Well this weekend officially marked the halfway point for my time in Shanghai, and I have to admit that there was some relief in making it over the hump. It's not that I don't love many aspects of this amazing city, but it's been a rougher go than I was prepared for. This past week was particularly difficult.Emergency Kit Employment #1: Iodine and PolysporinMonday arrived, and with it the start of a new cycle at work. I started a new class in a new room. Apparent...

I woke up at 5:30 and, for the first time since I'd arrived, desperately wanted to stay in bed; alas, that was not meant to be. Damn, I wish I had bought the t-shirt that stated, "Shanghai is the city that doesn't sleep for 24 hours" as that was becoming my experience. We arrived in the town of Tongli, a beautiful thousand-year-old canal town, got out at the depot and boarded the tram to the front gate where tickets were purchased; I suddenly felt like I was ente...

I've been negligent with my blog- apologies. Apparently old habits die hard. The first week here I didn't feel that I had that much to write about. I went to work and came home; it was much like being in Toronto only more isolated and with a healthy dose of jet lag thrown in for good measure. Then the weekend finally came, and we had a fabulous time ending with an eventful move to a new building which left us with no internet for several days. Perhaps I'll write ...

I woke up today to welcome my third morning in Shanghai. I miss my internal clock. I have faith it will return when it's good and ready, but it is my internal clock after all, so it's bound to be stubborn. Crossing the dateline always messes with me; arriving some place to find that today is actually tomorrow and yesterday never really happened is a little uncomfortable, but par for the course I suppose.So far this is a different sort of travel than I'm used to. ...

We got to Quito in time for dinner. We had decided to stay somewhere a little nicer for our last two nights, so we made a reservation at what was termed a "midrange hotel" in the book and had a very nice description. It sucked. So much so that for the first time this trip, I looked at Dair and stated that I wouldn't stay there. We started plodding along with our packs and bags, which after a day at the market had grown immensely, looking for a place to sleep. As ...