Victor Hugo's Paris

For the past two months I have been in Paris, and for the past two months I have been reading Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. It's been a literary history lesson, and one that twice has required murder mystery breaks. But aside from my brain-breaks it's been an interesting way to learn about and experience Paris in a different way. I mean, there's very little chance I would have read 58 pages on the battle of Waterloo if they weren't pages 301 to 359.

Also, since Victor Hugo lived in Paris for much of his life (1802-1885) I have visited many places that were part of his life. For instance: Notre Dame. In and of itself, the behemoth church is worth visiting. I mean, Napoleon's coronation was held there, and it's over 800 years old. But! It's also the setting for Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a novel that called attention to the church and spurred a time of restoration. Go Victor! I visited a museum dedicated specifically to the author and located in an apartment where he lived. Nice digs, great location. I walked by the church where he was married many times.

Not only that, I visited places that appear in Les Miserables. The Jardin du Luxemborg has a recurring role in the novel and is also one of my favorite places in Paris. Funnily enough, my guide books says it's a perfect place to imagine how wealthy Parisian in the 1800's spent their leisure time. And so, I spent a few hours, book in hand, reclining by the reflecting pool. The novel also mentions specific streets and bridges that I have walked.

The cemetery Pere Lachaise is also mentioned in his book. A mother bemoans how, being poor, her son will be buried at the bottom of the hill where he will never see light again, and therefore the oppression by the rich continues even in death. Pere Lachaise is a very famous cemetery, possibly the most famous in the world, and naturally it was on my custom-made "to see" list. I visited, and indeed the cemetery covers a large hill. Of course, I feel pretty certain that, at this point, the cemetery is so exclusive that any burial plot acquired would be considered a good one. However, if it were 1833, Jim Morrison would be poor and Oscar Wilde quite nicely off given their burial positions.

On the other hand, ol' Vicor himself made out pretty well. His final resting place is the crypt at the Pantheon, which is reserved for the elite of the elite French. Score!

Hugo also stands the test of time when he writes, "Suddenly she knew the whole science of the hat, the dress, the cloak, the boot, the cuff, the material that hangs well, the becoming color, the science that makes the Parisian woman something so charming, so deep, and so dangerous. The phrase "alluring woman" was invented for her." Man, he hit the nail on the head with that one. Over 150 years later, Parisian woman are still stylish and possess a confidence in their style unseen elsewhere.

In the 980 pages I have read thus far (leaving me just under 500 to go) I have found a few lines I particularly enjoy, and since I'm a giving person I wanted to share. They are:

"Satan must have squatted for a moment in some corner of the hole Thenardier lived and studied this hideous masterpiece."

"As he was witty twice over -- first with his own wit, then with the wit that was attributed to him--"

With that, I bid adieu to Paris and bury my nose into page 981.

Oh Yeah, You Blend

In 2009 I have traveled to places where I knew I didn't blend in and would never blend in (even if I spoke the language perfectly), and other places where I blended until I opened my mouth. I thought Paris was the later of those two options. I can blend as long as I stay silent.

Apparently I was wrong. You know, like Vinny thought he could blend in, "My Cousin Vinny." Luckily he has Marisa Tomei to set him straight; I found my Marisa too. I was standing in line the other day (to visit a touristy site; just to be clear: at this point I knew I wasn't looking Parisian) and struck up a conversation with a couple. At one point the woman was talking about a friend of theirs and said, "well, she's never going to blend in here; she's blond with blue eyes." The comment slowly worked its way into my brain, and I realized that there really aren't too many blonds with blue eyes strolling the streets of Paris (at least if you're not hanging out at La Louvre, the Tour Eiffel, or other such places where tourists congregate).

I have noticed a few blue eyes staring back at me, but maybe they're just like my eyes. Those blue eyes are darting around trying to see if there are french thoughts being held in by tightly clasped lips, or if the lips are holding back another language.

There's another give-away to my lack of Parisian status: I smile.

The french are renowned for their politeness -- each of the many guide books I've read has clearly stated that using phrases like "bon jour" "merci" "au reviour" "pardon" and titles like "madame" and "monsieur" are necessary. And it's true that I hear people say, "merci monsieur, au reviour" upon leaving most stores. However, the phrase is not uttered with a smile on the lips. In fact, few phrases that are uttered for courtesy are accompanied with a smile. A french woman the other day commented to me about how friendly americans are. And she was talking about New Yorkers, who, if we're being honest are not renowened for their friendliness in the USofA. It seems like the french make a clear distinction between polite and friendly, and only one of the two is required. So everytime I say "merci" and flash a big old smile I'm giving away my un-Parisian self in two ways -- accent and grin.

C'est la vie!

Tres Chic

Paris + Style = Duh.

This week is fashion week here in Paris, I know this because today on my run I happened upon a large crowd of people dressed in black (some with heavy duty cameras), lots of mercedes (apparently the car of choice), and a sign that read "Givenchy Backstage" (this was the kicker). And so, in honor of the to-do that it constitutes fashion week I thought I would talk a bit about style here in Paris.

Let me first say a little something about this Givenchy show. When I got back from my run I was curious about this whole week-of-fashion thing that's going on in Paris now. So to satisfy my curiosity I took to the internet. And there I found that the week runs from the 30th of Sept to the 8th of Oct (which means I still have time to try and crash a show in my Havianas). I found the locations listed along side shows' respective locations (Carousel de Louvre, Musee del Homme, etc) and times (10am to 9pm). However, for the Givenchy shows it says "see invitation" for the location. I'm not sure if that's to make it more exclusive (entirely possible) or because it was held in...a school. Yes, a high school in the 17e. And while the school seems to be a nice building, and the 17e is a nice neighborhood in the inner ring of Paris, a school doesn't make the same impression as, say, Jardin de Tuileries.

Now, onto a topic I'm more familiar with than Haute Couture: kids. There are kids everywhere in Paris, in strollers, on park benches, on those razr scooters, and climbing all over the many playgrounds. And most of them have this fact in common: they are immaculately dressed. Even playing in a sand box, dirt seems to fall off their clothing and leave them pristine. It's hard to see a 6 year old that's better dressed than myself, but it's something I'm trying to get used to here in Paris.

On a more personal note, I have been trying my best to find where all the chic Parisian shops are, and then shop at them. Sadly, I haven't been very successful. I have checked numerous forms of media -- traditional guide books, magazines, internet sites, blogs -- and I've been trying to visit as many of these places as I can to hunt down some classy clothes. I've found that first hand clothing probably isn't a go for me (220 euros for a sweater?!), so I decided that classy Parisian cast offs were a good option. Well, it turns out that I was wrong on that accout. 90 euros for a used skirt? And that was on the cheap side. I found a purse that I liked in one of these cast-off purses and so I checked the price. Can you guess what it was? 960 euros.for.a.used.purse. Let me break this down for you in terms of the places I've been this year. In the US that would be $1402; in Australia that would be $1603; in China that would be Y9577; and in Tanzania that clocks in at TZS 1,834,613. Since I can't seem to shop for clothes here in Paris, I've decided to go for the second best: chocolate. Much more affordable, not as long lasting.

