Ouch!

I suffered from the worst blisters I have ever had the first few weeks we were in Beijing. I got my first blisters in between my toes from my thong sandals but that only bothered me for a few days- I started to wear tennis shoes so that fixed that. But the day I went to meet with the U.S. Grains Council to discuss agriculture and the Council’s role in China, I wore my cute and comfy dress shoes. Hindsight bias is 20/20 and I realized the morning I was preparing to leave that I always wear pantyhose with the shoes, but didn’t have any and ASSumed everything would be okay.

            That day I learned that taxi cab drivers don’t know where much of anything is at. I have learned that Beijing has been rapidly developing and to keep up with the growth is impossible and even if you have a paper with an address written in Chinese for taxi cab drivers, there is a possibility that they are illiterate. While he did get me on the correct street, he dropped me off over three city blocks from the building I needed to be at- which I thought would be obvious, the China Trade Center, but I was wrong. By the time I got there my feet were all torn up and I had to call a friend I was going shopping with after my meeting to bring me flip flops- I would have rather dealt with the blisters between my toes than the blisters and both sides of my toes. I had one really bad blister on the inside of my left foot. I got the blister on Wednesday the 9^th and now, on the 29^th, it is still healing. Even wearing tennis shoes was painful for the following week, but I totally forgot about my blisters while I was on the great wall less than a week later- mind over matter.

            I now have a ‘mom’ purse. It has band-aids, triple antibiotic, crackers for a snack or to feed friends that are picky eaters and don’t like the food, Advil, water, a camera for catching those Kodak moments, pens, pencils and paper, wet wipes for sticky situations, and an ipod to block out the craziness! Past that it holds extra batteries, memory chips, a map, sunglasses, my wallet and Chap Stick. Okay- so now I’m wondering if I am like a prepared mom or a messy kid who needs band-aids. If only they were cool looking, maybe Sponge Bob or Disney Princesses instead of ugly brown…