china, where the prostitutes are easy but getting ripped off is easier

yesyerday did not start as a good day. i wanted to call my mom and so headed down to the camelia hotel's business center. really, that should have been my first hint. i asked the guy at the desk how much it was to call canada and he said: 8 minutes, Y2. so i repeated what he said and asked him to confirm the price, twice. and he confirmed, twice. so i say ok, and make my phone call. i timmed it to be 16 minutes and when i hung up, he asked me to pay. but not Y4: Y147. i was shocked! so i start to argue (and honestly, "lost face") and so the manager comes and says: it's Y8.20 per minutes. ha! i would have never talked so long had i known! no matter how much i argued, and the fact that he missinformed me, nothing would give. i was to pay. it was my fault. eventually i got a Y10 reduction... but it's the principle that really got me. so, to those travelers out there: never make an international phone call from the camelia hotel in kunming. or at least, get the cost down in writting.

bad thing number 2: my anti-malaria pills are making me really sick. yesterday was my second day and had such bad nausea that i 1. had sweats, 2. felt dizy, 3. puked in the car (in a bag, thank god) on the way to the bus station. fun! i really hope that things get better. i can't imagine 5 months of dealing with this. really.