Friday

Today was a full day of practice for the kids. They had morning practice, a "noodle rama" for lunch, afternoon practice, dinner, and the percussion and kids chosen for the IOC performance went back for an evening practice as well.

Several of the chaperones (7 of us to be exact) took two cabs into the city yesterday. Liz with her shock of blond hair, and me with my six feet of height attracted some interested looks, and a couple of requests for photos. Nothing like being an object d' art (or a freak, depending on your point of view).

We previewed Tiananmen Square, and were mobbed by people selling such delectable tidbits as a Mao Tse Tung watch, or a little red book of Mao sayings.

We enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant and then went to Silk Street (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Street). The vendors were incredibly aggressive. "LADY LADY" they grabbed at us as we passed. They would have you step into their stall and then block your egress. They would drape a scarf across your arm and then not take it back. Every one would use a calculator to say "This is the usual price, but for you, special price" and then show 1/2 the amount. They could generally be haggled down to 1/10th of the original number. We came home poorer in cash, but with some pearls, silk, and chop sticks.