of food yet again and almost all of it looked familiar. Yup--the exact dishes as last night. Well, at least they were good. Minus the dog. I wasn't crazy about that. There were two new cousins at the meal who were intent on cheers-ing me as many times as possible with the harsh-tasting baijiu. I almost brought down the house when I announced in Chinese, "In America we don't like this--it's difficult to drink--but we do like to drink beer!"

After dinner there was the exact same CCTV special on television (I had some serious deja vu) and the obligatory card playing. While it wasn't quite as ubiquitous as the previous night, there was another round of fireworks which were fun. The only problem is that I was beginning to lose some of my hearing. The kids loved setting off the firecrackers which I found to be simply annoying. The noise from the fireworks is understandable but just a loud noise? Ugh.

As I layed in bed listening to more fireworks, I thought a bit about how it can be draining being under the microscope at all times. I stopped caring about personal appearances given the complete lack of shower or running water, but I had the feeling that every person I met was assessing my general fashion and presentation. I guess I can't blame them. If I had only ever known white Jews my entire life, I suppose I'd be staring at the first latino I met. It's human nature.

Spoiler alert! I am going to post a link to my pictures from the trip, but if you want to be surprised about the rest of the trip, hold off on accessing them. If you don't care about that, enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/awolfe03