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Published: November 28th 2006
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Cam's Parents
This is Cam's parents and their dog Feifei at their house. I woke up today and knew I was in China but for some reason it took me a while to snap myself into the customs here. I was stuck in Indian mode. Last night before I arrived here I sent Craig a text saying I didn't know how to touch the feet of a Chinese woman. This morning when I woke there were a ton of people out my window and grandma came to get me awake. It was 7am. I walked downstairs and did Namaste to everyone before I could correct myself and politely say "Ni Hao". They stared for a bit before going away. At the time I had the advantage of not knowing what they were saying - they would have stayed much longer had I been able to communicate with them. I had breakfast - basically a repeat of dinner - and then sat down to learn (once again) how to wash my own clothes, this time with a washboard. Grandma taught me a bit but after a little Cam's mom took over at the end saying I was too slow. They were ready to leave to take me around to see the family and didn't want
Cam's Grandad
This is Cam's dad's father (grandad) at Cam's house. to wait any longer.
Cam's mom has a big family - 6 sisters and a brother. They took me to 3 houses before we stopped at Alex's house for lunch. His parents are really nice and his mom's Mandarin is really good. She made fish, chicken and one of my favorite dishes that Eason makes of peppers and meat mixed - it's really good. After lunch I played with Cam's cousin for a bit - he's super sweet and cute of course. I took a bunch of pictures of the two families and myself and Cam's mom gave Alex's mom the grand white Salon pictures they took. I asked Cam's mom who was the handsomest of the boys but she couldn't tell me (she didn't know). She asked which of her boys were cuter and we all know my answer. After lunch we went to his other grandmother's house (mother's mom). They were picking oranges (gan ju - Hunan dialect) outside but all stopped to join us with grandma who's half deaf and mostly blind but still (as with his whole family) seems really sweet. Cam called while I was there and everyone laughed as I left the room
Grandma, Didi and I
Cam's grandma, Didi (literally "little boy cousin" which I call him hence the translation to little cousin), and I at Cam's home. and came back to count them all - they knew it was him. Cam was half laughing at my being there I believe. We talked about my day and he asked me about Martin's wife. The whole day I was half wishing he were there and half glad he wasn't - would have made communication easier but may have been frustrating. We took a bunch of pictures with his mother's family before walking back and taking the motorcycle into town so I could buy some milk (which turned out to be yoghurt - they're both purely liquid in China), cigarettes to give as presents and little pods they eat in Hunan also to give as presents. Cam's mom was basically my translator all day. SHe kept having to tell my same story over and over eat time asking and getting the answers to a few more questions but not many - her Mandarin isn't great and neither is mine.
I helped Cam's mom and dad pack rice puffs into bags to be sold later as the neighbor came over along with two locals on a truck to say hi. I gave everyone pods and Cam's dad and grandad packs
Cam's parents, Didi and I
Cam's parents, Didi and I at Cam's home. of cigarettes. Then Cam's dad went out in the field to spray fertilizer and we sat down for dinner. I'll say this much, this sure is a hard working family. They take Calcium every night for their bones but even grandma's up early and early to bed as she does the laundry for the family, watches the chickens and fields, fixes the vegetables, makes shoes and other graments, cleans the house and who knows what else. I felt a little uncomfortable today as Cam's grandad tried to give his mom some money to take care of me while I'm here. She wouldn't take it but I decided I should pay for things for her while I'm here. At one point I told her Cam's a really good friend of mine but I think it was unnecessary as she has been hearing from Cam and even Alex called her tonight to ask about me. The phone's been ringing quite a bit tonight but who knows who it is. At one point she asked how long I was staying and I said I didn't know. She asked me to stay a month but I reminded her my parents were coming. She said Bensony had called wanting me to go back with him on the 10th. We tried to call him tonight but he's at his grandparents for the next two days. I've decided, probably as I was taking my first tub bath here (only instead of two tubs I used one and a soap dish), that I'm giong to ask Cam's parents about being his girlfriend at some point in the next couple of days. It would be the Indian thing to do and I think it would make him ore comfortable. I can hear Cam's cousin awake now, talking really loudly and Cam's mom has stopped her super loud yawning to be on the phone. There was a motorcycle outside just now roaming through the paths next to the open fields - that and crickets is just about the only thing you hear out here. Motorcycles are the best mode of transport around here. I feel like I'm in the middle of rural Ohio or something like that. At one point tonight there were firecrackers and Cam's dad told me they have them whenever the old turn 50, 60, 70, 80 or any multiple of 10 over 50 - seems a strange custom but it's done. I'm glad Alex called tonight and that his dad came over at dinner for me to give a pack of cigarettes to. He has a bit of a funny twitch in his head but is a really nice guy. Maybe Alex and I will be on better terms when I return.
The other thing that reminded me of the Hindus was Cam's grandma (the one that lives here and came to Dalian to live with him before) went around the house placing burning incense in key places while praying with Namaste and a little bow - just like Mkhun's grandma used to do.
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