I don't quite know where to start this. Maybe I'll just start at the beginning, that's always a good choice. So, one of our Chinese friends, we'll call him Thomas, whom we met at our school, recently asked Rachel and I if we would like to come to his dad's birthday party. We of course agreed we would like to go, but when the day came, Rachel had work she needed to do, so that left me to have the adventure. On hindsight, this was a better arrangement for reasons that will be made clear soon. So this is kind of a big deal because a lot of our Chinese friends are sometimes afraid of what we'll think when we see their humble beginnings. But in the weeks and travel prior to arriving at Thomas' lǎojiā (the literal English translation for this word is "old home", but is meant to denote where one was born and raised), he kept saying how his parents were poor and didn't have much money. That didn't surprise me, I was much looking forward to seeing the "real China". He also mentioned how we would have to hike over a mountain to get to parents' house. He thinks he's preparing me, but all the while, I just get more excited.

So the day finally comes for me to go out to his parents' place. It starts off normal with a bus ride, not the city transport bus, but a city to city bus. About an hour and a half after leaving Nanning, we arrive in a fairly small town called Du'an. From there, we hop in a little three wheel cart and head out of Du'an for about a half hour and we make it to his friends' parents' place where we have some dinner. (Below is the picture of me with Thomas' friends and the guy's parents)

By the time we're leaving their place, it's starting to get dark, but we venture on. We then hop in another three wheel cart for about fifteen minutes when we're dropped off at Thomas' sisters' place where he says we must say a quick hello. Surprisingly, it was a quick stop, but before leaving, his sister gives us a flashlight (torch). As we're walking out of her place, Thomas points at the mountain behind her place and says his parents live on the other side. He was not lying. The trailhead was right by his sister's place and by the time we make it to the start, our flashlights are on. The hike took a good forty-five minutes to an hour with the first half of the hike being uphill. I remember at one point as we're still hiking uphill, I asked Thomas how far we were and he said "A little bit further and we will be halfway." We finally make it to his parents' house about nine in the evening. A lot of family has come for the celebration. Though we've eaten dinner, they insist on killing another chicken and preparing another meal. Finally, about midnight, I'm able to lay down and try to sleep. Surprisingly, I fall asleep. How do I know? Because at 4:30 in the morning I am suddenly awoke by the bloodcurdling scream of a pig that just had it's neck slit. The scream slowly fades, but unfortunately I do not. And about an hour later, it's time for the goat to have his turn.

I get out of bed shortly after this because I'm not getting sleep anyway and that's when I pull out the camera and begin to try to capture the beauty of the scenery and the fun of a family celebration. Now Thomas has a big family, eight kids all together, so there were plenty of people. The hard part was not understanding anything. Thomas and his family are of the Zhuang minority, the largest minority in China with an est. 18 million people, so they speak Zhuang, which is different to what I'm learning. But I had fun anyway and I'll stop here and post some pictures for you see.

By the time I got up, this is what I saw of the squealing pig.

And this is me trying a bowl of prepared goat's blood. I did not finish the bowl.

It's moments like these that make me tap into my Deutscher-ness.

Here I'm toasting the man of honour.

And finally, here's some shots of the scenery. . .

A while ago, you might remember me saying I had some 5 or so different types of flour in my pantry. Well I think I'm down to maybe 4 now, thankfully as I'm not too impressed with our new house guests, the weevils, who think our flour supply is 'da bomb'. And it never ceases to amaze me, how many food items we can make ourselves here despite lacking certain ingredients or small ovens or natural elements being against us.

Jason has been messing around with a pita bread recipe for the last few months. His second to last go was pretty darn good with about 60% actually having the "pocket" inside! So when our friend called the other day, saying it was his wife's birthday and her choice of cuisine for the evening was Mediterranean, and could Jason do the pitas if our friend does the lamb?...well of course Jason couldn't say no. How many people? Um...20...which turned into 30...which at last count was 40 people. So bless his heart, he bit his lip and set to making pita bread from 9am to 5pm and boy does he look good kneading bread! Kneading the dough for more than 90 pitas is a fabulous upper-body work-out. Single guys reading this might like to take note -- as soon as you mention you can make bread, she will melt like putty in your arms! Well, I guess that's not the point really. The end of the story is that he had about a 95% success rate, his pitas where the hit of the party and the Chinese actually ate the Mediterranean food (after they stared it down and poked at it for about 1/2 hour), the dough apparently multiplied because we have left-overs (hooray!) and Jason has vowed never to make that many pita breads in one shot ever again!

