6/27/07 - Allison Crowe

Hello to all my wonderful and beautiful friends!

Hot and hungover greetings from the blue couch. After reading all of your hilarious emails, I decided that I have been silent for too long. Dani and I are having a fun summer--Kate's birthday party was a hit, but it made me miss everyone who was absent! Charlottesville has been summer bliss--except for recently--the AC is leaking water, so we had to turn it off, and a technician still hasn't been able to get out here yet! Which makes this hangover even more fun.

My babysitting family is out of town, and they won't need me as much in July, so I have given in and agreed to help Darlene (the secretary at Athletics Media Relations) with this massive archive project. There are seemingly endless amounts of large cardboard boxes full of photographs, and I spend my mornings filing each individual picture away in the archive room. It's about as thrilling as it sounds. Additionally, in true Allison Crowe style, I have managed to turn work into my own personal fucking brothel. I realized this while I was knee deep in old pictures of Scott Stadium, hungover and reflecting on the disaster that was last night. I was trying to avoid reaching a mild panic state when Pete (if you don't remember: the formerly cute guy who worked in the press box--we hooked up and I only sucked his dick because he was a miserable kisser) walked into the office. He graduated and got a job working for the Virginia Athletics Foundation which means that I have to see him all the time now. As we chatted, I realized that football season will be atrocious, because there will be people who I have hooked up with/made out with in practically every press box corner, especially after last night.

The evening began innocuously--Dani and I wanted to escape the heat so we went to see Knocked Up (very funny), and then went to Bilt and met up with Matt White. It seemed as if it was going to be just another $2 pitcher night, but both Dani and I ended up drinking a lot more than we had planned, and we moved to Coupe's for liquor. I ran into this guy Whitey who is the basketball and soccer beat writer for the Daily Progress. He is also kind of the laughingstock of the MR/sports TV crew because he is a shitty writer and shady as hell--he goes out all the time, has the California surfer duuuuude attitude and look, and quasi hits on all the interns. Hilariously, Chuck Wade (if you don't remember/I haven't told you: the local sports anchor for NBC 29 who told me he had a huge crush on me, we made out for literally two hours, then he was an ass to me) hates Whitey. So Whitey started buying me shots and we took three jaeger bombs in the span of about five minutes. Shockingly, this is where I started blacking out. From what I DO remember, we walked to the White Spot pausing every now and then to make out, discovered it was closed, made out some more, got stopped by the cops. I am telling you, I could probably barely talk. But of course, I had to get indignant that they were treating me like a drunk ass/hooker (and all for blowing a 1.12 and was making out on a street corner--GOD what pricks). Total disaster. I have no earthly idea why we didn't get cited--it's actually a small miracle. I do think that the cops made me call a cab and watched me get in it sans Whitey. I only know this because yellow cab is in my dialed calls record--I don't remember the trip back to 44U at all.

Needless to say, this morning was rough. I puked then made my very merry way to JPJ. Still slightly shaken from my little visit from Pete and still knee deep in photos of Scott Stadium, Darlene called me to her desk to tell me that WHITEY WAS ON THE PHONE FOR ME. HE ACTUALLY HAD THE NERVE TO CALL THE MAINLINE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME (since I didn't give him my number last night, apparently). THIS IS NOT NOT NOT EVEN CLOSE TO BEING APPROPRIATE. I almost puked again, this time all over David A. Harrison III Field glossies. He bitched about the cops breaking up out our little party (I found this to be the most hilarious part of the conversation--he was like, "I can't believe they wouldn't cut us a break"--since you know, we were only stumbling around like retards, making out lasciviously on the goddamned street corner) and wanted to go to dinner tonight, but "understood if I was too sketched out." I told him that sorry, I most definitely was too sketched out, and that "last night was not normal behavior for me." If only he knew.

This is why I have decided that I will NOT NOT NOT touch another boy until Adam Bozeman returns. I am saving myself for him--he can't have some wanton hussy who will just be adding another poor victim to her harem. To wrap this diatribe up, I miss you all so much--including you Dani, as you are not home from work yet. Keep all the emails coming--they are all such gems and always make my day! For those in the country, come to Cville and visit, and for you all abroad, hurry up and come back to America! Wishing you all a fabulous summer and anticipating the day when we are all together again. Many kisses!

Love,
Allison

6/26/07 - Caroline

Soo I just got back from Beijing about an hour ago. We took the overnight train there and back. It was an interesting trip. The trains each have about 10 cabins. within the cabin is six bunks, three on each side. On the way there, the entire program was pretty much together in a few consecutive cabins, a little cramped but no problem. Of course, we were the loud crazy Americans who wouldn't let anyone sleep. Someone had the brilliant idea to bring drinks, so we had a little party! On the way back, we were all split up. So me, my friend Dan, and four Chinese men were together in a cabin. The top four bunks are really short, you can't even sit up, so the bottom bunk (mine) was highly coveted. Basically, they all sat on my bunk until the stewardess turned the lights out. I loved that... NOT!! There was a crazy lady who kept eating weird pieces of chicken, it smelled funny, you all know how I feel about weird smells.

