Yesterday was unexpected. When Lai Si sais "Salt lake" I keep assuming she'd take me to an actual lake, but that's not true. What is true, is that it at least has something to do with water.

Remember when I told about the fountain show in Xian, you know, the time I broke and also lost my camera?...

Well, Lai Si took me to something similar. It was a fountain show, and there were tons of people, but the fountain looked like a giant flower, and the water was in perfect balance. The music that followed the beat of the water was beautiful and even though it is more beautiful during the night, the water glittered in the sun. There was a long balcony that went above the fountain, and we decided to climb the high stairs to look at the fountain from above. It was even more beautiful. While we were up there, Lai Si asked some men if they could translate the history of the fountain on their cell phones. They did, but the English writing said nothing about a fountain, only a spring.

I loved to look down at all the people as the kids played in the water. The mom's and dad's had bought some water toys that were being sold for the children, and it was funny to watch as they squirted one another.

Every once in a while, I would see a kind of food being eaten as a treat. It looked like some kind of meat on a stick that was topped with caramel.

I pointed to one and told Lai Si I would like to try one of those. I was so curious. So, we went back down the stairs and past the fountain through the crowds of people.

First of all, Lai Si has a horrible sense of direction, and even when she knows where she is going, it seems like her legs won't let her get there for some reason. While she is walking, and while I am walking right behind her, she will immediately stop in front of me. She just stops, then she mumbles something and then she goes again. It makes me want to laugh!

That happened a lot yesterday. I finally decided not to stop with her. I just walked and eventually she learned to follow.

As we were getting close to the food selling area, her phone rang, and she stopped again, right in the heat of the sun. She took it out of her fanny pack, and answered it. She said "Wei?" and for a second there I though she would just walk and talk at the same time, but no. She stood there like a statue with her head held up yelling the words to the caller as if she was speaking to him from across the park while he was all the way on the other side.

I've noticed a lot, that when the Chinese pick up the phone, they yell the words. Sometimes it will be silent in the house and then when I hear the phone ringing, I wait for the loud talking to arrive. They can't keep quiet when they are on phone!

When I was in Xian, the apple man came in the baby apartment while they were all still asleep. His phone rang. He sat on the arm rest of the couch and answered it. His voice suddenly exploded when he said "WEI?" We all immediately whispered HUUuuuush!

He had to leave the building to talk to his friend.

Lai Si just stould there talking for about 5 minutes. I was patient and just waited in the sun. We finally arrived to the food court and we got some of those weird stick food things. When I had a chance to look at I closer, I realized they were small apples. Lais Si got plums on hers. I knew I had made the wrong decision. I took one bite and realized I would never be able to gulp mine down. Little apples here are very sour, even if you put tons of sugar on it, it wouldn't make it taste any better.

So, I confessed to her that it was not good to me at all. She let me try some of hers, and guess what...

It was the most heavenly thing I have ever tasted before, period.

I told her it was really good, and we went back across the street to get me some. I snarfed it down like you wouldn't believe! It was wonderful to have something really really good to eat, finally.

Now, every time we go out, and I see those juicy plums, I am making sure I have my wallet with me.

We ate our treat in the shade under some giant rock sign that said something in Chinese. I didn't realize it was to z sacred park until Lai Si bought tickets to go in. I looked around. There were lots of trees and beautiful willows that hung their vines down to the ground. We came to a man-made stream, or so I thought. Lai Si showed me a sign that explained where we were , and it was in English letters.. It said that I was in the park of the seven most famous springs in China, and that, in order to display them, they had built this beautiful park to preserve the water and it's beauty. They had made brick ditches for the water to flow in. The buildings around us were also very beautiful. We went up to a large pond, which everyone was huddled around. In the water, there were hundreds of gold fish. Every kind of gold fish you can imagine. Some of them were gigantic and they were in such nice and beautiful environment. The water was so clear. Each pond and ditch were at least 7 feet deep and you could see straight to the bottom.

I ignored all the stares for the first few minutes, but I was (amazingly) the only foreigner in the park, and some of the kids didn't seem as though they had seen someone like me before. Because it got so annoying to be stared at so much, I put my sun glasses on and secretly had staring contest at the eyes that followed me where ever I went.

We came to an even larger area of water, and there, smack in the middle, were three of the largest springs in China. It wasn't completely much to look at, maybe because I didn't have much knowledge about them, but people were snapping so many pictures if it, I got more and more excited about being able to see them.

Lais Si told me where to stand and I posed for some pictures near the spring. After just one picture, people started noticing me a little more, they all got out their cameras and snapped at me like hungry animals. I ignored the flashes and decided to go to another display. We went into a small building. Inside there were pictures of the making of this park. Everything was in Chinese, but I could tell by the pictures it was a great discovery to find these springs. Maybe, the city was in the middle of a drought, and some farmer found the water and they all took advantage of the great fortune... I don't know exactly what happened, but it was nice to imagine on my own.

In the building, there was a small room with beautiful paintings of birds and wild life. On the larger wall, there was Chinese writing and it must of been a very important saying because people took many pictures of it. Lai Si told me she wanted a picture of me in front of it. I agreed and stood next to the Chinese characters. We were the only two in there at the time and I was very glad about that, but not even a second after she began to take the picture, people started to pile in, just to watch me. It was like they payed to see the American girl, not the springs! Lai Si didn't notice them behind her. They got up close to watch her take the picture.

