Latest Sunday 11th

Some of my colleages got to go into the delta yesterday. A very poorly
organized American Embassy affiliated van requested a few "white
males", and because they were embassy they were able to get throughthe
many checkpoints that are apparently stopping many other agencies.
More than one person who went was very positive about the situation
saying that the western media had blown it all out of proportion. The
latest 100,000 death toll estimate seemed false, they said, and the
number is more likely closer to the 23,000 government figure. They
viewed each village's manifesto, and while there were many casualties
(one village had 70 out of 1000), things are looking up. They said the
roads all the way had rice drying in many places, and the reason they
had to go so far was because the villages they went through all seemed
prosperous enough with chickens and cows and rice cooking, that it
didn't seem right to give their rice donation to them, and they went
looking for places harder hit. There were many recovering cities in a
similar state to Yangon.

The aid agencies are meeting frequently, and they're very annoyed with
trips like this one, because there were no records taken as to what
they provided each place, and where they actually went, and what the
villages need, so others could arrive with rice to donate, when
instead that particular village could need fresh drinking water. They
hate the independent aid givers, but honestly, it often seems like
they're wrapped up in bureaucracy. This is why the aid communities
frustrate me--so wrapped up in paperwork and permission, and of
course, funding!! Many families of teachers have pledged thousands of
dollars, which will stay within the school's community service club,
but our reach is limited too, especially if we want to keep our visas
for next year.

Anyway, school tomorrow, and it's up in the air what will happen. I'm
trying to have a sale at school for all my stuff, but it won't fit in
a taxi, so has to be left behind to be given away!! So much stuff. I
swear to myself that I will not accumulate as much next time around.
It's better to stay in a small appartment where the stuff doesn't fit
so it's more easily gotten rid of than in a house where every nook and
cranny gets filled!

More news soon, I hope!! I'm trying to post regularly now!

Cyclone update 1

May 6, 2008

Aha!!! Success!!! I have made it into email and can send a message
out. I'm at school and our DSL is working, but probably not for long.
My inbox is full as full. I am okay, as the US embassy were supposed
to inform my parents, but it ended up in their junk mail! How's that
for crisis planning? It's been a crazy last few days and I don't know
what's going to happen. Yangon is just devastated... every large tree
in the city--all that beautiful green--is gone. My house is okay
compared to most, but suffered enormous damage. The roof above the
upstairs bathroom was ripped off, and all the windows on the north
side of the house were blown off or had broken windows, so that side
of the house was flooded. We still have no power, no water, no phone,
although apparently water came back today, but it won't change
anything for me because I have no pump!! At least I have three ground
tanks at the back that I can use like a well, filthy water as it is,
but most people have been going and getting it from the lake. Cholera
and typhoid are feared. It's thought it will be reconnected in a few
weeks. There's been widescale rioting and looting, but haven't seen it
myself. All those people in big apartments have generators, but diesel
is running low... it was around $15 a gallon today, and the wait at
the service station for the allotted two gallons was around 5 hours
(snaking lines up the streets). The port's blocked off, so
infrastructure of the city is going to crumble. Drinking water is the
biggest worry at the moment, as is sewage.

The American, Korean, and Thai embassies have all recommended
evacuation, and so our school is probably going to close down, but as
we only have two and a half weeks left, many things are up in the air
(my shipping, for example!!). The kids commenced their AP exams today,
but they're the only ones in school. It'll cost around $2500 per day
per generator to keep the school running, and we have around 1 week of
diesel stockpiled.

Don't know when I'll be able to connect again, as at the high school
it's not working, and we may be evacuated!!

May 7, 2008

Hi there again. Turns out our internet at school is pretty regular,
but in the elementary school only. Hayley and Stu made the front page
of the Dominion Post. Here's the link:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4514391a10.html Other than that, not much has
changed. The death toll has rocketed upwards, and imagine it will go
higher still. One village was washed away entirely (10,000 people
alone). Managed to watch the BBC yesterday, and it was filmed from
Trader's hotel!! Imagine you saw the same broadcast if you watched it.
I'd send them my pics to them, but it's a big hassle! Many seem to be
getting online already.