Beijing was amazing though! Our tour guide's name was Jingle, as in Jingle bells. She was hilarious and a little off kilter. We arrived on Wednesday morning and from the train station we went straight to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden city. Both were incredibly packed! Everyone was pretty much too tired function, but we managed to see a lot in one day. We returned to our dormitory. I could have kicked myself. Our teacher told us to bring a small carry on, everyone pretty much brought a roller suitcase. However, when we got to our dorm, we discovered that there was no elevator and we were on the 4th floor. Luckily I hadn't packed too much so my suitcase was pretty light. Then, there were no towels and we had not been warned. I ran over to the local grocery and bought one for 2 bucks. When we got back to the "hotel" the service lady allotted us each three bars of soap and a small washcloth. If you could have only seen my "are you kidding me??" face, I think my eyes had rolled completely into the back of my head. i was sooooooo tired, grumpy, and dirty all I wanted to do was shower! Come to find out, they think Teacher Pong (our shanghai contact) cheated us and stole the money. Apparently, we paid like 2x the cost of our rooms in Shanghai and the Beijing rooms didn't even compare. Honestly, I find the entire situation pretty hilarious. No worries, once I got over that I was fine.

Thursday we went to the Great Wall. It was a perfect day because there wasn't a lot of fog, so you could see a lot of the wall. We went to a verry secluded spot too so there weren't a lot of tourists, although there were still plenty of CHinese vendors hawking their goods for incredibly high prices. One lady tried to sell me some postcards for 250 kuai. I finally got her down to 4 kuai, but she had me backed into her shop and wouldn't let me out, so I ended up with 3 sets! After the Great Wall, we visited some Ming Dynasty Tombs. Ironically, they wouldn't let you actually see the tombs, so you just got to see the reconstructed animal statues. The gardens were really pretty! You don't usually see too much grass and trees in China, and this was a very manicured looking garden! From here, we went to an "ancient" Chinese medicine factory that just so happened to have a large restaurant and theater performing traditional acrobatic shows. This is so stereotypical of China, everything is built for tourists. I doubt the authinticity of this place, but it was fun and we got massages! Then back to Beijing and SLEEP! ! I was soooo tired!

Friday we visited a local park and talked to the old people. They were dancing around in big groups doing Disco and ribbon dancing. After that we visited the old district of Beijing and the Hutongs (traditional Beijing houses) and took a rickshaw ride through the district. We visited some old peoples' home and they had fighting crickets! It was pretty entertaining. After that, I found my most favorite location in all of Beijing....the jewelry market. I racked up to. Now that I have decent Chinese skills, they all found me very entertaining as I tried my best to converse in Chinese. I was doing really well and I got some really good deals. I was so pleased with my bargaining skills that when I got back to the dormitory, I tried to buy some fruit. Usually, you can get a decent amount for like 1 kuai. So I picked out what I wanted and handed the guy my money. I kind of stood there awkwardly waiting for some change and then asked the guy how much it was. He said 10 kuai. I was confused and asked for my money back, but he refused. He kinda looked crazy anyways. So I am arguing with him and trying to get my money back and this other fruit seller comes over and just starts throwing random fruit in my bag. I couldn't get him to stop! It was crazy, so I did get "shang dang le" which means taken advantage of in Chinese. O well, it was like $1.

Saturday we visited the Summer Palace, Heavenly Temple, ate Beijing Duck, yyayayayayyaaaa, same ole stuff. Nothing particularly interesting happened except Jingle (our tourguide) started making some really weird jokes. Like "your mama", "you're so fat..." and some other random jokes about the similarities between the words "peony" and "penis" and gardens...I don't really know what she was talking about. Then she sang for us and encouraged all of us to sing with her! IT WAS SOOOO WEIRD! but we participated because we were bored. After that, we went straight to the train station, VERY DIRTY, and boarded the train and it was the longest 13 hours of my life.

So now I am back in Shanghai and very happy because it is so much more comfortable here!

Hope everyone is doing well and I'll see you guys when I am back in the US!!

I am uploading my pictures right now, but I will send everybody the link when I am done!

Love,

Caroline

7/4/07 - Carter

Feliz Cumpleaños a los Estados Unidos!

