May Holiday on a Camel!

Hey everybody! We just got back from a nice 2-day holiday trip to Urumqi, the capital of our province and thought we should share some pictures (and a movie)! This week has been a much anticipated "Spring Break" of sorts which is just short of halfway through our semester. It seems like it's going so fast and yet at the same time our departure date for the US seems so far away. Anyway, this week is what they call May Holiday - I think it is equivalent to our Labor Day but I'm not quite sure. All schools are off from the 1st through the 7th of May every single year, but you'd be fooled if you didn't read the tiny Chinese fine print at the bottom of this holiday. If you did you find that it read, "The weekend before any week-long holiday here in China is preceded by a mandatory work-weekend." That's right, we were supposed to work an 8 day work-week before taking this vacation, and everybody does this! Isn't that crazy?

So our May Holiday is here and we spent these last two days taking a quick trip to Urumqi. For those of you who don't know or remember, Urumqi is a 4 hour bus trip from our town and although it is much dirtier and crowded than Karamay, it does have a Pizza Hut and a grocery store with an isle dedicated to imported foreign goods! We hopped a ride with our school's rented bus headed for an English competition in Urumqi, an opportunity which saved us enough money to more than pay for our hotel stay but also put us in a bus for 4 hours with about 20 kindergartners. We both ended up on a microphone singing kids songs at the front of the bus as entertainment, but hey, it was free!

Urumqi, like most of Xinjiang, is made up of two main culture groups - the Chinese and the Uyghur (pronounced "wee-ger"). The Uyghurs, who seem to outnumber Han Chinese people in many places, have their own language, food, and all-around look. They are much more open than the Chinese people and are very passionate about holding onto their heritage amidst strong Chinese influence. You can see a lot of this just looking all around you while walking through the city.

A small section of Urumqi, known as the Bazaar, is a touristy spot that highlights the Uygur culture, selling knick-knacks, food, special ice cream, and even camel rides. That is where we took this next video that you see. I must admit that if I were to travel on my own I would miss out on many things that Tiff seems so eager to enjoy. My first thought when I pass anything like this is "uh-oh, here's another tourist trap, and I don't want to be another sucker for a tourist trap." The only downside to such a mindset is that you rarely get to experience anything, especially if you are touring an area unguided. Thankfully Tiff stopped me and we got a fun and interesting story, along with a very large crowd gathered around to see a beautiful white-woman riding a donkey in the middle of a town square. Why didn't I ride the camel? There's a very well-known saying about camels, and let's just say that I would be that "straw".

Well, besides the camel, a VERY large meal at Pizza Hut, and some shopping for a few clothes, DVD's, and imported foods it was a very simple and short trip. We're glad, as always, to be back in our apartment with our cat and our own bed. This week we have a few dinners planned with various people around the city which makes us a bit nervous but we are also excited. I've found a good place to play basketball most any day I please, so Kyle and I have spent many late evenings intimidating small Chinese kids with our sheer size.

Lastly, we finally bought our tickets back home, so we know exact dates and times! We will be arriving in Dallas on July 30th, my dad's birthday and staying for exactly 4 weeks. It seems like a long time but we know it will go by fast. We're looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible, just give us a day or two to adjust our body clocks. We can't wait!