Market Day in Shaxi

Walking the animals through the town square:


Oh the meat section:










These are the products my homestay mother makes- thin sheets of bean paste?:

Kate and her homestay mother, who makes and sells noodles:

Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs:

A local Yi woman, getting medicine from the doctor's office:


Yummy spices:

Some scenic shots:

Late Night Outhouse Trip

Last night I opened the door of the outhouse, meaning hole in the ground next to the pigs, chickens, and geese, as my head lamp shone on one tarantula-like spider and another only slightly less intimidating spider. I tried to make my pee as nonthreatening as I could.
C'mon can I get a cookie?

On the Road Again ;)

Now we are on the road. I know I just explained my daily routine, but nothing is permanent here. This semester is a wonderful survey of life in Yunnan, China. But we are just wetting our feet, so we are on the move. Beginning last Saturday, for two weeks the entire group is traveling together to visually see more of Yunnan and it's nationality groups. Ethnic nationalities or minorities, as they are referred to, have an special role here because they give China uniqueness and definition. Without China's fifty-five ethnic nationalities' customs and dresses, what would China look like? A man in a suit? Although ethnic minorities only occupy about 7% of the population, they allow China to call themselves a "multi-national country". The Han majority, 93%, is really a group almost as the default.

As excited as I was to begin this new phase of the trip, I was equally nervous about traveling by bus as a big group. Something feels superficial about this form of travel- jump off the bus, make a big splash, then scurry off to the next place. Although I genuinely enjoyed myself in the first two locations, Weishan and Dali, I felt slightly disconnected from China.

In Weishan, we watched a local Yi ethnicity dance performance:

Evan getting into character:

From Weibaoshan Daoist mountain:

Calligrapher:

(The middle calligraphy painting is now in my possession)

Keli'i feeling extremely enthusiastic:

Before Dali, we visited a tie-dye factory, making tie-dye products is now a specialty of this region:


Our very own Bush Sr. also made this visit: (He is looking good in that tie-dye!)


But then you have a day like yesterday (4/15/09), when you realize how privileged you are to have the insider tour. Yesterday morning we visited a Bai ethnic village, with a model bi-lingual school. This school teaches both Bai language and Putonghua, standardized Chinese (mandarin), as a second language. The school also attempts to preserve traditional Bai culture by reviving and teaching local songs and dance. And oh man were the kids adorable! This school was established by a retired couple, husband from Australia, wife from China, supported by the organization SIL, initially known as Summer Institute of Linguistics. working to revive lesser-known languages.








Then that afternoon we found our night's residence, hidden within a mountain, was a beautiful Buddhist temple. Inside one of the temples were dorm rooms for the few visitors who frequent this special oasis. As we climbed up the steep set of stairs, I could feel the air begin to change. Life felt calm. Facing us was an enormous golden Buddha, with an wide-open smile. I just smiled back. The next morning we were greeted by monkeys.

The entrance:



Beth and I just sitting and enjoying the view:





Small hike to Shaxi, but still/always stunningly beautiful:

We started our hike in Shibaoshan, famous for ancient grottos:



Now, I just started my Shaxi rural village homestay. This place is wonderful. It is beginning to develop yet somehow attempting to maintain it's unique character. We will stay here for four days, doing a community study project to better understand China's rural life. I will begin my ISP topic, how rural TCM doctors learn their trade (compared with TCM university students).
Side note: my homestay mother has the warmest smile and it's just me and her fourteen year old daughter.

Homestay mother:
Father just got home that night:

A Cultural Interaction for the Record Books

Last weekend, Ali's homestay parents and mine requested we cook them an American dinner. Ali and I decided the easiest meal to manage with mostly Chinese ingredients was grilled cheese, tomato soup, a salad, and banana splits for dessert. I had been looking forward to using a kitchen and cooking my own food for the first time since I arrived here. After buying the ingredients at the Carrefour supermarket, Ali and I began what we thought would be a fun activity but turned into a disaster. Firstly, the cooking utensils and supplies made things difficult- woks are not the best for making grilled cheese sandwiches. This delayed the whole process and we anxiously tried to finish cooking while our families paced the living room and leaned over our shoulders. Okay finally finished, bon appetite... But they just stared at the food. It was like aliens had cooked them dinner and they didn't know what to do. Some brave soul picked up a grilled cheese with their chopsticks and took a nibble. Where was the sauce? They looked around and found the ranch salad dressing and packets of peanut butter (Ali's brother had bought them earlier). I tried to explain they could dip the grilled cheese in the tomato soup but who listens to the crazy person who brought this food upon them. They proceeded to ignore Ali and my instructions, and we watched them pour out the entire bottle of ranch on the salad and grilled cheese. Then someone started squeezing out the packets of peanut butter onto the lettuce. Luckily, there was also available yogurt in the refrigerator and that too was poured onto the food. It appeared they didn't want to even see the food, so they found every possible sauce to cover it up. Ali and I sat in the corner, in isolation and in shock. When we mentioned we still had to make dessert, there was silence. Their faces said it all- fear. I offered, maybe another day and they all breathed a sigh of relief. They would be more prepared next time the aliens made the food. They could also make their own. Never again.

Rooms and People Left behind

The Dorm Room:


Update on our Taijiquan:



My next residence- the Homestay room:


My personal squatter and shower area:

Final Supper. We ate the special dish of Kunming, "Across the Bridge Rice Noodles". We get a sizzling hot bowl with broth and then you pour the ingredients in, one at a time, and watch them all cook together.

My huge bowl of rice noodles:


The different ingredients:



Ali's Brother, Sky:
With my homestay dad: