This blog does not, nor will it ever represent the views of the United States or Chinese government or the Peace Corps.. Because that's how I do what I do.

Monday, September 12, 2011

"Please watch my pizza home"

This weekend was a three day weekend, so a few (totally awesome) China 16's threw a welcome back/ welcome 17s/ birthday potluck. Now as I have this totally busy schedule of wandering around and trying to do lesson planning , I figured I could take some time out and go catch up/ meet the Chongqing 16s. ;)

Thank the lord I have a sitemate who is a 16, if E was not here I swear I would still be lost in the streets of CQ, the city itself is massive, and trying to find the subway from the "bus stop" would have been near to impossible. Now when I say bus stop in China I do not mean something that is easily distinguished as a bus stop. Most people would see it and say "oh hey another patch of road with some random people crowding around". Chinese people see it  and say "Why, what's the fuss? Clearly you can tell from that telephone pole and the people standing around that this is a bus stop". But we made it to the subway, and she left me with clear instructions on how to get to Shapingba, where one of my good friends from training, A, lives. The great thing about A is how chill she is, she, her boyfriend and I spent the afternoon with ice cream in our bellies, relaxing like the Posh Corps fat cats we truly are. :P

The dinner was a smashing success- and by smashing I mean I committed not only the first, but first and second party fouls- again- Chelsea, Katy and Richie if you read this at all- I'm sorry. Anyone close to me can tell you I don't have a hatred towards your feet, potato salad or beer bottles- I'm just an absolute klutz.

I ended up crashing at a friend's place, C, which I discovered was the grooviest apartment in Chongqing. The place looked like it came out of the 1970's complete with multicolored lighting and mirrors on the bed. We discovered some great little shops nearby her house which I'm sure will be visited many times during the next two years. :D

Sunday was probably the winner- through some help from A, C and I were able to find Suzie's Pizza home. This place is a haven for expats, in that it's homemade pizza with real cheese, a great owner, and it is really a hole in the wall. We were there for a good 2 or 3 hours, made friends with the owner, Suzie, who absolutely adores Peace Corps volunteers. We ended up helping her with some English, and she offered to have us come cook with her (which we are totally doing), and we spent a lot of time talking about why as a "old woman of 25" she doesn't need to travel or marry. The best part, we were eating, and Suzie gets a phone call, turns to us and tells us she has to make a delivery, and "could you please watch my pizza home, I will be back in 30 minutes". In my entire life, I have never been in a store/ shop/ restaurant/ cafe that the owner/ staff has just asked me to watch the till, and taken off for 30 minutes. It was really striking how much trust could be placed in us, when the only thing she knew about us, was that we were Peace Corps volunteers. That really struck home for me, as to why we were here, and the amount of respect people held for us being here.
Capped off a great day by going to Carrefour and stocking up on some Western food, got home after a lovely 3 hour commute and promptly collapsed into bed.

This kind of weekend isn't the norm, but it will definitely be some of the highlights of my experience here.
Much love, Megan

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