The American Embassy is evacuating families and their school has shut
for the year (they've got two days of book returns and goodbyes, and
that'll be it). Same for the other school, who lost the top four
floors of their building (it was a high rise). The British Council are
being evacuated on Friday for Bangkok, but as it's not their end of
year, who knows how long they'll be away. Our school is still making
up their mind. We have school today. I had about 75% of students in my
classes, and all were upbeat and wanted to know about final exams and
the science fair which was supposed to be on Friday!! Report cards and
AP exams are also up in the air. The kids have complained about how
hard they were, but as that would have happened anyway, it's no
surprise!! I imagine we'll either end on Friday or next Friday, but
I'll probably stay and keep my original plans, though haven't bought a
ticket yet so feel very free--if only it wasn't for my stuff!! I'm
still not sure what to do with it all, as the port is closed, so no
shipments will go out. Luckily half was going to be air freighted
anyway, so that'll be okay, but their office is damaged, they have no
boxes, and diesel is very expensive, so pickup could be expensive!!
I'm seriously considering flying out with it all as excess baggage and
dealing with it in Bangkok, but that's a huge hassle as well! It may
be easier just to leave it here care of a friend and then return and
deal with the shipped half next school year!! Who knows?

School suffered very little damage surprisingly. My room didn't even
leak as it normally does in storms. I've also just asked for an
extension to my boring assignment, hopefully the situation is
compelling enough!! :)

Must go back to class, but will send news when I know what, if
anything is happening!!

May 8, 2008
The NZ consul aren't very good and I am not happy at all with the
British Embassy here which has done absolutely nothing!! They did far
more in the last crisis in September. Our school buses are still
running, so am getting to school that way, but did a lot of biking
around in the first few days as taxis were exorbitant. Had an
interesting ride this morning. Ironically, University Avenue is still
closed because of Aung San Suu Kyi's house, so we go down a back alley
(the one where we went to the Christmas party). It was insane. The
traffic there was incredible and so ridiculous considering the huge
main road that is available but not usable! One power pylon had broken
and half fallen over with it's multitude of lines across the road.
Each time a car went over the lines, the whole tower shook and wiggled
alarmingly. We ducked barely under a fallen tree and it amused me
greatly to see us stop briefly so the driver could lift up and throw a
loose power line onto the roof so we could pass under it. Crazy!!

We had our last day of school yesterday (we were told with an hour of
the day left, so it was all a bit hectic!) and so am cleaning up
today... what a hassle!! Hopefully all due payments will come, but I'm
sure they will as school've been really supportive so far. Still no
news on shippers, but at the moment am planning to get out of here
late next week... might go to Aunty Helen's for a while and do the
essay I just got an extension for!! I meant to get some pictures
online today but haven't gotten there with all the interruptions.

Have heard from all sorts of people that normally don't bother to
contact me!! I was on RadioNZ yesterday morning and family and friends
all heard. Apparently you can hear it at
www.radionz.co.nz/morningreport. People here are comparing it to the
Tsunami which it is looking to be more severe than (at least for this
one place). What an enormous tragedy!!

May 10, 2008

Hi there from a luxury appartment!! Am sleeping at a friend's and am
freezing being in airconditioning, but am enjoying
the TV and internet not to mention electricity and running water!
Things not much better at home, but much of the city has improved.
Life moves on here! Have you seen the satellite pictures of the delta?
Aren't they amazing?

Got an email from a relative who works for an NZ aid agency and
they're trying to find volunteers, so am going to try and do that for
a while, but am also of the mind that I want to just be done and get
out. Anyway, am not making any decisions at the moment, and since I
don't actually have any tickets or firm plans, I can take it slow.
Nothing else is figured out. Lots of teachers are trying to help, but
whether or not we can do anything effective is up to debate. Some have
gotten out to the delta and are saying how there's either too much
rice or the rice is contaminated. Most do say the rice in Yangon is
going to run out, but the main concern is still clean water and
sanitation. It's really a question of how effective we can actually
be. They want media spokesmen and then there are lots of journalists,
but how does that actually help the people? This is such an
opportunity to get into aid work and to really make use of being in
the right place and the right time (or the other way around), but we
were beginning our annual break. The idea of a having holiday seems
really frivalous so I'm not
going to make any decisions yet, and since I don't really have any
tickets, I suppose I have that luxury. I have to be in Switzerland for
my new job, but that's the first firm plan I really can't change or
get out of. I'll stay in Europe once I'm there so Belarus will also go
ahead, but other than that, the answer is, I have no idea, but will
let you know as I make plans!

