Some more photos from today…




Shanghai is up in lights to celebrate the holidays, here are a few pictures to show you that holiday spirit!!

My new CAMERA!!! That’s right! I am the proud new owner of a pink digital camera which I will use to capture many a memory!! So expect photos very soon!!!

So I finally ventured out of the house. I went to People’s Square, which is about 6 or 7 metro stops away from where I live.

Over the weekend Garrett and I went there and I saw a nail shop. It seemed really cute, white walls with purple accents. All the nail girls wear matching puffy purple vests and the chairs are big comfy purple velvet thrones. The decor is shabby chic, except it’s purple, white and black. (Can Shabby Chic be those colors or can it only be shades of white?? I have no idea, but you get it.)

Since I’ve been a Debbie Downer recently, I thought maybe a manicure would pick me right up. So I headed towards the metro (I am avoiding taxi’s for as long as possible). The metro is insane. Don’t get me wrong it’s super efficient and easy to use, which is probably why EVERYONE uses it. At 2 in the afternoon, it was SUPER crowded. I can’t even imagine what rush hour looks like. Once you buy your ticket, you basically have to push your way onto the train. It’s as if people don’t realize that if they stand in front of the door, they are going to be blocking people.

A few things that people do in the US that I have yet to witness here in Shanghai, at least when it comes to the metro:

1. Allow people exiting to exit the train before you go in
2. Once you’re in the metro, moving to an area away from the doors in hopes of creating a clear passageway from entry and exit.
3. On escalators, allowing the right side to be for people standing and the left side for people in a rush
4. Any kind of line, for anything. Buying a ticket, exiting the station, getting onto elevators, escalators, trains, etc etc.
5. Moving out of the way of the doors when the person behind you is trying to get off at this stop and you are not.
6. Personal Space.

And those are just some of them. It’s like “your exit isn’t for another 5 stops, get out of the way!!” I have quickly learned the art of the pushing. “Hey sir, you don’t get out of my way, I’ll push you out.” You’d think people would get upset? Nope. They have no concept of personal space, so by you pushing them they don’t feel violated. In fact I am starting to think that they like it that way better because they don’t have to put the effort or energy into moving themselves, you’re the one using your energy.

Nevertheless after the madness that is the metro I made it to People’s square and into the nail shop. It was great. Exactly what I needed. Lotion, massage, cuticle removal and dark navy blue nail polish. I read in this month’s Harper’s Bazaar that if you are in your twenty’s dark navy blue polish is in for December… since I am in my twenties and it is December, I figured why not. The cost for the manicure was about the same as home. I probably got completely over charged but I’m not paying anymore then I did at home, so it’s not horrible. Plus this place seemed really sanitary. They had one of those sanitation machines and they sprayed alcohol on everything. It also happens to be the BEST manicure I’ve ever gotten.

Hello, my name is Elena and I’m a nail bitter.
Hello Elena.

So it’s basically impossible for anyone to do anything with my nails unless I get acrylics because I am a nail bitter. I usually do get acrylics. But my nails have grown so fragile over the years because of my acrylics, I thought it was time to turn a new leaf. I decided it was time for a straight manicure, none of these fake nails that destroy my cuticles, take forever to fill and cost a lot more. I was getting a regular manicure.

Now, when this manicurist made it seem like my chomped on fingernails were not a horrid mess, I nearly cried.

Plus the nail place was so much like home. At my nail place at home, all the ladies speak Vietnamese, and so I never understand what they are saying. I always just sit there quietly and assume everyone is talking about me. It was exactly like that here except everyone spoke Chinese!

My nails looked magnificent and they completely changed my mood. I was upbeat and ready to conquer Shanghai. I went and got a latte and decided to shop around the mall. During this shopping trip, it came to my attention that people greet you with “Good Morning” even at 2 in the afternoon. They may not be saying good morning, but they are saying something that sounds just like it. Every time I walked in anywhere, they would see me and say “Good Morning” in their happiest, most chipper voice. I don’t know if they realized the time, or if I was misunderstanding them, or if they think the translation of it means something else, but I sure heard a lot of it.

