The Gift of the Ayi

My new ayi is a pretty bomb cook. I came home to a clean apartment and a fridge stocked with some goodies. Goodies = spicy things. She comes every other day to clean and will be delivering my lunch daily to school. Not to brag, but I'm spoiled and I may be in love.

I also love the color of the carrots here :)

Peppers in My Veggie Bin

Pizza!

I eat Chinese food every day, and I haven't managed to take any pictures. I promise they are coming because it really is so delicious and spicy, especially the bbq. But to take a break, Jessica and I ordered from Mike's Pizza the other night and had an amazing dinner. Pepperoni and mushroom pizza, garlic twists with marinara, and sprite soda = yummy. I really loved the pizza boxes with the panda! I got a little homesick for some Austin's Pizza but this was a great substitute. Now if only I could find a substitute for some Double Dave's pizza rolls...

My Walk Home

This is the sidewalk leading up to my apartment, which is to the right of the picture. So green! My entire apartment complex is very nice with huge trees, plants, birds, and more plants. Apparently, they spent a lot of money on putting in the full-sized trees but I enjoy it very much. My walk home is probably less than five minutes. I'm really paying back my 45 minute commute of last year!

Piggy from the Market

Lately, I've been trying to pick up one thing that I've never tried before each time I go to the market. There are so many things that I've never even seen before! This little guy looked so cute and like a safe bet... how could he not be just as sweet on the inside??  Well, he's not. First, I was disappointed to see that he had no legs. I was expecting him to stand on the plate, but the plastic legs are hollow on the inside. He was also quite stinky- just not very appetizing after coming out of the packaging. But, Jessica and I decided to eat him anyway. Why not? We both took one bite and had had enough. Not very tasty! But still very cute and worth the picture. Next time at the market, I'll try something else new!

I'm a Survivor, What!

Sometimes I really miss Destiny's Child. But that's not the point of this post. The "point" is pictured above and below, and may or may not be my new classroom/personal pet. Look at that thing, just look at it! How did I acquire such a cute and adorable little thing? Oh, you know, just feeding it to my other classroom pet, Kali the ball python. How did I become so attached? Because this thing is not only cute and cuddly but it's one bad mutha-shut-yo-mouth. Well, not really. Kali is about to molt and has decided that she only wanted one of her two delicious hamsters. This hammy got away and has evaded Kali for over 48 hours in the cage. So, I took the poor thing out... big mistake. I don't think I can put it back in when Kali is hungry again...

I will post pictures of Kali after the molt. She has not been very active lately, and I don't want to handle her until after she has shed!

First Day of School Complete!

Day 1 is over and done! Today, I met all of my new students, and I'm gonna have to say, I'm seriously excited to be starting another school year! This year, I will be teaching Biology and AP Bio, Chemistry, Physics, 12-year old Mathematics, and Advanced Math 1......  That's six preps, geez oooohhhh my... think I can do it??

The picture above is of my classroom, the new science lab! I'm hoping to get some more decorations on the wall soon! I should really post a before and after picture because it looks completely different from just 24 hours ago! Any and all math and science suggestions welcomed!!

Cushion Making in Chengdu

Found myself taking a break on the sidewalk to watch these men cut and make cushions. Okay not the most exciting thing I've done in Chengdu, but interesting enough. First, they cut the cushion with a hot wire, which produces a stinky and unhealthy melting cushion smell. Then, they stuff the cushion into a pretty cushion case. I may buy some of these for my apartment in the future.

Notice the old sewing machine in the background!

A Trip to the Tibetan Quarter

Jessica and I visited the Tibetan Quarter over the weekend and went full tourist. These statues are all over the place and are so ornate that you could easily spend a few hours looking at all the details, especially some of the more graphic ones (and I mean graphic!).  Not too bad for a rainy afternoon!

A short break from Chinese cuisine.

Yes, yes I know I'm in China, but there are so many good restaurants in Chengdu. Jessica, Angie, and I went to Cacaja on Friday evening to have some Indian food. It was delicious! We had vegetable curry, palak paneer, and chicken biryani with beer, naan, and all the extras for less than $20 total. I can't wait to go back!

Afterwards, we had a tough time getting home when the cab driver tried to drop us off at an unfamiliar and seemingly scary location. Since our Mandarin is severely limited at this point, we just yelled "no" and refused to get out of the car. After several minutes, Jessica looked ahead and on the opposite side of the street, then realizing we were actually home.  Ooops! I'm sure we scared the poor guy into never picking up another foreigner. Lesson learned!

What lurks in the squatty potty...

Crickets! While not especially frightening, these things look pretty alien. I've found quite a few in my apartment (mostly in my guest bathroom) and have accepted these critters as my new standard cockroach. I'm still using catch-and-release, but I may have to seek other options if this problem persists.

As this is my second post, I should explain the purpose of this blog. This site is for my friends, family, and anyone who cares about my daily life in China. I hope to post a picture and short description every day or every other day to keep everybody updated. I have not enjoyed writing essays since the "How to make a PB&J" incident of 1997, so to keep this manageable, I will only be writing short descriptions and stories. But I do like taking pictures and have no shame when taking hundreds of macro shots. So please enjoy and feel free to post comments and critiques (nothing political please!).

Miss you and tex-mex already!

After ten days in the city, I finally get a VPN :D

Because the inside of my apartment is a bit of a mess at the moment, here's a picture of the bonsai tree on my patio. This sucker is HEAVY! but beautiful.

Still working on settling into my new digs. Chengdu is an amazing city! More to come!