hillbilly in the city

This past weekend I turned 22 - that's right, the PCV baby is finally older than her students!

My site mate told the students about my birthday, so the past week has been a sort of b-day parade, with them either singing or shouting birthday wishes in unison at the start of each class. Their thoughtfulness always makes me regret having to assign work, and never have I been more tempted to scratch a lesson than today.

As soon as the bell rang this morning, my students jumped out of their seats and broke out into song, then presented me with a HUGE, beautiful cake. After confirming that I am indeed swine flu-free (according to them, there are 4 confirmed cases at our school), they had me blow out the edible chocolate candles. Flustered, I then preceded to do a lesson in the format of a Jeopardy game, but just so that you don't think I'm totally ungrateful, I announced a longer-than-usual break, during which they devoured every bit of that cake. I left for a moment to speak with a student, and when I came back, it was gone! haha I wish I had taken pictures of them - you should have seen their frosting-covered smiles! :P

Over the weekend I was able to celebrate American-style with another PCV who is also born on the 17th. I met her and her city-mates, who came in from Guizhou province, in Chongqing city, where a generous PCV hosted us. I think the most suitable adjective for Chongqing is MASSIVE. I felt like such a country hick, so in awe was I of the sheer immensity of the city - the 30M people who live there, the buildings, the light rail, the swanky shops and clubs, etc. But it's not just huge. It's actually quite beautiful too, especially at night, when the lights are reflected in the many rivers that criss-cross throughout the city.

While in Chongqing, we went shopping for Western food items, went out to a fancy Indian restaurant, and went dancing. That's right, clubbing in the Peace Corps, baby. :) I think my favorite part of the weekend was when one of the PCVs cooked us breakfast. He made French toast and CHEESE omlettes! I have been craving cheese like crazy, and I swear, none of the stores in Fuling carry cheese.

But even though I was impressed by the enormity of the city and all of its Western products, I can't imagine living there. It's a great place for a hillbilly like me to visit, but I would never last there. Laid-back Lidu is the perfect fit for this lover of lazy afternoons. =)

If you can't already tell, I love the way my students write, and I love sharing cute messages. Here's two:

I heard that you will go to chongqing tomorrow. Have a good journey. And then I want to tell you something in advance. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! In fact, we hope that you could happy everyday as bright as your smile.Happy!

Happy birthday!
Today is also my birthday.It is wonderful that we have birthday at the same day.So today is a D-day,a happy D-day.