those places and between

              (This list is made by someone who loved living in China and ready to go back. ) # 1 You feel uneasy when elevators don't smell like garlic; and finally when you get the smell it feels like the world is moving in perfect order.  # 2 At the very first moment of meeting a stranger you are ready to share your age, your children's age, your husband's age, your monthly income, your husband's monthly income (in some cases your neighbor's monthly income).  # 3 You are taking an umbrella on a sunny day (to avoid getting tanned).  # 4 You are not surprised when you see someone buying a whole salmon at the fish market.  # 5 You are taking your son to Walmart because he wants to see the live frogs, turtles and crocs in the fish tank pen (Because they are sold there as food items).  # 6 You carry spoons, knives and forks in your purse when you go out to eat in a restaurant (because restaurants have only soup spoons and o...

  Philadelphia Skyline and Schuylkill River Banks Being able to walk around in a city makes you feel connected to it; gives you the sense of belonging. Among its many attractions Philadelphia is a city where you can count on your own two feet to commute to work or school everyday, shop, dine and explore. It is one of the top ten walkable cities in the United States. Philadelphia boasts to be the first American city that was designed on a grid street plan that is now 300 years old. The wide streets run at right angels to each other crisscrossing the smaller streets forming a grid .                                            University City district - Home of Drexel and UPenn Waking up in 19th century home, going out for a walk along the Schuylkill River , passing by people walking dogs, pushing their babies in strollers, construction workers taking a break on the porch...

  I lived in China for years, yet I never heard the word “ Wet Market ” until very recently, until it has been associated with the outbreak of COVID-19 . Within a day of reaching China, we were shown the local chain supermarket, which was a small grocery filled with imported goods and a small shelf with fresh produce. More often than not the ‘fresh’ produces were not fresh. However, every time I was out after breakfast or before dinner, I would see a steady stream of people, usually older men and women, carrying big identical looking plastic bags in both hands. I could see fresh vegetables peeking out of them. I thought there must have been a market somewhere around. I decided to follow them one day and ended up in a narrow alleyway with traditional houses. A staircase went up a narrow balcony to an entrance that was covered with ceiling to floor plastic sheets. The structure looked like a huge warehouse. Inside was a surprisingly big bustling market. Organized rows of stalls wer...