So regardless of what time it is when you read this, GOOD MORNING!!!

I’ve done nothing for the last 72 hours… I haven’t left the house, I haven’t showered, and I haven’t changed. I’ve been on the sofa, in my pajamas, watching the entire first and second season of Gossip Girl, the entire first season of Six Feet Under and currently I’ve made it past half of the second season. Jeremy Sisto is crazy!!

I know I should go out, but it’s so cold. And getting ready is such a chore. It just takes sooo much energy. I know I know… I should go do something but what? Everywhere I go, people just stare at me like I stole something, I can’t speak Chinese and I have no idea where anything is.

The last time Garrett and I went out we went to Papa Johns. It was very good. I had never had Papa Johns before moving to China and I must say it’s very good. The Papa Johns next to our house is about a block away; we’ve gone there twice already. It’s inside of a mall, and it wasn’t until this last time that I realized this giant Mecca of shopping is an OUTLET MALL!! Exciting right!! I looked around at some of the shoe stores on the first floor nothing seemed to be that cheap though?

There are these signs, that have a Chinese symbol then a number (usually 300) and then underneath them it has another Chinese symbol followed by another number (usually 150). But I don’t know if that means its 150 or if its a sale sign. I really need to find out.

I haven’t gone shopping since I’ve gotten here. In fact the last time I went was Black Friday with Simone. Maybe that’s what I should do.

We’ve gone to the grocery store three times now. The first grocery store we went to was the equivalent of a Nob Hill Foods or an Andronicos. You know those ridiculously expensive grocery stores; the ones that gave you paper bags before they were forced to by the City of San Francisco. The kind of store that charges you 10 bucks for the same jar of Jiffy that you get at Safeway for two. Not the organic Whole Foods, I’m talking the same run of the mill grocery store that justifies their high prices by providing paper bags and gourmet coffee. Well this is the first kind of grocery store we went to. We completely over paid (which is unfortunate seeing how half of the groceries went to waste anyway). This grocery store was however very much like every store back home. Bright fluorescent lights, aisles of food separated by type or temperature. Just like home, including the prices. But part of the great thing of living in China is that you shouldn’t have to pay U.S. prices.

Second grocery store was much cheaper and much more of what you would expect from a Chinese grocery store. Live crabs outside, kind of grungy and tattered, with a great selection and SUPER CHEAP!! A load of groceries costs about 20 bucks… kind of awesome.

Nevertheless, there are a few things I would put on my questionable list…

Chicken Feet
Dried Chicken Body Parts, which I could not identify
Eggs, with blue dots (not chicken eggs)
Giant fruit with spikes
Dried Animal Parts, which I could not identify and which were not Chicken
Entire ducks with bill attached, cooked and sauced (poor Donald)

Ahh the good life!!

UPDATE!!!

I completely forgot to mention the Jackie Chan frozen dumplings. Garrett has reminded me!! In the frozen food section, there are premade dumplings that you can microvave, boil or steam and who’s endorsing them? That’s right Mr. Jackie Chan. His big face is right on the plastic packaging. With this hideous fake grin he entices you to buy his products. So we did, we figure we know who he is and he probably doesn’t want to tarnish his reputation by endorsing gross food. If we get sick off his food we can probably sue for alot. Never the less they now sit frozen in our freezer waiting to be boiled. Maybe if we eat the Chirs Tucker will come out and show us some karate moves while perpetuating his comedic stereo types.

I knew I shouldn’t of left my apartment. I knew it!!

Just when you think things are going to get better… you decide to go grocery shopping.

