Hello, Detroit

More adventures with Carmel today! Ever since we were got phones together on our second day here, we've been having little adventures together on the weekends :)

• Nate and I slept until 10:30 - which was very exciting because I haven’t slept much past 7:00 since we’ve gotten here. Then we bought a new chair for the living room from a teacher swap group and spent a good amount of time rearranging the living room so it fit. We picked up a package from the front gate (good knives…finally!) and met up with Carmel.
• Our goal today was to get to the big flower market (that everyone has gotten lovely plants from), a pizza place that Cat and Tony love, and a secondhand store. After getting the location and general directions from Cat, we took a bus to the subway and then got on the subway. It took a bit longer than planned and also included a very hot walk but we eventually arrived. But there was just one person selling some plants on the side of the road, in front of a small collection of stores. We looked around but didn’t buy anything because it didn’t look at all like what other people had described. However, we did find the pizza place and the secondhand shop in that group of stores :) The pizza place serves Detroit-style pizza and the owner is from Rochester Hills! We chatted for a bit and he said that BIBA is a little out of their range but he’d deliver for us if we were ordering a bunch of pizzas :) He also said to call him if we ever need anything. So cool!

Next, we went to the secondhand store, called Roundabout. It’s run by a charity in Beijing that helps needy families, so proceeds from the store and the artist boutique go to that. There were some really lovely handmade items that I think we’ll go back for after my first paycheck. We also met some other expats in the  store and they told us about a women's clothing auction that happens every few weeks. I might try to go!

Finally, it was time to find the flower market. James sent me an updated location and we got a DiDi. It came JUST as the heavy rain was starting and dropped us off at the [correct] market during a lucky break in the storm. When we got inside, it started pouring! The plastic roof didn’t leak but was SO loud with the pounding drops. Luckily, this also meant that the market was pretty empty so we had time and space to check it out. It was gorgeous. So many little shops selling tons of different things. The plant area was like a jungle in each booth. We found everything we needed and were even able to get the seller to deliver the plant.

Nate and I did some more rearranging when we got home and filled the pots of some other plants we’ve acquired. I think it looks really homey now!