To the market...

Going to the market here has its perks and difficulties. We have several "markets" here. One is just outside our neighborhood, and it's the closest to a simple grocery store that we have. You can get just about anything there, except cheese, butter, and some imported items. There are other close markets that fit the definition of 'market' sprinkled around within walking distance. We usually use them for their great fruit. Then there are the further away markets that usually tags on about 1 hour to your trip, but has pretty much everything. We have a WalMart (not exactly like the states, but still has a lot), and we have a supermarket that is much nicer and not as crowded. It is also within our favorite mall that has dairy queen. All the markets here are different, but they have one thing in common...some creepy and nasty creatures. Several food items aren't sold exactly the way I'm used to. I wish I had more pictures, but these are the few common things we see (the pictures are off my ipod so not great quality). Thank goodness for the import sections :o)

Chicken. You can get chicken just about any way you want it. I can pick out my own live chicken if I want, or I can get the whole chicken dead. I can also get me some chicken feet. While all these are simply delicious looking (*extreme sarcasm*), I much prefer the (sometimes) boneless, skinless frozen chicken breasts. Oh, hooray for that. I'm so thankful I have this choice and can bypass all the other nastiness. I don't know what I'd do.

How bout some shrimp with eyeballs? I'm sure this is common most places, but it's still gross to me. I have no interest in eating this.

The great thing about living in another city is that they still try to translate some things in English. This comes in very handy for us, but we have seen some pretty hilarious translations. The funniest are the literal ones that make no sense. Then there are some signs that leave off letters like the "L" in dumplings and you end up with this awesome sign...

On the way to the market, you can see some crazy things. One day, this little pooch decided to pop a squat in the middle of the road. He was bound and determined not to move. Although many dogs are dinner here, there are many that make their way into homes as pets and are fully dressed in clothes. This little fellow caused some traffic but eventually scooted off the street. Speaking of dogs...Caden's first word in the local language here is 'dog.' He will not say the english word for dog but will only use the local language. So glad he's learning!

We have some great markets here, but our best market comes straight to our house in the form of a package from home. Where we come up short, our families are so good to send us food we miss. Our last package, I said we should send something home but only one thing could fit :o) I think he's excited about it.

3,000

I'm doing another post, yes, because inevitably things are still happening around here, but mainly because we are 2 visits away from 3,000! Wow. In just over 5 months we have nearly hit this mark. That's encouraging to know that that many people are invested in our lives, or maybe all the grandmothers in our family contribute half those visits :o) Either way, thanks a ton for staying with us even as we are so far away! Today, the sun is shining bright, and I am squinting just to type. Sunny days are the absolutely best here. This week I think we have already had 3 "sunny" (you don't really see the sun, but it's bright outside) days, which is all we had all of last month. Caden just had another molar to come in, so he's in fine whiny form yet still melt-your-heart adorable. Today he kissed me on the cheek for the first time, and I didn't even ask him to. He just leaned over, put his mouth on my cheek, and said, "Mmmm-wah." Love it. He's also really enjoying shoving his finger up his nose because it fits in there just right :o). Not much else is going on, but here's some snapshots of our last week.

I know I've already posted a sunglasses photo of Caden, but it's just pure hilarity. He will walk in our room, go straight for my purse, pull the sunglasses out, and stretch them out toward me to put them on him. Once they're on, he proceeds back out of the room walking around the apartment with them on acting as if he is the coolest dude in the world. I really need a video of it. This was before just heading out for the day, and I thought he was funny with his beanie on and his passy in...doesn't get cooler than that.

Last Saturday was another one of our sunny days, so we had to get out. We went to the river than runs through the city and walked around. The sites were pretty, and we discovered some new things in our city. Here's a family shot.

This is a better view of where we are standing. The flowers were gorgeous and everywhere.

Me and my baby boy at the river. I love his smile here.

This picture didn't turn out as good as I wanted it to be. Everywhere around our city are workout areas that almost look like a playground. I always see people on these. I think it's great that you can pretty much go anywhere and keep your muscles moving. Maybe that's why people live so long here.

This is also something I see everywhere here and is a popular hobby where the people whip the can to keep it spinning. 

We just got some packages from home that only took 11 days to get here! How crazy that we went from 38 to 11! Maybe things will speed up with the holidays over. Caden always enjoys pulling stuff out.

Here are some pretty roses Britton got me and valentine's day m&m's that came in our package. Happy Valentine's Day :o)

Britton's mom sent these cute little slippers for Caden. Everyone wears slippers inside here because the streets are so dirty and because of squatty potties and because of the luggies that men hock everywhere (inside and out). You do not wear your shoes inside, and it's really quite disgusting to think I ever really did that. I'm just glad Caden is walking now and doesn't have his hands constantly on the floor. Because of our tile floors, you have to wear something or your feet will freeze.