Mexico, USA, PRC: Winter Vacation 2005
Priscilla, her friend Michelle from Philadelphia and I went to Cancun for Prissy's bachelorette shindig and had way too much fun. We met some awesome people, went to some great parties and got in our fair share of sun. It was so good to get to see Pris even though we had to do a "speedo count" every day thanks to a group of French Canadians that were staying at our hotel. It never ceases to amaze me: the men who should shy away from the speedo are the ones who flock to it. We'll just blame it on their European descent. After the girls left for Philly, I took a day trip to Chichen Itza to visit the Mayan ruins there. For the record, I climbed all the way to the top of Kukulcan's Pyramid, which, as it turns out, isn't so high after all. I always stand in awe, however, when faced with something as amazing as Chichen Itza that was built way back in the day. For some reason, the pictures from Mexico came out in all kinds of funny colors, especially the ones from Chichen Itza. Those in particular have a "whitish" tint...I hope I didn't set off any sleeping spirits while I was there...
After Mexico, I spent a week between visiting family and friends in Oklahoma City and Guymon. It was way too short of a time to be home...I almost didn't want to leave again, I miss you all so much! For those of you who were there, the "group hug" party will stand out in my memory as a testament to the fantastic friends I have in the states and to all the fun we will continue to have together. I also had a chance to talk to some 5th and 6th graders at my mom's school about living and working in China, and they were absolutely fascinated. It was really great to see how enthusiastic they were about other cultures and languages.
I soon found myself back in the PRC (the Beatles should've written a song about THAT), jet-lagged and with a visitor coming. A guy I know from high school who I hadn't actually seen in years found out I was living over here and asked to come, so I offered to play tour guide. Guide I did, all around the frozen streets of Beijing and the frozen sea at Shanhaiguan. It was cold, but we saw some things I hadn't gotten the chance to see before: the Mao Mausoleum (he looks FLOURESCENT...no lie), the Great Wall in winter (absolutely beautiful), and some others. I had one of the best experiences that I've had in China at a restaurant in Shanhaiguan where the owner and his wife were incredibly friendly...they just couldn't stop talking to me. The owner insisted that we take a picture with him so that he could put it up on the wall at the restaurant, and there's a copy of that above. Also, sat down for lunch with the group we went to the Great Wall with, and I pulled off my coat to reveal an Auburn Tigers sweatshirt while the guy beside pulled off his coat to reveal a Georgia Bulldogs sweatshirt. We had a good laugh about "the SEC in the PRC."