Some people want to volunteer here, but it's doubtful they'll get a
visa at this stage of the game, and to be honest, once you get here
you really have to get permits to get out into the delta, (most going
have ignored it, but that's not really going to last long and is only
going to be detrimental to govt/aid relations in the long run). I'm
curious as to what will happen now that the referendum is
done (no sign of that today, at all, though it went ahead in most
places)! There are hundreds of agencies that have stuff going on.

The last day of school is on Monday, although the kids AP Psychology
test is on Tuesday and I promised them I'd be there at least to have a
last minute review all morning, so I guess that's my last day. The
shipping companies are open now and await my call but the cost will
only go up now! We had our first major storm today and the bathroom
flooded again even though they've "fixed" the roof. The new tenants
moved into the house amid the rain and "flooded" the same room again
with as their dripping things! Watching the
barefoot men using all the chainsaws that have sprung up across the
city is frightening--we have a huge tree still across our power line
at the gate--they really have no idea how to use such things!

Anyway, all this gives you an idea of how hectic things are--end of
school year aside!! Will keep you posted on the happenings.

LATER: So what's the situation then?
Yangon is slowly returning to normalcy, but most places still have no
power/water/phone. Water was first to come back. It is truly eerie
walking the city at night in the pitch blackness--seeing the stars and
hearing the true quiet. To save candles, people are going to bed early
and the whole city sleeps. So many places have not reopened yet, but
hopefully tomorrow that will happen. I really hate to imagine what the
delta is looking like now.

I've heard about so many agencies looking for volunteers simply
because they cannot get foreigners visas to get them into the country.
I feel strange thinking that any foreigner will do in this case... why
can't Burmese do it for themselves. What can I do that they can't? But
still I want to help if I can.

The delta is really badly hit. Several villages lost almost all their
people, and the ones that survived are surrounded by water as all the
land was washed away. Dead bodies (animals and humans) are in the
water and disease is rampant. Food crops were annihilated. The soil is
now salty, and food and clean drinking water are a problem. Please
give money to aid agencies so they can help!

5 Things I love about Sri Lanka

5 Reasons I really love Sri Lanka

1. It’s tropical.
How can you not love the endless greenery and lushness especailly when it brings forth things like frogs in the shower, leaping lizards, and a temperature suited to sandals and summer. Okay, the consistent infernal sweating isn't so great, but that's why there is the hill country to escape to. Mosquitoes are also a downer. Did you know they truly love my thighs?

2. The friendly people.
Everyone wants to know where I'm from (they love NZ cricket!) and where I'm going (a bit more intrusive), and whether I need help (no so plesant). But the key here--they go away! Where else can I feel as confident as a single female explorer that they are truly genuine people, although I've also never felt like such a bitch for my rudeness.

3. It has beaches.
Ah glorious tropical oceans! White sand, black sand, snorkellign, surfing, whales, dolphins, diving. Even the tanks they have as local lakes for swimming in. What other country offers your lady's eye so many of the male population's sumptious tanned god-like muscles and shapely shoulders for your undie-clad, belt-off perusal?

4. It has history.
No other tropical place has so many and so different ancient cities and monuments from different eras. Also, it has been significant in history: from Queen Elizabeth II’s house to ancient mildew buildings, antique furniture, the colonial feeling to being a WWII base.

5. Tea!!!
Just how I like it—milky, and well brewed without bitterness. It’s locally grown on historical bungalow style plantations. If anywhere was the home of tea, this is. It’s Ceylon after all, they named tea after this place. Earl Grey, Lipton, they all got their starts from English lords here!

If that doesn't convince you, there's always the shopping opportunities for batiks and wood carvings, with not too many touts to annoy you. There are not many tourists and it isn't crowded like India can be. The food is great, similar to Indian. It is the center of the world (look at it on a map!) with a Mediterranean feel (the Portuguese established the lovely tiled roofs, for example). It’s Buddhist but they have religious diversity and a semblance of respect despite war, although of course they, like us all, could do a better job.

