Middle Earth
That is what the Chinese world for China translates to in English.
Yeah we went there, I was there for two weeks. We stayed in a happy hostel with lots of happy backpackers. Backpackers are nice and freindly and have the same amount of direction in life as me, and I like that.
We were in Beijing the whole time, a big smoggy city, full of high rise buildings, shopping malls, crazy drivers and cyclists, and amazing restaurants. Chinese food is probably my favourite, although when we had a leg of lamb the night I got home that was pretty awesome. Also it didn't make my mouth feel like it was about to fall out which was kind of relaxing.
I have never been so cold, not even skiing, as we were one day in Beijing, we couldn't be outside at all the wind was so vicious. Thermal underwear everyday, everyday, everyday.
Most days we met up with our friend who Conor met one day on the subway while I was still in Australia. He might have been an angel. One of the advantages of being in China was that living is SO CHEAP there. And as you may know Conor and I are getting married in June, and we still have quite a lot of preparations to make. While we were in China our friend took us to all the best spots for shopping, determined that we would find the things we needed. Rings, suits, shoes, fabric for The Dress, etc. He helped us buy everything, and at a good price. In China its wierd, things have price tags, but only an idiot would pay the marked price. Ususally you should pay about a third. Also if you have a Chinese friend, you are a lot less likely to get ripped off. The shop keeper that sold us Conor's ring even said to us that we wouldn't have got it for half as cheap if our friend hadn't been with us.
I think there is something different about China, there is an openness that means that it really doesn't take long to be close to people, or maybe it was just this guy. Anyway he is a really really good friend and when we left it was really, really sad. We will go back there soon.
He organised a leaving party for us the night before we flew home, at his friends' restaurant. We ate for 3 and a half hours, they just kept bringing more and more food. Us three, a French guy who has been in China for three years and is fluent in Mandarin, a Swiss guy who is similar, a Chinese guy who also spoke French, a Chinese guy who only spoke Chinese, and Auntie, the lady who owned the restaurant who only spoke Chinese but smiled a lot and talked to me, only I never had any idea what she was saying. Its not like Spanish which you can kind of work out. No it is just wierd talk, I think it sounds really really nice to listen to. Yeah and in the restaurant, if you need to go to the bathroom, you have to go to the hotel up the road. Also there is no heating in the restaurant, just lots of people smoking.
While we were in China we went to an International Church, they were advertising an Alpha course starting the second week I was there. So we took our friend along. Most people in China don't know anything about God. It is so different. Its not like they have been to carol services and easter services at church every year for the past 24 years and have heard it all before. It is completely new to them, and so exciting. Its is so crazy that they can run Alpha in that place because prosletism is illegal. Nice work Alpha.
In conclusion China IS where its at. I had my suspicions before I went, going there has confirmed them.
I think I'm over it
Just for the sake of continuity, an update on the botfly situation. My cheek is healing nicely. The extraction process doesn't plague my thoughts day and night anymore, or the fact that it so nearly wasn't extracted. In fact I don't think I think about it at all most days. Just when I think about my blog. Maybe I should erase my last entry. And the other day I typed 'botfly' into google, if you do that you will find more stories, some sounding worse than mine, of botfly experiences. There are pictures too.
Feeding on my flesh
I went to the doctor on friday. I told you before about the 'abcess'. The doctor found out more.
Australian doctors are strange, I went in and the nurse asked me what I was there for. How was I supposed to know, I was just told to make an appointment. I had a vague inclination it was for a redress of my 'abcess' that hadn't dissapearedd after two course of antibiotics. For the record that is not normal behaviour for an abcess, I have done a lot of research on the web.
The nurse told me to take of my shorts and lie down on the couch. She peeled off the dressing she had applied the day before. Then the wonderful Doctor Singh arrived. He wanted to have one last poke around at my left bum cheek. I consented of course. He realised there was something inside my abcess, so he poked a bit more, and gave my bum cheek a serious massage, well more like he pressed down on one are for a long time. I felt some pain, but it was the sort of pain you wanted to endure. So I stayed silent.
Then the marvellous Doctor Singh called to the nurse. He said 'come over here, look at what just came out'. Curious, I looked around myself. On the floor, about two feet from the doctors bench, to my left there was an unspecified object, about 1.5-2cm long, by 0.5-1cm wide. I have poor eyesite, at this point it looked to me like a lump of dead flesh.
The nurse promply came over with a tissue, picked it up off the floor and took it out of my sight. I asked what it was. They said 'its a maggot!' Oh. I was happy at this point because the maggot had been removed from my left bum cheek.
They called over another one of the doctors, 'take a look at this' they said, 'look what just came out of this young lady!' The nice doctor comes over and puts his hand on his shoulder and asked 'are you ok?'
'I am fine' I say, 'I am just glad its come out'. This is perfectly true. This red lump on my left bum cheek has been causing me a lot of pain ever sice we were in Easter Island, that was in January, it is now March.
They redressed the wound, the nurse said lots of things assuming I knew what she was talking about, I didn't have a clue, but nodded and smiled as is my custom and hoped that what she was saying wasn't and still isn't crucially important to my well being.
I put my shorts back on, feeling like I knew everyone in the surgery extraordinarily well for having known them for two days. Then asked if I could have another look at the thing that came out of my left bum cheek.
The marvellous Doctor Singh was holding it in a sterile jar and showing it off to his colleagues all around the surgery. I got a closer look at the thing that had come out of my left bum cheek. It was a whitish yellow colour with little black spots on its skin I later found out are hooks to attach itself to my flesh. Its head was moving and its little antennae obvously a bit confused by the sudden change of surroundings. That thing, that living, breathing, thing had been living inside me for the last 2 months at the very least!