Two things I've noticed that contradict these observations on Parisian fashion: one the proliferation of Abercrombie and Fitch clothing. I've seen shirts proudly declaring their loyalty to the brand all around the city. And really, it may be the only brand Parisians wear that so boldy declares itself. The other thing is "I <3 NY" tee shirts. They are everywhere. Apparently they're the new hip thing to be sporting. I should probably get one; I feel like I should be able to afford that at least.

House Call

This weekend was an unfortunate weekend in terms of health -- I, along with 2 other people in my house, got sick. In fact, on Friday night around 12:1oam one of us was so sick that we had to call a doctor. And do you know what happened? If you guessed emergency room, try again. Instead, within 15 minutes of calling the doctor, he showed up at our front door. Let me reiterate: it's 12:10AM on a FRIDAY NIGHT and we've got a doctor making house calls. What?!

He came, he gave a medication (that he brought with him), and within 20 minutes, he left, without any money changing hands. And he left the house a bit more peaceful than he'd found it. Compare that with the nightmare that would have been an ER visit at 12:10am on a Friday night. Ugh. I hear that France's healthcare system was recently ranked the best in the world (by the WHO), and after Friday night, it's looking pretty good to me.

*****I recently learned that I was wrong about the house call costing nothing. It turns out that due to a lack of health insurance (gasp!) the house call cost...90 EUROS!! That's about $120. Without insurance. My co-pays back in the states (when I was insured) were often more than that. On the other hand, when I told a Swedish friend that it cost 90 Euros, she was appalled and said that nothing should cost that much. I guess it's all about where you're coming from.*****

Un Cafe, S'il Vous Plait

Coffee. It's so prevalent in so many places around the world -- premium beans were grown in Tanzania, China was acquiring a taste for the stuff (although it's not in a tight race for preferred with tea quite yet), Australia had coffee here there and everywhere, and here in France, morning noon night and in between people are in cafes sipping the stuff.

However, there's a key difference I have noted between coffee drinking here and and elsewhere around the world -- I have yet to see a person with a to-go cuppa Joe. In 3.5 weeks, not a single paper cup carrying coffee adict on the streets, in the metro, in the parks. I first became aware of this anomoly when I woke up early to go toursit on the city of Paris one day, and on that day I thought to myself, "man, a cup of coffee would be nice before I get on the metro would be great." In my mind, I'd pick up the coffee, keep walking to the metro and be done before I set foot on the amazingly efficient metro train. But no. Take away, to go, etc are not a part of the cafe culture here. If you want a cup of coffee, you put your butt down in a seat at a cafe, a tabac, a boulangerie, wherever coffee is served, a waiter comes up and asks you what you like (and from what I can tell the choices don't include a twice blended caramel mocha frappucino), brings it to you, and you drink it at the table. What?! No busy business men on their way to work, walking aggressively and holding there ever-present cup of coffee in one hand and a brief case in one hand? Not as far as I can tell. I'm sure there are many people who are just as dependent and dedicated to coffee as people are elsewhere, but it does seem like they put more time into their commitment.

The whole no-to-go thing also appears to extend to food. Places that have food "to-go" advertise the fact, and they're mostly sandwich type places. It's pretty rare to see someone eating as the walk down the street. Although I have seen people taking bits off a freshly baked and newly purchased baguette while walking (presumably) home. But to see someone eating a full on burrito (okay, I haven't seen a burrito place anywhere, but it's an example) or quiche (there, that's french-er) walking down the street is a rarity.

I'm pretty sure that the you-sit-down to eat mentality is a huge difference between french and us culture. In fact, I've heard that eating on the run is considered "anglo-saxon" and that's not seen as a good thing. Heha. So it looks like if I need a coffee I'm going to be sitting down in what will probably be a wicker chair outside on the sidewalk, facing the street (all the better for people watching), and slowly sipping my cafe au'lait and avidly people watching. 'Cause not only is coffee not drank on the go, cafes aren't full of big fluffy chairs and low lying coffee tables; instead there are small tables and wicker chairs spaced with mere inches between them for cafe patrons. I miss the comfy chairs, but I can do the sit down thing.

Also, on a side note, in my world Starbucks tally, the only ones I've seen in Paris are in the very downtown area. While I live in the inner circle, there are none in my neighborhood. They two I've encountered were in the really large shopping areas, you know, the ones where I passed people on the the street speaking languages other than french (such as english). And just like in China, it seems wrong to go into a Starbucks here in Paris when there's that lovely art-deco cafe right next door. I have yet to come across any Peet's or Coffee Bean & Tea Leafs yet, but I'll let you know if I do.

Grocery Run

I made a salad last night and I really wanted some little cherry tomatoes to put on the top of it. Sadly, after searching the fridge and produce bowl at home I found zero tomatoes, of any variety. What’s a girl to do? Well, in most cases I would have to choose between going without (sigh) or jumping in the car and making a run to the grocery store. But what does this situation mean here in Paris? Here it means walking to the street corner about 100 feet away to a produce stand. Ten minutes after discovering the lack of tomatoes in-house, I was back in the kitchen adding delicious cherry tomatoes to my salad.

This brings me to a quick tally of the food stores (not including cafes/brassieres/restaurants) around where I live in Paris.
Let’s count together!
1 (un) butcher
1 (un) grog shop
2 (duex) cheese shops
2 (duex) pharmacies
3 (trois) produce stands
3 (trois) bakeries (yummy!)
4 (quatre) chocolate shops (double yummy!)

I have no idea how it worked out that there are more chocolate shops than anything else within two blocks of the apartment, but that’s the way it is. And far be it from me to complain. There is also one “supermarket” in the same radius, and while it has a comprehensive assortment of goods (cereal, yogurt, milk, frozen goods, a bit of produce) it’s teensy by US standards. But! When you can’t find lentils anywhere else (another true story), the supermarket has them! It appears to be a wonderful symbiotic relationship (and hopefully that's not just an appearance, but a reality) between these small, specialized stores, and the general grocery. Turns out, if each store is on the small side, there’s room for a lot more.

