no pics!?

Due to a technical problem (I.E. my stupidity), I have no pictures to share today.  I do have a few stories:

The night before last Steve and I went out to a strip of bars where college aged kids gather to drink and listen to live music.  All kinds of alcohol were 20x more expenisve in bars than in stores, but we made it happen.  There was a latin “band” (none of them played instruments, they just sang) in one bar (which I will add a video of to this post tonight or tomorrow) who were very talented.  I made friends with the bartender there, and we met another American from Washington, D.C.  He claimed to be 21, even showing me his ID, but he looked like he was in his mid 30s.  I guess one would have no reason to bring a fake ID claming to be younger to China, but it was really hard to believe.  I exchanged email addresses with the bartender.  The night ended with a very amusing cab ride in which Steve and I shouted Chinese phrases at the driver (which had no relation to our needs in the cab) which made him laugh.  We couldn’t stop laughing, and I think it was slightly infectious.

YO JI SHIR

PIJIU!

NI JIAO SHENME MINGZI!?

SIGUA!!!

 I went to sleep immediately upon returning home.  I woke up five hours later unable to breathe.  I was having an asthma attack, a real one.  My family, I’m sure, remembers when Dad dissasembled the clothes dryer in Parkland and the dust made my breathing nearly impossible, until I had to be attended to by a doctor.  The sound of my wheezing was worse than that, and my breathing was almost as labored.  I used the yellow inhaler (albuteral) and coughed up a lot of nasty looking stuff and eventually came to a point where I was no longer afraid.  I was quite alarmed when I awoke, though.

I still haven’t been to Jerry’s, and it seems like I may not.  Today should have been the day, but when I asked him he said “It is very far from here.” And I’m unsure of how to interpret this…

 Either way I am going to a home this afternoon.  If I do not go with Jerry, I will go with Anne to wherever she is going.

Yesterday was fairly uneventful.  We went out for Peking Duck.  Again, the duck was probably the 15th dish to come out.  The table was overflowing so that when the center turned, plates were knocking over glasses and everyone left with dirty clothes.  I didn’t want to infect the table with my illness, so I used a fork to serve myself and chopsticks to eat it.  I couldn’t explain this reasoning to my Chinese table mates and they thought my behavior most odd.  Mr. Han asked if I miss my parents.  I said “Yes, very much.  I miss my dog, too.”  Through translation, he thought this was beyond hilarious.  He said, “In China, very few people love thier dogs.”  My love for Karma is pretty abberant in America, too, but I do love her.  I do miss her.  I hardly had her back and now she is gone, again.  She probably thinks I am not coming back…

 I AM, KARMA!  Oh, and thanks for looking up habitude for me.  You are one smart pup.

So after lunch yesterday I went to bed.  I feel like I am on the mend today.  Still feeling crappy, but getting better. 

Mom:  How many days do I take the antibiotic for a respritory infection?

All right, until tomorrow I wish well to my friends and family.  I wish these things after tomorrow, too, of course.