where's the muslim quarter?!
i havent been to the muslim quarter in a while... but it's one of my favourite places in the city. i took christian there today only to discover that... it wasn't there. i mean, it's THERE, but it wasn't there. why? construction. we arrived and went to turn down the usual ally way leading into the shops and met a funny sign instead:



so we walked down the main road and turned down the other side street. that half was there. although my usual snack people were gone. this was not cool because i was hungry. there were still lots of other snack people, but i like my snack people. who have my favourite snacks. sad! one of my favourite muslim quarter snacks is a fried bread thingy stuffed with greens and egg. so greasily good. there's another snack that tastes just like the inside of a butterfinger. my tea lady was still there, thankfully, and we kept walking down the street. we turned into the other usual allyway and things were fine. things were under construction, but still... still. we got to the great mosque and, where there are usually shops, nothing. this is what we saw:



my usual shops are all on the half of the allys that arent there. i was so disappointed. we had made the trip mostly to buy some art from my favourite guy, professor ding. i had told christian all about him, and was so excited to show him professor ding's shop. professor ding does amazing wood block prints. it's different than the standard ubiquitous chinese art.

i was so distraught i didnt even want to purchase any schlock (you can get almost anything at the muslim quarter.). i was there for art. and my usual people--the people i have bought treasures from over the years--were just gone. i'll go again. i promised josh a mao watch, after all. and at least next time, i'll be prepared. china is like this. things happen so fast. restaurants change all the time. one can never expect something to be there. but the muslim quarter!?







ive got my last month nearly arranged. christian is leaving soon for traveling with his family. they'll come through xi'an for a few days, so i'll probably go out to see the terra cotta doods one last time. i hear they have some new ones, recently unearthed.

i'll spend some time packing up my beloved apartment. Chris and John and Oliver will all be stopping by xi'an and i'll have a chance to see them one last time on our old stomping ground.

i'll then fly to meet christian in shanghai. there i hope to meet with Humboldtian 1.0 Claire, freshly graduated from HSU. christian would love to see hangzhou, and since it's close to shanghai, i'm returning there with him for a day or two. then we're off to Xiamen. we'll return to xi'an and i'll cover the city with kisses and then louie and i will take a sleeper bus to beijing. christian is a kind person and is flying to beijing with my bags so i dont have to try and wrestle with too much on the bus journey. we'll meet up and stay with oliver, harass the swede, and the next thing i know, i'll be on my way to california.

last night we met up with tony mu, the panda pimp. we watched him play some basketball and then went to the Good Dofu Place for dinner.


louie, thankfully, likes his pet carrier. he's been playing in it on his own volition. i still need to get him shots and certification.


im concerned about how he will be during our travels. i cant exactly go down to Fin and Feather (or < enter name of favourite local pet shop here >) and fetch him some kitty happy pills, so i just hope that things work out. if anyone has any tips about how to sedate a cat, it would be appreciated. vets here can be sketchy. one of my friends tried to get a sedative for her cat* but the dose was too much and her cat almost died. scary.

this week i give finals. and then... FIN!

right now im going to finish writing a final and bake some banana bread.

*this is my friend, sati, who was a teacher here last year. she happened to return to china for a visit and helped me get louie his carrier. we tried to get his shots organized at that time, but encountered a great deal of hassle (ma fan) instead. she was kind and wrote out how to say things like, "im taking my cat to america. i need the following things..." i really appreciate her taking time out of her vacation to help me out. im lucky she happened to stop by xi'an. two students from humboldt 1.0 and humboldt 2.0 have offered to help too, so i think things will work out just fine.