Garrett and I left our apartment on Thursday evening to grab some dinner and experience our first trip to a Chinese Supermarket. We eat at a local Mall called Metro City everything was going so smoothly. Then we went grocery shopping, bought a ton of stuff and walked home. The grocery store was farther then we anticipated and next thing we knew we had walked a solid 8 blocks with a dozen grocery bags, pots and pans and my brick of a purse. We get to our compound, into our building and up the elevator and down the hall to our door.

Now let me back track, earlier that day, the landlord stopped by and dropped off a set of keys, since she had originally only given us one set. As I mentioned before our doors are very complicated. It’s like trying to get into the Gringotts Vault. For those of you not into Harry Potter, it’s basically impossible to penetrate our doors. That is unless you have a set of keys. To get into our apartment (assuming you’ve passed security to get into the compound and you’ve entered the access number to get into our building) you have to first insert a key into the metal door, which is locked via deadbolt. Once you’ve unlocked the deadbolt for the metal door you have to swipe a magnetic card in front a small access pad that sits at the bottom of the door, IF that works it will release a magnetic lock that is placed at the top of the metal door. Once that magnet is released, you have the front door that has a deadbolt lock as well. If you unlock that, YOU’RE IN!! Ha!

So there we sat at 10 pm with our dozen grocery bags and our numb fingers. We unlock the metal deadbolt, we get down and swipe the magnetic card, and it beeps. We come up pull the handle to the door and nothing. The door won’t open! We try again, and again and again. Nothing. We have neighbors and Security Guards try, nothing. We try to pull the door open, nothing. We call Cherry (our broker) she says she will call the landlord to see if there is any way in. The landlord doesn’t answer. She calls again, no answer. At about 11:30 pm Cherry lets us know that the landlord has turned off her phone. Mind you cell phones in China don’t have voice mail, so you can’t leave messages, you just have to keep on calling. When someone turns off their cell phone the pre recorded message will tell you in English and Chinese that “the subscriber you are trying to reach has turned off their mobile, please try again later.” Imagine how frustrating that is to hear when you are locked out of your only home in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language.

We inform Cherry that we are going to go to a hotel and that we expect the landlord to pay for it. So we go to the only hotel we have stayed at and know of in Shanghai, The Baolong. We take a 60 RMB cab ride to the hotel (they are booked except for Suites, awesome!!) 850 RMB a night, we get into our room and throw away all of our perishables which we had no place to store, probably about 200RMB, this experience, PRICELESS!!!

The next morning Garrett and I wake up at 7 am, call Cherry, wake her up (sorry… but) and ask her to call the landlord. Still nothing. Garrett and I only have the clothes on our backs and the groceries we bought the night before, he needs to go to work but he needs things, which are in the apartment. The night before Garrett had awoken his boss to let him know the situation at hand, he understood that Garrett might have to come in late and that we were locked out. At about 10:30, when we still haven’t heard from the landlord, Garrett decides to go to work and I am left at the hotel to try to figure this out.

11 AM, no word from the landlord and the hotel has a noon check out time. I call Cherry, she has spoken with her boss and they have decided that they will hire a company to break down the door, but the only appointment they can get is for 4 pm. What am I going to do with my grocery bags, nowhere to go, no phone and my noon check out time? So I call the front desk, beg and plead and they agree to let me check out at 3 PM!!! I call Cherry and let her know that I have until 3; she says she will meet me at my compound at 3:30.  I begin to relax a bit.

2 PM, the hotels phone rings, it’s Cherry. She has gotten a hold of the landlord! The landlord is a horrible cow. Well, at least that is how I felt at that moment. The landlord will not authorize Cherry’s company to break down the door, she is “very busy” and can’t make it to let us in until 7 PM, and the hotel bill is, well “our problem.” I am pretty sure, had she been standing in front of me, I would of hit her. I was already so upset, and for her to be this way. WHAT WOULD I DO!! I had to leave the hotel at 3, what would I do for 4 hours!! With all my groceries, with dirty clothes, WITH NO MAKEUP!!! I tell Cherry that it is unacceptable. To tell the landlord to try again. When I hang up with Cherry, I call the US Consulate and speak with American Citizen Services!! Remember that name for any time you travel. I called and spoke with a very friendly woman who informed me of my rights in this situation. When I spoke with Cherry again, she let me know that the landlord could come at 6:30 instead. I let her know that I had spoken with the American Consulate and that I could file a complaint on the landlord. I don’t know if this would have even affected her but whatever, it sounded scary.

