Little Italy

A photo of Franchesco. Franchesco is a lovely Italian man that I have met here in Zhongshan. I was able to go his uncles Italian restaurant, eat broccoli and cheese, and watch the Dream Show that my fellow teachers and I stared in a week ago. It was really interesting to have that fifteen minutes of fame and to also watch myself perform on Chinese television. Although the dance/tv thing isn't really my scene I can at least check "be on television" off my bucket list...

 

Lunar Market

I traveled to the Lunar Market the other day with no prospect in mind other than to provide some documentation through my lens. I was glad to walk through and see the local vendors and all of the flea market treasures. I stumbled upon a row of shops and heard the chirps of countless birds, it was so exciting to see all the different species but had to restrain myself from releasing them from their cages. 

Today is the half way point; I left America two months ago and fear that my time here is slipping through my fingers.

Tea tasting is always great here and couldn't help but pick up some rustic wood tea to take back home. 

This little girl couldn't help her curiosity and followed me around from shop to shop, most of the time ducking out of view of my camera. 

Δ

I wish I was one of those people that could just write, and have it be enjoyable for myself and the reader, but I think I've come to terms with it; that's just not a skill that I have. I wish I could explain what was going on around me or the thoughts going through my head. I can't seem to give it any justice. I'll just continue rambling with half thought out ideas, and a photo here and there. Here's my life, and here's a part in China... 

Here or There

Woman on the Mountain

#neonwhales

I've just returned from a trip to Sanya in Hainan. The journey there was adventure enough; Cade and I stayed up the whole night before our trek so we could sleep through the eleven hour train ride (which was completely successful). We boarded a charter bus at six in the morning to get to Guangzhou by nine to make our train to Haikou. Unfortunately the train was late and we missed our connecting train from Haikou to Sanya. Not willing to camp out in the train station for five hours, we splurged on a cab and found ourselves at our hostel at 4:00 in the morning after a three hour ride, and twenty-two hours of traveling. I mumbled apologies to the other vacationers staying in my room that I 

awoke at that unholy hour, just so relieved to rest my bones.

Sanya was an experience, although I spent much more than I would have liked, I have no regrets from the trip. I sprinted for a train, bought pearls, ate delicious street food, watched local artists, scuba dived, met some people from my home state, pool hopped, hiked to a lighthouse in the middle of the night, played in the ocean, collected coral, bought tea, skinny dipped, slept on a filthy train, and rambled around. Out of everything, my favorite time was spent sitting on the beach under the light of the moon, talking all night with good friends. 

It feels good to be back in Zhongshan, it has never felt more like home. 

Untitled Number One

On a trail to Tianbao Mansion... I discussed the Earth's rotation with this curious creature. 

Looking at the World Through the Sunset in Your Eyes

There are many different ideas in my head when I think of traveling by train. First I think of the song Merrakesh Express my Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Last summer a friend of mine had it stuck in her head, and now it's permanently embedded in my mind. I know China and Morocco and very different places but still the lyrics continue to run through my head...

Sweeping cobwebs from the edges of my mind

Had to get away to see what we could find

Hope the days that lie ahead

Bring us back to where they've led

Listen not to what's been said to you.

Oh! Don't you know we're riding on the Marrakesh Express! Ah I just love it. Second, I think of Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited, one of my favorite movies of all time. Since that film, It has been a dream of mine to travel in India on a soft sleeper. I can't wait for that adventure, but this post is not about that. it's about this photo from my latest experience, a trip to the Avatar Mountains in Hunan, China. Which brings me to my third train thought: sleeping on the middle bunk, surrounded by a Chinese family, passing by hours of beautiful countryside. This is the scene that I awoke to the morning after I boarded the hard sleeper train to Zhangjiajie and had one of the greatest experiences of my life.

A Post for Sara

A few photos taken around my new home in Zhongshan, China.