Picnic in the Park

Ah, the famous city of light -- Paris. There are so many things that come to mind -- the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Seine, Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysee, and on and on. However, in my short time in Paris thus far, I've noticed something less touted but very impressive all the same. There are public parks everywhere. And not only are there parks, but they are laid out with playgrounds for children of all ages, from toddlers to teens to adults. And in all of the play areas I've seen thus far I have yet to see a swing. Instead there are kid sized climbing walls, twirling seats, digging machines, rope swings, HALF PIPES! and more. These are some of the most creative parks I've come across.



And since the parks are so well laid out, people take advantage of that; the parks are always packed! I don't think I've ever seen a park in the US with so many people. Actually, I'm not sure I've seen this many babies in strollers, kids on razr scooters (really, I think every child over the age of 5 must have one, adults too), and children in general in a place that wasn't a school! There are kids on roller blades, building castles in the sand, climbing, sliding, rollerblading on the half pipe -- it's amazing. It's great to see people taking advantage of such wonderful public space. It's a community and regional development major's dream!

Daily Showers in Shanghai

Daily Showers

It’s like mother nature is trying to cleanse the heavy layer of pollution floating around Shanghai with a daily dose of strong thunder showers. Every afternoon the skies darken, the thunder rumbles, and the rain pours down. But then the next day the vaguely brown haze is back again. Keep trying mother nature!

In an effort to do my part for mother nature, I’ve taken a bike out around Shanghai a few times this week. This may sound like no big thing, I went to Davis after all, but that’s only if you haven’t seen the traffic patterns in China. And by pattern I mean Pollock-painting style patterns. The green walk sign? That’s not a guarantee, it’s a caution notice. A red light? That’s not definitive, it’s an if-you-feel-like-it kind of thing. Of course, with my bike background and the danger involved in cycling round Shanghai, I wore a helmet each time. Between the magenta helmet and my blond hair streaming behind me, I was a beacon of foreigness. People were pointing at my head, and for once it could have been more than just my hair. And that was just fine with me. Safety first!

Fast, fun, freaking fact.

The Barrier Reef Anemonefish. Very interesting creature, this one. Groups of this fish live in a single anemone, of the variety that is poisonous to other fish (but not to them). The group is dominated by the largest female. The second in command is the largest male. However, should the largest female perish (you know, perhaps being poisoned by a poisonous cone fish or something), the largest male steps up to the plate. But he doesn’t step up as a guy. Nope, he assumes her position by changing sexes. De-di-cation.

Australian Time Delay

My apologies; I wrote this in Australia with the intent of posting it once I was back in Shanghai. Then I arrived in Shanghai to discover that blogger (and facebook, twitter, and youtube) was still blocked. So now, a few weeks late: here's an update on my Australian adventure:

I’m again in a place with no cell phone reception, very little internet, and infrequent transportation. Where am I?, you may ask. Am I in the middle of a desert? In a black hole? Took a trip to outer-space? Nope; I’m still in Australia. I’m on Heron Island off the coast of Gladstone, which is north of Brisbane. In all fairness, Heron Island is about 85km off the Queensland coast in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. Why would have have internet in the ocean? And the Island is actually part of the Reef. Literally, the island is composed of thousands of year old reef bits. It’s pretty incredible. My room looks out onto the beach, which itself is inside of a Reef bed. I take it back; this is undeniably incredible. Who needs internet/reception when you've got this? Not I!

When our helicopter landed on the island today (yes, helicopter), we walked out onto the docks to survey the scene, and what did I spy with my little eye? A black tipped reef shark. How do I know for sure that’s what it was? Because I saw it four days ago in the Sydney Aquarium. And today I saw it swimming around the Great Barrier Reef. Luckily, a group of high school students that they’re friendly sharks (I’m thinking, Finding Nemo-style friendly? That didn’t last all that long!) and you can swim with them. I’m going to double check on that one before I dive in. Maybe triple check. Swimming with the dolphins is supposed to be a memorable experience, but fewer people say the same thing about swimming with sharks…probably because they aren’t around to remember.

Previous to Heron Island I was on Phillips Island, which is about 140km from Melbourne. Not to sound repetitive, but it was also fantastic -- albeit in a completely different fashion. Where Heron Island is warm with sharks swimming in the crystal waters and people walking in sarongs, Phillips Island was cold with crystal blue skies and lush green hills that were spotted with cows and sheep. And there was the odd wallaby in the bush as well. Seriously, wallabies in the bush!

On Phillips Island we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast run by two wonderful people, John and Robyn. John gave a tour of his farm, and pointed out black dots on a far hill that were his cattle. He also took us to his brother’s dairy farm just over the hill where we watched and helped with the evening milking of 230 cows. Robyn cooked us wonderful food with the eggs we collected daily, including a traditional Australian (or perhaps New Zealand, depending on who you ask) dessert called Pavlova. On our final night she copied the recipe for me and encouraged me not to be discouraged if my first Pavlova doesn’t turn out correctly. I’m going to give it a few tries and see what comes out of the oven…fingers crossed it’s something delicious!

Also on Phillips Island is a wild animal reserve with animals including emus, wallabies, koalas, Tasmanian devils, dingoes (no babies were eaten while we were there), swans and kangaroos. And some, although understandably not all (ahem, Tasmanian devils, ahem, dingoes), were left to roam the expansive park on their own. The park gave each person one back of pellet food to feed the animals roaming the park at will. Everyone was having a great time with this, having cute little wallabies gently eat food from your hand, not quite so gently swans peck the food out of your hand, and larger kangaroos slobber all over your hand to get the pellets.

And it was all well and good until one kangaroo walked up to me, stood high on his legs till he was almost eye to eye with me and kicked me! That roo was looking for food, and I wasn’t giving it up fast enough, so he lashed out. I jumped back in surprise, but when I regained my senses, I looked down at the marsupial and said, “That is not how we behave.” I’m pretty sure he was ashamed of his behavior and learned an important lesson that day. And so did I, don't carry the food bag.

G'day Mates! Since I've been in Australia, I've had shrimp on the barbie every night, Foster's (Australian for Beer), rode kangaroos instead of buses, and cuddled up next to my koala bear every night. Hmmm, wait a second, none of that is true (but I wish the kangaroo part was).


Despite the lack of roo-portation, Australia has been wonderful to me. It's winter here in Sydney, but when I say winter, I'm not sure I really mean it. True, the ocean is freaking cold, but there are still surfers in it, and people on the beach, and bright sun shining. It's the kind of winter I love.

Now, some people might think that the differences between Aus and the US are small since both are English speaking countires. Let me tell you this: when Burger King Changes it's name to Hungry Jacks (for reasons I haven't figured out yet), you have to admit there are big differences.

But let me recount three small differences I have taken note of.

