Day 18- just a big kid at heart

It felt GLORIOUS to sleep in this morning, and I woke up to a beautiful blue sky and a blessed mountain view out my window. I checked my phone and the AQI was only 25- great day in the morning!  Surprisingly, I was not sore when I got out of bed, after yesterday's trek across the mountains.  Fortified with a Cuban coffee and a breakfast burrito (have I told you how happy I am to have found tortillas in China?!) I was ready to start my day.  I was supposed to join a group of new teachers to go to the Silk Market, but I was afraid it would be an all day and all evening affair.  I really needed the day to take care of school stuff- lesson planning for the week, setting up my grade books, and getting a start on grading the AP Summer Projects that were turned in on Friday.

By about 1pm, I couldn't take it anymore,  It was too pretty outside, and it seemed criminal to stay in the apartment all afternoon.  I got on my bathing suit, grabbed a towel, an iced tea, and a bag of projects to grade.  I had the best of intentions, until...

...this bunch of cuteness descended upon me.  One by one they would come
up and say Ni hau!  I would say Ni Hau!  They would say Hi!  I would say
Hi! Then they would giggle and take off running.  One by one, they did this
 over and over until we were cracking ourselves up :)))  I finally got them all
together for a picture...this is Zoey (8), Garrett (8), and David (6).  You
should have seen their faces when they guessed how old I was- lol!

Because it was a holiday, and a beautiful day at that, all sorts of people
were out in the courtyards of our apartment complex, walking their
babies and puppies, kids were playing, people were exercising, and
one lady brought her turtle collection out in the beautiful sunshine.
Because turtles enjoy the bright blue sky, too?!

I guess turtles need sunshine and some lovin', too.

So I squatted with the rest of them, and listened intently as she told us all
about her turtles.  I have no idea what she was saying...it was likely
her grandmother's recipe for the best. turtle. soup. ever.

So I became friends with the turtles too, before they end
up in a hot pot somewhere.  They were very pretty, I must say.

She must have thought I was really interested, as she went
back to her apartment and came back with this BIG turtle.
Was this the momma, I tried to ask?  I have no earthly idea.

But, to be polite, I posed for a picture with her turtle.
And now we are friends for life.  She, the turtles,
and me.  I have to wonder what her apartment smells like?

David took his momma's phone and started snapping
pictures, too.  He was adorable.  All Chinese children
are adorable, in my book.  Their Mandarin chatter
in their little voices is too cute for words.  It cracks me up.
Every time.

I showed them pictures of the loggerhead turtle I saw in the Keys a few weeks
ago, which lead to dolphin pics, and shark pics...they were enthralled with
the pics on my iPhone.  Thank God for iPhones to bridge the communication gap!

And pretty soon, the afternoon was over, and people were returning to their homes to begin their supper.  Playing all afternoon with the kids "flung a cravin' on me" (as Paps would say) for some beanie weenies.  You know, keeping with the kid theme and all...

I bought some 'hot dogs' last week, and I found a can of pork n' beans on one of my grocery excursions.  The day I found curry, I also found brown sugar, and I brought ketchup with me to China. Just. in. case.  It seemed I had all the ingredients for the perfect kid's meal.

Now, not reading Mandarin, the package had corn on the
front of it, and the 'hot dogs' sort of looked like....well...
umm... I can't even say.  Anyhow, I thought maybe the 'hot
dogs' were vegetarian, as most meat is incredibly suspect over
here in China.  I began to slice in to the 'hot dogs' and I
thought they were cheese dogs.  Nope, that's not cheese.
Cheese is a rarity here in China.  That's corn in them there weiners!

Great.  I'm trying to make beanie weenies with hot dogs that look like weiners, that look like turds that already has corn in them.  Reallllyyyy????  I decide to just go with it and hope for the best.  I cut the corn-y turds up, threw in the can of beans (they looked normal at least), added ketchup and brown sugar.  Except wait...the brown sugar, now in my pan of corn/turd/beans does not look like the dark brown sugar from back home.  What is this stuff?!  I taste it...it tastes like molasses.  Great.  In goes way more ketchup.  Because one thing my niece Kristal has taught me, everything tastes better with ketchup- LOTS of ketchup!

In about 2.2 minutes (because these gas burners here are blazin' hot!) I had
the perfect kids meal...corny beanie weenies, milk with ice ('cause no kid
likes to drink her milk when it gets warm) and Oreo cookies for dessert.

I must remember to pack my new box of crayons for my first Mandarin class that begins this week :) 

G'nite y'all; it's past this kid's bedtime!