Today was a rest day. We slept in, had breakfast at the hostel, did some school work, and then had recess in the playground outside the building.
The favorite by far are these walking swings. We’ve seen them in many places. They seem to be part of the standard Chinese playground along with some other stations that are a mix of children’s toy and adult’s workout machine. In fact, I see as many adults using the playgrounds as kids.
We also took a walk about the neighborhood, looking for our favorite yoghurt drinks and walking in the park behind a piece the old city walls that really is just a packed dirt barrier.
In the afternoon, we did some more school work and another round at the playground before the kids got some movie time while I went for a run. At breakfast, we met a Swiss guy named Patrick w ho invited us to a party he was giving for some people he had met in Xining. So after dinner, we stopped by. He is staying in the hostel’s “luxury” apartment, a one bedroom with a living room and small kitchen. It was an eclectic mix of an Ecuadorian couple, an American studying Tibetan, two Tibetan men, and some girl and boyfriends. It was nice to have some adult company, though we could only stay for an hour or so. Our leftovers from dinner were quite popular, and Patrick had us take some chocolate as parting gifts. Really a nice guy. Tomorrow we are getting up early to catch a bus for a day trip to Guide.
robsherry 