Journeys

I am now on the journey to Gejiu, my mom's and grandparents' hometown. From Banna to Gejiu is pretty far, a total of 14 hours by bus. However, we split it up into three legs, staying for two nights at various relatives' houses along the way. I have never met any of these relatives, so it is a bit awkward, but still it is good to have seen them finally. There are so many relatives on my mom's side - how will I ever remember all of them or get close with any of them? I wonder how close most second cousins are?

From Banna to PuEr is two hours. My maternal grandpa's third brother's family lives there - but he passed away. Remaining are his wife, his three daughters, and their families -- including an 11 year old daughter (whose name I don't remmeber) and a 7 year old son named Li Bei (which I always want to call Liu Bei - the hero from three kingdoms). PuEr is famous for it's tea - and almost everything around there revolves around tea.

Since I am looking at the clock in this internet cafe and notice that I only have 1 minute left, I'm going to write a quick sketch and fill in the details later.

From PuEr to ShiPing is 10 hours, which I did today. It was the first time I had ever ridden a bus for that long - but it was ok because I slept the whole time.

In two days I will complete the last leg, to Ge jiu, which should take two hours.

And buying olympics tickets is a nightmare!