Runningburro, Superhero

Last night after my hour on the treadmill (hello, Wineglass Marathon training), D and I were in the Tangjia square using the ATM.

The square is a big paved area in front of a sprawling multi-story plaza. It's basically used as a multi-purpose area by everyone in the village. On the side of the plaza is a jumbotron television that broadcasts Chinese T.V. at night. So all the locals sit squat in the square and watch some telly, snack on meat-on-a-stick, and so on. In one area off to the side, couples dance for fitness. During the day, the dancing area is used by kids as a skating rink. There's a pool table area, too, where the local dudes rack-and-break while sipping beers and smoking, smoking, smoking.

The square is also home to a few carnival (knock-the-the-bottle-over) type games, a big inflatable trampoline cage that's always over-filled with little kids, and mini go-carts that kids can rent and drive around. As you can imagine, this is all quite hectic. Oh, did I mention that it's also used as a parking lot?

Anywhoo, I was waiting for D to finish his business at the ATM, and I was watching this little kid play with an inflated balloon. This kid was mobile, but he wasn't able to talk yet, so he was pretty little -- baby-ish. He dropped his balloon on the ground, and the wind kicked up carried the balloon across the square away from him. He protested, "EEEEeeeeeeeeeeeee!" His mother looked kind of distressed.

BUT, guess who was standing exactly in the path of the renegade balloon? That's right, me! My super-aunt ninja training skills kicked in and I subdued the balloon and handed it back to the kid who wasn't even old enough to be all, "hey, mom, foreigner!" He just smiled. (His mom thanked me profusely).

It's nice to be of help, especially when I feel like I always the one who needs help around here.