Thanks everyone for being part of this blog. I had so much fun sharing with you all, I looked forward to adding to it and seeing your comments every day. When I took photos and asked questions it was often with you in mind, thinking, oh, they'll enjoy this - I know I am.

I'm back state-side, our return trip was easy and uneventful. Trev and Kari and Dylan met us at LAX and took us out to dinner to help fill in the 4 hour lay-over I had before the hop to Phoenix. They took us to In-and Out, a move inspired by their many trips out of the country and consequent understanding that there is nothing like an American hamburger anywhere but here in the good old USA.

It was right under the touch down pad for the jets too, and we sat outside so both Dylan and Guy could be entertained while we ate. Guy stayed the night in Santa Monica and drove over this morning, while I caught a flight and got back just before midnight.

Leeannette and Haven greeted me this morning with joyous hugs and kisses and Jerome and Olivia left roses in our room. Amazing homecoming. Olivia was busy while I was gone cleaning our carpet and making our "nest" as Guy and I call it, beautiful. When Leeannette saw the room this morning with my suitcases flung open and dirty clothes on the floor she creased her little eyebrows and addressed me with a stern look.

"Mommy cleaned your room once. She's not going to do it again, you know." Haha.

We were sad to leave Sky and Yue Li and little Star Star, but two things console us. One, we know now they are not so far away and the trip is easy and pleasant so we will be back. And two, there's no doubt in our minds that little Star Star will be fine for awhile without us. :) Sky and Yue Li are excellent parents, and baby Star is surrounded by people who adore her. Her far away relatives here, and the ones who never put her down in China.

Check out these photos. None of the ones where she is being held are posed. It's just every time I turned around someone was cuddling her. They literally fight to hold her, and Yue Li often has to say no, because she's nursing or the baby is sleeping and she doesn't want her to wake up. Honestly, they line up to wait their turns. Now that's a loved baby.

Huong Xing Xing Star Star Gail Rose Shelton

Grandma and grandpa.
Cousins.
Auntie's and great-aunt.
Family at grandma and grandpa's.
Uncle holding Star Star.
Auntie (great-aunt) holding Star Star.
Aunt.
Uncle.
Papa G.
Nana. And this clip below. She loves music so much even at six weeks it's a guaranteed smile if you sing to her.

Performing arts theater at the Red Cave

This was a special treat Yue Li took me to Friday night. The theater I took photos of earlier in the blog runs a ballet performance that Yue Li was in prior to Star Star. It tells the story of three love affairs set in three different time periods of Chong Ching history.

The manager, a good friend of Yue Li's, got us front row tickets and here Yue Li takes me for a backstage tour and shows off the baby at the same time.

Hot Pot

Hot Pot, which originated in Chong Ching, is, um. A unique experience that I think you have to come over and experience yourself.
Briefly it's boiling oil filled with peppers and spices in which you dip and cook various foods. The bowl on the inside is boiling oil without the spices. And for children and people like me, you get a bowl of water in which you can bath your food of the hot spices before you eat it.
Here is Guy trying to understand it all. He gets very serious when trying to understand food.

Summing it up, it's a whole cultural experience that takes place in echo-y restaurants filled with large groups of people having a really good time which makes the sound deafening and really fun because people are laughing and fighting over food that they put in the pot and lost to someone else and Yue Li informs us when we're done that she always has to wash her clothes when she gets home due to the grease smell. Haha. Kind of like going to McDonalds only a lot more fun.

Meet May May

This is May May, Cuddle's Chinese cousin. I promised her a spot on the blog when I heard that she takes the bus by herself. When she spends time with Yue Li's dad, he often lets her trail along (that is, without a leash) when he visits friends and shops to which he takes the bus. One day May May went missing, and since she was in the habit of escaping to the bus stop Mr. Huang started his search there. After checking two of his customary stops, he found her. Apparently she'd been hanging out with some of his cronies, coming and going on the bus at will.

She does the same with the elevator in the kid's building. Each floor has an open trash can for the tenants to put their trash that May May is especially fond of raiding. Yesterday Yue Li reported that she had gotten off and on the elevator at the 15th, 22nd, and the 32nd floor. How did Yue Li know? She went downstairs to the office and watched the security cameras.
Best friends. When baby Star cries May May paces the floor with me as I console the baby and barks at me. "Do something!" is her clear message.

She does frog dog like all Bichons.
Checking out the second delivery of eggs from Yue Li's auntie. 200 this time.
The black poodle belongs to Mr. Huong. All the dogs love him.
And of course there is Gwi Gwi, who, although he does not take the bus by himself is interesting for his own reasons. I can't think of any right now but I will tell you he has his own bedroom under the couch.
It's a tight squeeze which requires him to slither in on his belly.
And he has to really push hard with his hind legs to get the rest of him in.

But once he's there no one can bother him - not even May May who is too big to fit.

Sign language and toilet paper.

When I first arrived in China Skyler told me (very casually, I thought) I should learn the finger positions for numbers and to always carry toilet paper.

