Last night we had a big family dinner with Penny's Mother's side of the family. She has 5 sisters and her mom is still very active. (I am thinking the moonshine stuff Penny's dad makes is keeping her so well preserved). We killed, plucked and cooked a family goose for our loud and happy meal. It was the big one on the right. And yes - I helped pluck...
A quiet early morning at the Peng house - for a short time. It was laundry day and Penny's Mom had finished the soap cycle in the outside sink and you do the rinse cycle in the creek. Don't feel sorry for them, this provides the village women with an opportunity to gossip. I decided to follow Chinese tradition and walked down to the creek with grandma in my PJs - which was sort of liberating. While visiting you rinse, beat, wring and repeat in the cool mountain stream and shade under the bridge.
Later that morning, thankfully after showering and dressing, a police car pulls up and 4 well built policemen get out. Their manner was very brusk and they wanted to know why I had not been registered in Hangzhou . Even though this village is called PengJa and a 3 hr bus ride from Hangzhou - this area is still considered part of Hangzhou. The police examined my passport and papers and well as Penny's ID card. They took photos and typed stuff into their phones as Penny's Mom was plying them with tea, corn and watermelon. We are pretty sure they registered for us. In hindsight, we should have taken photos with them, but we were too nervous. Twenty minutes later they left with watermelon in their hands and Penny's cell phone number. I am sure the village is buzzing with the gossip of the police visiting the house.
We had no more incidents with the police in PengJa or the rest of China. In total, I had 4 direct interactions with the police in a two week period, not counting the times the police seemed to hang around in the same area wherever I was. It might just be preparation for Hangzhou's G20 but I don't remember being so monitored during my '06 and '08 teaching years. Things here have changed......
Afterwards, we walked to the little store in the village to get some bottled water and some cold treats. The frozen treats look like a popsicle and have a surprisingly sweet taste except for the weird lumps. They are made from beans - either green or red. I know it is hard to imagine, but I actually enjoyed eating a frozen vegetable.
Tonight's dinner is for Penny's dad's side of the family. It won't be as big as he only had 4 sisters - most of whom live in this same village. Penny's parents were born during the time when Mao was reminding his people that it was their duty to have lots of children to make China strong.