• Toilets. Not the toilets themselves, but the flush buttons. In place of one flush, there are two...I believe that one is a half flush and the other's a whole big flush, or perhaps the half flush is equivalent to a urnial flush, but I haven't asked anyone about it for sure. Either way it seems like pretty solid water conservation.


• Sports Uniforms. In the US I've sometimes marveled at how basketball players keep their shorts on, they're so long and they sag so much, it seems inevitable that some player is going to be panced. Here I have no such fears. Athletes (Rugby, Australian Football, etc) wear much shorter shorts, shorts that are reminicent of 1970s basketball uniforms.


• Traffic patterns. It's not so much the automoblie traffic that throws me off -- I am prepared to look right and then left to avoid being hit by cars, and I have no intention of getting behind the wheel of a car. Instead, it's the pedestrian traffic that throws me off. I haven't figured out a way to have another pedestrian "drive" for me. And so, when I pass another walker on the street, I attempt to give way by swerving to the right. The problem is that pedestrian traffic follows much the same rules as auto traffic, and I swerve right, right into people. Crud.


• Birds. Instead of big ravens to hassle you, here there are cocatoos. Oh, how sweet, how pretty. No. No. No. These birds get agressive too. Sure, they look prettier than many other birds, but you know what? When there's a large, wild bird flying at my head I don't really care what it looks like. These ladies found out the hard way.

Westward Ho!

Just two days after arriving back in Shanghai (just to refresh: this was back at the end of June), I went to the far south west of China to the towns of Lijiang and Dali. –On a side note, Yunnan is noted for its ethnic diversity and has the highest number of ethnic groups in all Chinese provinces. 38% of the population are members of a minority, and 25 of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups are represented in Yunnan. Both towns were beautiful, and both towns were bumping with people. In general, there was a more backpacker-esque vibe, with cafes blarring Bob Marley and boasting book exchanges.

We started off with Dali, and at one point while we were driving, our guide casually said, “oh yes, this is the road to Burma. That road they’re building will go to Laos.” Uh, really? Anyone want to take a side trip? Sadly, passports were left at the hotel, so we went to market instead. And to console myself from my non-Laotian trip, I thought about buying a bunny,

…or a waterbuffalo,

…and I considered a pig with these ladies, ….

but considering the fact that I have too much stuff as it is (and I’m not sure they’d get along with the dog I hope to have in the future), I settled on a horseshoe.



In all seriousness, it was great to get out into the country and visit some local markets where I really could have bought livestock, fresh veggies, cleaning supplies, without an “antique” seller in sight.

And then! Onto Lijiang, where the Old Town was built on a canal system and is incredibly beautiful…if you can see it through the hoardes of people. Which I could…sometimes. We decided to take the “old road” from Dali to Lijiang, which was supposed to take 6 hours compared to 3.5 on the “new road” but came with the added benefit of being beautiful. Well, if you’re on vacation and the point is to experience where you are, might as well go with the scenic route…10 hours later we arrived in Lijiang all ready for bed. Luckily, on the way we visited statues carved into the mountain side about 1200 years ago (sorry, no pictures, per 10+ signs requests), a monestary built into the mountain, and ran across a fair share of wild monkeys (which scared the beejesus out of me when the first appeared right over my head).

In Lijiang we spent the 4th of July on Yak Valley in Snow Mountain. I can’t promise there was a mountain because it was clouded over the entire time, but I did see yaks, so I’m going to take it on faith that there was a mountain too. Also, the “trek” up to Yak Valley involved a bus and a chair lift up to 3500meters.

There was another chair lift all the way up to 4200m, but that one just made my trek up Mount Meru in Tanzania seem useless, so we stuck with the 3500m lift.

And jiminy cricket, I think that will bring us all up to speed for the most part. Except for anything having to do with Sydney, I’ll let you know more about it in the days/weeks/month to come!

Dis -- Connect

There are a lot of things for me to write about – you know, like what I’ve been doing for the past 2 months. But let me just start right …here…and work backwards.

I’m in Sydney, Australia now, and this is where I’ll stay through mid-August. I was in China for a little over 2 weeks before, and I would have loved to write all about it in a timely manner. Sadly, access to my blog was blocked by the Chinese government. In fact, internet access has apparently been blocked repeatedly in recent months by the government. When I first arrived in Shanghai in June, access to google and gmail had just been restored, and sometime after the 4th of July access to facebook was blocked (http://www.examiner.com/x-15615-Asia-Headlines-Examiner~y2009m7d8-Facebook-Twitter-inaccessibility-makes-China-expats-feel-disconnected). Apparently it’s due to the riots in northwestern China, but I haven’t heard too much about those either (probably a combination of censorship and lack of news seeking, but I did hear that Palin resigned and Michael Jackson died. I’m getting all the important news, right?)

While I was in China before I knew that my access to youtube was completely gone and that skype was iffy, but google? Facebook? Call it what you will, but I feel a deep seeded need for those! With the right combination of sites being blocked I would have no way to contact people back in the US other than phone (and goodness knows I do not use those while abroad).

But now I can breath a sigh of relief; a *ahem* thorough google search revealed no disruptions in Australian internet access. Hell, I may even be able to keep my same skype name for the entire time I’m here!

And to fully catch you up on what I’ve been up to: I ordered a pair of boots. Fingers crossed that they’re less drama than the dresses!

To a T

For those of you who may not know this: I like clothes. To feed my clothing lust, here in Shanghai there's an amazing "tailor made just for you" building. Yes, that's right, an entire building full of small stalls of tailors and fabric to the ceilings and displays of everything from qipaos (traditional dresses) to coats to suits. The building has 3 floors and a basement and each one has probably at least 100 tailors touting their wares (that's 400 tailors!!). If you can dream it, someone can probably make it. On my first visit I was a kid at a petting zoo; I put my hands on every thing I saw -- beautiful silk and linen and cashmere fabrics, along side the synthetic and pleather fabrics, and the rows and rows of buttons and ribbon.

On my inaugural visit I ordered two things -- a silk dress and a linen shirt -- from two different tailors. Xiao Hu was with me on this visit and patiently helped me to negotiate and fully explain what I wanted made. The tailors told us to come back in 7 days to pick up the wares. I left a deposit and took a receipt, and 7 days later I came back to pick up my clothes. This time I went on my own, Chinese phrase book in hand. My first stop was for the dress, downstairs in the basement. When I stopped by the lady's stall, she looked at me, and I got the idea that the dress wasn't there, mostly because she pointed at tomorrow on her calendar. Did I mention that the tailors is a 30 minute bus ride, followed by a 20 minute walk from my house?

