May 2nd: Friends and Family

Yesterday, May 2nd, was a fun day spent with friends.  My friend Lucy invited me for lunch at her house.  She's been coming to our Friday night activities for several weeks, and she and I have struck up a friendship.  We're only a few months apart in age, and she also was an English major (and therefore speaks good English and even translated for us last Friday).  She grew up here in Jingzhou, but then lived in the state capital, Wuhan, for a few years for college and all.  She just moved back here a few months ago, and works for an engineering company near here.  I know her aunt and uncle, too; they are Family.

I was stuffed after eating lunch.  They had invited her aunt and uncle too, and her mother had cooked enough food for them, but they weren't able to come.  So, we had an abundance... There was fried lotus root (one of my favorites), a dish with cauliflower, and some sort of beans and greens (not bad, actually). There was a soup with fat meat, peas, and scrambled eggs.  There was also some sort of chicken with what Lucy described as 'white carrots'.   They looked rather like potatoes, but tasted a lot better. They were really good.  I'm not sure what white carrots are--maybe turnips or something?  Also, there was a dish of eel with peppers.  Lucy's dad had caught the eel himself fishing the day before; it's a local delicacy.  I'd never tried it before, but it was pretty good.  Not fishy at all.  Lucy's mom kept urging us to eat and offering more...I finally managed to convince her that I was stuffed.  In the end, she sent me home with leftover fried lotus root. 

I spent the afternoon hanging out with Lucy.  We talked about going outside to the park, but it was so hot and we were so stuffed that we ended up just lazing on the couch talking.  It was good to get the chance to get to know her a little better.  She has three older brothers, who have all moved away now.  She has an apartment one floor beneath her parents; her uncles and their families live next door.  The Wangs own the building, and they rent out the apartments not used by family members for extra income.  It turns out Lucy and I have the same taste in music, and we'd both been listen to the same singer for the last week (James Blunt). Her mom tried to convince me to stay for supper, too (as if I could eat any more!), but I left a little after four.  

From there, I went to Tabby and Casey's to meet with the family.  Casey talked a lot about how we treat each other as a family.  We hung around for a while afterwards spending some time together, and then a few of us went over to Ron and Evelyn's for our Sunday night tradition: Settlers of Catan.  We played two games--in both, I finished second. The second game I would have won if I'd had one more turn, but Stephanie beat me to it by seconds.  I really enjoy the game, though--I'm going to have to get some of you into it so I'll have someone to play with when I am there. :)