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Still On Vacation…

Had dinner with a friend then went on a walk. Campus Kitten made an early appearance today, further down from when I usually encounter her. I reminded her her food and water bowls were a bit down the fence, and she followed me to her usual feeding spot. I fed and watered her. A video will be coming so you can see her in action.

It’s a warm night here in Fuzhou. Clear skies, a nearly full moon, and 29 celsius which is 84 degrees F for all you Americans out there. I could only eat half my dinner which was 19 yuan ($2.66) so I used the baggie I packed to take the rest home. I bought some beef which I froze a couple of weeks ago, so I can cook that up and add it to the rest of my dinner. How often do you get two dinners out of something that’s only $2.66, including two little bottles of Coke?

Oh, lest you think I have it great (it’s pretty good though) what comes after nine days of vacation?

Payday.

Campus Kitten’s Early Visit

Today I went early to see Campus Kitten, and lo and behold, she was there! I wanted to get something to eat and also get meds. So on my way, I stopped and fed and watered her. Because it was still light out, I was able to get some pictures of her.

This was the best one today. Tried to touch her again, but she wasn’t having it.

And when I came back, the bowl was almost empty. Looks like I will have to spend some of my 1545 yuan gift card on some more cat food!

Campus Kitten, Waiting for Me

I didn’t get to the campus last night. So when I showed up at the relatively early 8:45 p.m., Campus Kitten almost jumped the fence she was so happy to see me. She was crying, so I knew she was hungry. I filled her bowl, then reached out to her, and she let me touch her! It was just the tip of my middle finger, but I pulled back and let her eat. I also filled her water bowl.

The way the fence is built, it’s possible that very soon, she’ll be able to jump onto the low ledge and go in between the bars and be out on the sidewalk. Maybe she can do it already. But if not now, very, very soon.

After my walk, I came back around and put more food into the bowl.

I’ve seen small dogs at my complex, so I guess I could keep a cat if I wanted. But I really don’t have the money. I’m worried about vet bills, and eventually trying to get her home when I return. Or having to take her with me if I move again before coming home.

It was hard saying goodbye to Daphne, and hard to say goodbye to my cat. I honestly thought I would see Summit again, but it didn’t happen. And when Daphne was struggling, I said I wouldn’t have another pet unless I was positive I could take care of it.

Hoping things will turn out okay.

Girl’s Night Out

My friend from the Mexican restaurant will be leaving soon to work up north, so she invited me and one of her other friends out for karaoke and Mexican food.

I hadn’t been to karaoke in ages, and that was a lot of fun. I’m not a good singer, but I enjoy singing.

We then went to La Mesca and ate a bunch of food. I met my second American here in Fuzhou, a guy from San Diego, California.

Then we split. I took some time to walk through the pedestrian street in Three Lanes, Seven Alleys. Lots of people, because it was a Friday night, and also vacation for a lot of people.

I was STILL hungry, so I stopped off at a McDonald’s open until midnight and had my second order of large fries and a Coke for the day.

It was a really fun time. A rare night of fun, and probably the first time I’d been out for something like this in well over a year.

And earlier in the day, I’d swept and mopped and washed my little throw rugs, so it wasn’t as if I’d done nothing at all today.

A Recommended Channel

So a discovered a YouTube channel that does stereotypes of countries. They are done in a very funny way. The YouTube channel is called Well.

For smaller countries, they go by regions. Canada is sorted by province, and the United States is sorted by states.

I’ve been watching the Spanish stereotypes over and over. The animation style is kinda wacky, but it works. The heads and faces are done in good detail. The bodies are literally black spaghetti. Seriously.

I learned about Caga Tio, and the tradition in Catalan. I’d never heard of this and it’s pretty funny. You can get Caga Tio figures, and also Caganer figurines. I wondered if South Park’s Mr. Hankey was inspired by this, but it wasn’t. Apparently Trey Parker’s dad used to threaten him by saying Mr. Hankey would come out and eat Trey if he didn’t flush the toilet.

Anyway, Caga Tio is a Catalonian Christmas tradition in which a log has a face painted on the end. It is “fed” and on Christmas, little kids beat the log with sticks and other things and the log “poops” out candy and little trinkets.

There are also Caganer figurines in which the figures are squatting and pooping. I guess you can get well-known Spaniards squatting and pooping. And these figures wind up in the nativity sets. I never knew about this until a few days ago. What a hilariously disgusting Christmas tradition!

Oh, I put up another video, this time about Lemon Coke. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/c9kSNHmCybk

Another American in Fuzhou

So I’ve met my first American here in Fuzhou. He’s fron D.C. and is related to someone who came over on the Mayflower, but he doesn’t seem upper crusty at all. We talked about Vietnamese coffee, the Barbie movie, and tamales, so I showed him where La Mesca was on the map.

My good deed for the day.

Campus Kitten, Where Art Thou?

I haven’t seen Campus Kitten in a few days. I went by yesterday, and the bowl of food looked untouched, but it had been moved farther away from the fence than normal. I could barely reach it. The water bowl was gone. Fortunately, I had one with me so I refilled it.

Part of it is that I haven’t been coming by as late as I normally do. The freshmen have completed their military training, so I have three more classes to teach, bringing me to a total of six. However, I have about four more weeks of my argumentative class. They’ve split it up somehow, and I am only responsible for the first eight weeks. Once that is done, I’ll be back down to five classes and a bit more time off.

I hope Campus Kitten is okay. I will probably go by every couple days to see about food and water. There are lots of stray cats here in China, and there are people who will set food and water out for them. Also, it doesn’t get terribly cold here in the wintertime. Although living outside wouldn’t be ideal, it’s better here than suffering through a Beijing winter.

Still, if I never see Campus Kitten again, I’m hoping she grows up as healthy as she can for being an outdoor cat, and has a long and adventurous life. I asked if pets were allowed in our complex, because I hadn’t seen too many, but I saw a small dog being walked in the courtyard yesterday. So it’s possible I may cross paths and become Campus Kitten’s mom, but I really feel uncomfortable adopting a pet.

Pets are expensive. And after my beloved Daphne got sick and I was about to take her to the low-cost vet, she died in my arms before I could get her there. I felt really guilty about that. Then my kitty, Summit, was left with a foster mom because I couldn’t afford to take her with me. Summit developed health issues and had to be put down. I felt guilty about that too. She was probably scared and confused that I took her to an unfamiliar house that had lots of dogs and cats. She lived in the basement and came upstairs periodically, but I have to wonder what she was thinking.

To go from our quiet house after Daphne died, to an unfamiliar place. I knew it would be a good home, and it was, but I’ll always feel guilty.

So even though I could get Campus Kitten a good home, I don’t want to leave China without her.

So if she can make it on her own, that’s good.