At 3 PM I checked out of the hotel and headed to my apartment. We got stuck in horrible traffic and I didn’t get to the apartment until 4:30. 75 RMB taxi ride. When I finally walked the 4 blocks to my compound, then to my building and up to my floor, I see Cherry, and my landlord surrounded my security guards trying to break into the door. I was so angry, but glad that my threat had worked. They shut off the power to the apartment, unlocked the metal door and gotten two security guards to pry open the door. Finally, I was in. Dirty, tired and annoyed I carried my grocery bags in and sat them in the kitchen. They all came in after me. The landlord had the security guards turn the power back on, and shut off that stupid magnetic device. I unloaded the groceries in the kitchen and Cherry sat in the middle of an angry tenant and a cheap landlord.

If you’re keeping track so far we’ve spent: 850 RMB on hotel, 135 on Taxi’s, 200 on spoiled groceries, Garrett’s salary for half a days work and later I come to find out Garrett’s taxi ride to work (because he missed his shuttle) was 125 RMB.

The landlord offers to pay 200 RMB!!!!! I nearly screamed. She claimed that the hotel we stayed at was too expensive!! Well maybe if she had answered her phone she could of provided us with a better option!! Maybe if she had given us a key that worked we wouldn’t have had to pay for a hotel. Maybe is she wasn’t so awful, I wouldn’t be so upset.

I told Cherry no. Bottom line no. The landlord agreed to pay for half of the hotel… No. We incurred too many additional expenses because of this fiasco to let her get away with that. I was too angry to deal with this, to tired and too dirty to try to figure this out. So, I tell Cherry that it would be best for Garrett to deal with this since it’s his money and since I am too upset. They continue to try to negotiate with me, I say NO! And that I want them to get out.

Finally they leave. I sit on the sofa and wish I could just hide. But it can’t happen.

Things are still unresolved. Cherry called Garrett earlier this evening, the landlord is offering to pay for an entire year of TV, that’s 400 RMB, less then half of the hotel. How are you going to make one offer and come back and offer some thing lower!! She’s crazy! Garrett said that we would let the landlord pay for half of the hotel and his cab from the hotel to work, 550 RMB, I think she is lucky. I wouldn’t be so nice!

Cherry also told us she is leaving the company, “for personal reasons.” I hope everything is okay. I also hope it’s not because of us, I would feel awful. We already felt bad about putting her in the middle. None of this is her fault. She is just stuck in the middle of a really bad situation. I feel awful that she has to be.

On Wednesday I went to Ikea. Probably the worst day so far.

I checked out of the hotel with the remainder of our luggage (just 3 bags) around noon on Wednesday. Before leaving the hotel I got my address and Ikea’s address written out in Chinese by the concierge. Then off I went, into the fiery underground that was Wednesday. The cab to the apartment was okay, the cab driver was coughing like crazy! It made me feel really uncomfortable, because he wouldn’t cover his mouth and he would just cough out right. Nevertheless after using my Chinese skills to get us to the gate of the compound, we arrived. The cab driver didn’t give me back my written out address, but by the time I realized it, it was too late and plus he had coughed all over it.

I hauled all my bags into my building. Out of breathe and tired I began to unlock the vault of doors into my apartment. The first door is a huge metal door which has two locks. One is a deadbolt, the other is a magnetic card you swipe at the bottom of the door which then releases some kind of lock at the top of the door and lets you into the main door which just has one lock. I guess the landlord was hording diamonds when she had the doors and locks installed.

