Yeah, I ate that!

Wow, what a night!?!?! Some of us went out to the night market (which is where they sell the really 'gross' food). I got an e-mail before I left with a PowerPoint attached about this market, and boy did it live up to its expectations! One thing that was not included in the PowerPoint though was the smell, but it actually wasn't that bad. It often smelled good, but by the raw meat and raw seafood... not so much.

So, I went to this market with an open mind... which led to an open mouth. I tried many new things. Here is the list - silk worm, sea horse, lamb penis, lamb testicle, two types of scorpion, centipede, bees and snake. I think that's it. Some of the others had more but I think I did pretty well. The little scorpion was actually REALLY good, I'm not gonna lie, I wanted more. The big scorpians though were really crunchy and their shell was stuck in my teeth for awhile. I had to chew it for like 5 minutes just to get it to a point were I could swallow it. The snake.. no, not a fan at all! The texture was so weird I couldn't handle it. The sea horse was not that bad, I just didn't eat the head. It was actually a lot of fun and we will be going back for sure.

There were a good amount of foreigners there, it is a pretty famous market. It's so cool to be in a place where I meet people from all over the world. Sure, that happens back in the States some, but here they stand out a lot more and are more willing to stop and talk to you. I really like just starting up little conversations with people who are also visiting Beijing. It is almost like a little sense of community when you meet people from the States. I wore my Purdue shirt today and this girl on the street yelled, "Hey, my dad went to Purdue!" It's makes the world feel so small and it is comforting.

More to come.