The new "hood".

     Like I said before, I had Charlie to show me around.  I found that China is full of a bunch of small neighborhoods that are commonly referred to as "villages".  I found out that each village is guarded on both sides by barricades as people have to pay a fee to park their cars in that neighborhood.  It allows them to control the traffic in and out.  I live in a small "complex" that consists of two other buildings, guarded by a gate.  I forgot a pic of the gate, but it is similar to the one in front of my school (the next post).  When you go through the gate, you pass the other building (pic at bottom), from which emanates construction noise.  It seems that they are working 24/7/365.  Oh the noise, noise, noise!  My window faces this noise so for me, it is the worst!

     Once I walked up to the 5th floor, for the first time, and saw my room, I realized that I would have to do a bit of shopping.  It is KILLING ME to buy crap for my kitchen that I own 5 of at home.  I was told it was "fully furnished", but apparently that was the same lie that got a lot of the other teachers here as well.  So, back down the 5 flights to hit the local "open air market", which is a polite way of saying markets on and in the street.  For that, you go out the back gate of the complex.

     One of the stores I seem to have to hit almost every single day, is the Chinese version of the dollar store, where nothing is a dollar.  There are 2 or three little shops selling all kinds of crap.  Stuff like a fan, because we only have one window and therefore there is no breeze.  I bought 2 buckets to do dishes with.  Doing dishes is like camping.  You wash everything, rinse everything, and then use a bucket of boiling water to sterilize the dishes.  I put my drying rack on top of the washing machine.  The area is so cramped, I wound up slicing open my elbow on a knife that was sticking up when I went to turn around to leave the "kitchen".

     All along the street there are street stalls that cook food for you to eat on a stool or carry home, as well as small open places to "eat in".  You can get a complete hot meal for  7-15rmb, but it will cost you 35rmb for a jar of peanut butter, 45rmb for a jar of jelly, and 5-10rmb for 6 slices of bread.  Your hot meal will contain mostly noodles or rice, some veggies, and you might find a scrap of meat gristle.  For 25rmb, you might get up to a dozen small scraps of meat.  What kind of meat you ask?  Remember, the two options are don't eat or don't ask.  I would rather just call it pork, beef, or chicken and live with that.