we are going to india!!!

we just found out that our tickets have gone through, and next tuesday, duff and i are going to india! yay! we will keep this as our travel log, so check often for updates and, hopefully, photos. we will be gone from the 10th of january to the 9th of february. we get to spend 5 days in sri lanka on our way in, an added bonus booked into our flight plan.

we get a month off, as does most of china, for spring festival. this is the holiday around the chinese new year. most everyone in china goes to their hometown for spring festival. last year we were very fortunate to travel with a chinese friend of ours, nicole, and she took us to see her village southeast of tianjin.

everyone around here is gearing up for spring festival. the most obvious sign is the dead animals, splayed open and hanging everywhere. there are lots of fish, strips of pork, chickens, ducks, and lamb ribs. hanging sausage. they are hanging from everything possible, outside of everyone's apartments, in stores, from trees... last year, the people who ran the house where we lived hang fish, pork, and sausages from the trees. it was so creepy, it felt like the place was haunted. there were white hand prints on the trees, too. it was one small step away from a horror movie. the animals looked to be dried and oiled, and they don't smell as bad as you would think. still, today one of our neighbors got some fish to hang on their balcony, and the aroma of our apartment has changed drastically. it smells really fishy in here. for a while i couldn't figure it out, and i was convinced it was duff. he's off the hook now, the neighbor's fish is hanging out with their laundry, and right above ours. i have some great pictures of the meat locker in which i live, but i probably won't get them posted until after spring festival.

we are going to meet up with katie and her crew when we are in india. i am super excited about that. she is envisioning a beach party, and lounging with books.... sounds most excellent to me. i can't wait.

tonight we are meeting friends for dinner at drunken river moon, one of the best restaurants we know. dinner will probably be followed by bowling. we have some friends who will be leaving in a few weeks, and this will be our last chance to see them. most missed will be my friend, and co-teacher from last year, jon roller. we have been through everything in china together. he was with me from the start at the airport in cincinnati. china will not be the same without him. sob.

we are leaving wuhan on sunday. we are going to fly to shenzhen, and then cross to hong kong. i haven't been to hong kong in over a year, and i am excited to see it again. this time, too, we will have a few days to take a good look around.