Turns out that the "tailors" and their stalls are in that petting zoo of a building, but the sewing machines are in a different location. Where? I have no idea, but it's no more than 10 minutes away cause the second lady said my shirt wasn't there but could be in 10 minutes. I wonder if there's an equally big building just 10 minutes away full of an equal number of sewing machines... or maybe there are just 10 people in the sewing machine local for the 400 tailors.

A few more attempts at picking up the silk dress ensued, and when I finally walked away with the dress I decided that the basement wasn't a place I'd frequent again. That lady was just a little too crazy and much too unhelpful. Live and learn.

On my next trip to the tailors (because yes, I did go back again, my love for clothes surpassed experience with the silk dress), I went to a stall that had come most highly recommended by a woman who has lived in Shanghai for 5 years. I figured that's a safe bet; she's had many clothes well made by this particular tailor (or whoever the person behind the sewing machine at this stall may be). I decided to order a qipao, and I was to come back in 3 days for a fitting. 3 days later I returned, the man pulls my qipao out of the bag...and it's the wrong fabric. No joke; the style is right, the size is right, it's beautifully made, but the fabric is not what I chose. Shoot. But! The nice man promised (in perfect English, thank goodness, because my Chinese wasn't cutting it) to have another qipao -- in the fabric I picked -- ready in 2 days. Plus, to make up for the error, he would throw in a scarf of the same (correct) material gratis. Alright, I said, see you in two days.

Two days later: one perfect, well fitted qipao in the right material was waiting for me at the tailor's stall when I arrived! Yippee! Woohoo!

I learned a few things from my trips to, and time at, the tailor:

1. an hour commute (one way) to the tailor's is not to be undergone lightly; it's best to call ahead and make sure the garment is ready before heading out the door. Also known as -- plan ahead!


2. tailors (along with others) who come with personal recommendation's are a solid bet. learn from someone else's mistakes!


3. the language barrier is a hard one to pole vault over when describing clothes. how do you mimic "soft ruffles" or "pleated"? i need to learn Chinese!


4. i still love having clothes made to order.

Becoming a Real Man

Chairman Mao is said to have issued this ultimatum: "he who has not climbed the great wall is not a true man." Well, color me in shades of Man, cause as of Wednesday, that's what I am. Chest hair on order.

This past Monday I flew the 2 hours to Beijing to meet up with my wonderful friend Dani. Dani's been volunteering in Cambodia and we decided since we are on the same continent we had to meet up. And what better place for a get together than the Great Wall?! We couldn't think of one, so that's where we went. You know, it really is HUGE.

In order to build up to the GW, we spent our first day and a half visiting the Forbidden City (well, it's not forbidden anymore, now it's a big attraction, but it was forbidden for 500 years), Tiannamen Square, various sweets stores (oh yes, we did), park, the old fashioned hutong neighborhoods, and the new-fangled main streets. While in the Forbidden City Dani and I decided to jump off these rock formations...I was apparently terrified. Not to mention the fact that a guard informed me that this activity was itself forbidden. Oops.

Then on Thursday we woke up before the sun, sang some Mulan songs, and made our way (via public bus) to the GW at Badaling. Upon arrival at the GW entrance, we had two choices: left or right. Right was the choice of most of the other early risers at the Wall; we picked Left. Turns out it was a good choice; at times we were the only people we could see on our part of the wall. Or sometimes on the uphill parts (there's something that's not advertised -- at some points I almost needed a harness) I was close to being passed by fit little old ladies. What good is working out if it doesn't prepare you to hike the GW?!

When we headed back after reaching the end of our GW segment, there were far more people who'd chosen the Left path, and with all those people came souvenir sellers and a man playing "auld lade syne." Out with the private time for meditation on the wall, in with the crowds. But Dani and I had our time, and by golly, it was good!

Tea Tasting is the new Wine Tasting

As promised: here are some more details on the two girls that I met and subsequently went to a tea tasting ceremony with.

I was walking along the Bund (ahem, the river) taking everything in, from the stores selling candied fruits and vegetables (yummy, candy tomatoes!),

to the construction I previously mentioned. As I was walking a gal asked me if I could take a picture of her and her friend in front of the skyline. I obliged, and then they took one of me (you can see that picture in the previous post). After the pictures they asked where I was from (both of them spoke amazing English, but they did teach me the word for "doll" in Chinese cause that's what they called me), I asked where they were from (Shenzen, outside of Hong Kong), and we talked a bit about what we're doing in Shanghai (they were here on vacation), they said they were headed to a tea tasting ceremony behind the Peace Hotel (also mentioned in the last post) and invited me to come along. I said, "oh-yea!"

We all walked to a building that I would not have picked out as a place for tea tasting ceremony, no way, no how (again, what's hiding behind door #1 here in shanghai!?). We were taken upstairs to a small room with one table, four chairs, and lots of tea. The woman who was our tea tasting guide, gave us a description of lucky numbers (6, 8, 9, 10, and 11) and why they're lucky...right now I remember that 11 is lucky in love and 8 is for prosperity. She asked each of us to pick which lucky number we liked the best, and that was the number of teas to try (we ended up tasting 6...any more than 6 teas is just a lot of tea). But before we drank any tea, we poured the first pot of tea over a Buddha statue, passed the statue around, and rubbed his belly with our left hand (you take with your left, give away with your right) for good luck.

Each of the teas we tried was traditionally drank at a different time of year, for a certain gender, or for a different reason (medicinal, beauty, etc). The first tea was a ginseng tea that started out looking like rocks; at first it was bitter, but it left a nice sweet taste in the back of my throat. The second tea was called a jasmine pearl tea, because the jasmine leaves were rolled up to the size of pearls. The third and fourth teas were both flower teas, one of which made a bright red sweet tea. The fifth tea was also a flower tea, known as the four flowers. It's called that because the tea starts out as a ball, a little bit smaller than a ping pong ball, but once it's in the tea water it opens up and there are four flowers. It was beautiful. This is a picture of that fifth tea:

The sixth tea was my least favorite, a very, very medicinal tea. And with that, the tea tasting was over. Just like when I tried tea in the tea shop, there was an elaborate tasting process, involving two tea pots for each tea. Also, each thimble of tea needs to be drunk in 3 sips...sadly, I can't remember why. After we finished, we were each presented with a Chinese knot for good luck. And this is a picture of the three of us after our tastings, full of tea, health, beauty, and everything else the tea provided.

Undressed

As Shanghai readies itself for the 201o world expo (there's a daily countdown at the hotel nearby...we're around 370 days right now), the entire city is starting to put its best foot forward. And by starting to put its best foot forward, I mean that it feels like I'm watching the process of a photo shoot. A regular gal walks through the door of the photo studio and after all is said and done, there's a heavily made up regal lady standing in her place.

