Not much has happened since my last post, which I think is actually a good thing. I'm reluctant to wander around in the dark by myself, so I've been going back to the hotel by nightfall and spending my evenings with Saki and Melville. Did you know that Herman Melville actually went whaling and was shipwrecked and lived with savages and did all kinds of other extreme things? Well he did. If he can do that, surely I can survive my vacation.

I received a flurry of emails after my last post regarding my diet of ramen and peanuts. I have eaten several other things since then, but to date have only had two sit-down meals in Chengdu: a bowl of very sketchy noodles in a very sketchy noodle place, and a delightful lunch of bean sprouts and walnuts at the Wenshu Monastary's vegetarian restaurant. However, some of the best meals in China, I find, are those that you purchase here and there on the street. A kuai's worth of spicy tofu skin here, 5 mao of sesame seed cake there, and you're golden. Most of my time in
Chengdu, apart from the interminable hours of sleeping, has been spent wandering around, always a favorite activity of mine in any city. I wandered so much the first day that I actually sustained a minor injury to my knee, and, because I don't want to go back to Smith walking like Gregory House, I said goodbye to my worn out brown Pumas and bought a new pair of sneakers. It made me very sad to ditch the Pumas, but it would be even sadder to have to shell out for orthopedic surgery so I bit the bullet. At least I'm responsible for my well-being in some aspects.

The Sichuanese have been taking their tea-drinking very seriously for over 3000 years, and when in Chengdu I think it is well worthwhile to put in some time at one of the many teahouses that line the streets and fill the parks. My first day I went to a tea house in one of the parks and read Moby Dick with my bottomless teacup for a few hours. It's been chilly and damp, unfortunately, but that hasn't stopped me. While drinking my tea I was interrupted several times with offers of Mary Kay sunscreen, foot massages, and "ear cleaning," which is done with an assortment of terrifying-looking bamboo rods. I said no thank you.

Yesterday I spent most of the day at the aforementioned Wenshu Monastary, which I've decided may be one of my favorite places in China. I went there the last time I was in Sichuan, in March, and thought it deserved another visit. In their teahouse, I spent about an hour talking to an ancient, toothless Chinese man about Anna Karenina, Dream of the Red Chamber, and how I really should visit Shanghai. I understood much, but not all, of what he said, and it was valuable language practice, but it's difficult for me to relax when approached by strangers. Since I was a little girl I've been told not to talk to strangers, and it's a hard habit to break.

Tonight I leave Chengdu for Xichang. In a moment of insanity, I purchased a hard seat, which is kind of worrying me. I expect it will be very uncomfortable. From Xichang I leave immediately for Luguhu, where the principal of the school I'm going to has said he would pick me up. Please keep me in your thoughts or prayers, if you're into that, over the next few days, because the Chengdu to Luguhu stretch of the trip is in some ways probably the trickiest. I don't think there will be internet access in Lugucun (the "cun" is what gives it away - it indicates village) but there will be stories galore when I am back in civilization.