Pick-Pocketed

So I was pushing Eve home in her stroller from buying food at a nearby shopping center when I heard a noise behind me. I looked around to see my cell phone crash to the ground (the back and battery falling off) along with a 10 yuan bill (a fake one, in fact) from my pocket. Then there was a little scuffle with two men fighting behind me. Apparently I was being pick-pocketed when another man saw it happening and pushed the thief - hence why my cell phone fell on the ground instead of getting stolen. However, the pick-pocket was not alone, so the man that had helped me started to get beat up by several thieves! I saw him punched in the head and kicked really hard in the stomach! No wonder no one helps each other in China! I had no idea what to do. I wanted to jump in and hit people! I had just bought a 500 oz bottle of imported Italian olive oil and I considered grabbing it out of the basket under the stroller and using it like a club (really that is what I thought)!! but my mother instincts were too strong - I could not leave Eve's side. However, we were also in a pretty crowded street so I thought the last thing the thieves would want is to be noticed. So I started yelling "help" in Chinese. This is a little silly because the word for "help" literally means "save my life!" - it was a little over the top to be yelling "save my life!" when all I really wanted was for people to notice that I had been pick-pocketed. Anyway, I told the man who helped me to go (because he was out-numbered about 8 to 1). So he started walking away. However, several thieves followed after him (although I think more for intimidation than to hurt him again). So I started to follow too. He helped me so I should try to help him! However, two of the group stood in front of me. They kept telling me everything was fine now and I should go. They would not let me pass. I kept telling them they were bad people and they should leave the man that helped me alone!! One of the two was clearly no more than 12 or 13 years old -- so sad to teach him that stealing and fighting is okay! I looked in his clear young face and was very sad. I was confused and shaken up. So I yelled "thank you" to the man that helped me and turned to go (I didn't know what else to do). I picked up my cell phone pieces and the ten yuan and started to leave. As I walked away the thief turned to me and said, "be more careful next time". Can you believe he would have the gall to tell me to be more careful when he was one who was stealing from me!?!

My body, my space, right?

In China it is pretty uncommon for a mother to take care of her own child full-time. Usually the grandparents come and move in with the family and care for the kid while mom goes back to work (usually out of financial necessity). Often when the baby is anywhere from 6 months to a year old the grandparents will go home to their home town and take the baby with them. Then the baby will come back to live with the parents when he/she is old enough to go to school. I am asked all the time why my parents or in-laws have not come to live with us, and also if I will send Eve back to America soon.

Anyway, because I care for my own baby I am often left to hang out with all the old grandmas and grandpas caring for their grandkids. Often the older generation either only speaks their home town language, or else speak Mandarin with a very thick accent. Once a withered little old grandma came up to me to chat. I honestly could not understand a word she said. So to help me understand she wanted to know if I fed Eve baby formula or breast fed her, she just reaches out and full on touches my breast! I was a little shocked but answered her that yes I feed Eve breast milk. Shocked as I was, I wish I could say this was an isolated event. However, I have now had my breasts touched by two more old women who are too interested in my baby's diet to keep their hands to themselves =)

Bitter Beer Face

Lately Eve has discovered this fantastically ugly face she likes to do. She breathes in through her nose and scrunches her face up like a little gremlin.

What Eve normally looks like

Her gremlin face

She finds doing this face wonderfully entertaining and will gladly pull it out for anyone who might mistake her for a cute little girl =)

Daddy Daughter Time

Eve apparently worships everything about her Dad. I find Sam interesting too, but Eve is really ridiculous almost about how much she thinks he is the best thing in the world! If he is in the room, she tracts his every move. Sam can always make her laugh (huge guffaws that sound really funny coming out of such a little human being) and sometimes when he is holding her, I swear she looks at me with a smug gloating that she's got her daddy and I don't =) Her favorite thing to do is anything with her Pops.

Musician?

So being in China, church is not exactly around the corner. We hire a driver every week to take us an hour and a half to church, he waits 3 hours for us while we are at church, and then takes us the hour and a half back home. We pay about $55. Ya, I wish that was yuan, but no, that is 55 US dollars. So a four Sunday month cost about $220. Good thing five Sunday months are only a few times a year, right? The only other alternative is to take the bus. And by the bus, I mean three buses and a taxi. Total travel time one way would be around 3 hours. Keep in mind we have a 6 month old. Right. Hence why we hire the driver =)

Anyway, so one Sunday our driver was playing a CD that struck us as a little odd. It was of famous songs like Edelweiss, and Carmen's theme, as well as songs from composers such as Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. But the funny thing was the lead instrument. Sam and I kept discussing what it was. Maybe a rare Chinese gourd-flute? Or ancient Tibetan reed pipe? Perhaps one of those small pottery flutes found in ruins? Could it even be a sting instrument? But no matter how we tried to pretend otherwise, it just sounded like someone whistling. Whistling to a full orchestra accompaniment, mind you. So after listening to this same CD over and over again the whole way up and the whole way back, we finally asked our driver. And yup, turns out it was some guy whistling with full accompaniment. Not sure who does that for a living. I mean "I play the whistle, as in, I whistle well" sounds like a pretty ridiculous resume. Oh and don't worry, as though we had not enjoyed enough whistling the first day, the following week our driver treated us to another concert of whistling, although different songs this time. Which makes me wonder even more. One CD of whistling wasn't enough? Who makes a whole medley of whistling? Oh well, to each their own. Some people like acoustic guitar, some cello - our driver just happens to be a whistling connoisseur.

Moving up in life

Since moving to China in January of 2009, we have now moved 3 times (4 times if you count the time we got kicked out of one apartment after only 2 days). Each move has been a step up (which is not too hard I suppose when you see how low we started -- stepping up is the only way to go!) We now live on the 23rd floor in a city called Dongguan. Take a look at our progression:

Our First Kitchen in China (in Baolong)

Our Second Kitchen in China (in Kuichong)

Our Current Kitchen! (in Dongguan)

Our First Living Room in China

Our Second...

And Now!

Our First Bathroom

Our Second Bathrooms

Our Current Bathrooms!

Our Baolong Bedroom

Our Kuichong Bedroom
Eve's Kuichong Room

Our Bedroom Now!

Eve's/Guest Room Now

We absolutely LOVE our new apartment! I think we would like it no matter what, but seeing where we are coming from... ya, its paradise! Its amazing how much you take for granted until you go without it (i.e. lights that light (and are not fluorescent), having cupboards, be able to get things clean, having a bathtub, a shower door, toilets with seats, having mirrors, and closets and real furniture, and burners and natural light! The list seems to go on forever!) Every time I turn on a sink and have hot water I think a miracle has occurred!

Life in a Snapshot

So I am sorry that I have been unable to blog the first 6 months of Eve's life. But in an effort to catch up, here is Eve's life in a few snapshots =)

Blessing Day!

Yes, that kid at the immunization clinic is not wearing pants... welcome to China

Christmas morning playing with her very expensive toy =)

Back online!

So sorry about the 7 month blogging drought. China is a little paranoid about information and for whatever reason felt like blogspot was a threat. So they blocked access to it from within the country. However, thanks to my wonderful husband purchasing a service for me for my birthday that allows me to get on line via cities in the USA, I can now start blogging again! We have now bypassed the block!