Daily Life (part 3) by Eric

Today I’ll wrap up my description of our daily life here in the People’s Republic of China.

                                                             

Food: we’re still trying to figure this one out because the prep time, cooking method, and food selection is a bit different than we’re used to.  In our kitchen we have a hot burner, a small refrigerator/freezer, a microwave, a rice cooker, and a slow cooker (although it isn’t really a slow cooker b/c the settings are basically off and high).  The Pritchard’s apartment had a small toaster so we borrow that a couple times a week if we want to bake something small.  Our diet primarily consists of rice, vegetables, rice, beans, rice, chicken, rice, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  The peanut butter is a rare commodity here so when a few jars are found in a store or we know of a person from a bigger city passing through we stock up. 

There’s a small grocery store (think Walgreens or CVS) on our campus that sells a few things we need on a week-to-week basis but the large supermarkets (think HEB or Wal-Mart) are a good 25-35 minute trip via bus. So far we’ve only gone there for food about every 3 or 4 weeks to stock up on meat for the freezer.  We’ve found chicken breasts, beef, link sausage….and of course all kinds of other meat that we’ve never considered edible before.  The boys have always enjoyed catching frogs in rivers and streams. Here they get to look at huge ones jumping around in a bin in the meat section of the grocery store. J

However, most of our food purchases are at a few small storefronts a couple hundred yards from our door. (see below; Photos by Aiden D.)  We walk down just about every day to get fresh fruits, vegetables, and rice.  Washing and decontaminating produce takes more time than we’re used to in the states.  Pesticides are used in abundance and it’s a pretty good bet that all the food has spent some time on the sidewalk prior to being placed in the bins.  So we peel everything, wash it all thoroughly, and either give it a salt water or vinegar soaking before rinsing it again in clean water.

The sink water isn't drinkable- for us or the Chinese- so we call and order large containers of water every week or so....which at first was a humorous exchange as we learned the Chinese sentences.  Now they pretty much know what the Americans trying to speak Chinese are needing.  It’s usually delivered to our door the next day. I also boil water a couple of times each day for cooking and drinking.   

Cooking with a wok is something we’re all still trying to master.  We’ve scorched several attempts at dinner over the past few weeks.  It’s been difficult so far coming up with meal ideas because there are only so many things you can do with veggies, beans, and rice- especially without an oven.  The Chinese cook with a lot of oil and a lot of salt.  This past Sunday a student came over and taught both families how to cook “eggs and tomatoes.”  It’s a favorite of the students and is quickly becoming one of our favorites as well.  The Pritchards and us both made it again for dinner on Monday night and Tuesday night.  I suppose we were all craving a new recipe.  Dairy products are nonexistent in Shiyan so cheese, milk, sour cream, and such can’t be found.  We have found a store that carries small blocks of butter although they are always a few months past their expiration date.

The biggest adjustment for our family in terms of food has been the scarcity of snack foods.  Nothing is easy or quick. In the states we got into a habit of having a big snack around 7:30 or 8:00 each night. (that’s when the boys were “starving”) We’d fix a big bowl of apple slices, pretzels, raisins, crackers, nuts, cheese sticks, etc.  Few of those things are available here so our evening snack isn’t quite so exciting anymore.  We’re definitely eating less in quantity each day here than we were in the states…..which isn’t a bad thing.

  

We go to a restaurant or the canteen (cafeteria) a couple of times each week.  With the help of friends we've slowly acquired a list of foods we know we like and have deemed ‘safe.’  Just pointing to a menu full of Chinese characters can be a dangerous thing. J But even with the novice training we've received we still have a few surprises along the way.  There are a couple of dishes I've ordered several times and enjoyed.  One looked like regular ole’ beef and the other was a spongy substance in a soup.  Just yesterday I discovered that one was cow stomach and the other was cow blood.  I’m still not sure how the spongy thing could be blood but that’s what I was told.  Apparently it’s good for cleaning out dust from your body.  I might just stick with my dust and find a new type of soup.

Laundry is another daily task which takes a little more time than it did in the states.  We have a small washer (about ½ the size of an American model) and no dryer so we hang the clothes inside our apartment.  They come off the line the following day quite crunchy. 

Grace and Peace

Eric