She
especially loved the old, charming buildings faced with colorful, blue, red,
yellow, and green tile and Pagoda style roofs.
Bending backwards to look up at the tippy top of the buildings she
searched for demons flying through the air.
The guide, Jack, told her the upturned roof ends were to prevent evil
spirits from landing and bedeviling the people working or living in side.
It
was a lot different from the little country town of Karnak, Kentucky, where she
grew up. And, of course about as far
away as it could be, really on the other side of world. As childhood friends, she and Wanda dug holes
in their back yards not really believing they could dig to China, but it was
fun pretending.
The only
other time she remembered hearing about China as a little girl had to do with food. Or rather the lack of food. She was a ‘picky’ eater and drove her Mother crazy
by wanting to play instead of to sit forever at the green formica kitchen table
trying to force down another bite. Oh,
if only that was still true she thought as she ran her hands over her slightly
jiggly hips.
She
had been worried about having to eat weird things in China, like eels and
grasshoppers, but also had hoped that the anticipated strange food would help
her lose weight. That hadn’t
happened. Most of the food was very
tasty, especially at the great hotel breakfast buffets. She had never thought about adding chopped
tomatoes and onions to scrambled eggs but they were delicious.
Back
in her childhood she was encouraged to clean her plate with the warning, “Children
starving in China would love to have this food.” She never understood why her eating more
would help those other kids.
She
now knew that China, in the past, like a lot of other under developed countries
had a problem with producing and distributing enough food to its people. Fortunately, everyone she saw on this trip
seemed to be in good health and not especially skinny. Her mother would be glad to hear that Chinese
children were no longer starving.
After
everyone was seated, the youngest little girl, named Mai Ling, about 4 years
old, went around giving each diner a sweet smile and several dried pumpkin
seeds to eat. Eula May and the other
tour members thought she was just as cute as a button and thanked her
profusely.
There
were at 10 at each round table with a large Lazy Susan in the center and a small plate at each setting.
Throughout the meal, dishes of
incredible variety were added to the revolving server as empty ones were
removed. Each diner also had a small side
dish divided to hold garnishes: pickled cucumbers, spicy diced peppers, sliced
radishes, and sesame seeds.
Eula
May didn’t know what to do with all these condiments so still had a lot left in
her garnish plate when Mai Ling came around again, her shiny black bob bouncing
with each step. She was distributing
more pumpkin seeds but also checking the contents of the little side
dishes. She pointed to Eula May’s
remaining food, then to Eula May, and finally to her own mouth. Mai Ling successfully used sign language to give
Eula May a message. Jack said, “She has heard
about all the children starving in America, so is urging you to clean your
plate.” Everyone at the table laughed.
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Labels: China, Eula May, humor
