Green Monster Slime

No, that's not a new feature of the Boston Red Sox mascot.  That's what happened in my sinuses last night.  I seriously could have remade the star of "The Blob" with what came up, down, and out.  I woke up yesterday with a really sore throat, swollen glands, and the inability to swallow without some pretty intense pain.  Figured it was because I was a bit stupid and ate chocolate right before bed the night before.  But no. I went down to the hotel desk to the ladies who speak a little bit of english and asked them to write something in Chinese that I could take across the street to the pharmacy to get for my throat.  Good move - the pharmacist spoke no English at all.  We had a delightfully entertaining exchange of gestures where we managed to communicate that it was all in my throat, not in my nose, and she gave me a box of mysterious green packets that I was supposed to mix in hot water and drink 2-3 times per day.  It's amazing how much you can communicate through pantomiming, and it's hilarious that we all insist on talking anyway, even though we know the other can't understand.  I think part of it is just the feeling that somehow you're getting your point across anyway - inflection or something.  Or it's just being used to having to speak to be understood.

The stuff ended up looking like bee pollen and tasting like honey with cloves and camomile, so that was nice.  Not sure it did much.  While I was out with my pals, I procured a bag of salt.  So late last night, I boiled some water, let it cool, mixed in some salt, and did my favorite thing in the world when I've got a sinus issue - nasal rinse!!!  Some of you have heard me rave about this.  Well, let me tell you that I wish I'd taken pictures of what came out of my head and throat.  That could make medical history.  I was impressed.  It ranked right up there with the green nasties that came out of my head after my first trip to China.  Yes, this is my third time in China and my third sinus/respiratory issue.  What is *with* this country?!?!  And the air in Xinjiang is quite nice, so I can't even blame the pollution.  But I can't seem to come here without being colonized.

Yesterday was the belated birthday celebration with Yakupjan and Meripet.  When we were last together, we discovered that our birthdays are all in May, so we agreed to get together again upon my return.  It was a nice evening - we just walked around for a long time, wandered up to the downtown area, and then ended up at a really nice Ughyur restaurant.  I'm bummed that I wasn't able to eat - stomach too sour and too wiped from over-walking.  We spent a little bit of time carpet shopping.  This is an excellent place for purchasing rugs, so I thought I might pick one up for our living room.  They've got some really good quality, tightly woven (read - the cats will have a harder time destroying it), wool rugs - machine made in Turkey - for about $150 for 5X7.  And that's before bargaining.  It's not like one of those cool "you could only buy it traveling" rugs that is hand woven by a villager somewhere.  I asked about those - they range from $1000 - $3000, too rich for my tastes, but they're *beautiful*. But even the machined rugs of this size and quality would be about $400 in the US.  So we'll see.  I could lug it home on the plane - it doesn't weight that much.  And our living room floor is pretty bare and cold right now.  

I'm about to run out the door to meet a couple of Yanks that I met in an ice cream shop yesterday.  They're both PhD students in Eurasian culture and live in Urumqi.  It's funny how easy it is to pick out an American - no matter where you are.  Even before I heard them speak, there's a certain body posture that screams "American".  One of them was sitting slouched back in his chair with his arm dangling over the back, and at that moment I realized I was doing the same.  So I'd read online about this bar in town that's owned by an Irishman, a Kiwi, and a Japanese guy, and it's supposed to be a great expat/backpacker hangout.  I'm meeting them there in about an hour.  I'd kill for a slice of pizza and a good beer at this point.  They've got *real* imported beers.  Not the Chinese "near beer" stuff that has formaldehyde in it (no joke) and tastes like assed Budweiser. A real beer than I can enjoy the taste of while sipping at a reasonable pace without having to "show my happiness" by slamming the whole glass.  And a beer in a pint glass instead of a little juice glass. Marvelous.  I haven't seen a pint glass (or a fork!) since I left home. And it'll be nice to hang out with my fellow countrymen for awhile.  One of them just got back from a visit to Kashgar, so I can get some travel advice, speak English at a normal pace and talk about topics where we have some common ground.  I love travel and meeting new people from unfamiliar places, but after nearly 6 weeks here (and these are the first Westerners I've seen in more than a month), it'll be refreshing to have a little bit of home.  Then it's off to a *real* cultural experience in Kashgar!  I got "approval" from one of the senior professors who said it's no problem for me to go to Kashgar, so I'm planning to leave on Thursday for the weekend.  I'll stay in touch!