An employee from the school (Emily said he is an important person) named Peter wanted to help me explore the area. I first met him on that Sat. outing to Sitou. So he and his wife picked me up at 11 a.m. along with a student. Off we went to lunch. Claire (his wife) was impressed that I was willing to try things. But she is nice and tells me what things are before I taste them. Her English is very good.
After lunch, we drove to a museum (I forget what it was for). It was merely the meeting place. We got on a bus and off we went! Let’s see . . . our first stop (I really shouldn’t wait so long to record my adventures!!) Hm, sorry. No play-by-play available for this event. My brain just can’t recall all the specific details. I’ll give highlights.
The focus of the trip was ecology (it took Claire awhile to get the pronunciation down). We had an expert-in-his-field professor as our “tour guide”. We went to a cultural park and made houses out of paper. They are models of traditional old houses. They had a display showing the old village. At least I think that was the idea. Anyway, the models were tricky and they were only for children! Claire & I were the first to finish ours – 2 adults. And it took some effort. We were quite proud.
The first insect/bug of the trip: a tree frog. The professor pulled it out of his bag. It was so cool! I stared at it for some time. I could have looked at it most of the day and been satisfied. Don’t you just get caught up in the movement of animals? This frog was impressive. It could jump from one side of its plastic container directly to the other side (kiddie corner). Way cool! It was a translucent light green color. Just fascinating. Even thinking about it gets me excited.
Back to the highlights. Okay, I’ll just tell you the best part straight out. I got to hold a bunch of bug/insects! It was AWESOME. I held a lizard, a tree frog, a stick insect, and a caterpillar. Oh yeah! (sung as I do a little dance)
We traveled to some place, seemed to be in mountains. We had a break and ate dinner (finally something close to a sandwich!! My first in this country) as the sun set. Then we set out to find bugs. Oooh. So, the professor caught the lizard (way impressive). I don’t know how he even saw it! And while he was talking (in Chinese, logically) I held my hand out and said softly “Can I hold it?” He caught my message and put it in my hand. It was just so cool! Words can’t describe it. I guess I was kind of feeling like a little kid (funny how that description fits me so often).
And the stick insect was nifty. It totally looked like a stick! The tree frog was fabulous. The professor caught it and once I went to hold it, it had escaped back to the trees. So Peter’s friend (who invited us on the trip) went and caught it again. All because I wanted to hold it – very nice guy. It was very little and just cool. It poked its little head between my fingers and thumb and just looked at us. Ha ha. I was happy/content/excited.
The caterpillar I held on the way back (we took a little walk down a dirt road). We passed a spot with a bunch of caterpillars and I really enjoyed looking at them. Then later down the path I decided I wanted to hold one. But I couldn’t find any! Luckily, we turned around and passed the caterpillar-dense area again. So I took one off its leaf perch (it was sticky and unwilling) and plopped it on my hand. Here’s something that I find hilarious, but is gross – it used me as its bathroom! HA HA HA! How many people can say that?! So there.
I looked down and saw a small yellow drop of liquid as the caterpillar inched forward. Then I saw a small brown speck. It was so funny I wasn’t too bothered. And it felt so cool as it crawled along my hand. It tickled actually. I should have taken a picture of the caterpillar’s waste – it was so itty bitty!
And that is pretty much it. I got back to my apartment about 12. The outer doors were locked and I didn’t want to wait around for the guard to come back to his post. So I walked under the barricade and down into the parking garage. Then I hopped into the elevator and pushed 8. As the doors opened on the 8th floor, I thought this isn’t right. Duh! There are 3 different elevators in the building. So I went back down and got out at the 1st floor and walked to the correct elevators. Ha ha! So much for sneaking in quickly. Oh and the guard got out of the elevator as I got in. (I’ve asked to have a key made so I can unlock the doors. They rarely lock it but that is the 2nd time I’ve been locked out.)
I think that is about it. I had an awesome time playing with creatures of the night. And I came away with only two mosquito bites. Yeah! I did have long pants and a long shirt on . . . that was hot during the day.
Oh my, forgot to mention another cool part of the trip. They set up a white sheet by a special light that attracts bugs. After our walk, we went to that. MAN! I’ve never seen so many bugs (er, insects)! It was cool. And I got up close and personal as I took pictures. I did a bit of convulsing afterward since I felt like I still had things crawling on me. It was so neat though! All these things hanging out on this white sheet. And we could take pictures and hold them. *sigh* It was very enjoyable :)
Claire & I proudly display our finised house.
A close-up of the house. Not bad, eh?
Peter and the student working on a house. The student didn't have an English name so they told me to call him Juan. He is from Malaysia and has a big family - 7 kids!
Part of the paper model town.
Claire & I with the professor who lead the group. He was a great photographer and gave me a small album of photos. It's nice to be a stranger sometimes - I get gifts.
The tree frog I played with after making my paper model.
Funny thing about this picture - I was totally happy. I just didn't get a smile on my face before the shutter clicked. It's even funnier that I was the photographer! Ha ha. Let's say I was thinking deeply about the beautiful scenery. Ok?
I caught this chipmunk or squirrel as it dashed across the phone wires and sign. It looks like it is flying in this picture! Sweet.
The sheet with all the bugs. COOL
The back side of the sheet. There were so many bugs!
A small section of the sheet.
The special lamp that attracted the bugs. I'm thinking I should buy one when I get back to the U.S.
Check out the bug on the right. It totally looks like a leaf! How nifty is that?!
Me holding 2 tree frogs on the bus. Before we left, all the bugs were released (not inside the bus though).
2 comments:
Dude... what's in the water over there. Do you need to get your head checked? You ENJOYED bugs? blech... you're nuts. But, I'm glad you had a nice time. I just think you're a tad bit psycho. :)
You definitely enjoy bugs too much... ;)
Post a Comment