The Dog Days of Summer

You know the expression: Its so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk? I've got a better one. Its so hot you could boil water on the roof. It's true. Today we did. Our solar heated hot water tank, mounted on the roof of our five-storey apartment building actually registered 99 degrees C (I think it would have been 100 C --which for all you American readers is boiling on the Centigrade thermometer-- except that there are only two digits allotted the temperature reading on the digital thermostat in our laundry/bathroom.)

It was hot. And it made me twitchy. Being outside in the bright sunlight was not horrible, but being in close quarters with throngs of people in today's weather was.

So ...

now that I'm back home in the a/c,

with my house impeccably clean, thanks Ayi (by-the-way I actually busted her re-making my bed this a.m.!)

and just half an hour before I get my big girls home,

and as a whole weekend stretches out before us ...

I no longer am experiencing the angst that was mine earlier this hot afternoon when I ventured to Jusco with Bei Bei.

The impetus of our trip was to get her six passport-size photos for her application for the Early Childhood Education program @ YCIS.

The driver didn't get my text about what time I needed him, so we took the bus (which I find rather enjoyable, as does Bei Bei, but it did make our afternoon longer.) We alighted from the bus on the opposite side of the street from Jusco, separated by eight lanes of Chinese traffic. To cross safely, we used the underground pedestrian tunnel which is a bit grim, especially in the dog days of August when the stench of urine in the corners and a plethora of other unpleasant smells mingle in the passageway several meters below street level.

Emerging on the other side of the street we navigated through a literal construction site, again accosted by the stench of human waste. The construction workers live in canvas tents just outside the perimeter of the on-going construction which butts up against the sidewalk leading to Jusco. The workers' latrines are the primitive kind, which is to say there are no proper toilets at all.

(Can you imagine actually living in a canvas tent, sleeping beside the sweaty people you have worked beside 12 hours a day, together combating fatigue, body odor and the tenacious Qingdao mosquitoes? I have peered into their open tent flaps at night and watched as they stir fry meager meals on a hot plate, smoke and read on tiny bunks (ensconced in dirty mosquito netting) by the light of a dim naked bulb. It's a dismal life to be sure, and if my nostrils are offended by a quick stroll by, how much worse if the same location is your semi-permanent address.)

There used to be a much larger pedestrian area outside the side door of JUSCO, beside the bus stop and near the exit of the underground tunnel. There you could find little ones practicing their roller blades, old people chatting, vendors setting up on blankets and beggars laying on cardboard or inside garbage bags.

Some of this is still there. But because of the construction, it's all smooshed together. Pedestrians. Vendors (funny to sell both puppies and sunglasses in the same location, I always privately muse). Beggars... the old, the young with babies, the one with a numb where his leg should extend from his knee. They were listless and lethargic in the hot, putrid air.

We dodged vomit on the sidewalk. I looked down at Bei Bei's cute blue toe nails and bedazzled Barbie flip flops and marveld they remained relatively clean.I could hardly breathe. It was just that hot. It was nearly too much.

Inside we passed all kinds of hot people, especially children, striving to be cool. Little boys in baggy camouflage pajamas, babies naked from the waist down, a chubby nine-year old in a mu mu. One nai nai (grandma) was perched on a piece of newsprint on the floor beside her sweaty grandbaby asleep on a bench. We went up the escalator and into the Kodak Camera shop where none of the four employees were motivated to assist us.

Bei Bei posed on the stool where she would have her head shot done and I stood by the register hoping to get the ball rolling. You pre-pay for nearly everything. So I stood with my 25 yuan at the ready for the sheet of eight photographs we would buy. A girl sauntered over to take my money, and then... to my disbelief went back to the mirror by the photo area and continued to squeeze facial blemishes. I was hot, and irritable and asked not one but two people to please take my daughter's photo. I waved my yellow receipt as proof of payment. And someone went to get the camera. Then put it down. The second person I asked finally snapped off three digital pics of Bei Bei and we were done.

We marched down to McDonald's (I'd bribed her out of our air conditioned home and away from Polly Pockets, with the promise of a Happy Meal.) I let her order an ice cream. I let her eat the ice cream FIRST! We left the din of McDonald's and headed next door to the more demur Starbucks (ignoring the sign disallowing food to be brought in.) I ordered an iced tea and we sat together and talked about school. We chilled. I cooled off. We went and got her pictures. They are adorable. My baby is doing a trial run @ the International school next week. Maybe it will be cooler then.