Saturday

Nineteen straight days of rain preceded a sunshiny Friday and Saturday.  When the warm weekend rolled around, we were ready to get outside.

Saturday was our favorite kind of day --- lots of places to go, things to do, people to hang with.

1.  Breakfast:  Our teammate Emily and her fiance Jesse, who lives in Wuhan, came over to make us eggs, biscuits and bacon.  This was the first of many times hanging out with this China-loving couple, who will get hitched in August.

2.  Donuts:  We picked up Cory (remember him?) and showed him how to ride the bus down to Daylight Donuts, where a bunch of Changsha people were gathered to celebrate our team leader Bitsy's birthday.

3.  Walking Street:  Then we strolled the commercial center of Changsha, a pedestrian road lined with mostly clothing and shoe stores.

4.  Walmart:  We took Cory to Walmart, where Titus made a three-month old girl friend in the diaper aisle.  Rachel chatted with the girl's Baba (Dad).

5.  Cab Home/Chinese Study:  Cory learned how to hail a cab and tell the driver where to go.  After we returned home, Mama and Baba enjoyed a restful lunch hour studying Chinese!

6.  Zhang Shu-Shu:  In the afternoon, we stopped to spend time with Titus's Chinese Grandpa, called Zhang Ye-Ye (Grandpa Zhang).  Drew and I call him Zhang Shu-Shu, Uncle Zhang.  Titus helped Grandpa Zhang with his work: manning the gate, opening it for cars and collecting parking passes.  

7.  Dong-Bei Supper:  We ate the evening meal at our favorite $2.50 restaurant, where all the waitresses and the owner (who we consider our friends) scoop up Tai-De (Titus) and play with him while we eat.  

8.  Tutor:  I happened to run into my tutor, Zhu, at the tiny fruit store, so we chatted for a bit.  It was a nice surprise to see her there.

9.  Chocolate Cake:  Our regional coordinator had some neighbors over for dessert in honor of our team leader Bitsy's birthday.  

10.  College Dorm Party:  Perhaps the highlight of the day...Drew's Russian classmates invited us to a party at their dorm.  So Titus went to bed, our babysitter came over, and Drew and I went out!  Loud music...laughter...cameras...snacks...drinks...but nothing sketchy, just lots of friendly, happy students.  The Russians, Kazakhs, Koreans, Japanese and Chinese were eager to mingle, and most of them speak English quite well.  I met lots of new people and made plans to get together with them again.  Most of the girls have seen or heard about Titus and want to come over to play with him.  I was especially surprised -- this Russian girl, who looks like a steel-cold supermodel in her spike heels, spandex pants, slicked blonde hair and beer bottle in hand -- was so warm "Oh!  I saw your baby!  He's so cute!  I want to hold him.  Can I come to your house and play with him?"

Sure!

So, we're hugely optimistic about the potential for these friendships.

After a Saturday like that, the whole family spent Sunday morning cuddling in bed.  That lucky baby gets to play in the middle, between a Mama and Baba who were wishing for a few more minutes of sleep.