Sick as a DOG! And, Speaking of Which...

Monday—This morning Sophia came over to my apartment, and we had a nice B*ble Study, talking more about b@ptism :) After that, she asked me to join her in meeting an acquaintance of hers, a very wealthy lady and her daughter. In Chinese culture, having connections is essential to getting a prestigious job (like Sophia's, at one of the best schools in the country)...it surpasses how we think of "knowing someone" in Western culture and is a little hard to describe. The term they use is "Guanxi," and it's partly behind-the-scenes, yet expected for people to use, perhaps call in favors from different friends and acquaintances, etc. to get a good job. Well, this family is Sophia's "Guanxi," acquaintances from her home city who moved here awhile back and were able to use their "ins" at the school to secure a job for their "town fellow." A little hard to explain, but fascinating to me. We had tea at their apartment and talked for awhile (her daughter was shy, but spoke English quite well), and then had lunch at a very up-scale restaurant, modeled after a traditional Chinese tea house. We ate spicy noodles and cabbage, beef, mushrooms, greens, and rice pancakes (not their official name, but that's the best way I can describe them).

Sophia wanted to hang out afterwards, but I'd felt sick in the morning and could tell it was getting worse, so I went home for a nap. When I woke up a few hours later, I could tell my body has taken a huge turn for the worse-- my nose was plugged, my throat ached so much, and I just felt awful. When friends started showing up for B*ble Study, a few came in and checked on me, and our caring friend Gen (new to B*ble Studies) even ran outside to pick me up a few kinds of medicine (despite my insistence that it wasn't necessary). I would've just skipped study, but tonight my friend Jess was going to come, for the first time ever. He'd come to our Chr*stmas Party and seemed interested in His Word. His QQ status the next day had read:

This is my most special one of Christmas, with many American friends and Chr*stians in the Laguna Island mansion party, singing Ch*stmas carols, hymns and chanting hymns...

Knowing that he was coming, and was interested, I powered through...I'm very glad I did! HE worked things out very well tonight...we had a near-record attendance with 18 friends present, and we did a lot of small-group work, so there were plenty of times where it was just Jess and I answering questions, me talking him through G*d's Great Exchange, why J*sus came to earth, etc. This is why I came here...and I feel more blessed than I can describe that HE gives me opportunities like this! Jess even answered a couple questions in front of the big group, and wasn't afraid to ask me questions while we were discussing...I feel very hopeful about him! After study, our dear friends Sylvia and Angela helped us clean the apartment, and Angela gave me a great back massage :)

Tuesday-Friday-- These days passed in a slow blur of sickness, crabbiness, sleeping and lying in bed all day, cutting my food into tiny pieces so I could eat without too much pain and take my medicine, and skipping classes. Sinnina, my boss at school, took me to the hospital on Tuesday, and while I'll admit I don't always have the warmest feelings toward her, she was very sweet in helping me navigate that crazy place and getting me some medicine. There's no privacy in Chinese hospitals--there were about 5 other people in the room waiting for the doctor to finish looking at my throat, and about 10 of us in a room a bit later...it was in the "ear, nose, and throat" section of the hospital, and people there were using three different apparatuses that confused and amused me. I was using these two small hand-held poles that I had to hold against my neck/throat, and others were using small tubes with steam coming out of them, holding them either in their mouths or noses. It was a funny sight. Miserable as these few days were (I don't think my throat has ever hurt so badly in my life), I was also reminded of how HE has put wonderful individuals in my life: Angela came over every night to take my temperature and see how I was doing, Andrea brought over drinks and soup, lots of friends texted to check in, as well as my fam/friends from America :)

Saturday, January 7th--Yesterday was the first day I'd left the house in 3 days...I grabbed dinner with Angela, Brian, and Andrea (little, slimy fish that were kinda tricky for us spoiled foreigners to enjoy...so we had McDonald's afterwards). But, today I left the house for a much greater adventure. I'm sorry Grandma...I'm sorry Maria...I'm sorry, especially to you, Casey. But tonight for dinner, we feasted on canine.

Dog "Hot Pot."

I knew that many people in China didn't consider eating dog to be any different from pork or chicken, but I was always quite turned-off by the idea, and even somewhat morally opposed (I know it's not actually wrong and that the dogs are raised specifically to be eaten, but I just couldn't help but picture my precious pooch's face). But Andrea, convincing girl that she is, found this place, invited a big group of us...and I caved :p

Oh yeah! So, you think the DOG part of this is weird? Well, just you wait! Before our meal, we each took a sip of some Chinese "medicine wine." The stuff's always strong, disgusting (in my opinion), and made with unusual ingredients (sea horses, skulls, etc.). This particular variety is made with the help of fermenting...well...dog reproductive organs. I knew it beforehand (unlike most of our friends who were only told AFTER they'd sipped it), but I still tried it. Ew. Maybe my sickness sapped my brain of all reason?

So, our group of 8 ordered some veggies and a big bowl of dog. So weird, I know. That's this restaurant's claim to fame though, and when it was delivered, it just looked like pieces of beef or pork. And how did it taste? Sadly, I can't bust out the "tastes like chicken" line, but it actually wasn't bad. Once I got over the fact that it was my favorite kind of furry creature, I liked it. We all did, I believe, and ate a lot. I can't help but think I'm a horrible person, even as I'm writing this :/

Oh yeah, and we ate dog brain too...why not, right?

After we all had "sat" down for a long time, "heel"ed our stomachs of hunger, "spoke"n words to each other, and "fetch"ed seconds and thirds of the meat (sorry...I know that was awful), we followed our noses home. Angela, Andrea, and I stopped at a popular foreigner bar on the long walk back, I talked to an interesting dude who's visited 72 countries, came home and crashed! Woof.