For good measure and if you ever find yourself in a country where Mediterranean food is as scarce as hen's teeth, here's the recipe. (Oh, no! We're turning into a food blog!)

Jason's Pita Bread Recipe (aka But how do you get the pocket?)

250 grams or 1 4/5 cups white bread flour

250 grams or 2 cups and 2 tsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp yeast

1/2 tsp granulated sugar

300 mls water at body temperature

2 tbs vegetable oil, preferrably olive oil (but not if you're making for 40 people -- especially if they are Chinese)

*Sift the flours and the salt into a large bowl. Some grains from the whole-wheat flour will be caught in the sifter, tip them into the bowl and make a well in the centre. In a separate small bowl, cream the yeast and sugar with 1 tbs of the water. Add the yeast mixture and oil to the well in the flour, with enough of the water to make a firm but soft dough. Note: if you are using instant yeast, you can skip the creaming step.

*Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until it is smooth, supple, and elastic: about 15 minutes. It will be quite stiff at first but will stretch and become easier to work after a few minutes. Place it in a lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat evenly with oil, then cover with a damp dish towel and leave to rise for about 1 1/2 hours, until it has doubled in sizes.

*Divide the dough into eight pieces and shape each into a ball. Roll out on a lightly floured work surface to the characteristic pita oval, about 9 inches long and a quater-inch think. Cover with the dish towel again and leave to proof for about 20 minutes

*Punch down the dough, knead for 2-3 minutes, then rest, covered for 10 minutes.

*Preheat the over to 218 C or 425 F. Dust two baking sheets lightly with flour and preheat in the oven for 5 min. (Or if your oven is only big enough to do two pitas at a time as ours is, you can skip this step after the first batch).

*Place the ovals of bread on the two hot baking sheets and return them to the oven immediately. Bake for 5-10 min until the breads puff up. Wrap in a clean dry cloth to keep the crusts soft, because the breads, can dry out fairly quickly. If you're making enough to feed a hungry mob, wrap the freshly cooked pitas in a towel and store in an esky or ice box depending on the country you're in (minus the ice of course) to keep warm.

I too can cook -- here's my Baba Ganoush and my fake Tabbouleh with couscous instead of bulgur wheat. We do what we can here! Still tastes pretty good...

Swimming. Across the cultures, sun or no sun, like a tan or don't like a tan -- there's nothing like going for a dip in the pool when the weather is a whopping 35 C with 70 something % humidity. And Chinese children are no exception. So wether it's the mummies playgroup or the orphanage I volunteer at several times a week, you can be sure a fun time is always to be had by all. So bring on the summer holidays! Bring on the pool, the sunscreen, the ghastly swimming caps and the never ending trips to the toilet (I tell you, the kids drink half the pool and then pee it all out again). All the screaming, chinese babies telling you "Wǒ xǐhūan yóu yǒng!", and sore arms from multiple children hanging from you. But then...ahh...the silence. The silence that comes from exhaustion after so many hours of yóu yǒng (swimming). Golden.

And I know its not very Chinese of me, but my tan isn't looking too darn bad either!

So here's a few pictures of our 'xiǎo péngyǒus' (little friends) that we took to the pool.

I know, the floaty around the neck thing looks weird but he seems to like it. You should see his little legs kick! And Chinese toddlers talking about swimming are the most adorable things on earth!

Visions of adventure and songs such as High School Musical 2's "Summer Vacation" were running through our brains -- School's Out!

BUT...

...if there was possibly a way to get from A to B without having to do the in between part of 'getting', I would be the first person to try it. I LOVE to get out, be in new places, see new things and I love the idea of road trips, trains, buses, and planes but (and Jason will be the first person to tell you this), I guess I'm not the best traveler. I've a history of motion sickness and even though I have trained myself to fall asleep within 1/2 hour of being in the car, the actual traveling is definitely not my most favourite of the journey. While I love the scenery, I don't love watching it move by so quickly. Think Chinese roads with no speed limits -- or distinctions as to which side you should drive on (the lines are more like suggestions). But get me off that bus, give me a map and let me find the nearest cài shì chǎng (market) and I'm happy again!

When the opportunity to travel for free came up, you didn't have to ask us twice! What could be more fun that traveling with 20 odd students from a university in the States that need translators (finally, someone who has worse Chinese than me!)? Well, "free" translates to "fun" when you are frugal travelers like us. Lonely Planet will be begging us to write for them someday...