Dr Singh's nice colleague told me I should have a skin check as soon as possible incase the beast had laid eggs inside me. Then I would have lots more large maggots popping out of my flesh.
So I'm telling you this story in quite a sterile tone. I hope you understand this is the grossest thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. I have to keep retelling the story in the hope that I will soon recover from the shock. Not kidding. At first I was happy, now I am just disgusted and amazed and very, very grateful for the marvellous Docotr Singh who persevered and didn't just prescribe more antibiotics. If he hadn't, on the off chance, thought that there was something there, the creature would still be living under my skin now.
I later looked on the internet to find out if I could see what it was. None of the doctors at the surgery had seen anything like it before. To them it was a foreign maggot. I found out it was botfly larvae. I will post a picture of it very soon.
The flies lay their eggs on mosquitos, who then inject the larvae into you judt belopw the surface of the skin when they bite you. A bit like a conspiracy against warm blooded animals. The larvae then grows there, staying at the surface so it can come up for air when necessary. So it was a botfly larvae head I have been scratching for so long. It feeds on your flesh, that is what causes the stinging sensation that is oh so painful. Now I understand. And am entirely grossed out.
Writing this is therapy. Not kidding.
Feeling it
I thought I'd write a little bit about what I'm actually doing here in Australia, not just about when I'm going to leave. Incidentally I am leaving in two days.
I'm staying in an unlovely town called Townsville. The street I live on is very busy, and has a train track going through it. We are surrounded by big warehouse type shops. We eat out meals on 'the deck' overlooking the main road. So I wouldn't call it picturesque or anything.
My days are spent cooking with three other people, Cecilia, Justin and Jocie. They are all Canadian. I am slowly learning to say things like 'cling wrap' instead of 'cling film', if I want to be understood at any time by any of them. We listen to good music all day long and try to discuss important things like what is going to happen at the end of the world, but these conversations often find their end very quickly, and we get on to more important matters, like which rock stars are married and why that is cool.
Last night we made this amazing meal; chicken, carrots, broccoli and really creamy mashed potato with this pineapple and coconut dessert. It was pretty amazing, especially because we had to make it for 90 people. We, the cooks, were all very proud of it. We often are. I'm learning that Americans/Canadians have different standards and show appreciation for really terrible food, like nachos, burritos, or enchilladas. Things that personally I don't find make a decent meal at all. Mostly they seem to like Mexican food. I'd just like to say, I'm not into it.
In Mexico I was completely starved of nourishment, we ate tortillas often and had to go to KFC for what we thought would be a proper meal, only to be sorely dissappointed there too. What were we thinking? We were excited about going to the States from there because we thought we would find normal food again. But as is being confirmed to me here, Americans have a terrible diet. We found a lot of steak, and a lot of fried food, and very little fruit. I am a food snob. Its true. I want to educate the world in what good food is. I feel as though these people are lost, and need to discover truly nutritious and delicious food. Its like they are in the dark, like they have been badly misguided and led astray, by America. Oh it has so much to answer for.
So this is food I consider to be worth eating:
- Roast chicken, roasted vegetables and gravy.
- Lasagne with salad with good dressing, not from a bottle.
- Salmon cooked in butter and lemon, with potatoes and green beans.
- Good sausages and mashed potato with broccoli.
- Chilli prawns.
- Lobster cooked in ginger and spring onion.
- Anything that Amber, who I used to live with, cooks.
- Chinese, Korean, Thai, Sushi.
- Chicken Dhansaak, peshwari naan, popadoms and mango chutney.
- Lentils because they are super healthy and help your digestive system and after you eat them your insides feel clean.
- Tea and toast.
- Fried breakfasts, specifically an Ulster fry, which includes fried potato bread, soda bread and pancake.
- Camembert.
- Anything my friend Yussanne makes. Oh, she is partially Canadian, that is irony for you.
Ok so that list doesn't sound super healthy, I don't think it is representative of things I really like. There are lots more things. I think I would think of them if I was more hungry, but I am currently full up on meatballs and spaghetti.
So after cooking all day, I generally don't have anything to do, which is pretty much the reason for this entry into my blog.
I was recently disgusted to see that after 5.5 months of travelling I have made only 7 entries on my blog. I'm sorry if its been a disappointment, I have disappointed myself. Its like I've been busy, but if you were to ask me, I wouldn't be able to tell you what I've been doing for most of the time, other than catching flights and enjoying in-flight entertainment. Actually my faviourite thing on the aeroplane TV's is the map that shows you where you are in the world and how fast you are going and how far it is to your destination. I have watched that screen for hours at a time.
My vote for the best airline goes to Lan Chile. Such friendly staff. When I asked for a second meal for Conor and myself, the nice lady, lets call her Catarin, went to get them immediately, then asked if she should come back later with more coffee. What a considerate, nice, genuinely concerned lady! I would like to imagine I would be like her if I worked as an air steward, but fear I would be the complete opposite. Last place goes to American Airlines. All the staff sat down at the first sign of turbulence and we didn't get an inflight meal at all. Don't fly with them if you have a choice. They are unfriendly and mean. Only looking out for themselves.
Back to the point: Australia; we went camping in the bush last weekend. It was fun. I got to hang out with nice people, sit by a fire and see some seriously amazing stars. You could see the milky way, which is always nice.
Today I had to go to the doctor. Since December I have had an abcess on my left bum cheek. I blame the buses in Peru, I think its an infection that has been developing since that 26 hour bus ride we took in a mad dash for Lima airport. Its kind of gross. Anyway, today, a nice little man had to gouge it out, at least in part, in the hope that this will make it disappear. I really hope it does.
