Rebecca A. Foster

It has been raining every day for almost two weeks straight in Chongqing. I don’t do well without enough sunshine. I feel really blah and sad. There is a reason I love San Antonio so much: abundant sunshine and delicious food. I miss home. And rain makes my sinus problems flare up. I would not have done well on the Ark. Okay, enough whining, onto the topic of the post: I took this picture on the street over the weekend. The man tried to block my camera, which normally doesn’t happen here, so I figured something must be up. I asked a student, and she said it’s illegal to sell teeth on the street like this. I asked her what animal this is, and she didn’t know. A Google search revealed that teeth from Tibetan wolves are thought to be good luck charms, but I have no clue if these are the jaw bones of Tibetan wolves. But the little jaws in a pile like this made me feel queasy.  Queasy story #2: We ate a big bowl of Xiang La Xia (香辣虾)“Fragrant Spicy Shrimp” for dinner last weekend...

There is a phenomenon of giving directions in China that I still don’t understand: people will only give you directions to the next block. For example, “Go straight ‘til the next intersection, then turn left.” Now, you as a Westerner might think that means that after you turn left, you’ll be there. Oh no, my friend. This is just the beginning. If you don’t see what you’re looking for after you turn left, you ask someone else, and get the next set of directions. You will keep doing this, block after block, until you arrive at your destination. This happened to V. and I when we were in Chengdu for training. I needed to get to Tiffany & Co.* to get some jewelry cleaned, and he came with me. I didn’t know where Tiffany was exactly, but I figured it was downtown near the other big shops. Turns out it was in a new shopping plaza built a little zig-zaggy ways away from where we were. It took four sets of directions to get us there. Yup, that’s about right. Also, be aware: you will alw...

Breaking news: in three weeks, I'm being taken to 'China's Hawaii', an island located off the south coast of China called Hainan. Here's a picture: I know, I was surprised too! It's a gift, and I'm extremely grateful for it. And excited! We stay for a week, and I return a few days before I leave for America. I won't know what to do with all that sunshine, but I'll be nice and rested for my trip back to the U.S. Okay, a few more tidbits about my weekend trip: We visited a place with one of those swing-y bridges: I love bridges , but they also make me dizzy; when I was 15, I was hiking with my dad and fainted off the side of a foot bridge into a river. The little girls wanted to cross the bridge, so I sucked it up, grabbed their hands, and away we went. A large sign at the entrance says not to swing the bridge, but why get on a swingy bridge if you're not going to swing it? So of course, quite a few boys got on and started monkeying away. The littl...

I love World War II pin-up girl art, so I got a kick out of these hand towels I found while shopping online for indie artist Christmas gifts for my friends. Too pricey for me to justify buying, but cute. And she has some other great items, including unique laptop satchels and Guinness and Pabst beer can rings. You gotta see 'em to believe 'em. Another great indie artist find: these fun luggage tags. The blue, pink and orange ones are on my various bags right now. Towels, shanalogic.com, $20 each (laptop satchels $80, rings $40) Luggage tags, pamelabarsky.com, $12 for the set

The joke about this ring is not that I got it at Swatch (which I did), but that it's a cherry . I wear it on my ring finger. I have a silly sense of humor. Little jokes like this make me laugh. Swatch actually has some pretty cool rings. They are stainless steel, not sterling silver, but don't contain any nickel (which I am highly allergic to. A sign of my aristocratic genes, I'm sure.) They also had an apple ring, and some avant-garde designs. But the cherry was not to be passed up. swatch.com, about $50. P.S. I took this with my camera phone. How have I not had a camera phone before now? I wish I had a cell phone that only texts and and picture messages and browses the internet. I'm not a phone talker. Plus I like texting during church. Keeps me awake.