same shit different day

luckily things have been calm here. i say this, because if there is excitement here, its not always good excitement. my favorite chinese proverb (actually sayings of all time), is "may you never live in exciting times"...... this is very true as excitement can manifest itself in many different ways, not always good, not always bad either... sometimes it may seem like indifference, but really i think its a way of coping... not getting too excited that is... anyway, i rambling and my point is that things are just normal here. as normal as it gets in shenzhen. last night we went to eat at this middle eastern restaraunt... its so amazing. its run by chinese ethnic Uyghers that come from xinjiang province in the northwest.... xinjiang has a large muslim population and borders many middle eastern countries, therefore the food more closely resembles this than that of chinese food.... its so amazing and a nice change from chinese food. they have amazing hummus, falafel, yoghurt, pita, olives, etc..... its so good, it makes me want to cry. ha.
after dinner, my friend micah and i went to a bar nearby... its a korean influenced bar called WA bar. i've never been, but its not too far from my house so we decided to check it out.... there weren't many people there, but suspiciously there were many, many girls sitting at the bar... i say suspiciously because my first thought was that they were prostitutes, turns out this is true.... now, i can't explain how i know, but they weren't drinking alcohol, they all had a cup of liars dice in their hands (a popular chinese bar game, that consists of rolling dice and guessing how many of a certain number are showing).... liars dice seems to be the link between sitting innocently and making the deal. i watched as these girls sipped their tea and non chalantly shook the cups of dice. they seemed quite aloof and bored and certainly distant... i've aquired quite a fascination with prostitution in asia (as i've mentioned before), because its everywhere and fairly accepted and it makes me so angry.... prostitution is how many (not all of course) chinese men solve disputes or clench the business deal...they offer each other "massages" which result in what we all so affectionately call "happy endings". after realizing that these girls were prostitutes i began to feel so sad for them as they watched each man carefully as he walked in the bar. and then i became more sad and angry when i realized that i can spot a prostitute or a thief here from a mile away..... is that a problem?? is that normal, that i now know who wants to steal from me and which women are selling themselves?
maybe not, because at home, it may not be as prevelant, but its certainly obvious. here however, it is any girl that i'm sitting next to on the bus.... its the eyes with the thieves and aimless wandering around the bus stops and at the train stations. but the girls blend in with the crowd, they are just more forward with men than most chinese women..... anyway, this is quite a downer of a post, but i'm surrounded by thieves and prostitutes and its hard not to think about it......
on a happier note, we have a may vacation coming up and i'm going to be traveling again. i'm not sure where this time... maybe malaysia... maybe taiwan.... somewhere outside of china, because when there is a holiday, a national holiday that is, everyone travels and everywhere is sooooo crowded.... so, i have this to look forward to. but like i said at the beginning, things are going well, not great, but not bad and i have no complaints..... (just observations of theft and sex).....
i can't wait for my sister and brother in law to come!!! happy birtday to ben (bro in law) and my sister becki!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wish i could be there to celebrate with you guys... maybe for my thirtieth??? ha!
hope everyone is well.