Just to be fair, it's not perfect. Here are some things that I didn't
1. War and therefore intolerance
2. Poverty
3. Far away & isolated (yet it’s the center of the world!)
4. An island at the end of the world
5. I can’t go everywhere
6. Some prices are high

To the Ancient Cities and the North!

On Tuesday I had a long drive - around 9 hours. I went from the coast in the south (Mirissa) up through tea country (just gorgeous, but it was a tiny mountain road) past the Sinharaja Forest National Park. It's rather romantic seeing all the signs for the tea estates... they mention their bungalows and I was dying to just pop in and have a cuppa looking over the hills (see pic). There are rest houses everywhere in Sri Lanka and they also convey a colonial mentality, except they're all mid-range hotels now and quite lovely places to stay, always in the best spot in town of course! We passed through Ratnapura, where I grabbed a quick bite, then we kept on driving up to Kandy.

I'm sad that I couldn't do Kandy more justice. I didn't even see the Tooth Relic, but then, no one ever sees it as it's just the house that it's in that you visit. Kandy is the mountain city--it took quite a strong British force to conquer it (and the Dutch and Portuguese never succeeded) (see street pic). One thing that was amazing... monkeys crossing the road. There are monkeys everywhere in Sri Lanka. Mischeivious, dastardly little things that can scare the daylights out of me! But it was getting late in the afternoon and I still had a ways to go so I went north to Sigiriya, but stopped at Aluvihara and Nelanda.

Aluvihara was a rock temple--the ancient Buddhists really used the rocks they had in the most "back to earth" way. This one was particularly memorable for it's carvings of evil and sinners, which just sounds too catholic to be true, but there you go. I remember brains being scooped out by demons, and a man being ripped apart by his legs. Just lovely... all in comic cartoon like 3D sculpture!!

Nalanda was an old temple, much like the many in Bagan, but it was in a beautiful setting near a tank... the tanks were everywhere. They're basically dams built since the biblical times for local water storage. Picturesque, smart, and make lovely ponds for fishing in!!

-----------------------------------

Wednesday

Sigiraya - amazing!!! Did you know there was a big rock temple/fortress/palace high on an eroded extinct volcanic plug in the middle of Sri Lanka? It is truly spectacular! (see pic)Depending on which legend you wish to follow it has either been an ancient monastery for both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism for millenium, or one king (King Kassapa AD477-495) decided he wanted a secure place to hide after being attacked continuously at his other city, Anuradhapura. I would like to be THAT big of guy! It was huge, with wonderful views over the tropical plains, and of course, to make it that much more perfect, it had a giant lion guarding the gates, but you can only see his paws now. They were twice the size of me, at least. The rock also had exotic rock paintings of exotic women (painted by men, no doubt, because their boobs were so(unrealistically) bountiful, round and perky.

..............Long break................. okay, I just tried to add a picture of these lovely ladies and discovered that I've managed to corrupt the files from most of Sigiriya, certainly all of the rock paintings and all of my time on top. I am incredibly bummed about this. I'm so bummed and it's also so late on Saturday night (and I fly to Yangon early tomorrow morning) that I'll have to finish this another time. So, interesting wedding party, Dambulla (monkey) caves, Polonaruwa, Anuradhapura... that'll be for next time.

June 12, 2008

I'm back to update this...

The edge of Sigiriya has the feet of a giant lion--such a neat thing to create. If ever I reincarnate as a giant temple builder, that's what I'll create! On top of Sigiriya I bumped into a wedding party from England. What a great idea for a place to have a wedding trip. It's unlikely that most would go there otherwise. I think that'll have to be how I have my wedding!!

After Sigiriya I went to Damballa caves. They're these ancient caves with Buddhist paintings and statues inside. However, I must say that despite these sacridities (a word?) myself (and most locals) spent more time looking at the monkeys than at the sites. They were everywhere and showed some of the bad attributes that humans have--jealousy, grabbing/snatching, stealing, growling and biting!!

After a reasonably short drive, I was at another ancient city, Polonaruwa. This was an area of flat land near one of the amazing tanks that the ancient peoples built (basically they're dams, but are feats of engineering in terms of water management). I can't say that Polonaruwa had any one amazing item, but in combination the sheer number of buildings shows just how amazing the ancient peoples were. I did watch a lovely sunset though, with some more fabulous tea in the state hotel overlooking the tank. It's the same place that Queen Elizabeth the Second stayed when she was there.

They had a fantastic museum in Polonoruwa. It was small enough that you could get through in a timely manner, but laid out in a really logical way. They basically divided up the ancient city into parts, then showed the archaeological finds they had from each place, along with miniature models and photographs. I loved it, but sadly, no photos were allowed. :(

Thursday

After a mixup with the park guards (they stamped the wrong date on the ticket), we drove to the third and last ancient city, Anuradhapura. On the way (after a brief encounter with some elephants in a river), we stopped at the ancient site of Mihintale, which had several Buddhist monuments including the giant mounds, an ancient tree, payas, and caves of prophets.

I had a terrible map of Anuradhapura, so I ended up visiting an out of the way place, not realizing it was a major place. The sheer size of Anuradhapura and the rolling fields of rooms and houses and buildings surrounded by grass park area and trees is what was so amazing. There were a several sacred mounds as well, but I really don't think they're all that picturesque (although they are phenomenal from an achitechtural standpoint considering that one was the second highest man-made monument in the world after the pyramids until the 1800s). A long drive home summed up my trip. I had such a great time, and it really is one of my favorite countries now!

Oh, and by the way, after a few months I discovered that I had not deleted the photos off the original drive, so I actually didn't lose all my photos. Yay!!

See more photos here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=114643&l=83f0c&id=668335330

or

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=108807&l=ad1e9&id=668335330

Sri Lanka plans

Rachi recommends:

Kandy/Dalada Maligawa
Sigiraya
Anuradapura
Pinnawala elephant orphanage
sandy beaches

Colm recommends:
Galle
Unawatuna
Mirissa
Hikkaduwa
Ngombo
Kandy by overnight moonlit train
Shopping in Colombo--Barefoot, Paradise Rd, Odel

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Making plans for Sri Lanka was something that I put off and when I had barely 20 minutes left of my flight, I realized that I just wouldn't get there. Anyway, it didn't matter because I knew where I was sleeping that night. Thank you Liz Dent!! An old colleague/friend from Kuwait had wonderfully offered me her home and hospitality. Wasn't it funny for her in the staff room that morning to discover that a colleague of hers also had an old student coming in that night! Wait: it was the same person: me! What a small world we live in!

The Burt-Mahons and Liz toured me around Colombo to all the spots--Galle Face Road, Gallery Cafe, and Odel (many other choices were shut for the new year), and I was surprised by the security everywhere. This time, what with the corniche and the road blocks, I felt like I was in Beirut!

On Sunday, I joined the Burts on their family vacation to Mirissa in the south--lovely beaches, and amazing to see all the developments since the Tsunami (honestly, if it had been Burma, it would truly have been a tragedy because they'd never have recovered... idly, I wonder how Banda Aceh's doing?). It was a pretty hair-raising drive. Small roads do have their drawbacks no matter how good they are!

I want a house in Galle old city! The fort town was just lovely--similar to Morocco's Essaouira but more gently and less pedestrian based. Once in Mirissa, had a seafood BBQ and a lovely swim, I was set!! The sand was very pervasive--every crevice filled, eyes included! Amazing to see tankers passing in front (did you know they used to WALK elephants across from India, because it's that shallow?) and even more so to know that they are frolicking with the whales there (or the whales with them).

Next step: rent a driver for the ancient cities!

Colombo

Colombo was what I expected Colombia to be like. I'm not really sure why I got that connection, but it may have been the soldiers and checkpoints at the airport!! I also didn't expect Colombia to be as prosperous as it was, what with my South East Asia background. Before I came, I knew/had heard of Adam's Peak and World's End (but really, I thought they were the same thing, so I don't know if it counts). I knew about the beaches and diving and the Tsunami of course. I knew probably more than most about the LTTE (internal ethnic rebel group), but didn't really know details. I'd even been to Colombo in transit (on my way to Kenya via Dubai, 1998), though to be honest, I remember more about another expat in Manila talking about her transit in Delhi than I remember about Colombo (she whinged about how the lovely people at Delhi airport came onto the plane and using a metal detector homed in on the gold rings in her suitcase and made them miraculously disappear).