I dressed the part today with red, white and blue. I have informed several Ecuadorians of the importance of this glorious day, but none except for one overly enthusiastic cab driver, were at all interested. This email is so late in coming, sorry guys, but I will definitely have some stories when I get back! This past weekend I went to the jungle. We were very close to the Peruvian and Colombian borders, and because of such, there were several super fun run-ins with the policia. more on that later. We stayed in a lodge which was in the heart of the rainforest. This is the rainy season and there was about a foot or two of water underneath our little cabin which was raised off the ground. At night you could spot the red eyes of caimans underneath our room. we were actually sleeping on top of crocodiles! We saw all kinds of animals including a baby sloth, pink river dolphins, and a billion monkeys among other things. We went on a jungle walk with our guide which was quite enjoyable, especially when some curious spider monkeys decided to join us. Near the end of the walk, our guide out of the blue yells "run!" all of us scatter in different directions expecting that some giant snake or jaguar is about to spring on us. turns out we were running from ants! at first I thought, pssh, I can take on some ants. but then I saw these ants... and they were the largest ants I have ever seen. probably about 2 inches in length. the reason we were running from them as our guide put it "the make grown men cry for almost a week!" after a bite, they can give people a fever so high, that it requires hospitalization and considering the nearest one was 6 hrs away, I didn't want to fight them. we also went fishing for piranhas with chunks of meat! I got several bites but was unsuccessful in catching any. by far the scariest moment though happened the last night we were in the jungle. They had given us a departing cocktail with everclear and so I was a little dizzy. something landed on the guy's shoulder who was sitting next to me and since the lodge had several tamed birds, I leaned over to pet it. this was no bird. it was HUGE COCKROACH. and i mean huge. much bigger than the length of my hand. so naturally I ducked under the table and soon found the ungodly sized bug on my leg when the man scrambled to get it off him and brushed it to the floor! almost had a heart attack. serously this thing was bigger than anything I have ever seen on TV or in the zoo. I had no idea until that moment that bugs could even get that big. ahh i still shiver thinking about it... i have 57 bug bites, but the trip was well worth it! on the way back we had to go through several police checkpoints. the first time, I told the girl I was with to hide below the seats. I had heard that they can't make you get off the bus. whoever told me that was mistaken as a dude with a huge machine gun came on the bus and so very nicely forced us off and into the "foreigner" line where they grilled us for a while about why we were in Ecuador. The police here have really not been too friendly and several times when I have come across groups of them they have shouted dirty things. so i was not being friendly with them. at the next police checkpoint I tried a different tactic to help us get through faster. by the way this was at 3 a.m. so these po-pos were already trying my patience. so i was very nice and cooperative and told them about everything we were doing in the hospital. the plan completely backfired and as an excuse to keep talking to me they searched every little thing i had in my bag- even opening my deoderant and toothpaste bottles! they didn't do this to anyone else on the bus. grrr. the internet cafe is playing 50 cent. hehe yay america. Ecuador plays Brazil in the American cup tonight and Quitenians are already out in full force. this should be a fun night! although I am sure we will lose as Brazil is good, and apparently we are not. i am in the touristy sector so hopefully I can celebrate the 4th with fellow Americans. although, I have yet to find any today. I have only one week left in Ecuador, and I really don't want to leave. although ice will be nice- as Dani reminded me! happy early 21st to ashley!!!! sorry for the short lenght of this email. I was hoping to rival Caroline's email lengthwise, but I am meeting some friends for dinner in a couple minutes, and must be on my way! can't wait to see you guys. I get back to Cville Wed. night. I have heard customs is a bitch given the latest terrorist issues in england, so Wed. will likely be a rough day. see most of you soon!!!!

Carter

7/1/07 - Caroline

Of Germans and Jimmy Buffet

The past two days have been incredibly interesting. Of course, most of my days here are fairly interesting, but I think these put the icing on the cake.

I spent the majority of Friday watching “House.”¹ In to-tal, I think I watched approximately…um…eight episodes. I didn’t have the slightest desire to delve into Shanghai, thereby exiting my bed. So I did not. I do what I want. I watched so much “House,” I am having trouble distinguishing between reality and television. Also, I have discovered that nearly everything, everyone, and every place can somehow be associated with “House.” Around sixish, I ran out of “House” episodes and was forced to find another source of entertainment.

No one had anything particularly interesting to tell me, so I soon lost interest. Pretty typical. Everyone planned to go to some Indian restaurant for dinner, but I am trying my hand at frugality (not working as planned) and did not want to spend more than ten kuai (about a buck) on dinner. Also, I was really desperate to exercise for fear of getting massive in China, which, by the way, is impossible. So I went for a slightly awkward run. Awkward barely even describes the feeling of billions of weird looks from complete strangers as sweat cascades down your body. But I am sure you can imagine my sentiments. Usually Keshia comes with me, distracting the Chinese with her dark skin. However, she was in a major funk and decided to wallow a bit.

Upon return, usual routine: shower, facebook, dick around, in no particular order. I heard a light, slightly catchy knock on the door. Colin stood there in his blue plaid bath robe and slippers, with his silly little grimace. I burst into laughter immediately.

