Woke up, met up with my host and the rest of my traveling companions and went to church. The local government has allowed the ex-pat believers to form an officially licensed church. One of the conditions for certifying the church is that all attendees must show a foreign passport. Worship was lead by one of the visiting Texans who we had met last night at the beach party. The sermon was based on John 11 (the whole chapter) which is the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. After the service we went to lunch at a french cafe/coffee shop, I had the Tex-Mex wet burrito, which was quite good. I also had a diet coke which are very rare in these parts. While at lunch it started raining so we returned to our host's house and enjoyed some down time. Then we went to a local massage parlor and enjoyed a 2 hour massage (total cost $13) which was amazing. Apparently there is a special type of massage that is taught to blind people, so it was neat to see these blind people ushered in and then work there way around. My guy was able to identify my trouble spots and spent a lot of time addressing those. I think I'll definitely have to go back at least once before I leave. Then we had dinner at a near-by restaurant that is 60's themed. I was trying to picture a 60's theme and kept picturing hippies and tie-dye. Nope. Chairman Mao and revolutionary themes. Hostesses in Chinese Army uniforms. It's amazing how deeply American culture permeates my worldview. I'm enjoying shining light on those assumptions and questioning them.
I took this photo on Friday, it's from the 5th floor of our host's factory. What you see aren't slums, they're buildings that have been demolished so that newer apartments and office complexes can be built. It's amazing how quickly the Chinese will develop an area.
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