a week split between north and south, with a 7 hour train ride in between and my mom’s pataniscas!

i went to the library and got some new books, almost all for children. one last letter one was a quick read and just gorgeous — it won the international compostela prize for picture books AND it’s about mail! <3

i’ve been watching the early spring, for a change of pace. it’s a silly love story, but somewhat entertaining. tv series are such a time-sucker, but at the same time, i don’t know how else to incorporate more “normal” spoken chinese into life. :( i feel like speaking is still my weakest point.

the chinese history course is going well though! this week we’re transitioning from western to eastern han dynasty history, and the teacher had this amazing background featuring rubbings from emperor wu’s family shrines. people riding on flying fish!

other than that, not much. we’re back in tavira, and it feels good to be here, like it always does. the harshest part of summer is behind us now, and a comfortable warmth remains. it’s so quiet here compared to the city, so many more birds around, such open skies… coming back is always like a hug.

the boy ran a 10k race this weekend and at the end they were serving bolas de berlim… :) how can you help but fall in love with the place?