today was Teacher's Day, to honor our teachers' virtues, pains, and contributions, so instead of class we went to some temples in the western hills of Kunming. I could visit temples forever. I could do a trip that was just the temples and small dogs of China. We drove in an old bus up some truly terrifying roads that would put Bolivia to shame, into the forest and mountains overlooking the valley of Kunming, and explored the expanse of temples built clinging onto the mountainside. The stairs kept going up and up, through little passageways in the rock face, from one altar to the next.

some of us decided to try to get to the peak of the mountain from the topmost pagoda. Climbing up the karst alleys on all fours was some of the most fun I've had on this trip; we weren't sure how we would get back down but we just kept on going. Finally we got to the top, and had the most drop-dead gorgeous view of Dianchi Lake, which is vibrant green, and the cookie-cutter mansions dotting the shores on the outskirts of Kunming.

Justin and I got lost climbing back down the mountain and reenacted a scene from a Vietnam war movie in which we were soldiers separated from our unit. When I got home, I washed all the red soil out of my shoes.

classes started this Monday, which were terrifying in a different way. I felt a bit over my head in the advanced class they placed me in, but I'm slowly regaining my footing. Every day I get breakfast and lunch from the street vendors in the alley, at a cost of between $0.35 and $0.50 cents. At night, we go to "western street," which has almost no westerners, and treat ourselves to Indian food and falafel, where dinner might run as high as $3.

I still can't believe I'm in China. The times I can't believe it most are when I go to the bathroom and find myself staring at a hole in the ground.