TRAVEL|TAKING OFF
Squat and Pray — My Wildest Travel Story
One of my students in China, Ava, invited me to her home on the Dragon Boat Festival holiday weekend. When I agreed earlier in the week, she seemed so happy. On Saturday, however, I woke up with a “loose stomach,” as my Chinese friend labeled it. I wanted to cancel, but I knew she stayed at the school dorm Friday night just to meet me, after other students had gone home already, so I went.
Ava’s family lived in the big house in the tiny town; she said it used to be a kindergarten or elementary school, complete with basketball court outside. When we were on the bus going to the town, she pointed to a house across the river and said her dad lived there. So, her dad lived across the river, her mom lived in the big house, and they met each other on the weekends. Sounded like a perfect plan to me. After meeting her mom and little sister, we went to visit her dad. We went to her uncle’s house who called her dad who did not answer the phone. Then we went to the roadside opposite his house (which was in a tiny village behind the trees), and Ava yelled out to him. Though they could not see each other, he somehow heard her. Eventually he came across the river to get us on a bamboo raft. I had been on bamboo rafts before without demise, so when Ava asked if I would be afraid to travel on a raft, I said no problem. However, the raft of the day was five thin bamboo poles in width (about two feet plus a few inches) with no seats, so we had to squat down and not wiggle too much. Squat and pray.
Her dad took us on a river tour to some caves. After cave-viewing and making it back to solid land alive, we started walking back to her mom’s home because no one knew when the next bus would come. Her dad then pulled up on a motorcycle and took me first, then went back for Ava. Thank goodness, but how did he cross the river on a motorcycle? I could not ponder that too much because I had to go to the bathroom. I had told Ava that I had stomach problems, but we went on a river and cave tour for a couple of hours anyway. I had to stop many times to “admire the mountain views” so as to hold in what tried so violently to escape. While squatting and praying in the bathroom of her house, her adorable five-year-old sister came downstairs to the door of the bathroom and looked through the slats at me squatting on the toilet — the already unpleasant experience exacerbated by a kid gawking at me. I kept shooing her away, but she squatted and stared and smiled.
At the house, her mom prepared lunch. I felt uncomfortable with stomach issues as it was and wanted to get home early, but I sat there for two hours for lunch preparation. I helped with shelling beans, played with stare-at-people-on-the-toilet sister, and watched Chinese TV. Ava kept bringing me things to eat such as fruit, porridge, and something else (not really sure what it was, but it had beans in it — just what I needed). After lunch, I just grabbed the roll of toilet paper (Chinese napkins) and headed downstairs, unashamed. Before I left, the family gave me some food to take home. For this holiday, people celebrated by eating zhong zha, a steamed-rice-in-leaves kind of snack. I loved it, and since it usually stopped me up, I happily took some home.
This story is part of a memoir of living a year in China in 2008 called A Year There on Amazon Kindle.
I’ll end by sharing a story by Kim Baker in Taking Off. In it, she gives great advice for getting involved in places you go.
