through the looking glass

silence
walked up the north hill, and for the first time since arriving in china experienced a complete and utter lack of manmade noise. walking through apple groves and across terraced fields the only sounds I heard were birds in flight above me, chickens and roosters fluttering occasionally around me, and my footsteps crunching the fallen leaves. bliss.

the temple of hell
is halfway up the north hill in tianshui. in case you were wondering. man, these guys put christians to shame. eighteen levels, horrors that make dante seem uninspired, and they’ve got life size sculptures of it. of course, none of it bothered me nearly as much as the smiling cows.

new pics, of this, a brick factory, and an abandoned military shooting range at

http://imageevent.com/echoes/tianshuicity

musica
first erhu lesson went like wildfire. I suck of course, but speaking only in broken chinese, sign language, and that whole psychic thing for a few hours just plain rocks.

martha
made costumes for my near 300 students this week for their plays. my apartment is covered in paint, bits of cardboard, fabric, and rope. nothing interesting here, just thought you’d be amused by the image ;-)

elections
what’s up with those? sigh, I leave the country for two months…..