Loving XinJiang

This place is great.  I got a bit of a tour of the area around the University last night led by two students.  One is Ughyur.  In fact, that's how he was introduced to me.  "This is our Ughyur student".  Made me think how odd that would sound in the US where no one is introduced by their race or nationality, and in fact people don't even seem to fee all that comfortable describing someone as being black, latino, or asian.  His name is Ughyur and difficult for me to pronounce, so he told me to call him Jacob. Anyway, this particular student went from totally creeping me out to becoming my favorite in a very short time.  When we were first introduced, he went a bit too wide-eyed and watched my every move very quietly in a borderline stalkerish sort of way.  I quickly realized that he's very soft spoken and shy, but his english is the best of anyone in the lab.  I think it helps that the Ughyur language is Turkish-based, so his pronunciation is much better than the Chinese.  And his vocabulary and comprehension are a lot better.  So when he was watching me and lingering around, he was just looking for an opportunity to practice his English.  So I've spent a fair bit of time talking to him in the last two days, and aside from Shaoyuan, he's the only person with whom I can have a substantial conversation.

So he and this other student, Guan Bo, walked me down the main street here last night.  It's such a bustling and lively town.  There are people from all over central asia, so you hear all different languages from Chinese to Ughyur to Russian and hear a lot of different music being blasted into the streets from CD shops.  We stopped in one shop, and he picked out a CD of traditional Ughyur music for me.  It was about 10 pm, and the sidewalks were packed with people and street vendors.  There is a lot of fruit here, and it all looks magnificent.  I'm going to have to eat a watermelon slice by moonlight before I leave.  And there was one guy with a bicycle that had a cotton candy machine on the back.  Not really a machine like we're used to thinking of, more like a platform with a torch and a fan.  He scraped sugar into the flame and then used a stick to spool the cotton candy out like a big sugar moon.  No coloring nothing fancy, just cotton candy at its essence.  Too bad I let my mind take over my heart and decided that much sugar before bed was a bad idea.  It looked delicious.

Past the street vendors was the entrance to an underground marketplace.  Literally underground - it's a pedestrian walkway under the street that is lined with shops selling scarves, perfumes, etc. We wandered through that to the other side of the street where the international bazaar started.  More shops and street vendors. And people selling fresh pressed pomegranate juice - yet another thing I must try next time I get a chance to wander out. And the market is all around a square next to a beautiful mosque that was built of tiny little sand colored bricks, and the windows of the towers were aglow with a pale blue light that looks like heaven is shining through.  It was one of those wow moments of traveling that takes your breath away.  I asked if you can hear the call to prayer in the mornings, and Jacob said no, it's illegal.  I'd forgotten for a moment that I was in China.  In fact, it is a strange place like that.  It doesn't really feel like I'm in China anymore. Until you see the police and military hanging around.

Another funny thing about this place is that since there are so many people from so many different places, I don't stand out as much.  Every once in awhile, I see someone from a distance who I think might be a westerner, and it turns out they're Russian.  I can definitely tell that they're Russian, and I wouldn't say that I look Russian, but a lot of the Chinese here seem to think that I am Russian.  I've had Chinese shopkeepers try to sell me things by speaking to me in Russian.  It's hilarious.  I'm sure they're saying the same think they would say in English. "Helloooo ladeeey."  Being Russian suddenly makes me feel a bit more exotic than I truly am.  And that also probably explains why most people here don't stare at me as much as in other parts of China.  

Then back to the lab.  It's so funny here.  I've been introduced to everyone so effusively.  Everyone calls me Dr. Cooper.  The students are stumbling over each other to help me, so I've had 5 offers of help making DEPC water.  We went to lunch yesterday with two of the students, and I had to come up to the room for a moment before meeting them in the restaurant.  When I approached the table, they both stood until I was seated.  One of the students insists that I let him carry my backpack, which makes me a little nervous knowing how much money I'm currently carrying.  I have no problems trusting him, but I'm more paranoid about pickpockets and have only let him carry my bag across the campus - not in town. Shaoyuan and I each gave a seminar tonight.  They scheduled us for 8:30 pm - the latest I've ever spoken, and hopefully the latest I ever will.  We were in the conference room for 2 hours - in part because they had so many questions for us.  I wasn't expecting many myself, since I spoke in English, and I imagine it's difficult for them to phrase questions in English, but there were a dozen or so questions and twice as many for Shaoyuan (who spoke in Chinese).  I'm thrilled by how interested and excited everyone has been.  It's making for a much better trip this year than last.  Now if we can only get animals!