I stood there for about 6 minutes until, finally, someone came up to her and watched, then showed her a better way to take the pictures. People stared the whole time until it was all over, then they all went back out of the room not even wanting to look at the display. We went back outside. I put my glasses back on. At the next spring, I didn't even get a chance to look at it very much, because one mother wanted me in a picture with her daughter. I had to take my sunglasses back off and smile for the camera. She took about three pictures.

While looking at another display, one man got out his cell phone and set it to camera. He pretended to take a picture at some of the fish. I watched him closely. I knew he was going to snap at me any second now. When he hurried over in my direction to take the pictures, I darted away and had a horrible feeling, like I wanted to just fall in the water, grab his arm and pull him in.

I tried to enjoy the rest of the park, and I did pretty well most of the time. Lai Si took me to another pond. It had no fish, nor any springs coming out, and the water was dirty too, but people were surrounding this one even more and for some reason, they were clapping there hands and chanting at the water. I looked down and saw something really big swimming in the water. It was gliding through very fast and gracefully upside down. I thought it was a giant fish at first. Then, It flipped upwards. It looked around with it's lively dark eyes. It was a seal, a very large seal too. I haven't seen one for along time, but It was beautiful and very playful, I could tell it was young and enjoyed being in such wonderful water, but I wished it had a larger place to play. Maybe this pond leads to other ponds.

Not long after this, a mother and her two children wanted a family picture with me. The dad stayed out to snap it. I gave in to the nagging and finally agreed to do it. I did the largest fake smile ever.

I looked back at the pond, but there was no seal. I had missed some of the entertainment and there was a man cleaning the pond they were in.

After a while, the seal revealed itself again, and brought a friend with him. It was his mother. I could tell by the size and age and they were the only two seals in the park, so they must have been family some how. The second one wasn't as playful. It was sluggish and very large.

Lai Si and I walked away and I told her how beautiful I thought they were. We came to a bridge and were about to cross it. I looked behind me and saw a small stubby women running up to Lai si with a giant smile on her face. She must of just been an acquaintance of hers and wanted to say hello. Her husband wasn't far behind. They asked who I was and were very excited to meet me. Lai Si told them I barely knew any Chinese, but when I told them my age and said some things, they were very surprised and looked at Lai Si like she was lying. I felt good about myself, but then noticed all the stares and crowds that huddled around us. Some people where even taking pictures. I stood behind Lais Si hoping to dodge some of the snapping, but, like a camera crew, they followed my face and snapped even more viciously!

We all sat on a rock together. I was glad to take a rest. From the sugary treat we had earlier, my stomach began to growl and murmur about it. I thought "sorry down there, but it was good, I couldn't help myself!"

We sat for about twenty minutes as I listened to them gibber jabber, but i didn't mind. I learn a lot just by listening to what people say.

Next to us there was a large rock with holes in it with Chinese writing. It must of been a sacred rock or something because people took pictures in front of that too. Lai Si told me to get in front of the rock too, but I refused. She understood and so we began to look around again. There were many other times when people asked for a picture with me, or just snapped when they thought I wasn't looking, but at the end of the day, I accepted it.

When we got to the end of the displays, we came to the exit of the park and kind of just stood there with Lais Si's friends after seeing so many amazing things together. While they were talking, there was a young girl with a camera in her hands. I waited for her to raise it up. When she did, I jokingly hid from her behind Lai Si and continued to dodge her camera. We finally walked away and I knew she was still trying, but I didn't look back.

We got in front of the entrance of the park and Lai Si wanted me to pose in front of the sign that said "Sheng Dong Springs". I agreed, but since we were now outside, there were even more people in the area and they began to stop and watch me pose for the pictures. Finally it was all over, and Lai Si put her camera away. We said goodbye to her friends and started to walk to the bus stop.

This was also a moment when Lai Si couldn't find where she was going. I didn't blame her, the bus stops were pretty confusing and I was glad I was with her on this journey to find the right bus stop. Yes, there were a couple times she stopped and I almost ran into her and felt like I wanted to scream, but when we found the right bus stop, we both felt relieved and had a feeling of joy. We loved the time we spent together.

As we were getting close to the bus, I walked by two boys. I had my sun glasses on and was able to see what they were mouthing. They stared very strongly, not knowing I was staring back. I watched their mouths as I quietly herd them say "Piou liang" or "Beautiful".

I felt pretty good about it. I didn't take it offensively, I was just glad they thought so.

I sat on the bus seat and pulled out a peach from my pack. I was very tired and it felt really nice to finally sit down and enjoy the wind on my face.

It was a wonderful day. I felt good about it and I was very grateful to Lai Si for taking, me, even if she didn't, or even couldn't, let me know what we were doing in the first place. In a way, it was a surprise. That happens a lot, but I like surprises, It's like I receive a present every day here. Now, this morning, Lai si said the words, Elephant and Tiger, so I assume the Zoo, but we will just have to wait and see what that means al