Overseas Adventures: Checking out Chengdu

Friday was a lot of fun! I spent the day in clinic with Dr. Lucy. I hadn't met her before, but I really enjoyed working with her. Her English is great, and she was very engaging. She is in her mid-forties, I think, and she really wanted to get me involved. I did notice, however, that she was not wearing a white coat (more on that later).

We had an interesting clinic with a variety of pathology. There were two new choroidal neovascular membranes and a diagnosis of amblyopia in a patient that didn't realize she was amblyopic (this was fun for Lucy trying to explain this to the patient and family). It was a great day. I also had the opportunity to teach the residents some clinical pearls, which was good for all of us.

Toward the end of clinic, Mandy (chief resident) came over to help out. She leaned over and told me that Dr. Lucy had just explained to her that she wasn't wearing a white coat because she didn't want patients to be able to identify her immediately as a doctor. She is leery of the patients, and has had a knife pulled on her in clinic before. So, she doesn't wear a white coat as a matter of self-protection.

After clinic, Lucy said she had to meet her husband, but wanted some of the clinic staff and residents to take me out to dinner on her. So Lucy gave them money to treat me to a delicious dinner. I really enjoy Sharon, the clinic "policewoman" (not really police, but is the one that keeps the patients in order--I mentioned her in an older post). She is a bit older and not married. She speaks great English and is really funny. She actually reminds me a lot of Sister Senani in Africa. We had a lot of fun at dinner and the food was delicious. I have realized that Chinese food in America ("sweet and sour chicken", "beef and broccoli", etc) is not even close to the real thing. I didn't think I would enjoy "real" Chinese food, to be honest, but I have found that it is some of the most delicious food I have ever had.

Dinner on Friday night. Mandy is in the white coat, and Sharon is in the pink shirt/black sweater.

Delicious dinner!

I am always amazed by the amount of stuff that can be carted around on a bicycle...

Saturday morning I was feeling somewhat melancholy, so I tried to motivate myself. I got up and decided to go to the nearby market. It is a "flea market" of sorts, and honestly it was filled with lots of things that I didn't need! I just perused and tried to soak in the culture and atmosphere. I was so happy that, unlike markets in Europe or other tourist destinations, the sellers did not try to hound me!! So refreshing.

Afterwards, I walked across the street to the Sichuan Museum. It is free if you show your identification. They had a new exhibit that just opened yesterday on Cartier jewels. I have never seen so many diamonds in my life. It was interesting and a nice exhibit. I also was able to see a variety of Chinese art that was several thousand years old.

Sichuan museum. It is within walking distance of my hotel.

Buddha statues made of bronze and gold (several thousand years old).

One of my favorite pieces in the museum. A shadow puppet crafted of leather. Very old!

I am a sucker for beautiful embroidery. This is hand embroidered silk. The photo does not do it justice! It was very intricate.

This was a little distressing after having just spent time in Africa. Rhinos are going extinct in Africa at an alarming rate because the Chinese really value their horns. Today, the ground up rhino horn is thought to have medicinal properties.

Embroidered pandas. Chengdu is known for pandas.

Cartier!

More Cartier. It was quite a nice exhibit.

I headed back to my hotel for some rest and at 3:30 I decided I should go to English Mass. I was feeling lazy, but knew that staying in my hotel by myself was not a good idea. It was Saturday night! I wanted to take a taxi, and I tried to get the hotel staff to help me. After a lot of difficulty, I managed to tell them (show them on the map), where I wanted to go. They were able to write the name of the church in Chinese, which I then was able to show to the taxi driver. I made it to church a bit after 4:00 and took a seat in the back. It was so nice to be able to participate in Mass this time and understand everything that was being said!

Taxi ride. And the name of my destination provided to me by the hotel.

There was a wedding yesterday!

After Mass I chatted with John and his wife again (the couple I met last week). There was another lady who came up immediately and introduced herself to me. Her name is Valerie, and she is from Canada. She and her husband Chris are both retired, but spend a few months a year in Chengdu. He teaches at one of the colleges (PhD in geology), and she gives English conversation classes. They are so nice. They immediately took me under their wing. They wanted to show me Chengdu!

They took me to a beautiful little restaurant called "The Bookworm" for dinner. They insisted it was their treat! It was Western food, which was so refreshing. And I had an American beer :) They introduced me to the Metro system and the bus system. (Yesterday was a big transit day for me--first time using a taxi, Metro, and bus system in China!) My world got a lot bigger yesterday, thanks to Valerie and Chris. They also outfitted me with a great Chengdu map and explained all the best places to go for certain items. They gave me ideas about what museums to visit, etc. They were honestly the most lovely, wonderful people. We have plans to meet up again next Saturday afternoon for church, and then they want to take me to another fun place in Chengdu. They are like my "Viv and Tim" of Africa (Viv and Tim were the most wonderful English couple that took me under their wing my first 2 weeks in Swaziland).

The Bookworm. A western style bookstore/restaurant. I don't plan to go here often, but it is nice to know I can escape here if I am missing home!

I really enjoy my time with the Chinese, and look forward to my fun plans with some of the residents, but it was refreshing to have great conversation in my native language with some awesome Canadians. Valerie and Chris told me to call them anytime if I need anything or get lonely. That is very comforting.

All for now. Today is a lazy Sunday and tomorrow is back to work.

Here are some fun potato chip flavors: