Updates: Smog, Wedding Photos, Etc...

This is a blog full of updates!
1. Smog update: So, the day after I posted the terrible smog picture, around 4:30, we needed to walk to the convenience store to pick up bottled water.  The smog was just as bad but with a disturbing development.  Ash was raining from the sky.  It was pretty heavy too, you couldn’t look up without getting it in your eyes, and you couldn’t breathe without it going in your mouth.  But we needed to go to the store so we just covered our mouths and looked down.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say a volcano had erupted nearby and we were about to be Pompeii-ed.  Either that, or something huge was on fire.  We also thought it might be coal-related since Huainan is a coal town.  Adam asked Beth on Monday morning what happened and she said the farmers were burning crops and it just happened to be a windy day so the ash blew into the city.  Great!  I wonder how many times that’s going to happen this summer.  I am glad it wasn’t coal-related, though.  The air is completely cleared up now.

2. Wedding photo update: Mandy got her professional pictures back so I asked her to send me a few. 

Announcing the song

Singing

You can see how much everyone is enjoying this

The end of the song

Can you believe this person wouldn't even get out of the way for the professional photographer??

Head cut off!

3. Badminton update: Against all odds, Adam is still in the tournament.  When the tournament is over, Adam will write his own commentary on it.  :)

4.  We finally heard from Mr. Hong via text.  He said he’s feeling better, but won’t be returning to Huainan.  Who knows if we will ever see him again.

5.  Our trip back to America is only 3 weeks away.  We're excited to pig out on all the American food we miss.  The #1 food we miss is Mexican.  There's literally nothing like it here.  They have burgers and fried chicken, and there are some places you can get crappy pizza and OK spaghetti, but they have no concept whatsoever of nachos or quesadillas.  And we're also excited for a Subway sandwich.  Other than burgers, they don't do sandwiches here.

Smudgie is a happy puppy, as always.  I can't wait to buy him some durable toys because he has destroyed all of his current ones.  I have to resort to letting him play with toothpaste tubes and such.