So i have been in Xi'an for 2 days now and i have so much to say about the remainder of Beijing and the beginning of Xi'an but the end of Xi'an. we leave for the country side tomorrow, which is exciting we are going to a farming community and we get to stay with some families. i think 4 to a house so that should be fun, and very interesting with the language barrier.
Last monday we went to the Hutongs which are the houses everyone hears about that are many families to very little space. it was interesting. we first went to a couples apartment he is a art professor at a university and she is retired they are 4th generation dwellers which is amazing. after that we went to some other peoples houses and they served us supper it was pretty good or at least the house i went to apparently the other house wasn't as good. we got to go through the area on rickshaws so that was fun. That night i downloaded pictures so you can all see those at http://photos.oc.edu then go to international studies abroad and then pac rim find my name and there are my pictures.
on tuesday i went to the gardens and well i don't know exactly what we did that day i can't remember we have been so busy that i feel like i have been here for months but then again it has been so short. it is a weird feeling. but i do know that that night we went to hard rock cafe, and ended up soaked. we got on the bus and someone said that it was our stop so we got off in the pouring rain and it wasn't our stop we were only half way there (to the subway) so we walked in the rain. i must say that i love walking in the rain anywhere. in the countryside in small towns in the big city even Beijing. it is just the freshness of the air that i love. it really make you appreciate where you are. even in beijing it cools off and takes away the smell that you n0 longer smell. you just feel the freshness. OH wait i remember. we went to Fragrant hill. Cassie and i went up on this ski lift thingy and it was amazing i could see things but taking pictures doesn't do it justice because of all the low hanging clouds. I don't think it was smog this time.
on wednesday we had our last class FINALLY. they were informative but boring. we had the afternoon free so some of us went to the silk market it was fun to barter with people.
Thursday we left Beijing on the night train and slept all the way to Xian.
we hit the ground running that morning and saw too many things to remember. but it was amazing i will have to bring my journal to tell you all i have done in the last couple of days but i did see the terracotta warriors and that really makes you think and we bicycled the wall of Xian today that is 8.79 miles long we did it in about an hour it was a very uneven ride and the first bit i could have sworn that i was getting shaken baby syndrome.
i am running out of time so i will try and post again soon. love you all.