Side note on Colin: Victim number two. I have been bating him for several days now, seeing if I get any nibbles. About an hour before his visit, I casually sent him a message via facebook. Of course, he responded. Insert cat call here.

Back to the night: We headed over to the back gate to grab some pre-party grub. You know, the kind of stuff you need to line your stomach in preparation for a long night of heavy drinking. However, I failed miserably, but more on that later. I was sweating profusely, terribly inconvenient considering the task at hand: make out with Colin mission. I was really craving corn (I am slowly morphing into a native) so we went to this street vendor. Disaster ensued. Keshia’s chicken was cooked until it turned to dust. She stood there giving the grill guy a look of death, as if to say “burn my chicken and I burn you.” Her mood only intensified. She was so pissed! She calmly asked me for the key and stormed back to the dorm to continue her wallowing, leaving just me and Colin! Haahahah, I love when my plans conveniently unfold!

As Colin and I headed back to the dorm, we heard this high pitched squeal and this very angry lady and man with a black eye were standing in the middle of the street surrounded by Chinese. Very entertaining. Colin and I hoped for a fight, but nothing really happened so we left. We decided to meet up around 9:30 and head over to Xintiandi, a really cool upscale bar area in Shanghai.

I choose to wear this really short little black tshirt dress. When I say really short, I mean so short that if I bent over my ass hung out the bottom short. Combined with the itsy bitsy shot I had just taken, I was feeling pretty good. Needless to say, I was laying all my cards on the table, hoping Colin noticed. We tried to rally the forces and encourage others to come with us, but no one seemed to excited about the prospects of a really fun night! And they were still at dinner. All to well, looked like it was just going to be me…and COLIN! Once again, the plan was going smoothly.

We headed over to Xintiandi, walked around a bit. It was Colin’s first time going, so he wanted to poke around a bit before he was too drunk to function. Ironically, he kept dragging me into all these stores, all these jewelry stores! I was quickly growing tired of this. So we meandered through the streets, trying to find a decent looking bar that didn’t charge and arm and a leg to enter. The instant I heard “Sweet Home Alabama,” I got excited. Finally, a chill bar that doesn’t play really heinous hip hop/techno/all of the above! Paulaner Brehaus: where memories are made AND forgotten, all at the same time! Colin informed me he had very little money on him, not to worry, I had tons. Frugality proposal not going too well.

This bar was packed to the brim, tons of old American farts and vulnerable Chinese women. You know, the usual. Colin and I walked around, desperately searching for a table. Finally, we found one in the back corner. Some German dude came over and commented on the snazziness that was Colin’s Rolls Royce shirt. He too worked at Rolls Royce. Really weird, he was there with his two kids, neither of which seemed older than fifteen and they were all having a cold one. Colin and I peruse the menu, deciding on cocktails first and then move to the beer. He asks what I want, I insist he surprise me. Friendly bantering back and forth, until he order a Mint Eyeball (???) and for me, a Long Island. Definite sign of interest, he is trying to get me wasted.

Our drinks come, I tried to pace myself, but with a Long Island that’s really hard, especially when it tastes so lovely! One drink (well, actually two) down and I am already pretty drunk. Next, we ordered two beers, only these were not normal sized drinks, more along the lines of our own personal pitchers. But damn, that beer was delicious! I love a good dark beer! Colin and I continued to shoot the shit, not a single dull moment either! At this point, exactly what we talked about is a little unclear. Half way through my beer, I excused myself to the little lady’s room for a quick break. I checked my hair, and headed back to my mission. However, I was hooted at by this guy with a handle bar mustache. Immediately, I knew he was American, probably Southern. By the looks of his gaudy shirt, I would imagine him single with multiple divorces. I gave him a large smile and played my best Southern sweetie roll. Colin and I only had enough money left for the cab ride back, but we were still thirsty, so it was time to earn free drinks. Rad Rod, so I will refer to the mustache man, and I talked for a minute and I told him to come find me later. Why am I such a weirdo? Could I possibly be any sketchier?

I returned to Colin and my beloved beer and the interesting things continued to develop. Colin asked me to dance, so with a really hilarious European man, we all danced to thriller. I was pretty drunk at this point and my head kept colliding with Colin’s. That explains the massive headaches I have had all day and the bruises on my forehead. Luckily, he is almost as bad of a dancer as I am. He kept wanting to twirl me around, an impossible feat given the size of my purse. Very awkward, luckily I was too drunk to care. The band took a break, and so did we. Colin left to go to the bathroom and I grew very thirsty. Time to make a new friend!! I broke out my “lost and can’t find my friends, please offer me a seat and better yet a beer” face. In no time, I made my first Dutch friend: Olaf. Olaf, Olaf, Olaf, OOOOOO Olaf! He was very entertaining and was sitting with about four very boring Chinese men. Turns out Olaf works for Disney. Olaf bought a few rounds of beer and I started drinking pretty much uncontrollably, it was so good and I was parched!

