Mangosteens and Me

Today wasn't particularly eventful, which after yesterday is probably a good thing.  There was no dog to wake us up today or yesterday so perhaps the police had an effect on the owners.  We will keep our fingers crossed that it continues.

The kids and I Skyped with Nanny and Bumpy this morning and practiced letters in our kindergarten.  At lunch time Ayi showed up and when I offered her lunch this time, she said that she had eaten at the Carrefour Mall and was full.  Either she has had enough of my cooking or doesn't want to take advantage.  Either way it was all good to me, it was only rice and veggies again so I ate it all.

After she had cleaned for about two and a half hours I wanted to get the kids out of the apartment and go to Happy City so I told her that was enough for today and that we would walk with her to Carrefour where I thought she would catch a bus.  It turns out she has a pretty pink electric bike that she drives to work.  She was going to leave it here at the apartment complex so she could help me with groceries and the kids but I told her to go ahead and bring the bike, that she was done for the day.  She still walked with us and came into the mall.  The kids went straight to Happy City and we sat down to watch.  Since she appeared to be staying I asked her if she would mind watching the kids while I picked up my few groceries.  She didn't mind and even when I got back she stayed.  Finally I told her that if she wanted to go, she didn't need to stay for me.  She asked about carrying the groceries and looking after the kids going back to the apartment but I said we would be fine.  It was very nice of her to be concerned.  I knew though that there was a good chance we would be there for a long time and in the end it was about two hours that the kids played.  They we too tired on the walk home to stray very far.

Anna and Dave's son, James, is visiting Shenyang from Bridgewater and though I have yet to meet him, I have checked out his blog, http://jamesgoode.tumblr.com/.  I hope you don't mind me sharing that James but you have some great photos of Shenyang that I'm sure those who read my blog would love to see.  If they wait for me to take them they may never get to see how pretty this city can be.  Also, I should mention Anna's blog, http://adventurefortwo.wordpress.com/, since it's nice to see a different perspective of the city from other Canadians. 

Anyway, on James's blog he mentioned mangosteens, a fruit that I had seen here but hadn't known the name of.



I decided while I was at the Carrefour that I would buy a couple of these mangosteens and give them a try.  At first I peeled off a bit of the skin and tried the red inside.  That was not the edible part.  I cut further and found the juicy, supposed-to-be-sweet-and-tangy white part.  I decided that this must be the part that I was supposed to eat so I quickly shoved all but the seed that was in the middle, into my mouth.  Well, it was sort of sweet at first, then it started to burn.  The inside of my mouth was hot, like I had just eaten a jalapeno - well, maybe not quite that hot but you get the idea.  After some water and a little time the burning in my mouth went away.  Unfortunately there was still quite a bit of juice on my hands even though I had rinsed them with water.  Apparently I had touched that area above my upper lip and below my nose because it felt like it was on fire.  I grabbed a baby wipe and tried to rub it off but instead it just moved it around to my nose and cheeks.  Now everything was burning.  I got some cream and put it on then went to read Ryan his bedtime story.  It continued to get worse and my face was quite red and felt swollen.  I got a cold pack out of the freezer and stuck it around my face and eventually it started to cool down, then became numb.  I'm starting to get the feeling back now but I was a little concerned for a bit.  I'm not sure that mangosteens are supposed to have that affect on people, perhaps I have a slight sensitivity to it.  I guess I will find out tomorrow when Tim eats the other one!  He is at a dinner tonight so didn't get to witness my experience.  Should I tell or just wait and see what happens?  Hmmm.....