Where is Elizabeth?

My friend Eralda has been writing about her farmer’s market finds which reminded me of some pictures I have been meaning to post.  This set happened organically – which shows how predictable I am as a photographer!  Before leaving Nanjing, I went to the farmer’s market where I regularly bought fruits, vegetables and tofu.  Then when we arrived in New York, one of the first things we did was go to the farmer’s market in Union Square with my parents.  So I ended up with photos of two very different farmer’s markets on opposite sides of the world almost back to back on my camera.  I appreciated both for providing me with fresh produce and simpler foods.

Enjoy!

Before my parents left on vacation for 3 weeks, my dad wanted to have a “New York Day.” He misses the city while he is gone and wanted to enjoy it before he left.  We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and then went down to the boat basin and along Riverside Drive.  It was a great day!

1. The noise, noise, noise, noise. New York has nothing on China’s decibels.  It is so loud here (the car horns, bus horns, motorbike horns, the yelling, the screeching brakes, the fireworks, the people screaming into their cell phones, the megaphones hawking deals outside of stores, the construction) that I will probably never have a problem with the noise in New York.
2. The sidewalks. When in New York I am not usually down by and honked at by a motorbike on the sidewalk.  There is relative law and order.  I’ve heard people complain about the crowded sidewalks, but please.  At least the sidewalk is for walking, not parking bikes and cars, going around traffic, or just as unusable filler around newstands, planters, trees and power poles.
3. The crowds. With the exception of like, Times Square on New Year’s, the crowds will not be a problem.  I scarce can call them crowds.  I was once on a pretty crowded subway car in New York, but again, relative order.  People get off the car to let people off instead of rudely blocking the door.  Stores, sidewalks and transportation do not seem crowded to me.
4. The filth. Most parts of New York seem clean compared to most parts of Nanjing.  We are unfortunate enough to live near the garbage collection center for the supermarket in our building.  I don’t even want to conjure the experience for you.  The only exception is the subway.  New York’s subway is over 100 years old, while Nanjing’s opened in 2005.  The difference is obvious.
5. The pollution. No contest.
6. Living in a small space. We currently live in a 559 square foot studio.  I’ve seen smaller places, but this is pretty small.  The dining table is the desk, the washer is in the bathroom, the fridge is in the living room, our suitcases reside behind our bed.  My formerly modest organizing skills are now well-honed.
7. Saving money. Though we are not as adept as the Chinese at saving money, their thriftiness has rubbed off on us.  For about a year and a half, with modest success, we have been living on 1,000 yuan ($146) per week.  We could live on a lot less without indulging in foreign foods, but it would not be pleasant.  Foreign groceries, not eating out.  I cook a lot, which leads me to…
8. Cooking skills. With extra time and income and apathy towards the local food, I found it necessary to up my game in the kitchen.  With only a microwave and gas burners, I have also had to be creative.  With varied availability of ingredients, I have had to become flexible.  I see some produce out of season, but for the most part, it is still a seasonal market here.  So I may go to the wet market to by zucchini, only to find undesirable specimens and have change my menu.  I am looking forward to more varied ingredients and cooking methods.
9. Different cultures. Besides Chinese, I have worked with South Africans, Japanese, British, Canadians and Australians and have met people from many other countries.  New York’s demographic can be broken down as follows:

1. White Non-Hispanic (35.0%)
2. Hispanic (27.0%)
3. Black (26.6%)
4. Other race (13.4%)
5. Two or more races (4.9%)
6. Chinese (4.5%)
7. Asian Indian (2.1%)
8. American Indian (1.1%)
9. Korean (1.1%)
10. Other Asian (1.0%)
11. Filipino (0.7%)

(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)

Nathan has discovered cricket, one of the oddest games I have yet to witness. Some parts can be related to baseball, but most of it is new to us.  I’ll let Wikipedia and Nathan fill you in on the details of the game (and his moustache).

Two teams from Shanghai came down to play some teams Nanjing scrounged up, including one that was comprised of mostly people from our school.  Nathan has been practicing for a few weeks and they finally settled on making him wicket-keeper as that position does not have to bowl the ball – something he is apparently not good at.  It was a good strategy though as he apparently is good at keeping.  Our friend James, newly returned from Singapore, came to watch too.  It was miserably hot, but they won in the whole thing so at least we could celebrate in the end.

Probably only Chris and Anne will appreciate this: I watched Nathan play cricket today (more on that later) at the Nanjing Institute of Technology and while I was on the bleachers trying to get a closer shot, I wandered into what appeared to have once been a classroom.  It was dark and dusty and I just had to take some photos.  The windows were boarded up, but I could see the game through a hole in the boards.