Back in the game

I'm back. I apologize for the delay in posts, but I have been sick for the past few days with something that left me curled up in bed drinking Sprite, watching old Cary Grant movies, and eating meager helpings of rice and Cheerios. I don't know what it was but I'm glad it's over. Let's just say I have never wished for homemade chicken soup so much as then.

Since my last post, I have done a few things. Getting an hour-long massage that was cheaper than a grande Frappucino and muffin at Starbuck's was a highlight. Four girls and two guys decided to go, and some had already visited the massage parlor once, so they knew that the women gave a much gentler massage. There was only one female masseuse available, however, so Chris and Patrick did a rock-paper-scissors war to see who would get her.

After putting on slippers about two sizes too small with cartoon cats on them, all of us girls went into a room, donned 'pajamas', and enjoyed our massages. Kelsey, who was next to me, was getting a special treatment that sounded like she was being beaten with a wet noodle. She said it felt good, though! I enjoyed my visit thoroughly but the next day my back was slightly bruised. Well worth the pain, I thought.

Watching the pre-Olympic coverage on CCTV 5 entertained me when I wasn't sleeping the past few days. They show sporting events from past Games as well as qualifying events for this year. Sometimes they are tutorials of how individual sports work (this type of thing is also shown on the subway); my guess is to have the people of China broaden their knowledge of all the Olympic sports by Games time.

Today, we took the subway to the Pearl Market, where we bartered for pearls for ourselves as well as gifts. It was a little overwhelming for me, since I don't know anything about jewelry. The advice we did have was to bite the pearls to make sure they were real. It was a pretty fascinating place. Megan, Val, and I wanted Starbucks so we found a taxi and asked the driver to take us there before we went home. He was great! He spoke some English (which he learned by tape, he said) and helped us with a few key Chinese phrases. He waited for us to purchase our drinks then drove us home.

The drive home was much faster today, thanks to the new driving laws enforced by the government for the Olympics. It basically states that on certain weekdays, vehicles with licenses ending in odd numbers only are allowed on the road, and on the other days, only even-numbered plates are allowed. We weren't sure if this would actually work when we first heard about it, but after today I am pretty sure that it will make a difference. Not sure how well it could be enforced in Chicago, but this would do wonders for the traffic in the city!

Tonight we are going out to dinner for Alysha's birthday. Happy 22nd!