My week

I've had a pretty busy week this week. Today is the first day we haven't run around all morning and afternoon. Well Stan's out right now with some guys on a day hike, but I'm at home relaxing a bit.

WARNING: Some of this talks about seeing raw meat. If that grosses you out, you may want to be careful.

Monday: I went to the market with a friend (see I do have some, and the market was a definite bonding experience :). We spent about an hour and a half looking around. She showed me good people to buy meat from, meaning those that will give foreigners a fair price. So we go up to their table with all of the cuts of meat laying out. After we figure out how much we want of which cut we pay and they put it in a plastic bag. It's like a butcher but no coolers and no nice packaging. If we want it ground up there is another 'vendor' to do that for 5 Mao (half a yuan) which is equivalent to about 7 cents. Let's just say I like to be quick in the meat section. Then on to the fruits and veggies. That part is a lot like the fresh market. Everything has been picked no more than the day before. It was fun. When I got home my house helper and I washed it all and got it ready for preparation. I made two meals this week: Pork tenderloin with corn and squash and meatloaf with mashed potatoes and broccoli. Both tuned out well for a first attempt. Monday was also Stan's Birthday so he and I went out to dinner while some friends watched the boys. When we returned to pick them up she had baked a cake for Stan to surprise him. It was great!

Tuesday: That morning I ran a few errands but to be honest I can't remember them. And that afternoon Stan and I went looking for furniture before coming home and getting ready for another night of dinner with friends. We were busy I just can't remember what we were doing.

Wednesday: We took a trip to the Old Town for shopping and lunch. Old Town is the original city complete with walls around it and our city has developed outside those walls. Same county, sometimes considered the same town but it take about 30 minutes by bus to get there. Not too bad. Anyway OT has become quite touristy but is still a great place to buy certain things. I got a purse, a table cloth and some locally grown coffee. We tried to get some marble vases but they did not want to give us a fair price. Since we weren't willing to get ripped off we will have to try again later. I bought a little change purse and the woman was asking an outrageous price for it. I tried to be nice and bargain for a more realistic price. At first she wouldn't budge so I told her it was ok, I would just go to Wal Mart to buy it cheaper. She caved. I struggle with this cause it isn't really expensive if you think $'s but I also don't think it's fair for me to pay more just cause I'm American. Anyway, since there are a lot of tourists there are also several Western restaurants. It's always a nice treat. We came home and got the boys settled in for their nap. Our house helper was there so Stan and I took off to order curtains and pick up our carpet. When we got home I cooked the tenderloin dinner.

Thursday: We still hadn't put our empty trunks in storage so Stan and I did that in the morning. It took several trips there in a taxi and back on the bus, but we got it done. After a quick lunch I went to the paint store (there are a few places to get really good paint) with a friend and her daughter. Then Stan met us so we could go to the used furniture market. It was like a flea market. We found a piece for our living room that was pretty close to what I was looking for. We paid equivalent of about $13 for a solid wood cabinet/end table. It will need to be refinished eventually. I think we paid a little too much for it but the lady wouldn't bargain at all until we did the 'walk away' thing. Like I said, great price to our standards but I still hate feeling like I'm taken advantage of. After we got our new piece home we made a quick trip to Wal Mart. We got back and I cooked the meatloaf dinner.

Friday: Stan is hiking and I'm blogging. I think once the boys nap I will try to organize this office. It's the only room I haven't gotten to yet. We have an adult night out with some couples so that will be fun.

As you can see, we've been busy. We feel very accomplished to get 1-2 things done each day. If we get more than that it's a very good day. We will be buying paint tomorrow and spending the boys sleeping hours doing that. No rest for us. I want to get as much as possible done before we have to start school. I start tutoring next week, so that will add studying into the mix. I think staying busy is a good thing for me right now. Helps me push through this culture shock.