First stop, Bǎisè -- literal meaning: city of one hundred colours. Small but well organised, Bǎisè is a happening little place with relatively few foreign visitors and some intriguing sights. Its historical significance is the connection to China's "Second Great Leader" Dèng Xiǎo Pīng(he is really the third after Mao but I guess the second guy doesn't really count) and the Seventh Route Army. Considered among Dèng Xiǎo Pīng greatest accomplishments are China's opening up to the west and the one child policy (ah, now you know who I'm talking about don't you?!). Bǎisè is also well know for her mangoes...not more than liǎng kuài yī jīn (about 25 cents for 500 grams or a little over a pound) and sooo good (I'm bragging to the Americans).

We were only there for two days so we spent some time touring the town, sampling the local delicacies (fresh, raw honey...mmm), doing the touristy thing and an English Corner (you wouldn't believe how many people can assemble just by word of mouth with little less than a day's notice!). But I really enjoyed visiting the art classes at the local high school.

Bright and early, Wednesday morning, we left for Bāmǎ. Now if you're State-side, you might remember seeing a segment about Bāmǎ on one of the news programmes lately. People make regular pilgrimages here, searching for the much sort after proverbial fountain of youth because I believe, more centennials live in this tiny village than any other place in China (perhaps even the world). Must be something in the water because we also saw more brand-spanking new babies here than anywhere else in China.

Aren't they precious? These are the oldest people in the village -- the little old man is 111 years old and the little old lady is 108 years old. Both still totally coherent and cracking jokes. The little old man was telling us his claim to fame is that he out-lived Mao.

Ah, can't you feel the serenity? We also went to a cave and despite being mildly claustrophobic, I made it out alive. And being true to the Chinese spirit of not being able to leave anything in its natural state, there was over-kill on the neon lights.

For now, we're back home, safe 'n' sound. Thus is the start of what promises to be a busy summer!

If you could possibly witness part of our daily life, you, like me, would have a hard time figuring out which animal cage to make yourself comfy in. Life in general can be a balancing act, and of course each person will choose what sort of juggling club they want to throw into their mix. It just so happens I choose China (well, I would argue that China was chosen for me). Sometimes, I want to know, why there is only a sheet of glass between me and the tiger or why is the wall that stops me entering the alligator pit only a metre high while the chasm that separates me from the elephant is so vast in comparison? No matter how hard I try, regular eating times seem impossible because the rice cooker doesn't like brown rice and yet another scooter thought it could take on bus no. 33 and still make it home for dinner on time.

I have 5 different kinds of flour in my house. One for miàn tiáo (noodles), one for bāo zi and mán tou (steamed bread), one for jiǎo zi (dumplings) and won tons (On a small side note, did you know that won ton isn't even Chinese? Its Chinese name is hún tún and that's the Chinese name for the western style Chinese dumpling. That's right -- you can all go complain at your local Chinese resturant now. You still don't know any Chinese.), quán mài fěn (whole wheat flour), and dī jīn miàn fěn (low fiber, cake flour).

Today, I thought I'd ended up taking a 6 month pregnant lioness shopping rather than my friend. The women left me trailing far behind and literally went from 10am to 2pm on her feet, only sitting down for 1/2 hour for the spiciest noodle bowl you can imagine. Everyday, she does her pre-natal yoga and climbs 3 flights of stairs. Its no wonder they beat us in gymnastics every four years...

The other day, I successfully managed to make my art teacher mad by asking about possibly buying another teachers work and also told my class mate that I came to Nanning to go to the hospital (because January and hospital both sound remarkably similar). Jason has one up on me because he told his friend that he 'likes little girls'. He really meant to say that he likes that his wife is short.

My husband prowls the house, searching the cupboards to look for things to cook in the pressure cooker. You can be forgiven if you don't know what a pressure cooker is...as long as you don't live in Asia, but seriously, its so much better than a rice cooker! And its cast iron cookware all the way baby! Yes! I can do something for the environment here!

Lastly for now, Jason says we can buy a fish or two. Our pet-less life is really nice in light of the fact we like to travel but fish are pretty easy. However, I'd really like to get some kind of lizard (we'll name him Steve) to eat the cockroach colony that we apparently share an apartment with. Please tell me how can I get rid of cockroaches in an environmentally friendly way in a country where you can't get borax or any other environmentally friendly pest control? Besides, they eat garlic. These are tough little bikkies.

But now, school is out and next week, we'll be off to explore new lands and try the local delicacies (its turning out good for me that Jason isn't a vegetarian after all) and take photos. I think some new scenery will be good for all of us.