Once I got in I settled, put my bags away and got everything I needed for Ikea. My written out Ikea address, my purse and my pocket Mandarin guide. I went to the corner on this faithful day and flagged a cab. If only any other cab driver had pulled over. I got in, showed him my address, he nodded (as if he knew where we were going) and began driving. At the next intersection he made a U-Turn and pulled over right across the street from where he picked me up. This wasn’t Ikea. Because of an earlier cab ride I knew Ikea was in my hood. Based on the address, I knew it was on my street and that we had to go over the freeway (which is why I couldn’t walk). So when he turned around, it made sense, that was the direction we were suppose to be going in. But when he pulled over gesturing to me that this was the place it didn’t make sense. I shook my head saying that this wasn’t it. And then he exploded. He screamed and yelled, like nothing I had ever heard. I didn’t understand what he was yelling about, and I didn’t want to know. It was no doubt he was screaming about me or the address or something. What i didn’t get is if he was so unhappy with me why didn’t he just give me back my paper and let me leave. I needed to get out, but he had started driving again, screaming and yelling he pulled into a parking lot, blocking all traffic coming in and out. When the security guard came out to tell him to move he yelled and yelled. I got my bags and decided I needed to get out. I asked for my paper with the address back and offered him the fare that was on the screen. He screamed and yelled and screamed some more. I didn’t know what he was saying. But he was in people’s way and he would move the car only to get in their way more, as if he wanted to entice a fight. I couldn’t get out and I didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t jump out of a moving car, could I? If I opened the door while he was driving, would he stop?  And I hadn’t paid the fare would he do something if I didn’t?

Finally he got on the road again, but now there was no way of getting out. I pulled out my dictionary and looked up blue, yellow, big and building. I said all the words to him, hoping he would get it. He got the colors, he got the big and finally he got the building part. He screamed some more but seemed to settle down, now that he understood. That didn’t stop him from driving like a maniac. As we approached the freeway over pass, I noticed an accident taking up a lane of traffic. There were about four lanes open on the left which had traffic going through at a descent rate. On the right there was one lane, which was partially blocked by the accident. Guess what lane Mr. Taxi Man decided to take. With out even a tap on the breaks, he tried to speed through the semi blocked right lane. He didn’t make it. The side of the taxi scrapped the wall. He stops his car, gets out and screams and yells at the people who were in the accident. As if he was blaming them. He didn’t hit their cars and they didn’t hit his. All the damage done was by him hitting a wall. I have never wanted to get out of a car so badly. But now we were on a freeway over pass, there are no pedestrian walk ways. None at all.

As we left the scene of the accident and made it across the freeway over pass, I saw the yellow and blue building I had tried so desperately to explain to the taxi driver. I pointed it to him, showed him. He knew and pulled over in front of it. I took my paper, threw money at him (I don’t even know how much) and got out as quickly as possible. I was shaking, trembling. I sat down for a moment and just caught my breathe. I thought of all the possible scenarios of what I could have done, or what he could have done. There was no point in scaring myself, it was over and I was where I needed to be.

I wanted nothing more then to get out of there. So I got what I needed quickly and hurried to the check out.

When you arrive at the airport there are what you call black cars. They are unregistered taxis basically and they can charge you what ever they want and they usually do. Every guide book about China tells you to avoid these gentlemen. They creep out of corners saying “Taxi?” Any unsuspecting tourist could think they were actually Taxi’s. What the guide books don’t tell you is that they are also at your local Ikea. They stand around asking you “Taxi?” and following you around the store until you ignore them for long enough or say yes. After what I had just gone through I wanted nothing more then to punch them in the face. But I restrained myself and checked out, stood in line and waited for a real Taxi.

