We went to the zoo today, which sounds like a lot of fun, right? It was like a war zone with some wild animals thrown in. The differences between the US and China are so numerous to even mention (a man stood at the top of the stairs today as we grunted and struggled to get the stroller up the stairs and he just watched us), but one enormous difference is that when you are at the zoo in the US and they have dug a hole the size of a compact car right in the middle of the pedestrian path, they AT LEAST put a freakin cone up to warn you DANGER is coming! The zoo in Chongqing was under major construction and people continued to walk around the rubble and the huge piles of rebar and bricks regardless. To make it more interesting, it was 95 degrees. How can we go to Chongqing and not see the bleepin pandas? Well, it took us 2 or 3 hours to find them so we looked at the 3 of them eating bamboo. Let's scram, go back to the hotel and get something incredibly fattening to eat. We are wiped OUT.

We ate hot pot last night which was crazy. They gave us our own private room and the inner boiling pot made my lips numb so when I asked the waitress/cook to not cook me any more spicy, she continued to hand me veggies and noodles that tasted like molten lava. We laughed a lot. Thank goodness we could bring our own bottle of wine -- it came in handy :)

Frannie has mastered the squatty potty. The first time she tried it, she squatted, her pee hit the opposing wall and it ricocheted off the wall and splashed all over her shoes. She's learned. Personally, I've given up drinking liquid so that I don't have to ever chance peeing in these toilets.

WWKS, Chongqing, China, September 19, 2009

You are so embarrassing. Nice shot of the gator.

Substitute blogger's note: Sorry this is late but some of the pics that Ellen sent didn't come through and I waited to post this in case she got my message and resent them. They're not here yet so there may be some additions tomorrow. I apologize for the lateness of this post.