Beijing Week 3

This morning I had bad news. Darren called - he is in UT with the family. His mother had a terrible car accident. Apparently she lost control of the car and was hit by a semi or she hit a semi. It was very hard to hear him on the phone. She has many broken bones and is having surgery for her broken hip. I feel completely helpless here and wish more than anything I could teleport there. Darren said she is stable now and that I needn't try to come home early. So as it stands - 5 more days.

This weekend:
I met a co-worker at "Yashow" (Yaixu) Market. There is a fancy mall next door with all the high end brands. and numerous places to eat, in the mall and in the surrounding area. We opted for a Mediterrean place behind the market.I had mousakka, hummus and pitas. All very good. We walked around for hours. I shopped and haggled for gifts at the Yashow Market. (Actually  Melissa did most of the haggling - we pissed off at least 2 vendors - especially the t-shirt girl - got 3 t-shirts for 75 RMB so abut $11 - she originally wanted about $15 each). Melissa was meeting friends that evening - she gave me directions to a Massage place - I had a wonderful massage for about $25. I walked back to the market place and wandered around a little bit then had dinner at a Spanish Tapas place. Had Sangria, and three different tapas. All very tastey. By the time I returned to the hotel it was 11pm. Sunday - I decided to venture out again for a few more trinkets - I went back to the market area - I put on my serious/mad face and walked quickly through the isles. When I finally decided I would go ahead and get a purse - I found a place off the main walkway but I really didn't see one I liked. There were two stores next to each other and the second one the lady was a bit more persistent. I prefer purses that are small to medium in size and the large bags seem to be what is in style. She handed me a "Prada" bag in brown leather - which actually does look nice but I maintained that it was too big and too many pockets. She really wanted me to have the bag - she originally told me 480 rmb - I told her forget it that is $80 US and that I don't even really like it that much. She of course asked my price - so I told her 120 RMB :) She tried to go up on the price twice and I told her no, set it down, said I don't even like it that much. She of course said ok ok 120 maybe you will find another bag you like more and this one you can use some times. It was quite comical.

I ate lunch down there again, this time at La Pizza - which had excellent pizza. I went back to the hotel, watched a movie then had dinner at KFC - which I think upset my stomach as I woke up in the middle of the night not feeling so good. I watched another movie before bed.

I did get a few souviners and am pretty happy with the price I paid. It was also really nice down there to see people from many different countries. I didn't feel as "isolated" as I did the first two weeks. I am still definitely looking forward to going home.