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Published: October 29th 2013
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Ava and I were settling in for a lazy morning. I had just seared a nice beef roast and put it in the crockpot that I recently bought. We were chillin’ in our pajamas watching Wonder Pets when the doorbell rang. It was Jia and Lemon! Jia said they were going to eat some crab and would like us to come. I asked when they were going and the answer was, “Right now.” I begged her for 20 minutes and showered while Ava got herself dressed. 17 minutes later, we were in the car and on our way to a village that is famous for crab. Along the way, Yong and Jia told me about the different lakes, rivers, and farmland. We saw farmers leading cows on ropes along the road and chickens running about. There were also stretches of road that was covered with drying rice. I really love visiting the villages around Nanchang!
When we got to the village, there were tanks of crab everywhere. By “tanks”, I mean 50 gallon aquarium tanks filled with crabs of various sizes. We bypassed the first part of the village. Yong found a place where we could eat crab
on a giant raft in the middle of a big pond. It was a really nice fall day, so we ate outside on the raft. Yong chose some crabs while Lemon and Ava investigated the raft. There were women washing vegetables and fish and a whole table of workers tying up the crabs (for restraint purposes while cooking). It was definitely a light-hearted atmosphere.
The food came and filled the center of the table. We had bok choy, prawns, tofu, rice, egg soup, and watermelon seeds. It was delicious. Finally, they served the crabs. They also gave us small bowls with soy sauce and ginger for dipping the crab. Apparently, crab is seen as a cold food that lowers the temperature of the body. So, they serve it with soy sauce and ginger to balance out the body’s temperature. I don’t know about temperature, but I will tell you that it was definitely delicious!
Anyone who has children will probably agree that kids don’t eat when you take them out to eat. Lemon and Ava are no exceptions to the rule. They didn’t eat much and were getting restless. Jia told Ava that if
she was good, they would take her to a place to pick oranges from the tree. I think I was more excited about it than Ava.
After lunch, we went to an orange grove. The adults were handed some shears to cut the oranges off the trees. We walked down into the grove and ducked under tree and through branches and ate oranges right off the trees. The flavor was so strong and sweet! We filled a whole bucket with oranges and went back to the roadside to have the oranges weighed. Yong bought half a canvas bag full of oranges in addition to the ones we picked and we headed home.
When we got home, he gave half of them to Ava and me and asked us to share them with all the other teachers. Ava immediately filled up a small bag with oranges and started knocking on apartment doors. She loves sharing things with the other teachers. I started cooking and cleaning because I invited Yong, Jia, and Lemon to join us for dinner.
I made the beef roast, broccoli, mashed cauliflower, garlic bread, and rice for dinner. I
was sad when I realized that I was out of potatoes and carrots, but explained to them that those vegetables typically accompany a roast. We had a nice dinner together. Afterwards, the girls played and Yong, Jia and I looked at some pictures from life in Michigan. What started out as a boring day at home quickly changed into a memorable day with friends. That’s how life is for Ava and I in China. I can’t explain how special our friends here have become to us. Between our fellow foreign friends and our Chinese friends, there’s never a dull moment!
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Pastor Carl Litchfield
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Hi Kirtland and Ava, I am so interested in your adventures in China. Your first encounters didn't sound too promising, but these last few telling about your connections with new friends has been fascinating. In your last entry you told about getting help for Ava when she cut her hand. You closed saying you would tell more about what had happened in your next entry. Did I miss that entry or will you still be sending more information later on? Still curious. Glad you had such good help from your friends. Is Ava's hand healing well? Love in the Lord, Pastor Carl