Right now we're somewhere in the middle of the process. Make-up's on, lighting is being tested, but maybe she's not in the dress yet, or her hair's not done. The preparation became all the more apparent during my recent visit to the Bund (on what was probably the best day for it -- clear blue skies and sunny not-too-warm weather). The Expo is taking place on the Pudong side of the river. This is a picture of me with the Pudong side of the river behind me; it was taken from the Puxi side (quick FYI: I live on the Puxi side):

About 30-40 years ago the Pudong side of the river didn't have a building over 6-8 stories tall. Pudong is the side of the river that's growing exponentially, so it seems fitting that the Expo be held there. In addition to all of the development of the past few decades, tall buildings are being erected in front of some of the more "unsightly" neighborhoods.

But Pudong isn't the only part of the city readying itself for a world showcase. Puxi is getting its hair and make-up done as well. There are two new subway lines under construction, and many buildings are getting face-lifts of their own. Here we have some underground construction going on right next to the river in the highly popular Bund area of town. The river is to the right, and to the left you can see some of the historical buildings in the area (also, the Chinese flags on the buildings rooves).

And this is the famous Peace Hotel:
Quite a looker, huh? Although I think the scaffolding and green mesh have been added since Bill Clinton and Sir Sassoon stayed there.

I met two girls from Shenzen who were on vacation in Shanghai (there's more to this story, but I'll keep y'all on your toes a little while longer). They commented that Shanghai's not so beautiful now, but in a year it should be looking good. Personally, I think it's looking alright now, but it's sure to look a bit more complete in a year or so.

Snap!

After just a few weeks hiatus, I finally made my way back to the tea shop where I sampled tea. The same woman was there working, and when I walked through the door, she immediately recognized me...and began speaking in Chinese. Ahh, just like last time. The only difference was that now I could count from 1 to 999 with her, but I decided against that activity.

Instead, I brought my camera along, took a few pictures, and sampled another type of black tea (same elaborate process). Here are some pictures of the shop:

This is a picture of the tea, and tea related paraphernalia..I'm not positive what dried orange slices, flower buds, etc on the top shelf are for, but I suppose they're tea embellishments...like ordering your drink with a dash of lime. "I'd like my tea with a dried orange slice."

This is the tea sampling process. Each and every piece of pottery on that table is used in the process of making one small pot of tea.

And this is the tea shop. I don't mean a part of the tea shop, I mean the whole shop. The shelves where the tea embellishments are to the right, the tasting table to the left, and that's the whole shebang.

In the end I bought, oh yes, this time I paid, for some shredded black tea as opposed to last time's unshredded black tea.

My current ongoing quest is to try every new kind of snack food there is. I'm in love with the corner store markets and convenience stores found on every block, and I'm in love with the new snack foods. Thus far, my favorites are the rice products -- crackers, gelatinous balls, all of them are delish. I also love the completely kinds of noodles that can be found that are made with rice. Actually, they're not so much noodles as sticky gooey shapes full of deliciousness. Lots and lots of deliciousness. And I'm really hoping I'll find some animal shaped noodles somewhere.

heaven vs hanzhou

Last weekend I took a little trip to a place called Hanzhou. Apparently a famous Chinese saying goes something like this: in the afterlife we have heaven, here on earth we have hanzhou. That's a pretty hefty legacy for a place to live up to. Let's see how it fares...

The trip started with a 1.5 hour train ride from Shanghai which gave me an opportunity to see the "country-side," or at least some non-metropolitan areas. There really wasn't much in the way of country-side. It was more like the trip from LA to San Diego, or San Francisco Pleasanton, not much down time between towns. But it was interesting, getting out just a little bit and there are fields behind a lot of homes. Not huge farms, just a small plot of cultivated land.

Now for Hanzhou. Hanzhou is famous for it's green tea. The most expensive type of green tea is supposed to come from the hills surrounding it, and touring a tea farm is a popular activity while visiting. So, we got in a taxi and went out to a tea plantation. The tea cultivation actually makes for beautiful scenery because the hills are all stepped with tea plants. I'm not enough of a conousier to be able to tell the difference between the good, the bad, and the ugly green teas (my taste leans more towards black, with cream and sugar), but I tried some while I was there just to make sure.

Here we have some people picking green tea leaves...

And this shot shows the fruits of that labor.

Now, something that's not written in the guide books (as far as I can tell) is that Hanzhou is also one of the most popular places to have some wedding pictures taken. At first I thought it was odd that so many people were getting married in the same place on the same day. At one time there was a line of 3 brides/grooms waiting to have their pictures taken in the same spot. Can you imagine waiting in full wedding relgaia for your picture to be taken? And then, as the first bride/groom duo left the perfect picture place, the bride hoisted up her dress only to reveal sneakers and jeans underneath...hmmm, maybe not FULL wedding regalia. I'm thinking that couple put on their gowns/tuxes, head over to the infamously beautiful Hanzhou and it's equally famous West Lake to take their wedding pictures on a day that is, in fact, not the wedding day. Maybe you just have your photographer on call, and whenever it's a beautiful day, you run for the scenic areas. It sounds like a reality TV show to me, so maybe that's not right. Who knows, but here are some shots that I took:

Here's our first bride/groom set, posing by an accommodating lotus tree in blossom.

Here are a some of the happy couples off to the next great photo opportunity. You can almost see one of the bride's jeans under her dress.

And now we have the chronicles of one bride and grooms search for that perfect picture:

First, the groom helps the bride into place while assistants dutifully pull out her skirt and veil.

The groom looks on as the bride holds her pose, the photographer readies himself, and the veil attendant gets ready to release the veil into the wind.

And finally, the perfect picture to capture your almost-wedding day.

Sigh, word on the street is that heaven's nice, but I think there are more glowing grooms and brides Hanzhou.

Dodge This!

Well, this past Thursday night I decided to try something new. Actually, it was a series of new things for me. The first new things I tried has to do with craigslist. Since coming to Shanghai I've browsed the craigslist listings for apartments, potential roommates, the "rants and raves" section (very, very slim pickings), and checked out the personal ads (lots of creepy). But then I saw a posting for a coed dodgeball team looking for new female members. I thought to myself, well, why not? When I couldn't think of a good reason why not, I replied.



The team captain (known as Patches on the court), replied and said I was more than welcome to join in the fun on Thrusday night around 9pm. I decided to give it a whirl. The game was held at the Jian Tong School of Medicine (first med school I've visited abroad), in a gym on the third floor of a brick building. There were about 11 people there for the team (and I hear that on some nights there are quite a few more), probably 6 teams in all. I got a refresher course in the rules of dodgeball, and stepped up to the line for my first game since grade school (first game of dodgeball in another country).



