Waiting to Cook

I’m waiting for Wang Ayi to finish in the kitchen so that I can make my lunch for the week – two bean chili. Wang Ayi has been in the kitchen since roughly 3pm, making dumplings from scratch. And I mean from scratch. Made the wrap from flour, chopped the veggies, cooked the eggs, cook the pork, formed the dumplings, and cooked them. She did everything but kill the pig. The downside of this that if I don’t get in the kitchen early in the day, then I am shot until Wang Ayi is done. Should be about 30 minutes now. It’s 8pm. Wang Ayi is famous for trying to save money, which is why she makes everything from scratch. I guess this a good thing in an Ayi versus the ones who always takes the best piece of meat. But it also has a downside – beyond the time in the kitchen – in that we like the store bought dumping wrap and noodles from time to time. There is a saying in China that there is always someone in your way. I’m sure this saying isn’t in English but my Chinese isn’t so good (see previous posts) so I will have a hard time to translate. If I did translate it would go like yǒu rén zǒng shì nǐ de lù (有人总是你的路). Right now there are eight people and three goldfish in the house. Two Ayis, one grandmother, one father, one mother, and three children. It feels loud and crowded and I’m not even considering the noise the goldfish make. Flush.