and the whole neighborhood turns out for a game of flying plate....

last night our friend lindsey came over. she brought ground beef and cheese. this is a huge treat for us. these items are sold at a huge german supermarket (the german version of walmart. the french version is carrefour, and we have walmart here, too). this german supermarket is almost a 2 hour bus ride away from us, so we rarely make it there. lindsey lives very close to the market.

we made mexican food.

it was amazing. duff brought taco seasoning from home. we made tortillas, and attempted chips. we made pico de gallo and salsa. and margaritas. it was lovely, and it made me really ready to come home and descend upon a grocery store and buy hundreds of avocados. i am ready.

before we ate, and after we had done a lot of the prep, we went outside to play frisbee for a little bit before it got too dark. i live right across the street from a little park where people play all day. there are babies, and little kids, teenagers and college students sitting under the trees, elderly people on the exercise equipment, and parents riding by on motorscooters and bicycles to call their kids home for dinner. because it was saturday, there were a lot of people out. many had bags from the market, and would stop and talk to friends and neighbors before continuing to their apartments.

normally, when duff and i play frisbee we attract a small cloud. three weeks ago, i threw the fribee through a fence, and immediately a man ran up with a long stick and helped us get it back. we are foreigners, everyone is watching us. never has anyone played with us. they just watch and smile.

yesterday, was different. three little girls asked lindsey if they could play, at first they were hesitant, but with a mixture of chinese and english, we got a game going. once these three were in, our circle quickly grew. at one point we had 13 kids playing with us. 3 boys (and duff), the rest girls. it was so much fun to watch the kids interact with each other. there was one really bossy girl who had a little boy following her around. she said 不要 bu yao (don't want) every time someone tried to throw them the frisbee. the little boy wanted to play, but she wasn't having it. every time i spoke to her, she responded with 我听不懂外国话 wo ting bu dong wai guo hua, which amounts to 'i don't understand your foreign speaking.' she was so dismissive.

most of the kids were probably about 7 or 8 years old. the oldest was 12 or so. parents and grandparents surrounded us, watching, cheering the kids, and constantly laughing at my frisbee fumbles. in chinese, fribee is 飞盘 fei pan, which means 'flying plate.'

tonight, for dinner, we will either make chicken noodle soup, or attempt gyros. my kitchen sink doesn't have hot water. now that it is warmer, i will cook a lot more. the water is no longer ice cold, and i can wash the dishes. this winter i dreaded dirtying a dish because the water to wash it was so cold.