Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Chengdu and the Peace Corps

More details to come later...
So, I was on to Chengdu, a large city in SW China where I actually knew someone...well, my sister worked with her before she quit her job on joined the Peace Corps (impressive move), and she was assigned to go teach English in China. After a random email, she offered to let me stay in her extra bedroom, so I ended up hanging out with Kelly and some of her Peace Corps friends for the weekend, experiencing a bit of the local life in Chengdu. She graciously took me along to bars, restaurants and even a rugby tournament that they were hosting, where I got to help out as one of the officials, though I don't really know the rules, but it's easy enough to tell when a ball is in or out. The promise of all you can eat buffets, including one pizza buffet, had such great potential for the weekend, though the buffets both ended with a bit of disappointment as they were both mostly empty by the time we got there. Nevertheless, I did get to enjoy a "Philly Cheesesteak" and some street food - random meats and vegetables on a skewer, cooked over an open flame. All in all, it was a good time, always nice to have a real place to just relax and not worry about your belongings or next travel arrangements for a while. Thanks Kelly.


(A view of one of the main rivers that runs through Chengdu, taken from the Bamboo Temple.)

(Another temple in China. These things are everywhere.)


(Another river. In Chengdu, these things are also everywhere. The name of the province, Sichuan, means four rivers.)


(Willow trees, water and fishermen...trust me, they're there. They're just hiding from the camera and the fish. Clever move.)


(I stayed in a hostel for one night to arrange my travel permits, and I actually found it to be the best hostel that I've ever seen. They even had a wonderful restaurant with cheap prices - I opted for the green beans, beef and chili. As you can see, it was amazing. Yes, you can see amazing taste from a picture - this is proof.)

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