The night progressed, Colin started pimping me out to dance with Olaf. Luckily, he came and saved me, I was overjoyed to say the least. I became really enamored with the band, they were so…American! I loved it. I was having the a time. However, it was way passed my bedtime and I was starting to get cranky. Not to mention, we were basically the only people left in the bar. Colin and I said our goodbyes to the Dutch and his Chinese cronies and made our way to the curb where we proceded to hail a cab. I wasn’t really ready to go home yet, I begged Colin to take me to one more bar! He was having none of it, so we just headed back to the dorms. Things got a little cosy in the cab, but nothing over PG rating. We arrived back at dorms, where we ran into the rest of the group…heading out! It was 2:30 am and they were just leaving. Apparently, I was holding hands with Colin and slightly falling all over him. My friend Amanda claims that I had that look about me that I tend to get when A. I am totally uninterested in what is happening B. I am concentrating really hard on the task at hand: making out with Colin. The most awkward part of this entire encounter was the fact that I made out/professed slight interest in one of the other guys, Graham. Very interesting. He wasn’t reciprocating any interest, so I moved on. Hahahaha. After we left, Anika turns to Graham, “Wasn’t she holding your hand last week??” Ok, so the cat’s out of the bag, I am a make-out whore. The last three times I have gone out, I have made out with three different people, but that’s it! I swear! Graham feigned disinterest, but he was a little pissy with me today. Whatever, that was two weeks ago and he has made absolutely no effort, I only assumed that he wasn’t interested!

So Colin and I somehow made it back to dorms. Luckily, he has a single. We went in, made out a bit, he excused himself to the bathroom. I passed out. He tried to arouse me, to no avail. I said he could sleep in the other bed if he wanted. Of course I was telling him where to sleep in his own room! He promptly kicked me out. For the best I think. So I proceeded back to my room, sat on the end of my roomie’s bed. She woke up, I jumped up and ran into the bathroom. Then I came out and sat on her bed, again. “Caroline, get in your bed,” she sleepily commanded. So I did, still in the same outfit I wore out, jewelry and everything.

The Next Day:

I woke with a start, not sure exactly where I was, but glad to discover I was in my own bed, by myself. My roommate had just left and I most certainly wasn’t going to admit to myself that I was too hungover to do something productive. I showered, got dressed and headed out into the city. It was one of those days where I think I was still kinda drunk and performing the most simplest of tasks like a complete idiot. I bought a bottle of water and some green tea, hoping the combination would cleanse my system. Failed and I realized I had better hurry and drink both of them because they were heavy! I went to the post office, mailed my post cards with no major postcards. As I slipped them into the mailbox, I noticed that the bus I wanted to take was right there, imagine my good luck! I awkwardly ran over and searched for two kuai, dropping tons of money and missing the bus. Typical. I waited another ten minutes in the excruciating heat for the next bus, sweating out the liter of beer + other drinks I had consumed the night before. For those not familiar with the metric system, a liter of beer is equivalent to a pitcher. See pictures below.

I made it to the metro station and took the metro to Peoples’ Square. Once I arrived, the full force of my hangover hit me and I began to hate myself. I considered going into Starbucks, but given the amount of money I had spent the night before, I decided this was not a wise decision. I continued on my journey and began to hate myself even more for the poor choice in shoes. I was already beginning to get blisters and I knew it was downhill from here. I found what appeared to be the Shanghai City Planning Museum. I just couldn’t figure out how to get across the street. I stood there for about five minutes contemplating and then found the underground crossing. It was right in front of me. I headed downstairs. I was highly distracted by the millions of small booths downthere! Shoppers’ paradise really. I stopped in a shoestore, considering the possibility of buying a new pair to replace the source of my pain. However, none of the shoes fit, all too small and narrow. So I left the store more dejected then when I had first arrived. I wandered into a denim store, thinking maybe I will buy a new skirt. The sales people were really nice, but they kept encouraging me to try on these really tacky studded numbers. I finally found a watch store I really liked. Honestly, I didn’t have enough money to buy one, but I wasn’t really planning on spending any money anyways. So I told the lady I had to go to the bank, but would return shortly. However, she wanted to escort me to the bank personally. I was majorly caught in my own lie. I told her I would come back tomorrow and she gave me a look of pure disdain. After running away from her, I was desperate for food and found the nearest KFC possible. I ordered my food and took off to find a seat. There weren’t any. I ended up dining with a Chinese couple that was clearly on a date. Awkward, I know.