The games themselves were rockin. Some of the teams looked darn good, to my inexperienced eye, and some of the balls were thrown hard enough to take paint off the walls (literally, paint plus a little bit of plaster). We played two games and won both of them -- go team! After the games the majority of the team headed over to a local dive bar (first dive bar in China, first live music in China), for beer, french fries and live music -- all of which were quite good. The band played a mixture of chinese songs and classic american rock. It was an interesting combination, but it worked out pretty well.



All in all, it was a great evening. And it seems like it could have happened anywhere. An evening of sport, followed by drinks at a bar, some music. However, it's the little touches that make it distinct: the people on the teams came from all over the world, the US, France, Nigeria, the UK, China, and more; the beer was Tsingtao; the graffiti on the walls was in Chinese characters. But fun is fun, no matter where you are.

What to do on a Holiday Weekend

This past weekend was lovely. It was a three day weekend (Monday, April 6th was Tomb Sweeping Day, a national holiday). I spent Saturday out and about visiting some very interesting shops.

The first place we went was the warehouse for an antique store. It was located outside of downtown Shanghai, and the shear volume of Chinese antiques was overwhelming. It was a warehouse for goodness sakes.

The second place was a store that makes custom furniture. You pick the fabric/materials and the style for anything from beds to tables to couches and they make it for you. Now, I'm sure there are places where you can have custom furniture made in the US as well, but can you get a full living room set (full couch, love seat, two arm chairs, cushions, pillows) made from silk for under $3000? Not that I'm aware of. There was a show room and a design center and from there you looked through windows into the place where all the furniture is made.

The third place was a jewelery store. It had some very upscale jewelery (huge, massive pearls, intricate jade necklaces) and some pretty funky stuff (purses with carved handles, porcelain necklaces). The people were very nice and very knowledgeable. And off the main showroom was a workroom where the jewelery could be altered to your liking (would you like that piece restrung? no problem). Very cool place.

What do all these places have in common? Crazy locations. The antique warehouse was part of a huge non-descript commercial development with very little sign-age. If I hadn't been with someone who knew where to go, I never would have looked twice. The furniture store was in another large industrial looking complex, around the back of a building, on the third floor up a bare, cement stair case. Again, if you didn't know, you wouldn't guess. Third, the jewelery store. This place was more centrally located, but it was behind another building, down a hall and as far as I could tell, there were no signs for it. Maybe there were very clear directions laid out in Chinese, but the names on the business cards were all in English and there was definitely no sign in English on the outside of the building.

It makes me wonder what else is out there hiding just out of view. This weekend I'm off to check out Hangzhou, a town about 2 hours south of Shanghai. It's famous for it's green tea, great silk, and West Lake, all three of which should make for a great weekend!

I swear I'm in China

So, I've noticed that there are some very familiar things around Shanghai. Perhaps I've mentioned the high number of KFC's and Pizza Huts around (the later of which is much more upscale here than in the US). There are also lots of Starbucks; they're not quite as prolific as in the US (I haven't yet seen two across the street from each other), but I have run into them in many unexpected places. In fact, almost every day when I go out exploring I run into a new one.

Here are a few pictures of the nicest looking ones I've found:

I especially like the free samples being given out in front of this one.

Also, as I was walking around today I came across something that actually made me stop in my tracks. Here it is:If you look closely, "The Coffee Bean" has been translated into Chinese characters. And if you look extra close you'll also notice that the people sitting outside are all caucasian. I could have been in Washington DC's China Town (full of US chains like Ann Taylor and Fudruckers...but with signs in and English and Chinese). And I don't even see too many Coffee Beans in northern California, so to see one in Shanghai, whew.

However, I decided not to go into the Coffee Bean, and instead proceeded to a cafe called Mia's, which has a wonderful selection of both western food and chinese food and a rockin art-deco atmosphere. I also discovered that the chocolate cake at Mia's is de-li-cious. Mmmm, chocolate cake.

Oh, and just because, here's a video of some adolescent pandas playing:

Sorry, I can't figure out how to turn it 90 degrees to upright.

Paint by Number

Numbers are the only thing I can read here in China. And I can only read them provided "3" is not written, as in "three." Sometimes it's quite disconcerting to think that I can't even read a name tag. Name tags are supposed to be helpful, convenient things, and I can't tell the different between a Demetri and a Zelda. Numbers though, those I can read. And sometimes I can even decipher some meaning from them. For instance, if the sign on a businesses door has a whole bunch of characters, then a 9, then another character, then a 5, I deduce that the establishment is open from 9 to 5 (I may be completely wrong, but there's no easy way for me to know that, so I assume I'm right).



However, I cannot use my hands to convey numbers. When I go into a store and ask how much something costs (because this is a phrase I've now mastered) but I can't catch what the amount is, I would normally use my fingers. Thus, 59 becomes five fingers followed by nine fingers. It's somewhat tedious, but I've used it with success in the past. But oh no, that doesn't work here. Why? Because counting on your fingers is done in an entirely different manner here. I haven't mastered it yet, but from what I gather, pointer fingers are much more essential than I'm used to. The peace sign does not also represent the number two. So even my fail-safe written communication fails in visual expression. I can read numbers, but I can't sign them.



Given this, I've been working hard on learning my numbers in Mandarin. So far I've got 1 through 6, 10 and 100. Which may not seem like much, but it's actually quite a bit. Let me explain: in Mandarin (and perhaps in other languages, but not any I speak) 11 is actually 10 and 1. "Yi" is one, "shi" is ten, "shi yi" is eleven. It's a beautiful system. There's no, awkward teen section, no having to remember that two tens is actually twenty; in mandarin twenty is two tens. Same goes for everything in the hundreds. So really, I'm only missing 7 and 8 and 9 in my vocabulary to be able to count all the way to 999. Not too shabby.

Cup of Tea

Yesterday as I wandered aimlessly around Shanghai, this time in a direction I hadn't been before, I found bootleg dvds (which cost less to buy than they are to rent in the US), Chairman Mao stationary, and much more, including tea shops. One tea shop that I went into was in an "L" shape, with the longest side being about 7' long. Meaning it was tiny. I felt like a bull in a china shop with my messenger bag on my back...every time I turned around I listened for the sound of falling china or ceramics.

The woman working at the shop was incredibly nice, but geiven the amount of chinese I speak right now there was a lot of repeating what she said, but not a lot of comprehension. I found a ceramic container that said "black tea" and gestured that I would like to buy some. She took one bag (probably weighing a kilo) of tea out of the container. Oh crap, that's a lot of tea. But how do I convey "less"? Apparently the gestures I meant to convey "less" were more indicative of "try," so she and I sat down on two little stools and she began a wonderfully intricate tea tasting process.

