Our deepest apologies, but due to conflicts we were unable to post a mid-week entry. For this reason we have decided to provide you with two posts for a wrap up of our past week. We will begin with news from the first half of the week.We mentioned that Pazi was bitten by a cold bug last week. She has almost fully recovered from it. Luckily for us we brought medicine to help us with any illness because they are impossible to find at stores here in Beijing. Adán got a mild sore throat but it was nothing serious. The locals say that because of air pollution and dry, cool air, foreigners commonly have bouts with coughs and sore throats during their visits. We're pretty sure we are just sick and this is not the case at the moment. Time will tell if this theory holds true.
Nai Cha and Mianbao
As we have told you the food is extremely inexpensive here. We are starting to get a good feel for cuisine. This has taken some time because the Chinese food is so different than American Chinese food. One thing that has not been difficult is getting access to sweets. It appears that the Chinese love bakeries. Every street block corner has a bakery. Some are small mom and pop shops, while others are very are extravagant and cater to wealthy foreigners. They primarily specialize in breads and cakes, but certain ones sell cookies and pastries too. Since we love our pan dulce (sweet bread) it's like heaven here for us!
One of our favorite spots is located in Cafeteria #3 on the BISU campus. We order our nai cha (milk tea) and mianbao (bread). The milk tea, or "bubble tea" as it is called in the States is a cold or warm drink that has boba pearls that you eat/drink from the bottom of the cup. Pazi really enjoys them! But when you combine one with sweet bread or cake, that's when Adán becomes a huge fan. And you can't go wrong when you can purchase the two for 4 kuai (about 50 cents)!Where is Worker's Stadium?
On Monday evening we learned that the San Diego Padres were scheduled to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in Beijing for the first Major League Baseball Series in China ever. We decided that the next day we would take a trip to Beijing Worker's Stadium to purchase tickets at the box office. The ticketmaster website said it was a very simple to locate so we thought nothing of it.
The next day after Pazi finished classes, we set out to buy our tickets. We got off at the Dongzhimen subway stop. As we exited the station we were unable to locate a map or any signs that normally direct travelers to venue or shopping destinations. We decided to find a business that might be able to help us. We located Avis Car Rental . We went inside and the woman at the front desk was confused with our question even though she spoke decent English. Finally after she looked at a map she was able to help us. She told us we were less than 2 kilometers away. We felt good so we decided to walk the trek to the stadium.
After walking in the direction the we were advised to take for roughly 1.5 kilometers, we came upon "Embassy Row." Block after block of embassies from all over the world covered the last half kilometer. Then we reached a fork in the road that was not mentioned to us. We had no idea what to do. We tried communicating with Chinese speakers but they each said something different. We even spoke to an English speaker in a fancy spa but we became more confused than ever. Ultimately, we took the taxi and realized when it was all said and done that we were about just a bit over half a kilometer away but a whole block off from our destination.
Upon arriving at the stadium we noticed that absolutely no signs existed to guide us in any direction. Since repairs to the stadium were being done in preparation for the Olympics we entered the stadium where a half constructed gate allowed us access. Inside we searched and searched for staff and any sign of information. In the process we ran into a guy named Orlando from Houston, Texas on vacation and a woman from Aguascalientes, Mexico who never gave us her name. They too were lost and for the next 20 minutes the four of us looked high and low for any kind of assistance. Finally, Adán found a young man in a hidden sporting good store in the stadium complex that spoke English. He guided us to the box office that was located several meters away from the outside gate of the stadium.Once inside the box office we approached the staff at the customer service desk and asked for tickets to the game. It became evident very quickly that tickets in our price range were no longer available. The woman helping us was persistent in telling us to buy the expensive tickets with good views of the field. The cost was 480 yuan (just under $70 bucks)! We thought about it but rationally thinking it out we decide it was not worth it. So we left, frustrated after all the troubles we went through that day. But we would not allow this minor setback to rattle us. We stayed positive and confident that another avenue would open up allowing us the opportunity to be at this historical game. Little did we know that it would happen to take us up until the night before the game for everything to work out...To Be Continued.
