Unfortunate events and bus rides

Last week had some unfortunate events. One was when someone smashed the windows to our car and stole our portable DVD player (a Christmas present from my mom). I guess you can say it was our fault. We hid the DVD player in the pocket of the seat, but the case was visible. It was really more of a present for Michaela as she uses it during car rides. She was pretty upset. But kids get over things quickly. We were on our way to a day of social events in Shekou (where all the expats round here live -- about an hour and a half away). I was most disappointed about forgoing our trip since it had been about two weeks for me without any social interaction in English. Since we hadn't had the DVD player for more than several weeks and had only used it 3-4 times at most, it wasn't hard to get over not having it. I just pretended we never had it in the first place. What was amazing was the price to replace the window. It was only around 20 us dollars and they had it done by the time David got off work. David and I had just been discussing (the night before) why we don't pay the monthly fee for parking in our parking garage. David said the price is too high and as there is abundant street parking, there is no need for the parking pass. We might want to rethink that now though.

As I was bummed about not joining the the few activities I participate in, I decided to take the bus down to Shekou that evening so I could at least participate in the book club that I belong to. After all, I had already read the book (A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini). It had been a while since I had taken that bus or any bus in China at all (we have our own car so David usually drives). I really had forgotten how insane the buses here are. It took about two hours and the best reference point I have for this experience is a plane ride during which there is severe turbulence for several hours straight. The difference, however, is that these buses have no seat belts and passengers are made to keep themselves in their seats through their own sheer strength and will (which over the course of several hours weakens significantly). I think the average person might find this sort of experience exciting as a one-time event. I don't really recommend it for pregnant ladies like me. So I don't think I'll be making a habit of this bus route. The price is very appealing though. It cost me 10 RMB for a one-way ticket to Skekou. The taxi ride home by comparison was 200 RMB.