This Taxi Man was a jerk but not like the other one. I told him where I needed to go he missed the entrance to my compound and get irritated. By the time we got into the gates he didn’t even help me unload my bags. He just sat there, like “hurry.” At this point I could care less if he was frustrated with me. I hated him for being rude to me after everything I had gone through. As I stood at the gate of the compound with more bags then I could carry, I looked around. This day had taken out a whole lot of hope from me.

I gathered all my things, dragging one bag on the ground. Out of breathe and tired, I just wanted to get home. I walked by three or four men, one sitting and reading the paper, another walking by, NONE of them offered to help me. Then an older lady maybe 60 or 70 saw my struggle and helped me all the way to my door. She was so nice. I couldn’t believe it. I thanked her profusely and looked through all my bags for the keys. Finally I found them unlocked the vault which is my door and got in. I decided at that moment I would not leave again.

For our new apartment Garrett and I had to put down a hefty deposit. It actually wasn’t that much, but it was enough to cause some trouble.

Like in the US, ATMs here have limits, or daily maximums. With the amount we owed and the amount we could take out, it didn’t look like we would get enough money out in time. Everyday we would go and take out the daily max, 2500 RMB but still it didn’t add up. Rumor had it that some ATMs allowed you to take out 5000. So Garrett and I were determined to find them. It must have seemed like we had stolen our ATM cards, we would go and try and try. Different ATMs, different amounts, different banks, and locations until the bank put holds on our cards. So we called got them un held and did it all over again. As our lease signing date got closer, we got stressed, because there weren’t enough days to take out all the money.

We really tried everything. Finally my mom suggested Western Union. She could send us the amount of money we couldn’t get out of the ATMs and Western Union doesn’t have a daily max. Garrett and I had seen a Western Union sign when we were hunting down ATMs. It was inside of an Agricultural Bank of China. So on Monday, I walked down to the Bank.

Chinese Banks are crowded and complicated. I walked in; dozens of chairs lined up were filled at people waited. One girl had even fallen asleep in her chair. Was this what I should expect? Would people find my skeletal remains in a waiting room chair? The Security Officer greeted me when I walked in and said something. Not having the slightest clue as to what he said, I did what I do best, smile and nod. I walked around looking for ANYTHING in English, or with a picture, so that I could figure something out. Finally the Security Guard took pity on me and led me towards a computer screen. He pointed at it and said something again. I smiled and nodded again. This time he recognized my stupid look because he said something else and pressed the screen, a few buttons until a receipt printed through the slot. It was a number. I was number 6006, at the bottom in tiny print it also said 5. The Security Guard, pointed me towards aisle 5, which is probably what the 5 on my ticket meant.

I stood in the back waiting to see my number appear on the screen but as I watched, I noticed that most of the numbers being called were in the 3′s and 4′s. I would never get called. They weren’t moving quickly either. Time went by, lots of time went by… lots of time! And then I hear my number. Yes in Chinese I recognized the number. While I was sitting there I had looked up how you say the number six and zero. Kind of memorizing it, figuring if, they didn’t show my number maybe I could hear it. Liu Ling Ling Liu… 6006. When I heard it, I perked up looked around and saw it on the aisle 5 screen. Hurray!! I approached the counter, took my seat and the service clerk greeted me, in English. As I told her what I was there for, I noticed in the left bottom corner a sign that read English Language Counter.

The rest was smooth sailing, I filled out some forms, which were all in English and got a bunch of money. Which I later gave to our landlord, which means I have nothing to show for my adventure in the Bank.

Something that was interesting is when you fill out forms; the bank takes their copies and folds them in this origami envelope. It’s insane. I’ve never seen anything like that!

So we did it, we went to the Mexican Restaurant!! And if for any moment I thought it was an anomaly that there was a Mexican Restaurant here, boy was I wrong. Since going to El Mexicano (that’s the name of the restaurant), I’ve seen two ads for different Mexican restaurants here in Shanghai.

