Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Guilin We Go!

I can't believe we're actually leaving tomorrow to go to one of the most beautiful places on this Earth. I lead one happy and blessed life, friends.

This afternoon we went to a store downtown called Carrefour. The purpose? They have an American/European import section. Let me just say, I got my hopes up for nothing. They didn't very much at all, and what they did have was mostly pasta and tomato sauce. And salad dressing. I am glad that we went though. I got a big thing of peanut butter for 16 kaui which is usually what it costs for a jar half the size. I also got some strawberry jam, crackers, apples, and oatmeal. Basically, train food. You know, for that 22 hour train ride that I'm about to be a part of. I've clearly lost my mind.

Most supermarkets in China have huge tanks of fish, crabs, turtles, etc. for people to buy. Well Carrefour is no exception to the rule. I couldn't walk past there without gagging. Anyways, when I did have to walk past, what do I see? A fish that has somehow flopped out of the tank and it's wiggling all over the floor. Naturally, the lady overseeing these tanks comes over with a big net, scoops him up, and throws him back into the tank. I'm afraid I don't agree with the five second rule in China, where people poop everywhere, including inside markets. I wondered today what the incidence rate of E.coli was in this country. I was also wondering how these fish were surviving when there were roughly three ten-pound fish per every square inch of water. Oh, yeah. They weren't. A lot of them were belly up. The gross part? I'm sure they still sold them anyways. Sometimes I am legitimately perplexed as to how people survive here.

We had lunch at a KFC. It's amazing how they can Chinese-ify Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Chinese actually think that the chicken breast is the worst part, so my popcorn chicken was mostly fat chunks with some shreds of dark meat. The french fries were pretty good though and so was that hot fudge sundae. We came back to the school where the cooks made us popcorn chicken and fries. This is actually really, really good popcorn chicken. It's just like what you would get in the U.S.

On the way home, we passed this adorable little lady working in the fields.

Fields with apartments in the background.

Beautiful :)

I'm pretty bummed that I didn't get any of my packages before I left, but that just means I'll have something to look forward to when I come back! Besides my cutie children, of course. I am hoping to have internet in my hostels so that I can still update my blog. If you don't hear from me for a week, just know it's because I'm having the time of my life in Guilin and Yangshuo.

This is really random, but I forgot to talk about it the other day. We had some extra time at the end of class so I allowed the kids to color for the last five minutes. We walked all the way back to the class where I drop them off and Ricky comes up behind me and tugs on my shirt to get my attention. "Teacha Kayla, this for you!" He handed me a piece of paper. "You take to America, okay?" I smiled and said okay. When I was walking away, I realized that he had written his phone number above the picture of himself. Being the sap that I am, I seriously cried. I don't know how I am going to leave them. I love them so much.