the weather here's been cold for the past couple weeks. the change was really abrupt, on september 30th it was sunny and 80 degrees out and on october 1st it was cloudy and about 50 degrees, and it's been that way ever since, with one sunny exception. the lack of a gradual temperature decrease takes away from the autumn feeling around here, where you feel the first chill of the year and it reminds you of all the previous chills and autumns.
along with the change in weather came changes in people's behavior and habits, most notably with food and clothing. for some reason as soon as it got cold, a horde of popcorn vendors materialized on the streets, selling bags of popcorn that taste exactly like Honey Smacks the cereal. really, i don't see the connection here. street vendors also started selling sugar cane and chestnuts, which is one familiar thing at least.
the clothing change is the most remarkable to me. during the summer, the locals dressed really casually, in tank tops and thin white tshirts and slacks; when it was really hot the men would pull their shirts up and rest them on their nipples leaving most of their torso bare, it was quite attractive. as soon as it got cold, however, everyone started wearing dark-colored blazers and suits around town, really fancy stuff. it feels unnatural buying sticks of pork meat from a guy in a full on three-piece suit. i guess they don't really buy into the idea of sweatshirts or casual long-sleeved clothing around here. if the headmaster at my primary school thought i was young and immature before (the impression that i got), he must be thrilled when i show up to school in a bright yellow sweatshirt and sandals these days.
this past sunday me and duncan taught sunday school to five kids at kate's niece's apartment, our first one. i thought the kids would be like 9 or 10 years old so i prepared accordingly, but when we got there they were 14-17. we scrapped the black and white pictures for them to color and instead taught them the creation story using a chalkboard. it went pretty well, they were pretty attentive and asked a couple questions. afterwards they told us the buddhist creation story, at least the local version of it. this is gonna be a regular weekly thing from now on, next sunday we're gonna cover the fall.
one more thing, kate told me last week that she got CCTV-9, one of the nationally run television channels to agree to come down here in december and tape the chorus singing a couple christmas songs. i'm not clear on the details or the exact likelihood of this happening, but the idea of being broadcast on national tv to a billion people makes me miss my mommy, or the halcyon days of my youth. whatever.
