locked out in the lane

had the most incredible experience,
yet again.
locked out of my flat, i sat in my lane, with the next door neighbours kids running around playing jump rope. of course i had to join in.
they practised their english phrases on me
'good morning' (even though its clearly evening, but hey, so cute!)
'how are you?'
'nice to meet you'
'my name is peter'
'my name is kitty'
(gotta love the english names they choose for themselves, the best one yet i have heard is 'mattress'...why oh why...)
after an hour, and clearly my temporary room mate was not back with the key (must get spare set...) seven year old kitty and her grandma busy knitting away as she watched us play, invited me up for dinner.
wow.
up flights and flights of rickety old stairs, past old women cooking outside their front door, men in their pj's watching tv inside a room which was literally half a floor, like being john malkovich's 9 /2 floor) he couldnt even sit up in his bed, then into their home.
which consists of
one room, the kitchen table smack bang to the toilet,to the sink, and then a double bed which the whole family share, a cupboard, a fridge, and drawings in crayon all over the wall of stick figures in dresses, courtesy of kitty i'm sure.
the grandfather greeted me, struggling to get up off his seat at the table as he has a crippled leg, and on the table was an array of vegetables in small bowls, and crab....
of course they give me the crab first, and i have no idea how to eat it (i know its shocking but i have never eaten crab in its shell before) i looked like an idiot, but kitty helped me, explaining to me in detail in chinese what to do, i nodded my head and pretended i understood everything.
i was just amazed at this family
living right next to me, in a room the size of my bedroom and thats their entire home, and yet they are so happy, their eyes shine and sparkle.
i felt so honoured to sneak a peak into the life of real shanghainese, none of the glitz and glamour of Huaihai road, but the real working class, and how they live. that's the true shanghai.

i see kitty each day. playing in the back of the recyling cart in a tutu dress with fairy wings. what an image. the gritty grey walls, this old bike and cart, and this pink fairy happily playing.

these children don't have a backyard, wow, i am so spoilt as a nz'der....
but there is a lot one can find hidden in these tiny lanes...