so, last weekend we found the epicenter of shopping. there's this marketplace right off one of the subway stops that made my face light up like it was christmas. you've never seen anything like this! i haven't anyway... it was miles and miles of little stands set up with fresh vegetables, from commonplace to exotic; fruit of any and every kind; beautiful and colorful handmade candies and cakes; lines of fresh little fish tied together with yellow ribbon; prepared dishes you could buy by the pound; fresh cuts of meat sitting right next to, say, a severed pigs head..... and then there were socks and shirts and pillowcases and necklaces and baby clothes and quilts.... just stuff of every sort everywhere you look. most of the sellers worked very hard on their displays and made each product look beautiful and special... i wanted to buy a little of everything. people in the booths were chatting, laughing with eachother- little old women with those crinkles by their eyes that show evidence of a lifetime of smiles... in one alley a middle aged woman walking alone came up to me, took my hand and tried to tell me something... i couldn't understand all the korean she was pouring out to me, but her hands were soft and her eyes were kind, so i took it as something nice (though kevin believes she put a hex on me... but that's kevin). we watched one white and one brown puppy play-fight at our feet between a few vegetable stands as we were walking in one direction. we saw them curled up and napping together on the way back. in the end, though, i was too overwhelmed by it all to actually purchase anything. i will go again, but with a list of what i could use and a camera, too, so i can show you what i mean.
i went back to the pharmacy. kevin and i have been snot recycling centers all week; i thought i'd try out some ancient asian remedy for said problem. i went back to the little corner pharmacy with the nice ladies and was ready with my sign language. i tried out the word 'sinus' first, then 'runny nose', 'pressure'.... three strikes. so on to the hand motions. i ran my fingers from the bridge to the base of my nose and made as sad face. i pinched the very top of my nose, between my eyes, and made a moaning sound. i fake coughed. this time, all the kind ladies were into the game, but they all looked completely puzzled and made no guesses.... until one woman sitting behind me stood up and said in perfect english, "you have a cold?"
yeah.
and what do they give me? no special herbs to mash and put in tea. no weird root to suck on or put under my pillow at night. no powders. nope.
tylenol cold and sinus.
so there ya go.
the cold is really annoying- i'm happy it's trailing off and cannot wait until it's completely gone. it's had a way of draining all my energy since it showed up- so this has been a rather uneventful week all in all. if i wasn't working, i was sleeping.
we did manage to have a little fun tonight, though. we were finished a little earlier than usual at school, and went to a place called the 'we wii' cafe. there, we paid 3.50 a piece for a coffee and were shown to a private room where we could enjoy our coffee with our very own giant flatscreen and a wii. if you want an extra hour, you buy another coffee.
across the street from the we wii cafe there is a pizza stand that will sell you a slice for about a dollar... and do you know how they hand you that slice? do you, friends?
they do it steve-martin's-the-jerk-style, kids: that's right! it's pizza in a cup! color me tickled.
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