so there's a man selling puppies and rabbits on the side of the road on the way to our supermarket (oh, ps, EVERYONE sells EVERYTHING on the side of the road here so this sight is not an odd one). anyways, his puppies are getting to me. everyone said all dogs in china are mangey and gross and stray, but there are actually lots of people walking dogs as pets. every time i walk by this guy, i have to pet the puppies and its got me to thinking...why not? i mean, i dont know who will watch it if i go on vacation or how i will get it back into the States, but those are minor details right? 
just no one be surprised if i end up with a puppy with a chinese name!
on a more practical note, I BARTERED BY MYSELF TODAY FOR THE FIRST TIME! granted, jeremy and i have attempted bartering while maggie is around. this usually ends in the chinese laughing at us and calling me 'beautiful' which we have decided is their coy way of really just making fun of us. anyways, today, without maggie, i needed to buy a pair of sunglasses and tried to do such outside of the supermarket. using poor chinese and hand signals, i only got the price down 8 yuan, but i did it! after i made the sale, one of the other workers at the store walked up behind me and goes, "Welcome to China," in very good english. perfect ending...