Sitting on national airlines is so interesting! The stewardesses are (usually) the REAL people (the real beauties, and of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder). I noticed unusual skull shapes, dark skin and lovely wholesome features. The men are also interesting. I'm always interested/annoyed to discover how they chat (i.e. are they being friendly or trying to pick me up). The nouveau rich one who sat next to me with his daughter (the other side had VERY bad B.O.) only wanted to talk about cricket! That was when he wasn't standing up during take off to click pictures of his daughter with his mobile phone!

Three things I learned on the plane (from the airline magazine)! They make lace!! There are stork-like fisherman in the south (men fish from stakes-very picturesque at sunset). They make tea! Well, I'm sure you're saying, "Of course, duh, Natalya!" and really, I did know this before, but it's one thing to know, and another to apply that knowledge. The last thing I realized (made the connection), was that it's right next to the Maldives. If anyone knows her world-map geography, it's me, but again, connections!! And Camilla is right now sailing from there to the Red Sea, so of course I was surprised it was so close.

An easy arrival at the airport, and it was a pretty fancy, recently-done-up place (a big indicator!!). The duty-free was also a big teller. It was a walk through mall, except the mall had stores of everything. I always feel like I should buy in cases like these because I've lived in places where this type of duty free was always a must-visit. I often have to wonder what it's like to be a local at times like this. What's it like to often sit in that transit lounge, what's it like to come down those stairs jet-lagged or with a ton of hand-carry luggage (a frequent occurrence for me!). As I moved through, I took a turn and thought I'd gone the wrong way--there were no crowds, well, no people at all!!

It was a cross between Myanmar and Manila... not quite up to the over-perfection of manicured glitziness that is Bangkok. Cars were older. There were no street lights. Roads were decent. I like that hand-painted number-plate! Things have been allowed to fade a little. There are wires that little bit askew (in bunches of at least 10). Signs are less ritzy, less perfect. Ah, an old bus in many colors--that's familiar. No malls, no lights. What's that? Rain!! After the obnoxiously stifling heat in Bangkok it's refreshing, but I am glad it's outside! Tint on the windows--that reminds me: on Wednesday, Aung was telling me on the bus home from school that apparently that's how you can tell who's someone special in Yangon (they have "stickers" on the windows; it just took me a while to figure out what "stickers" meant!).

My pre-conceived notions of the south-Asian continent were dashed: where were the vibrant colors and more important, where were all the people? Shock of all shocks--it's orderly and quite quaint! No Indian crowds, yet this island the size of Ireland has 20 million. There was no sign of extreme poverty (although I'm sure someone coming from Europe or the West would disagree, but I'm coming from Burma!). I'm sure it's there, however!

With its simple 1 lane highway and one to three story houses, well, this could be NZ! But wait! Where to park! And what's that? A tuk-tuk! We (NZ) would also have space between the buildings (and between the buildings and the road) and nice manicured lawns. The parking barriers--what a traffic hazzard!

But I was more than excited! This is what makes my soul sing! I needed my new-country fix. After all, the last was Colombia and that was last June! I need to get my pristine money (a collection). I need an opportunity to make constant annoying connections to places I've lived. Somehow, Sri Lanka is exotic. Why? Who knows? Well, it's obviously fascinating or I wouldn't be here.

I haven't posted for a while... now I'm going crazy. I wrote notes on all sorts of things that I wanted to say, but of course have forgotten the drive that made me want to write about them. Anyway, life update:

I am moving to Azerbaijan in August-woohoo. One obscure place to another. My friends in Myanmar insist that it is a good fit with my personality. I'm stressing about the technicalities of moving right now though.

Summer... ah what plans!! Dubai? The US for Kara's wedding? Central America? Switzerland? Alsace in France? The train to Belarus? A dig? Norway? Ladakh? I have some decisions to make.

But now: To Sri Lanka. Tomorrow I fly to Colombo to reconnect with old friends and teachers (Hello Burts!!) and to see that beautiful country. As another NZ friend in Myanmar said, "Ah, it was lovely. It was chaos! Now I'm back in this chaos! I think I prefer this chaos to that chaos!" I am excited!! :) More news to come.

