The End of the World

I'll write more about the Fabric Market later. It's heavenly and deserves its own post. I'll also post about going to EXPO because that deserves its own post, too.
Today I'm home sick from school. Which is awful in its own right. Yesterday I went to class and couldn't even hold down water, which was incredibly embarrassing, painful, and disgusting. And this was after a night when I puked (reportedly) for two hours. I have to take a moment to thank my friend Tom, my roommates Becca and Jessie, and my RA HaoHao for my survival. I literally do not know where I'd be now if it wasn't for them.
In any case, this has been a great few days.
I went to the doctor yesterday after my schoolday ordeal and was told I have a virus. I have meds that should help me recover but I feel so nasty. Words can't even describe, and yet here I am, trying.
Anyway with any amount of luck and grace I'll be back on my feet and endangering Shanghai again soon. But for now I'm tucked into bed, trying to sleep off my nausea and watching more Hunan TV (yayyy).

This isn't related to Shanghai at all, but I just have to say something about it. I feel like the world is collapsing. Floods in Nashville, Pakistan, earthquakes in Haiti and New Zealand, and all in the past few months. And then there's this: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/09/florida.quran.burning/index.html?hpt=T1
A Florida pastor called for burning of Qu'rans in protest of the mosque and Muslim center going up near the former World Trade Centers in New York City, my home away from home away from home. And I can't even stand it. I understand how this could cause some anxiety, disapproval, and even uproar. But burning of the Qu'ran? Really? I don't even have the time or the strength to go through all the reasons this is so, so wrong. I hope you already know at least some of them. The protest has been "postponed" till further notice, thank God. But the fact that it was even an idea... are we in the dark ages? I can't wait for a time when people can handle their differences without aggression, with rationality and (again) grace and some amount of respect.

Let's hope it's soon.