I had been wandering around this little underground mall for about two hours and was seriously considering just going back to my dorm. I couldn’t figure out how to get across the street, every time I exited, I was right back where I started! I did this like four times too! I was too hungover to get frustrated, I was just really tired. So I sat down and had a manicure. The ladies did wonders on my cuticles! I was so impressed. They were really nice too. I am sure they just wanted me to stay longer and buy more services, but they kept telling me how beautiful my eyes were, how good my Chinese was, etc. They were so full of shit. My eyes were bloodshot beyond belief, I don’t know if you could even see the whites at this point. And my Chinese sucks! But they were nice. I asked them if they knew where the Chinese equivalent of the “Shanghai developing center thing place” was because I couldn’t think of a better translation for my destination. Amazingly, they understood my request and gave me directions. I left with a renewed interest in the museum and great looking nails.

Finally, I found the museum. It was air conditioned, perfect. I bought a ticket, but had to pay the regular person price because I had unfortunately left my little red book they call a student ID in my dorm. My feet were practically dying at this point, I was walking like either a cripple or a freak. Either way, I was in a lot of pain. I sped through the museum at record breaking speed and tried to locate some bandaids. Once again, my botched up Chinese proved its use. I kept asking where I could buy these things (pointed to other bandaids scattered on my various other blisters) and then pointed to my new blisters. Disgusting, but it got my message across. I was sent across the street to the Raffle City Mall. However, the damn mall had nine floors! How was I ever going to locate a band aid specific store? I went into French Connection (this mall had a lot of foreign stores) and re-enacted the entire bandaid blister pointing nightmare. Finally, I found the local drugstore in the basement and bought my saving graces. I managed to hobble back to the main floor and went outside in search of a bench so I could fix myself. I found a ledge and sat down. No one was really out there except for me and some random Chinese janitor, who kept giving me funny looks. It took me a moment to realize why. My dress kept blowing up in the wind, exposing more skin that was socially acceptable in public. I hurried with the bandaids and ran back inside, healed at last.

After the mall, I walked around for a little longer. The bandaids were coming off and I was once again in an immense amount of pain, so I decided to head back to campus. I tried to find the metro, but once again, I ended up walking around and went out the entrance three times before I actually found it. I bought a ticket and got on the train. The stops weren’t looking very familiar, so I got off at the Shanghai Train Station Stop and checked out a map. I was going the right way. I tried to get back on the metro, but to my surprise, they weren’t letting anyone back on. It was the weirdest thing ever! The service guy was clearing everyone off and the train was leaving empty. So I was stuck in the station for like thirty minutes before I was able to get back on the metro. I finally got off at what I thought was the correct stop. I exited the metro station and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING was recognizable. There was hardly anyone around, which was really weird for China. I had no idea where I was. I went back down into the metro station. By this time, I had been in transit for at least an hour and a half. I found a map and realized I was at the wrong Zhongshan stop. Apparently there were two. So I went back to my original stop at People’s Square (place with the mall) and started all over again. Finally, I made it back to my neighborhood and found the bus to take to my dorm.

In line for the bus, I recognized one of the girls from the UVa Gateway program. Seeing as we were standing next to each other in a line of only Chinese, I figured it would be highly rude and awkward if I didn’t say anything to her. So, after a bit of small talk, I found out that she was leaving the next day to go home early because she had some incurable infection! Turns out she had open blisters on her foot and some China germ had gotten into her body. She was having all these weird symptoms and was hospitalized for a few days. Seeing as this was China, they couldn’t perform any of the appropriate tests on her, therefore unable to correctly diagnose her problem. So she was heading back. Normally, I would have felt bad for her and not worried anymore about it. However, at this point, I had four massive, open, painful, dirty blisters on my feet! I practically ran back to my dorm, dove for the Neosporin and covered my feet in it. That would be my luck to catch some weird bacterial/viral/incurable inconvenient disease in China.

The rest of the day was pretty much lost, seeing as I sat very isolated in my room for fear of contamination of my open wounds. I ordered in food, which proved to be not too tasty and a waste of money. The rest of the night (and the majority of Sunday) was spent watching “House,” my newest addiction. In a matter of mere days, I have managed to complete an entire season of shows. Yes, I am pathetic, but we all have to relax somehow. It’s now Sunday night around 10:30, and I have managed to not open a single Chinese related book. I have an essay and about thirty new characters awaiting me, so I guess it’s about time I buckled down and started studying.

6/10/07 - Caroline

Hello all! I miss you guys sooooooo much, but luckily yall have kept me up to date on the latest US happenings...ie what yall are doing.

So I just got back from Hangzhou, China. Its a small little city with only 7 million people about 2 hours south of Shanghai. When we got there, we went and ate at this supposedly famous hotel. It was ok, the usual Chinese fanfare. Afterwards, we went to this Buddhist temple. In one room, there were these 4 kings, supposed to represent the North, South, East and West. Ironically, They were placed in this order: North South West East, no directions at all. Then there was this other room with over 500 buddhas in it. And somebody was having a buddhist wedding ceremony. Interesting.

