After my previous epic post that I wrote the night I arrived here in Huaihua I have been rather quiet.  I would like to blame this on the fact that I played host to two UVM classmates who visited for my second night here.  But in fact part of this wait is due to the fact that I hadn’t really warmed up to this mysterious city.  My first reaction could be summed up in the phrase: “what the hell did I get myself into?”  I wanted to wait until I was genuinely thrilled to be here before I wrote in this blog again.  That time has come, on my third evening here.

Since I have to catch a train soon let me get to the point.  This evening I had an Aaha! moment when it clicked that living in Huaihua is a blessing.  Surprisingly enough this happened while eating dinner with a couple teachers and a vice-principal of my school.  Earlier today I bought a train ticket back to Changsha after realizing that going to Kunming takes too long.  I felt a little annoyed with myself for heading back to the big city so soon after arriving here.  My spirts weren’t that high as I prepared for this evening’s dinner.  I dressed up nicely and got out my Bostonian gifts for another less than plesant evening of Chinese formal eating.  I met my dinner guests in one of the school plazas as hundreds of 15 year old students were going through their required military training.  The top principal was also there, however couldn’t make dinner. 

We hopped into the car of the vice-principal and headed out of the city.  Five minutes out we hit pristine countryside.  I was elated to realize that just a short walk from my school I could find mountains waiting to discovered and fields heavy with ripe stalks of rice.  The air was cool and a comfotable breeze russtled the many bamboo and pine trees.  The pollution was still there but far less noticable.  We stopped at a “rustic” looking place called Butterfly Spring and ordered some dishes.  Our meal consisted of spicy deep fried bee pupas (with some whole bees mixed in, though no one at those), a stir fried rodent that likes to hop around and is local to the mountains (no one could translate its name for me – I just found it in my dictionary listed as muntjac), stir fried spicy beef, a soup of black chicken, and finally a big bowl of stewed stone frogs.  It was all new to me and apparently represented the local delicacies of Huaihua.  It was a memorable dinner full of jovial conversasation and many toasts.  They all loved their presents of MFA painting reproductions and Harvard calendars.  I would write more but I must run to catch my train to Changsha.  I’m hoping to get a ride to Shaoshan, Mao Zedong’s birthplace, early tomorrow morning right after I arrive in Changsha.  Should be a fun weekend.