Pursuit in the Capital

This last weekend Emma and I made the trip up to the provincial capital where the Peace Corps 17s had been invited to a welcome party by the 16s.  For us, the trip was about six hours and other volunteers came in from all over the province.  It was amazing to see many of our friends from training and to enjoy all the benefits of a larger city.  The 16s had planned a range of activities including a massive game of capture the flag held on the campus of one of Guiyang’s many universities.  16s and 17s alike squared off to do battle in the hilly terrain that bisects the Commercial and Industrial University of Guiyang.

                                                     Discussing the rules of engagement

At one point during the game as I was on my way back to our flag base from the frontlines, I saw that a small detachment of 16s was harrying the guards posted by our flag.  After ascertaining their position, I moved to the low side of the hill biding my time until I broke cover and charged down two 16s wearing Camouflage bandanas.  Surprised, they bolted down hill and the chase ensued.  Though my target initially increased the distance as I pursued him down a flight of stairs past groups of startled Chinese, once we reached the trees I cut his lead in half.  As we half-slid half-fell through the underbrush, I came closer and closer to my quarry until, eventually, I was able to stretch out my hand and bring the chase to its inevitable conclusion.  After catching my breath I realized that we had nearly come to an abrupt drop which would have caused us to fall about twelve feet straight down had we continued for even a moment longer.

The game went on for what seemed like hours and, ultimately, it was the 17s who walked away with the glory. 

Hosting our victory with Laurie

We spent the rest of the day proudly wearing our black and white bandanas as a sign of our victory.  After the game, we went to a western restaurant called “Grandma’s Kitchen” where we enjoyed burgers and rice wine before heading to a rooftop bar where we danced and celebrated being together in beautiful Guizhou.  That evening, I was introduced to a particularly fun game that involves rolling dice out of a cup and trying to guess how many of a certain number are on the table.  The 16s are excellent company and I met some fellow hikers who promised to email me some information about hiking spots in and around Xingyi and Yunnan province.

Dancing in Guiyang

The following day, we went to a city park which is home to a troop of monkeys that draw tourists from all over the province.  These monkeys are very used

Emma being chased by a monkey

to the human presence and will aggressively go after food or anything they believe might be or contain something they can eat.  Emma learned this lesson after one monkey tried to rip open her purse to get at some peanuts she had purchased from a vendor up the road.  One of our hosts, a girl named Laurie, was so startled by the attention of the monkeys that she threw a whole bag of nuts on the ground causing a free-for-all among the chimps.  We saw some mother monkeys with their offspring as well as some alpha males that looked like small dogs.  After the park we made our way into the Muslim district where we had some amazing food and looked over the dog tail BBQ and, I kid you not, dog butts that rested among onions and shellfish on a vendor’s stall.

Adam sizes up some dog tails

Coming back at the end of the weekend, I realized that I have not felt this happy for a long time.  I spent so much of the last year feeling lost and directionless.   Today, however, I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be and though, in many ways, this experience is much different from what I had imagined, I feel like I have two years of excitement, adventure, and discovery to look forward to.