We also had this tour guide, not cute, Chinese, around 35. He asked all the girls for their emails and told them he loved them! ewwww!

THen we went to Dragon Well Tea Plantation. They produce all of the tea that is the national product of China. We randomly ran into a girl from UVA. WEIRD! They did a whole tea ceremony for us. THe girl was going on and on about how this is only the finest quality tea, no pesticides, no chemicals. As she says this, a little grasshopper crawls out of my cup!! Not to worry, i was unphased and drank it anyways. I am such a trooper. And I was cracked out and laughing hysterically, the teacher kept shooting me dirty looks because I couldnt control myself. More on the subject of bugs, so the Hussinator had a cockroach in her room the other day and FREAKED out. She came to my room crying hysterically. So I had to go kill the bug and throw it away. It was pretty much out of control.

Then we went and ate dinner at this other "famous" restuarant. Someone found a milipede in their soup. I don't think it was supposed to be like that.

Today we toured around a lake and climbed a pagoda. It was fun. I saw a lady holding her kid over a garbage can, he was pooing.

I didn't go out this weekend. Well, I tried to Friday night but one girl was having a depression episode ie craving attention so I took her back and didn't get to go the the really fun club. apparently it had a climbing wall.

Saturday night, I was too pooped to go out, but one of the girls on our program made out with a german. he didn't speak english, she doesn't speak german. my friend colin got the number of a chinese girl. she later sent him a text message asking "why you not spkin me?" oooo my!

We just got back to Shanghai and my roommate and I went and worked out. She has taken me on as her own personal project. She runs track at UVa and claims I too can have abs of steel. HAHAHAHA. Well anyways, we were sitting in this grass (really prickly grass by the way) doing ab stuff, and i turn over and notice two people wrestling in the grass. Only, they weren't wrestling, they were making out! heavy necking, petting, he grabbed her ass, her shirt was coming off. I took a look around the little area and noticed EVERYONE was getting it on! There were like 12-15 couples! It was soooo weird! We decided to cut our workout short and go back to dorms.

Well, tomorrow Gene Block is coming to China, so I need to go pick out something to wear for the "ceremony"

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! Keep the emails going! Allison Crowe, you never emailed me back!!

SMOOCHES!

Caroline

5/31/07 - Laura

I decided it was my turn for a long e-mail, as they have been brightening my days.

What happens when you take seven strangers and place them in a house together in Mexico?

Okay so we are not exactly strangers, but this trip has a very "Real World" feel, which is pretty entertaining. There ended up being only seven people who made it down to Austin's house, and the whole dynamic is pretty hilarious. And since Austin's house looks just like the traditional Mexican mansion (complete with maid who does all the dishes and laundry), the show references seem appropriate. I am sleeping in the triple bedroom, where three twin beds have been pushed together (Austin's mom got the third one so that everyone would have a bed) to fit in the room, and I am sleeping between the two guys on the trip that I did not really know. It's a lot of fun though because they are both pretty cute (actually one is very attractive) and there have been many a threesome joke (because it wouldn't be a very good real world without sexual drama).

Other than hanging out and starting to drink around 2, we have not been doing much else. Austin's mother, Fancy, is determined to get us very drunk ever day, and also keeps insisting that if there is "absolutely anything else that we may want" she can get it within the hour. She owns an art gallery and apparently her featured artists is one of the biggest druggies alive (he has given us tips on smuggling stuff into the states), but he is hilarious and we are going out with him later this week. Last night we went out to happy hour, dinner, and then a martini bar that had a special. I ate cactus, it tasted like fried green tomatoes. Then we came back and played kings on Austin's roof deck that overlooks the city. It was great, somewhat embarrassing though (as kings can be), but I wish you all were here with me. He rents out his house and I think that we should get it for a post-graduation celebration next year.

The drive down was an adventure, but it was also a lot of fun. Carter, I am in love with your city. The whole day we were there I was looking for your family, but no dice. Also, your whole foods has completely changed my life, and I will now judge any grocery store against it. I know that this may sound crazy, but it trumps Wegmans. We ran out of gas at the border, and ended up having to bum a few gallons off of a mexican man who looked just like George Lopez. He was awesome, and we gave his son our teddy grahams in return. We were also pulled over by the Mexican police for speeding (the whole kilometers verses miles thing is confusing), but he let us off for being stupid gringos. When he reached his hand into my car to get Lindsey's license and registration, she misunderstood and shook his hand and then said "no hablo espagnol, un poco." It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, and also scary as I had convinced myself that i was going to end up in a Mexican prison.

We leave in one week to head to New Orleans, and then I'll be headed home. Sorry about the length, I was in a rambling mood. I will keep you posted on any interesting happenings.