Bangkok Aerobics

Earlier this evening, I left my bag on the bed, tucked all my money and my room key into my bra and hopped on the back of a motorcycle taxi to try out the Thai phenomenon: group sports. The taxi driver misunderstood Lumpini Park (the Park) as Lumbini Park (an appartment complex), but after a detour to the same place twice, we were on the right route. What a hair-raising journey! The driver warned me to tuck my knees in--and I was very concious of the fact that not a bit of fabric was protecting them as I sucked in for car mirrors and doors, people, taxis, and cars. We wove in and out trying to beat the traffic, and almost came close a couple of times to some grazed knees--what an injury to explain! Very vulnerable but exciting! I got to the park, had a jog, and then I found them: 100 or so women doing aerobics in the park! The tourists come and take pictures of their craziness, but I must admit it makes so much more sense than being cramped in a small room with mirrors. So I huffed and puffed and likely turned as red as a watermelon. The sun slowly descended behind the high rises and the traffic built up as rush hour progressed around us. The sky turned a beautiful blue and the city lights came on above the trees. After it was done, I wandered back through the park -- in what other major cities could you be in a park after dark?! -- and caught another motorcycle taxi back home again. This one had no speedometer (I checked), but we were going fast enough that if there had been a crash, there would have been serious damage done. I simply closed my eyes and felt the wind rush past, and smiled at the tourists in the taxi next to me. I closed my eyes and emphasized my faith. Not necessarily faith in the driver, or in the motorbike, or in the traffic around me, or in the laws of Thailand to ensure that drivers' licensing is safe and sufficient, but in life. I really enjoy feeling that faith. It's not faith that I'm going to live (or die). It's just faith that what will be will be. It's faith in fate. If I am meant to crash, so be it, but I will have faith that things have their purpose and it all happens for a reason.

Okay, a bit too psychological there. But have you ever just let go like that?

A good day

I had such a great day. The spirits were with me today! I got everything done that I planned to do, with almost no hiccups!! Or if there were hiccups, it still all happened.

I needed a signature for the certification paperwork, and Hayley was great enough to help while I was on my way to the airport. So even though my plane was late, I made it to the embassy. So even though I caught them in the middle of lunchtime, they told me it was fine and that I could come back--sure enough I got the visa I needed in record time. The hotel I wanted had a booking. I posted the letters I needed to post. I got to do the aerobics I wanted to do--and it was fun too: in the park at sunset. So even though there were no decent movies playing, I bought the two random things (very unusual items) I was looking for. So even though all the restaurants at Siam Paragon were closing, I got the taco/wrap that I was craving.
I'm sure none of this makes sense to anyone but me, but basically, despite adversity, I succeeded and it feels good!

NY TIMES ESSAY: It’s Not You, It’s Your Books

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/books/review/Donadio-t.html?ex=1364529600&en=7de11785292c506c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

This was a very interesting article—I've often thought this about
relationships. Within American and the west, I'm not a literature
snob—in fact, I'm often clueless. But I do love to read and it was
amazing how much it bothered me that my ex-boyfriend didn't read.
Okay, I sympathized (and felt sad) that he had no written first
language (his first language was spoken only), but still, he could
comfortably read in three other languages, and his father was a
reader, so why couldn't he be too? I'm a snob but I don't even
consider dating a man who hasn't had a university education (or at
least some of one). They're not worth my time because I know that
learning is important to me. I often wonder when considering
cross-cultural relationships, if I could bear not having the odd
intellectual conversation or if I could find that with other friends
once in the relationship. I often wonder about the same thing
regarding dancing. If I had to find it with someone else, would it
break the relationship? Maybe I'm a class-ist. Lenin would be
horrified. Am I justified though? Honestly, I consider it part of who
I am, and therefore an essential part in a life-partner. Hmm.

Very interesting about the gender thing. Women are more likely to be
snobs than me in terms of this. After all, men are the same gender
that like blonde, leggy and empty. But that bit about men not reading
(or perhaps, not readying for intellect). I suppose I'm okay with
non-intellectual books. After all, how can I be a snob regarding that
when I read smut myself? I guess it's important to want to read at
all, and to want to learn about things and places and events and other
life issues.