Peanut butter and tuna, can I get a hallelujah!

Yesterday was our first day to go shopping without our student-helpers to show us the way and translate for us. Food shopping is a puzzlement and a lot of guess-work, and without translators we start asking questions in English. Yesterday a store clerk ran outside to a near-by store and brought in a girl who could speak some English. She helped us find a bag of frozen dumplings that had pork filling, rather than cat meat or who-knows-what else. I didn't know what most of the meat was, but one package clearly appeared to be frozen octopus legs. Our biggest and most surprising finds were tuna fish, peanut butter and oatmeal! Wahoo. We didn't expect to find such American treasures here but they were tucked away in an obscure corner of the store. When eating out, our biggest difficulty so far has been ordering food that's so spicy you need a fire hose to cool you off after eating. As flames were shooting out of my mouth, our student-helpers simply said, "In Xi'an, food is very spicy."

By minimal water consumption, I was able to manage our first day out without using a public restroom and that's an experience I've yet to have. Chinese bathrooms are holes in the floor; nothing to sit on and no flushing. You must provide your own t.p. I know I'll have to give in eventually, but I'm postponing the experience as long as possible. (Probably Monday, when classes start.) Fortunately, we have a western toilet in our apartment.

Whenever we go out, I feel people looking at us. Although there are a number of foreign teachers from various countries here, we're a small drop in the bucket here and quite noticeable in public. The Chinese are very polite and they don't stare (except little children) but you can see and feel the eyes on you. The day our student-helpers were with us, their friends all were very aware that they were the ones escorting the foreigners and I sensed it was a big deal.

I haven't seen a blue sky yet in Xi'an. There's a haze that blocks it and the sun out and I assume it's pollution, but I don't smell anything and my eyes don't sting. So the pollution situation isn't an issue; at least not yet.