Wait... where am I again?

Occasionally, I forget where I am. It's fairly easy to do living in Shanghai, where there is a KFC on every corner, Starbucks and McDonalds a little less frequent, but still prominent, and even the street hawkers are hounding you in English.

I started this morning with a full-on breakfast, American Style, at a place called City Diner. Although it was a very international crew... German, Japanese, Chinese, Canadian, British, Swiss, and the few token Americans, it still felt a bit like home. The place just oozed of good old fashioned US diner food. Biscuits & gravy, home fries, Texas toast... huge portions, bottomless cups of coffee and all the good things that come along with that - like a full belly and a partial food coma for the afternoon. Yum.

From brunch we went to a Morroccan restaurant for a 2 hour African drumming lesson. This was without a doubt one of the hardest things I've attempted. My hands are still a bit on the numb side 4 hours later. I have to admit though, I had an absolute blast. Maybe my dream of being the drummer for the Go-Go's isn't dead after all.

I lost myself in the twisty windy streets on my way home and wandered into a massage parlor, where I spent two hours being thoroughly kneaded, beaten, and twisted into a variety of odd positions until I was nothing but a puddle of mush - all for a whopping $30.

So American breakfast with a crew from around the world, an African drum lesson in a Moroccan restaurant (did I mention the teacher's name was Moses??), and a lovely Chinese massage to wind things down.. I do love my life... but it does occasionally freak me out.