Afternoon time with my C.A.G. (Chinese Adopted Grandma)

Just returned from a mid-day run (not the smartest time to be outside here) and stopped at the hole-in-the-wall place that serves yummy iced tea drinks, and then plopped down on a rock outside my building to cool off a bit. The old lady neighbor who fed me mangoes the other night sat and chatted with me awhile and then invited me into the security booth to sit under the fan because she said I was "too red", hehe so sweet!



Then she read me some newspaper articles, not that I could understand much of it. And she took time to teach me several of the Chinese characters. Then she lectured me on being outside in the sun when I should be napping. Then she noticed my iced tea drink was empty, just a cup of ice at that point, and she grabbed it out of my hands and chucked it out of the booth onto the sidewalk. Guess that's what we do with trash here.



You know how we say "thank you" for everything?...and everyone here tells me "stop saying thank you!"...well I have the same problem about litter, I just can't do it. So, trying not to insult her kind gesture (of trying to get rid of my trash for me) I went and picked up the cup and then put it on my forehead and joked with her that I need the ice so that I can stop being so red. I'm glad she laughed and didn't get offended.

Then she shooed me away to go take a nap.

Nearly everyone you run into here will ask you "have you eaten?" and "have you napped?" and if you answer "no" or "not yet" you are punished with stern "tsk tsk tsk" noises and concerned looks. It's kinda hard not to fall in love with a place that punishes NOT eating and napping all the time.