City of Contrasts

It's Thursday morning and I am bound and determine to catch up on this blog, but honestly it's really hard to write when you have been out in the heat all day walking around. By the time you return, you are tired, hot and completely spent. Often when I go to bed I am so exhausted that it's hard to get to sleep and because of the humidity I toss and turn. When I wake up, often I feel drugged because I am dehydrated and woozy. The humidity makes my feet swell, maybe my circulation is not great. So last night we broke down and turned on the a/c in the bedroom as we slept. Wow, what a difference. I think that did the trick. I feel very rested this morning and as Rebecca dozes some more I am going to write.

So city of contrasts...Massive modern skyscrapers with beautifully landscaped gardens and ponds, gated with guards at every entrance adjacent to tiny, cramped cement dwellings on top of one another accessible only own the narrow alleyways by foot , bike or scooter. Modern grocery stores a la super Walmart with every possible option just down the street from stall after stall of veggies, fruit, eggs, and street food as well as carts and carts of household dry goods. The Bund (the original financial district) with its old and elegant architecture representing China' past overlooking the boardwalk and the other side of the river with it's modern and striking skyscrapers representing China's fast paced and frenetic future. Streetside in the French Concession walking down tree shades avenues with all manner of fancy shops nd then going through the narrow alleys behind them where an entire local Shanghainese culturel ives and works hanging their laundry out , even the unmentionables for all to see. A communist country politically with one of the highest rates of saving in the world, yet with some of the most consumerist populations I've ever seen. KFC, MacDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, providing fast food at, by Chinese standards, high prices packed with customers buying unhealthy processed food when down the street they could get 4 times as much fresh food for the same price. The older population coming to sing patriotic Cultural Revolution songs in the park while their younger counterparts are somewhat disconnected from their history because they are living such fast paced lives. Squat toilets and western style side by side in the same public bathroom. The city is a fractal both above and below ground. Street level provides an impressive skyline of massive high rise structures, modern boulevards, engineering marvels of wide elevated expressways and intense activity. Below ground spanning several levels are miles of metro lines, efficient, clean and crowded and an underground commercial center that is staggering. They say that New York is the city that never sleeps, but Shanghai really epitomizes this. Coming home at 3 in the morning, there are vendors selling their wares, from cooked food to household amenities and cabs and mopeds shuttling passengers like ants in a busy colony from place to place because the metro has shut down for the evening. The work on the highrise being built adjacent to us goes on 24/7. Even at three in the morning, alone, dressed up, you would be hard pressed to be mugged, it's just that safe. I'm not sure how this has been achieved, but it's pretty impressive. To be sure, crime happens, but in a city the size and scale of this one, the percentage must be incrediby small.

Now getting away from my musings I'll recreate the last several days events. Monday Rebecca spent the morning working so I puttered about and went to get stuff at the market just nosing around the neighborhood. Everyday it seems I find something new to see whether it's a strange looking vegetable that i've never encountered or the array of silly little dogs that ride around in the front basket of their owner's bikes tongues hanging out enjoying the view. Perhaps it's because there is the one child policy and thee people crave companionship, but there are lots of dogs here an they are doted on and coddled like the children. We went out to grab something to eat and Rebecca got a text from the student that I was supposed to have and she's decided to cancel. Such is life I guess. I had hoped to do some teaching here, but in the short time i have left, it doesn't look promising. Rebecca tells me that if I were to stay, there would b more work in the fall, but I think tat even though it's tempting, I will be back to the real world (for me) in late August. I am somewhat disappointed, but it will give me more time to explore and because it's relatively cheap to live here, I think that it will be ok. I spend the afternoon reading and attempting to learn a little more Chinese resting up because we plan to go to a club that has salsa dancing on Monday evenings and I want to be ready to dance! Dinner is leftovers and we leave to go to the club a couple minutes after 10 pm which frustrates Rebecca as the cab rates go up precisely at 10...oh well. The club is across town and i in the basement of a building. You'd never know it though. It's got an oval bar and a live latino salsa band, lounge chairs to it and watch, but mostly this is a spectator sport and the place is beginning to fill up. Things really don't get hopping until later. Rebecca bumps into her friend Andrew, a fellow that she met while couch surfing when he first got here this summer. They dance a couple of songs. He is great and Rebecca looks muy caliente as she twirls around the dance floor in her little black dress and spiky sandals. The music is great, the band awesome. We share a drink that has mint and ginger and gin in it...pretty good and I chat with some "ABC's" as the expats call them (American Born Chinese) who have spent the summer interning in Shanghai. They are from USC and Cornell but all are from the Wet Coast. I give them some tips on the dances, though compared to the ones on the dance floor, I'm a novice. However, these guys are even more fledgling than i. Another friend that Rebecca has made recently shows up too He's Nigerian born but has lived all over the world and is working on his second degree now in holland. He speaks English, French, Dutch, and is also learning Chinese. He too interned this summer at a Chinese firm. All of these young people are so worldly and self assured, well traveled and interesting. Rebecca has told him about us going to Nigeria and we chat about our trip and experience there. He is even kind enough to dance with an old American lady. We stay our way past my bedtime (4 am) but without regret. It was truly a great night out. We fall into bed exhausted. Early the next morning I speak to John. I had left our phone in the other room and he had tried to skype us so that we could talk to Van, but I didn't hear it and so we'll have to do it another time. That's the problem with this 12 hour difference in time. I stay awake and do some laundry but Rebecca rests again. Later we go out shopping and plan to vacate the apartment for the evening as Kevin is making a special anniversary dinner for his girlfriend. He is not one to cook very often, so this is a big deal. He has planned the menu and gotten help with his recipes and techniques via the internet. He shopped all over town to find prosciutto and creme fraiche. It's really cute how much effort he puts into it. Rebecca and I decide to eat out at a North Korean restaurant this evening