A trip to the Embassy

Last night, three cab-fulls of my friends went to our beloved Hou Hai district. Hou Hai is easily my favorite part of Beijing. We found this little street with mostly locals, tons of great cafes and restaurants and some fun bars. I have had my eye this one Indian restaurant I spotted called Mirch Marsala. The restaurant was very small so our group divided into two. I went to Mirch and had the best vegetable curry I have every had. I ordered saffron rice, vegetable curry and cheese naan. We were about the only people in the restaurant (10pm on a Sunday night, normally a reservation is required as there are only six tables) and the wait staff as well as the manager were talking to us while we were eating. I was so intrigued by the flavors in the dishes that I asked if I could see the back kitchen. No photos were allowed, but the image of a three-foot long spice tray filled with different colored powders separated by partitions was one of the more beautiful things I have seen in gray Beijing. There was also a traditional tandoori oven that is used to make the delicious naan. The cooking staff were quite surprised to see me in the incredibly small kitchen. After my looksy I went back to my table and devoured my remaining curry. The four Indian men who were still working (they told me they'd been working since 10am ... it was almost 11pm) starting laying out large bowls of food for themselves. They told me that they were all vegetarian (many Indian people are) and I was so thankful that their menu featured not just one or two items of vegetarian options, but a whole three pages! I couldn't decide and will definitely be back.

This morning I woke with the intention of going straight to the U.S. Embassy to get a background check notarized for the People.Com Red Carpet Reporter contest I entered last week. I have never been inside an Embassy and after showing the address to my taxi driver, I realized I was excited. After 45 minutes in heavy traffic and sharp, whimsical turns, my driver pulled over and pointed across the street. I saw flags and barbed wire and assumed the U.S. Embassy was in sight. Turns out that was the Albanian Embassy. I start walking, thinking I'll see it any moment but after 20 minutes I still haven't found it. It was 11am and the Embassy closes at noon. I was getting frustrated that nobody spoke English and even more annoyed with the fact that people kept pointing me in the wrong direction of the Embassy. I stopped a girl on the street who had broken English and said she, too was looking for the Embassy. We embarked on our journey together and when we arrived, she said "Oh, this isn't the Embassy, just the place to get my Visa for travel to America." I was near tears, incredibly hot and frustrated. As tears welled up in my eyes I caught sight of a friendly-looking woman standing outside a restaurant. The tears began pouring the second I opened my mouth. She brought me inside, gave me tissues, rubbed my back and called a cab (what luck I had that she spoke English!). The taxi came and took me to the Embassy. Finally happy, I became dismayed again to see a horribly long line of Chinese people waiting to get inside. Just when I thought I would never make it in, a posh looking American woman strutted by. I called after her and after telling her I was an American citizen and don't want to wait in this line she grabbed my hand and pulled me through the line with her. She took me right to where I needed to go and told me she was the Chief of Press Operations for the U.S. Embassy. I don't know how I got so lucky. Life got even better when I went through security, entered the Embassy grounds and saw: STARBUCKS. I immediately got an iced coffee and then went on to get the necessary documents notarized. It was quite a day and after surviving it, I am pretty sure I can handle just about any situation. I hope.

Right now, I am sitting in The Three Trees Cafe with my friend Lauren. We decided to come here to work on our blogs, catch up on the news and just get out of the hotel on our day off. We are in the Hou Hai district again and are just enjoying the smell of coffee and the sounds of some Chinese music along with the group of loud men sitting behind us playing a game of checkers. Tomorrow I have training again but then I have two days off until I go again.

Miss everyone at home :)
XOXO,
P