I learned my lesson about carrying t.p. in the worst way (and I thought Mexico was bad), and soon thereafter realized my mistake in not learning how to convey numbers. (No, I wanted 10 eggs, not 10 kilos of eggs.)

This clip shows Sky demonstrating the finger positions for numbers.

Tao Bao

Ok so Skyler and Yue Li get a majority of their things on Tao Bao, the Chinese equivalent of e-bay but a lot bigger. Sky explained that when China opened up and became more capitalistic the Internet was blossoming at the same time. Thus their shopping here is done by the younger generation in equal proportion between real hands on shopping and via the net.

Anyway, Sky shops online for stuff he can't get here, like a few months ago he almost purchased a humongous chunk of cheese. They usually correspond with each shopkeeper about the product quite a bit before they purchase it, but in this case they were not online so he just had the info posted to go by. He was about to get it (apparently the price was incredibly low) when Yue Li pointed out that the expiration date was 6 months prior.

This clip shows him looking for one of the things he misses here, ranch dressing.

Random photos, random thoughts.

Meet the bong bong guys, (named after their stick) originating from and possibly unique to Chong Ching. Because of the mountainous terrain, there is a notable lack of carts and bicycles. Instead, for transporting goods, these men and women abound in the city and will carry your items for less than a dollar, two if it's the better part of the day. It's a bit nerve-wracking at first to have them carrying your purchases around the market as one, I was always afraid they'd take off with them and two, they come right into the little stores and clothes boutiques with you and wait while you browse, even if it's for an hour or more. It turns out they are trustworthy and patient and after I got over feeling like some kind of royalty from a long ago exotic land I adjusted.

Above Yue Li nurses the baby while I shop - our bong bong guy is to the right, his arm on a game board we bought, the rest of our bags are behind that.
Here a pineapple vendor uses the bong bong stick to carry his wares.
We're at Metro, Chong Chings equivalent for Costco, a Belgium company, and Skyler discovers slip-ons. We have a laugh for old time's sake.
Oh whoops! How did this adorable boy slip into the China blog? Well, as long as he's here, let me introduce our handsome grandson, Dylan. Dylan, did you find the pictures of the bugs Papa G took for you?

Guy had me take this. It is for Carlos. I don't know why.
We see these trucks frequently - they're armored trucks that carry cash and the guards are the only people allowed to carry weapons except the military. What is interesting about these is that the Chinese pay cash for most things - including cars and houses. So when they buy a car, for example, they will hire one of these to transport the money to the car dealership.
There's one guy that goes around at these restaurants pouring tea this way.
The money and Sky showing me the finger positions for numbers. The red bill is 100 quay, RMB, or yuan, all meaning the same thing. The exchange is 7 to 1, so the 100 equals just under $14.00. That will buy three or four nice t-shirts at the market. The green bill is ten RMB, about $1.20 (doing this in my head) which will buy a bowl of noodles with meat and vegies and a soda, the purple one is 5 RMB which will buy you a taxi ride uptown.

Daily Living Concerns

An update to my laundry dilemma. When Guy arrived he took it over. lol. That's it. Plus, after taking a closer look at how other people dried their laundry I lost (most of) my concerns about publicly displaying my underwear. Nobody cares.

We visit Yue Li's school. Her old neighborhood.

Yue Li takes us to the acrobat school she grew up in. The neighborhood is only a five minute taxi ride from where she and Sky live now. She started the school at the age of nine when she and 24 other girls were selected out of 500 competitors. There she lived full time until the age of 16, when she moved out but stayed with the acrobat company until the age of 23.

The following videos are of the girls in the school, and Yue Li showing us some of what she does in her shows. I apologize for the poor video-taping - and the sideways viewing, which I couldn't figure out how to correct. Not my deal, normally. Still isn't, haha.

We visit Yue Li's school: The girls

We visit Yue Li's acrobat school - upstairs, the boys.

We visit Yue Li's acrobat school. Pictures on the walls.

We visit Yue Li's acrobat school. Pictures in the hallways.

It appears Yue Li is famous even at her school, she and her troop's photos dominate the walls. We are pointing to Yue Li as a youngster.


Here the kids have posted some of their homework. It is an essay about feelings, Yue Li tells us.
Check out these characters.
We're leaving the school.
It takes us twenty minutes to get one block. Shopkeepers and neighbors come running out to see Yue Li and the baby. Most of them know her from a young girl and tell stories of her buying treats and food from their shops. Here, this shopkeeper advises Yue li to rub ginger on baby Star's eyebrows to help them grow full and shapely.
We eat at a resturant Yue Li ate at growing up and often returned to with Skyler before the baby was born. The owner is teary-eyed when she sees them and the baby, it's obvious she feels very maternal toward "her little family."

Somebody's got my number...

So I'm packing for our flight in two days and feeling a little mournful. Then I open my email and Olivia has sent me these two photos. One is of her garden, the other of Leeannette and Haven. She says "I wanted to send you one of the flowers because I don't know if they will still be so pretty when you get here." The other photo simply says, "We love u nana."

The bench on the right is where I sit to drink my coffee in the morning on my day off.

The one of the girls? Heart-stopping. Thank you Olivia.