Tishira Echols - May 5, 2010

Today, I had a blast!

I woke up and went to Chinese class, which was fun, as always. After class I took a short nap. When I awakened, I walked outside to visit my friend Ka Ka at the night market. While visiting with him, he introduced me to his big sister. I had a bit of trouble conversing with her because I did not understand everything she was saying in Chinese and she did not speak much English. She was very nice, though, and since it was hot outside, she told me I should pick out a dress. I politely explained that I did not have any money, but that I would come back another day. In the meantime, Ka Ka gave me a book to look through to see if there were any designs I liked and told me he would give me a dress for 50 RMB because we were friends. Usually, he only bargains as low as 65 RMB for the local people.

While I was looking through the view book, I heard someone call my name. It was Rodney's language partner. We exchanged greetings and he introduced me to his girlfriend. She was very shy, but we had fun finding a dress for her and she helped me find a dress that would look nice on me, so I would know exactly what I wanted to buy next time.

Later that evening, around nine o'clock, Rodney, his language partner, and I walked to a Mexican restaurant, called "Behind the Wall" to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, with some of Rodney's Hispanic friends. It was a lot of fun. Rodney's language partner tasted Mexican food for the first time, and loved it! We also played "UNO" together. Patrick joined us, as well as a Chinese couple who was sitting in the corner. In the end, we played a game that was a mix between Spanish, American, and Chinese "UNO." It was great because we were all able to communicate with each other and everyone learned new words in a different language. I look forward to many more times like this in China.


Tishira Echols