Sending love to all,

Laura

5/30/07 - Carter

Hola a todos! (sorry guys this is a long one, but I thought this email was overdue)

I hope everyone has had a great start to their summers! Right now I am in Quito, Ecuador. It is the second highest capital in the world -I felt really dizzy when I got off the plane- but I am now pretty acclimated to the altitude, although I still have trouble going up multiple flights of stairs. I live with an affluent family. I am the only foreigner in the house, but I already feel like part of the family. Moro is about 19, but he is not around much. Carolina is in her mid-20s and she is awesome. I also love my host mom. My host father is an avid bowler, and has represented Ecuador in many international tournaments. They have a room that is almost entirely dedicated to displaying his bazillion trophies! The family has a housekeeper who makes most of the meals and does my laundry every other day! Since, lunch isn´t until mid to late afternoon, Mariyuxi (the housekeeper) makes me a sandwich and juice to take with me to the hospital. I certainly did not expect this kind of treatment and it has been a nice surprise :)

The second day I was here, I went to the equator, which is just a few miles outside of the center of the city. They have a little museum there where they talked about the indigenous peoples who used to live there, and also did a few fascinating science experiments on the equator that can be done nowhere else. It is easy to balance an egg on a nail when standing on the equator. Also it is physically impossible to walk in a straight line on the equator. The guide also had some fun facts about the native tribes most notably, that the entire family slept in one bed and when they wanted ¨to do the sexo¨ (as he said), the couple would go outside and do their business on the ground in public as they believed that being closer to the earth would make the woman more fertile. Also these peoples practiced the technique of shrinking heads and they had a real shrunken head on display. They would decapitate their enemies and then put their heads in a solution with strong chemicals. This head was about the size of a baseball! The guide said they did this until the 1960s, which freaked me out a little.

Quito lies right beneath a giant, active volcano. In fact, my house is on a hill that slopes upward and meets the side of the volcano. Luckily, they keep close watch over it, and my guidebook has reassured me that Quito will most likely miss the initial lava flow, should it erupt. It is still slightly unnerving though, and last night when I was half asleep I was certain that the thunder I heard was actually the volcano erupting. The city is also interesting because the indigenous Andeans interact in the same space as the well-suited businesspeople. The native women wear very brightly colored clothing and fedora-like hats and usually have a small child slung across their backs. Just today I was sitting on the bus next to an Andean woman who had a basket full of fruit to sell and about 5 dead chickens sitting in her lap. Imagine this in the middle of morning rush hour in a city of almost 2 million. Quite and unusual scene. speaking of buses, they are insane. They don´t ever really stop so you have to get a running start when you want to get on. I have learned that taking a giant leap off the moving bus is easier than trying to lightly step off the platform.

I volunteer at the hospital every week day from 9:00 to 2ish. It is a public children´s hospital, and those who have some money (like my host family) usually go to private practices. This hospital is the most depressing place I have ever seen. First of all, the place is extremely overcrowded and chaoitic. When you first walk in you are overwhelmed by the children screaming, crying, and running in every direction. There is not enough seating so many families are just sitting on the floor in the halls. Also, most of the floors do not have lights. The patient´s beds are glorified cots and most are badly rusted. The entire hall (about 16 patients and their families) shares one bathroom. There are 4 patients per room, in a space the size of a typical single hospital room in the U.S. oh and about 1/4 of the windows are cracked or shattered. And there is no a/c and I swear some of the halls are above 90 degrees. They also don´t give their patients anesthesia for many procedures which require it. None of the patients have IVs- only those who are receiving chemo. In fact, I don´t understand how patients ever get well in this hospital. Yesterday when I went into one of the rooms to visit a girl with cancer, two nurses came rushing in after us. They asked if our foundation could get this little boy to the U.S. for brain surgery. Unfortunately, the group for which I volunteer, is only for children with cancer, so we couldn´t really help. Now for the really hard part- the boy had been in a serious accident and his skull collapsed and part of his brain had died. They had done surgery on him to remove the dead part, but the boy was left with half of a skull. I had never seen anything like this before. Half of his head was sunken in. If you looked at him from one side, he looked OK, but from the other, all you saw was a huge cavity, where there should have been the other half of his head. He couldn´t speak, or really respond to any stimuli, although his eyes were open and seemed to be somewhat fixed on us. really sad.

I volunteer with two other girls that are about our age. When I first met them, I was confused as to why they were speaking to me in Spanish when they both appeared to be from the U.S. I thought they were just trying to show off their Spanish skills. Turns out one is from Norway, and the other from Germany. All 3 of us have different first languages, so speaking in Spanish is the best way for us to communicate. They have each been here for well over half a year, and they both speak fluent Spanish and are well integrated into the culture. The one from Norway lives with her Ecuadorian boyfriend. They are both really nice and fun.

that is all for now.

hasta luego,

Carter