Adventures in Guangzhou!

For lunch we headed to one of the ubiquitious cafes on West Street and I ordered Chicken Satay. Everyone else ordered more breakfast-like foods and their meals came quite a bit faster. As I was waiting for my meal, watching everyone eat, it occurred to me that at this point in the states I would make a joke about how the waitstaff was chasing down the chicken in order to make my meal; however, in this case, that was exactly what was happening! It's a litle strange to think of them slaughtering the bird in the back in order to cook my food, but at least I know it was fresh!

I think I've mentioned it before, but I love being on the water. There's something so calming about floating around a river or swimming in the ocean by a quiet beach. The boat ride we took was no different. Though the guy navigating the vessel refused to allow us to lay out by the front in the sun, we were content to sit in the back and look out the windows. The scenery was once again breathtaking and I tried to catch as much as possible on film. Unfortunately, the limestone formations go all the way to the horizon and there's just no way to capture that on film.

One of the funnier moments for me was when a Chinese lady on our boat took out her umbrella and opened it up inside the boat. This would make sense if there were no roof but we were completely covered! She was attempting to use the umbrella to shade some of the sunrays coming through the window but it was just completely impractical and looked ridiculous. It was a very China moment for me--where else do you find someone using an umbrella inside?

After a very enjoyable few hours on the river, we returned back to our hotel and Kelly and I packed up our stuff. Diana and her brother were to continue on to the mountains of Yunnan Province, but sadly I had to get back to teach my last classes. We headed out for one last meal and decided to forgo the pseudo-western food and get some Chinese cuisine. We found a restaurant that had some nice tables outside and asked to see a menu. Despite asking in flawless Chinese, they brought us the English language menu due to the color of my skin. It seemed exceptionally pricy so Diana asked (in Chinese) if they could give us a discount. The hostess said yes and went to retrieve the Chinese language menu. No joke, everything was about 1/4 of the price! We ordered up a feast and were very pleased.

After dinner Kelly and I had to catch our bus back. As we got to the bus station it really hit me hard that I had to say goodbye to Diana. I hate saying goodbye to good friends and this was no different. Right now I can't imagine being in Guangzhou without her and it's going to take a major adjustment to regain a feeling of normalcy. I can only content myself with the knowledge that I will surely see her again and remain in good touch.

To make matters worse, we had a very uncomfortable ride back to GZ. Though we had those temperature issues on the way to Yangshuo, the seats were really nice. This time 'round, I had my first experience on a sleeper bus. My friend Lexi put it best in her explanation of the sleeper bus:
"Sleeper buses are always an exercise in rank feet, cigarette smoke, moldy pillows, sweat, yak butter and worse. Your nose starts to acclimatize after the first half hour, but after that, every time you
turn over, your pillow or blanket gets you with a hit of old and unwashed, the last 5 to 10 people who slept there. Or looking back and realizing that fat guangdong man over there, who is lying with a cigarette on top of his blanket, not even smoking, just staring out the window and probably farting, is likely the clone of the last person in your bunk. Even after a sweaty day without a shower, I still smell better than this bus. Chinese buses are not for the obsessively hygienic, the tall, or the
easily annoyed--in addition to the aforementioned quirks, the bunks themselves are also built for people who are 5'8" and under; at that point, your feet start to hit the end of the metal box at the bottom of your bed, and your head starts to stick up beyond the top of the bed, and more and more of you ends up sleeping sitting up. If you're much over six feet it's pretty much a lost cause because your head will start to hit the top bunk even in your semi-reclined sit, and at a little over two feet wide, it's not even worth trying to curl up if your legs don't fit."

My ride wasn't quite that bad, but it was almost impossible to get comfortable in the bizarre setup. Lets just leave it at, we were happy to get back. I've managed to get a few pictures from the trip online: http://www.flickr.com/photos/awolfe03