Sent February 24, 2007

Hi everyone!
I hope that you all had a good last few days. Today is Sunday and I am just hanging out in my apartment because it is really cold and rainy outside. Humidity is something that I am unfamiliar with. The temperature isn't very cold but the humidity makes my fingers and toes go numb. I hate that.

So, I was really hoping to avoid any accidents here in China but I wasn't so lucky. Friday for lunch I wanted some rice so I was boiling water, The only pot we have is a pressure cooker. My mom had always told me they were dangerous but she never told me why. Well, i was trying to get the lid off because I wanted to see how much water was left in it. It was stuck so I kept trying to open it. My friend Doug said.. "uhhh I wouldn't try to force it open...it's like... under pressure." Yeah... I wish I would have listened because right after he said that KABOOM... the pot exploded and boiling water and steam went everywhere. It even shot the ceiling! I was very lucky because only my eyelids got the worst of it. I was just a little red for a day. Now I refuse to put lids on pots.

Yesterday we went to Changsha, the capital of the province. It was pretty much like a NYC but everything was in Chinese.... except for "WAL MART". We successfully found peanut butter there. Wal-mart is pronounced war-ma. haha. It is very different here. In the stores they have dead animals hanging everywhere. No really... Oh and our next door neighbor had chickens and fish hanging from the clothes line all week. Yummy.

On a lighter note, the bread here is purple. They make it with taro. I really like it. I like it more than American bread I think. It is delicious with peanut butter on it. But then again... what isn't delicious with a little P.B.? So far I have made two dishes that I like. One is rice with vegetables and the second is vegetables with rice. Who knew I could get so creative with food! I'm your average Martha Stewart. Or should I say Mahta Stoowaht.

Tomorrow is my first day of teaching. I am so excited. Ill let you all know how it goes. I hope that they don't think I am some dysfunctional American. I'll have to keep that a secret for as long as possible.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Elizabeth