To start, she poured some of the tea leaves into a white bowl which we then both smelled. After that, water was heated in a kettle, the tea leaves were poured from the white bowl into a ceramic container that would hold about 1/2 a cup of water, and water was poured onto the leaves. From there the tea was poured through a strainer into a mini-tea pot. She and I smelled both the tea leaves that had been soaked and the tea in the pot. She poured tea into my cup; it was the tiniest cup I've ever seen, equivalent to about 1 tablespoon made of thin white china. Both she and I tried the tea that had been prepared, and she refilled our cups until the mini-tea pot was empty. Then the same ritual was performed to try another kind of black tea.

At the end of all this I was still struggling to convey that I wanted to buy somewhat less than 1 kilo of black tea. She took out a bag, and I filled it with the amount I wanted. I attempted to ask how much it would be, and she declined my money. She smiled and indicated that it was a gift (at least I hope so, because I didn't pay). I said thank you numerous times and walked out feeling wonderful.

I think I'll go back and buy (really buy this time) some more tea from that store, luckily I took a business card so I could find it again.

Trek It Out

I just got back from a jam-packed 6 day trip to Hong Kong (almost 2 full days) and Chengdu (almost 4 full days). I'm posting pictures in reverse chronological order...starting in Chengdu and working back to HK.

Pagoda in a bamboo park in Chengdu...it was a very peaceful and quiet park, probably because there was an admission fee.

Tibetan neighborhood in Chengdu (probably as close as I'll get to Tibet given the fact that no visas are given to foreigners). These are people playing an intense game (of what I couldn't tell, but it did involve tiles) on the sidewalk.

Tibetan monk regalia.

Pandas at the eco/research center in Chengdu...these are the baby pandas after they had their bottles...actually the one on the top right still seems to be working on his bottle. It's amazing how cartoon-like they were.

Temple at the top of a sacred mountain.

Tram up to the top of the mountain. The tram covered the middle of the mountain, but the beginning and end had hundreds upon hundreds of stone stairs carved into it.

We visited a place where there were thousands (literally - believe the actual number is somewhere around 2400) buddhas carved into a rock wall overlooking a river. This is the picture one of the kids took of me in front a rock carving...you can sort of see me, you can sort of see the carving.

HUGE Buddha...apparently the tallest in the world - 71m high. If you look at the Buddha's feet, you'll see lots of little Liliputian people.

HK sky line -- tall buildings that go on and on and on and on. Then there's a break (because of the water) and then more tall buildings on islands. Pretty incredible.

In HK we took the tram up to the top of Victoria's Peak (apparently one of the must-do things)...on one of the foggiest days ever. There wasn't much to see, but this is the tram's track, and from the post cards the view's spectacular on clear days.

And that's my trip. I have much more to tell -- little stories, observations, panda videos, but for now this will have to do!

Digging to China

It took a 13.5 hour plane ride and a grueling stop-and-go 2 hour drive from the airport, but I arrived safe and sound to my new abode here in Shanghai. So on my first full day, what did I do? Well, I started by putting the boys on the bus to school (it picks them up at a brutal 7:20 every morning…luckily this morning I was up at 6 all on my own!). After spending a bit of time unpacking I went with Mr. Wu (the family’s driver) to…IKEA…!! And while Ikea is pretty much the same as it is in the states – the first floor is all displays, the bottom floor is all of the stuff, and it winds around like crazy on both floors -- there are two big differences I noticed: first, that there are tons of security guards, they were scattered all over the place! Second, Ikea is bumpin’ here! I went at 9am on a Tuesday morning, only to learn that the restaurant opens at 9, but the store part doesn’t open until 10. But at 9 in the morning, when the store wasn’t even open yet, there were tons of people, milling around, eating breakfast, chatting, Ikea seems like quite a social scene. I may have to go back and meet some new people…

I also took myself on a little walk down the street to huge shopping area of town to buy a voltage converter. The place I ended up was an indoor mall, but it was completely full of kiosks; 4 floors of kiosks selling everything electronic -- from video surveillance equipment to ipod ear buds to computers themselves and much, much more! And all I had to do was find one where I could successfully communicate that I needed “a voltage converter…from 110 to 220.” That’s definitely in my phrase book. In the end I managed to figure out that the power cord my computer has is a universal voltage cord; which meant that I didn’t need anything. Luckily I got a rocking walk out of it, and a bubble tea drink to boot (I opted not to have lunch at KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, or Starbucks…all of which were in the mall).

And now my early morning/late night/the international date line are all catching up with me! Luckily, there’s tomorrow (not to mention the 2 months after) for me to visit the park at the end of the block, the French Concession, and so much more!

Oh! And this weekend I’m going to Hong Kong, and then onto Chengdu, woohoo!

TFT

TFT: Tanzanian Flex Time ...meaning that sometimes things don't happen in the time frame that you'd expect. For instance: I wanted to post pictures about 3 weeks ago, but it's only happening now.

But hey, the pictures are the same as they were 3 weeks ago!!

After climbing Meru, Tim and I went back to Moshi for a night and then continued onto Mombassa, Kenya. After we spent a few days in Mombassa with our fellow volunteers Dana, Michelle and Lou, we headed down to Dar es Salaam and then took a ferry to Zanzibar. Whew, there were a lot of buses involved in all that travel.

Once in Zanzibar, I abandoned all buses in favor of my own two feet (for anywhere in town), shared taxis (to get between towns), and finally a plane or two (to get back state-side). Zanzibar had more mzungu than I'd seen since getting to Tanzania, and it took a little while to adjust to that, but the white sand beaches and beautiful turquoise water really helped. Here are some pictures from Zanzibar:

Here are some pictures from Zanzibar:

Market in Stone Town.

Girls walking home from school in Nungwi, on the north coast of Zanzibar.

Tim and Dana playing frisbee in the Indian Ocean.

Part of our Spice Tour...who knew that so many spices came from here? Vanilla, cinnamon, cardomon, cumin, cloves, and on and on!

Dhow, a traditional boat, coming back in from a day of fishing...if I liked fish Zanzibar would have been the place to eat it. Fresh octopus, squid, swordfish, tuna, baracuda, and more!

And, as promised weeks ago,
here are pics from the trek up Mt Meru:

Here's Mt Meru...just a little bit to go...

I've fallen and I can't get up...

If you look closely at this picture you will see green spots painted on the rocks...that's the path that we climbed at 2:30 in the morning...the green was not visible at that time.

Another part of the path cutting along the mountain's edge up to the top.

View of Kili, you can also see the path we walked up to the summit.

Apparently I no longer have the strength to keep my body upright. But by golly I'm throwing a thumbs up through all my black outerwear.