Piedra or Pillow?

"I slept like a rock" - a phrase widely used in America. "I slept on a rock" - a phrase I'm beginning to believe may be just as popular here in China. For the past few nights I've been having dreams of Chevy trucks and Bob Seger staring down at me singing "Liiike a rock, Oooh like a rock!". Yes, my pillow is a sack of pebbles. It's filled with beads, and if you're thinking "oh nice, it conforms to the shape of your head", you'd be mistaken. The pebble-sack is so jam-packed with beads that there's no space for the material to disperse and contort to any shape.

I think I remember seeing something about my cobblestone pouch on like a 6th grade test: "The matter of your Chinese pillow exists in one of four different states or phases: (A)solid, (B)liquid, (C)gas or (D)plasma". I now know beyond a doubt that the correct answer is 'A'.

In an attempt to rectify my sleeping situation, I conferred with a new friend about my predicament, this is the advice I got in return:


Friend: "Hard pillow good for health."
Me: "Thanks."

Hmm, 'good for my health' - as in if there is a nuclear attack I can hide under my pillow and survive? Good for my health in that if a night prowler wakes me in my sleep and challenges me to a pillow fight I'd win? A pillow that offers me a sense of safety? I'm not looking for a security blanket. I'm looking for the kind of "healthy" that will allow me to wake up 2 months from now and still feel my legs. I want to wake up without bruises on my neck.


There is one positive thing in all of this, I haven't wasted any time "falling asleep" at night. It seems that from the moment my head touches the pillow.. I'm out stone cold.

If you have yet to ascertain from this post, FYI yes I am going shopping for a new pillow ASAP.

- Rocking and Rolling... stiffly out of bed in Shanghai.