Beijing Bloggers

Alright so we all know what tarantulas are and how they are so big.  My earliest memory of tarantulas was seeing the extended episode of the Brady Bunch where the tarantula was found in some cave, but I can honestly admit that I have rarely seen a tarantula up close outside of a zoo exhibit.

So as Rebecca already wrote about, we had a tarantula encounter our last night in Cambodia…. in a restaurant. As in… hey, lets eat these things for dinner.

I happen to have caught a little bit of this action on video… Afterwards, Dayne and I were really wishing we had ordered it and tried it just for the experience.

Cambodia is the most tourist friendly, easiest to visit country in the world. It is like Mexico without the drug lords, like Egypt with the rules on the ruins, like Thailand with out the riffraff, and America with out the wealth. Seriously!!! You can buy all American goods no problem, you can watch youtube, you can use American dollars, you speak English, and you can eat TexMex and french fries.

The Cambodian people seemed super friendly and always smiling. We only had a few unhappy moments when little children begged us to death and we didn’t buy. They were mostly faking their tears and whines and that was a bit draining. You do get beggar fatigue pretty quick, but when I look back, I feel really bad for most of them, especially the ones with no arms, legs, or faces. They are a really poor and their government is still very corrupt, taxing them a huge percentage of their income. Most government workers are given Landcruisers and Lexus and there sure were a lot of them on the road. Still smiles were a constant.

Food was anything that is nutritious and that can be eaten, including dog, ants, and tarantulas. We kept telling each other to not eat the spiders but on our last night it was on the menu. So we asked the kitchen if we could check out their food pantry with their live tarantulas. They pulled out the tupperware crawling with big black hairies and dumped them on the counter to crawl over everyone’s food. We all screamed in terror and amazement. Then we noticed the big silver mixing bowl with hundreds marinating in salad bar fix’ns. Of course we all shrieked and gasped in wonderment. The workers brushed the giant arachnids back into their tupperware waiting station and queasily we went back to our table to ponder on what could we possibly eat to satiate our sensitive tummies. The people next to us had no problem eating the creatures and their little daughter seemed delighted to have such a treat. I had a dreams of pasta with mulberry worms the next night and coudn’t eat pasta for days afterwords especially the green kind. Shiver me timbers!!!

There is a lot to tell and pictures tell the best. Enjoy!

Who knew Christmas would be so festive in faraway China? Everywhere we go there are beautiful lights and lit up Christmas Trees. Decorations galore even if a bit “dollar store quality” and Christmas music on all the over head speaker systems. China knows what sells!!!!
So far our Christmas has been lovely. The schools all have their winter concerts and Anthea’s choir performed at a really swanky downtown hotel. The lineup of songs was a bit strange but, whatever, it’s an anthropological culture clash and thats fun!! I mean who has 6 year olds (who sounded horrible by the way), dressed as white ninjas, sing “The Beatles: Imagine” for their opening song at the “Lighting of the Christmas Tree Ceremony at a “Russian” styled five star hotel while the ambassador to Argentina gives a speech about some charity program? Hmmm… But the horse da vores were delicious, the sofa was cushy, and it was a great intro to the Christmas season.

So where’s the snow? It certainly is cold enough!!!! All we have is big wind that bites and thick pollution on really cold days. This is definitely time to hunker down. My poor Ayi. She lives in the Hutong and has no heat nor a bathroom because the Hutongs are communal. She rides her bike about five miles in the cold wind every day to save four cents. She is one tough chick. I told her that one day but she said “no, men are tough.” Then she showed me her muscles and she was right. There was nothing there! I don’t get how she is so tough!!!!! She says she sleeps with 3 big bedspreads and wears lots of thick layered clothing. She acts like that is no big whoopdedoo, but tells me I have to stay in and not let the children play out or work so hard. She’s the best!

So all the hotels and fancy eateries are making GIngerbread houses to sell and after seeing their prices I decided a graham cracker one would be just fine. THen we had a lucky break when someone gave us their stash of “gingerbread house kits” from the U.S. We ended up with about three little ones and one big with the best candy collection and hard as rock but super fragile one from the Sofitel Hotel. We were sick of gingerbread by the time Christmas came. Ughhh!!!!

The best parts of Christmas in China for our family was the three week break from school, the amazing Christmas brunch buffet at the Millennial Hotel next door, the gallons and gallons of hot chocolate and rootbeer floats we consumed, and our incredible trip to Cambodia.