Pictures for Kassie!

That's weird, why is this monk holding this sign?
This is to tell my Kassie Happy Birthday! I couldn't send you a present, but I can send you some pictures. I hope you had a great birthday.


P.S. the creepy child mannequin say Happy B-day too.

Puzzling translation of the week

Here is an interesting dish....We ate at this restraunt and were astonished to see what was on the menu board! Needless to say, I opted out of this one.

The warriors
Our ILP group above, and part of the Mosque below.

Our Xi'an Trip

Last Wednesday we left on a night train to Xi'an. I think in total the ride was about 16 hours long. Fortunately, we were asleep for the majority. Sleeper trains are a bit cramped, but they are the best way to travel. I fell asleep to the sound of the mother below me singing her baby(and me) to sleep. I woke up to a man sloppily slurping his soup, and what sounded like an old man coughing himself into his grave. The countryside outside my window was absolutely gorgeous. We passed through miles and miles of farmer's fields. Terraces were cut into the hillsides, every possible bit of land was farmed. I learned so much about the Chinese just by watching their lives through my small window. They bury their dead above ground, in huge cone shaped mounds with only a white flag atop to mark it. Graves could be anywhere. I saw them in the middle of fields, atop hillsides, and next to rivers.

Xi'an was really cool. It is a city with about 8 million people. We stayed in a youth hostel run by a guy named Jim Beam.....isn't that the name of some sort of alcohal? I think so. The hostel was really nice, a lot cleaner than our own living quarters. Our first day in Xi'an we went on an official tour. We went to a factory where they make Terra cotta warrior replicas, then we went to a museum with ancient artifacts that date hundreds of years B.C. . After the museum we went to a hot springs, which served an ancient emperor, and his concubines. It was really beautiful, but we didn't have time for a soak. After that we went to see the Terra Cotta warriors. It was really amazing. I never really realized how huge this place was until we got there. To this day, they are still excavating the site, and finding new warriors and artifacts! The first pit we went to was a covered area, bigger than a football field. The terra cotta warriors were everywhere, all neatly in line, all different from eachother. Each face is a unique face! Along with the warriors, there were terra cotta horses. There were two other pits, not quite as big as the first one, but still just as impressive. There were some warriors that were outside the pits, under glass so you could get an upclose look at them. The detail is amazing. There is fine grid detail in the soles of there shoes, and the hair on their head is braided, you can see every strand. It was incredible. After we saw the warriors we went to the tomb of the emperor who created all of this. I can't remember his name, sorry. I was expecting to go underground and see some decadent beautiful tomb, but that wasn't the case at all. The tomb has not been excavated at all. To this day, it is an undisturbed mound. When I say mound, I mean a hefty sized hill. The people of China refuse to excavate his tomb because they believe, and have some proof that it is highly protected. In ancient writings it is said that there are mercury pools along the perimeter of his grave. It also says there are automatic crossbows hidden and ready for fire. Our tour guide informed us that they have seen the mercury pools from satellite in space. Because of this proof, and the possibility of other booby traps the Chinese have not, and probably will not excavate it. Ted and I stood on top of this mound, and drooled at the idea of what riches could be underneath our feet.

Our second day in Xi'an we spent in the Muslim district. We went to a beautiful ancient mosque that is hidden in the middle of this huge city. After that we spent the rest of the day exploring and haggling in the marketplace. We bought a really cool Mah Jongg set, and also a chess set. We also got our last name carved in character on a stone stamp. We picked out the stone, and watched a lady carve out our name in less than five minutes. It is really pretty.

Our first trip was really fun and exciting, and we look forward to our next one, which is in about two and a half weeks. I think we are going to Bejiing. Yippee!

Yours,

-a.

Here are the pictures that we posted a week ago. They were having problems, I guess.

One of the many puzzling translations we encounter. I think I will start a weekly segment just to feature these.

Regarding Comments

Thanks for the comments everyone! It took me a while to figure out how to publish them, sorry. It should be good now! Peace.

Hello There

Hi,

Everything is great here. The past week has been tons of fun. We have gotten to know the place a lot better. We have also found out how to ride the packed full buses. There is lots of pretty places around here and many things to do.
Yesterday we went to the temple market and Aundi bought a really cool Mao messenger bag for 3 dollars and we had an awesome meal for a dollar a person. it was these crazy good dumplings and dipping sauce. the best meal we have had here. we then walked over to the city park which is very beautiful. I will post some pictures of it. There are these crazy monkey guys who have these monkeys tied to a rope and have them do flips. It looks like the monkeys have a very cruel life but Aundi gave them some change anyway. I chose not to support monkey torture. It was still something new to see. They have fruit you can buy on every corner, all for about 15 cents. Either fresh strawberries, pineapple, candied crab apples, or fruit shi-kabobs. also cotton candy. It is a lot cheaper than Disneyland but we haven't found any churros or anything like that yet. I don't really trust American hot dogs and definitely not the hot dogs they have on the street corners here.
The park had very pretty walkways and islands. Pictures won't do justice to the beauty of it. we spent most of the afternoon walking around there. they also had a beautiful Art exhibit on display. Most of the paintings where done in water color and I was amazed at what they could do.
We had sacrament service again over at the kindergarten school across the street. it is compose of all 9 teachers. It is really neat. We can never quite last the whole three hours. Me and Steve are the only Priesthood brethren and the Priesthood meetings can get rather boring. They are still very spiritual meetings and are fun because everyone is rather close with one another.
Every thing else is an adveture and we are having a great time every day. This week we will be going to Xi'an wednesday night and be back Sunday night so we can teach on Monday. The weather is a beautiful sunny day. Thanks for reading our blog.
With Regards,

Ted & Aundi