El Mexicano was great; when we arrived there was a table of 8 or so people eating. Some Chinese but most MEXICAN!!! I could hear them speak in Spanish and that Mexico City accent is unmistakable. The owner, a Mexican man from Texas, greeted us as we sat down, he asked us where we lived in the city and then told us he delivered there. (Thank God!!!). After the small chat, we sat and looked at our menus. Garrett had the Chicken Burrito and I had the Chilaquiles (a risk worth taking). Little by little people started to trickle in, soon a party of 20 plus people filled a very large table. The restaurant was filled, packed with Mexican Students studying abroad, celebrating a birthday. The restaurant is steps away from a Shanghai University, so it got a lot of business from students, all foreigners.

The food was good, not my Grama’s food but I’ll take what I can, being in China and all.

After, Skip took us out to two local party stops. Both of which are large attractions for foreigners. This was my first night out in my new city so I had to find something good to wear. The problem, it was about 20 degrees outside, so one of my cute little outfits would only give me hypothermia. I settled on a black mini dress, with brown tights and my black flat thigh boots. Comfy, warm(ish) and suitable for this adventure. I wanted to spruce it up so I added a giant off-white flower to my lapel (much inspired by Carrie Bradshaw). The flower is bigger than my head, it’s massive! I guess I didn’t really think it through when I decided to wear it because the flower was… it was. First, the size was enormous. So much so that when I put my coat on it looked like I had a giant tumor coming out of my chest. Then, when I wasn’t wearing my coat, every so often the flower would scare me by hitting me when I turned my head or I would forget about it and see an object coming at me through the corner of my eye so I would turn my head quickly only to get slapped by the polyester peddle. Carrie Bradshaw must have used magic to get these flowers to not beat her up.

The first of our hot spots was a fancy house, in the middle of a park in People’s Square. Mediterranean in design, and nestled in some trees. It was gorgeous, perfect except that it cost about 50 RMB for a diet coke. I swear to Goodness! Ohh, if you don’t know 50 RMB is about 8 dollars. I nearly fell off the chair when I saw the menu. Since this place caters to tourist and foreigners, they have no issue charging you the value of your home for a cocktail.

The second was pretty cool. It is called The Shelter because it’s in an old bomb shelter. It’s everything you would expect, bricks and concrete painted in black cover the walls, you walk down the steep stairs to the bouncer, 60 RMB to enter and then down a thin hallway to the main dance floor. Techno-ish music is played and the drinks are cheap. In the back through a small door way (by small I mean if you’re taller then 5’10, DUCK!!) they have booths where people can sit and talk. Skip who is like 6’5 and Garrett ducked a lot. Even the dance floor had its spots where if you weren’t careful you were done. Luckily I’m short, so I had nothing to worry about.

People at these places are allowed to smoke, so the place is filled with smoke. There isn’t any ventilation since it’s a bomb shelter and all, and so it stinks. My eyes were burning by the end of the night and my throat still hurts. Ohh and my clothes… GROSS!! They stink sooo badly. People smoke like chimneys, and they don’t seem to care about lung, throat or mouth cancer.

At one point I see this hippie, in a long peasant style skirt, dreadlocks and hemp bracelets. She seemed so earthy as she danced to the music but then she pulls out a pack of cigarettes from her woven purse and lights up. Seems ironic. But hey, that may of just been her look, obviously not her lifestyle. But if I ever see an animal loving, vegetarian light a cigarette, I’m going to go crazy.

All in all it was an adventure.

UPDATE!!
Since writing this post the owner of El Mexicano has commented!! Very exciting!! And for the record Garrett and I have ordered delivery service from there like 6 times!! I’ve basically tried everything and it’s so yummy!! Part of their greatness is that the delivery number, when you call they answer in English and you can order in English. And although I strive to one day order in Chinese I have yet to acquire that skill. So I greatly appreciate the English. And I must say my personal favorites so far, their spanish rice, and their green enchiladas. Goodness I’m hungry!!

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