Week 4: Donkey meat and the Great Wall
Happy Birthday Dad! And Happy Anniversary to you and Mom!
A lot of firsts this week: 1st dissection of a heart, 1st time eating donkey, 1st time visiting the Great Wall.
Let me start with the academics: Dr Doug Hamilton, a life sciences lecturer, did the impossible: he made physiology (specifically in space) a topic for which I didnt squirm in. Typically, mentioning the word "blood" will make me feel faint. By the end of the week, I had dissected a pig heart (very similar to a human's) and understood the cardiopulmonary, skeletal, and muscular systems. Our special panel this week was with the President of the Chinese Aerospace Corporation (CASC) who outlined China's space program, including its upcoming lunar ambitions.
New food of the week: Donkey sandwich. Yes, we knew it was donkey before we ate it, tasted like ham but in the end it was a little too weird to finish. Also tried sashimi and fish cheeks with a little encouragement :) After the wall, we ate at a restaurant in a small resort town, it was incredible food and all local.
And the finale of the Great Wall. We opted to avoid the organized tourbus and went with a small group to a section that was quite difficult to reach. Unfortunately, Brian wasnt feeling well so it was just me that day but we will be going back. There was about an hour hike up about 2500 ft to the wall. When we arrived, it was fantastic: many of the portions were starting to ruin and the view was fantastic despite the heavy mist. In all, it was a 4-5 hr hike along steep cliffs, crumbling rock, and challenging up and down slopes.
Picts:
2 comments:
No better way to keep in shape than to scale the Great Wall of China. Though I think I would have lost weight just thinking about the "different" foods you are getting to try...
Glad you are getting to enjoy it all. Busy weekend here with party on Saturday p.m. and 19 for dinner on Sunday for a couple of birthdays. Tim and Karen and kids stayed here for the first time.
Hope Brian is feeling better... Enjoy...
Mom S.
Not sure if I would have been able to try the donkey; with the dissection I would have run the other way; starting to put on some muscle so I may of been able to do the hike....that was amazing. Very cool pictures with the mist.
It is so awesome that you are getting to see all the sites along with learning so much. You both will come away with a lot of knowledge.
Now, back to my "Kick Ass" coffee (it's organic).
Aunt Kathy
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