G-mo for a Greener Mundo

Cham Towers

2007-10-27T07:24:00.001+08:00

Trying to take advantage of our last day in Nha Trang to check out the sights, Andrea and I decided to rent some bicylcles and vist Cham Towers as well as pay a visit to local market for some lunch. The bike ride was pleasant since this city is pretty much flat, but there was the rain. Fortunateley the air temperature is still somewhere in the low to mid 70's and the rain is not cold, but it is wet. Even though we had our rain ponchos I still got plenty wet. The towers were impressive, but only three towers have survived the elements and the war. We got a tour guide who gave us a brief history of the towers and their usage.

After leaving the towers we headed for the market and were greeted by a large labyrinth of stalls. We've learned to be more selective with the food we see since our experience in Hanoi, so now we only buy one item to split and see if its worth getting a second one. This proved handy when we bought this yummy looking fried banana. It was more of a plantain and pretty starchy. Still good, but not quite up to our expectations. As we ventured into the market we checked out our options. When we saw this stall that had the most interesting selection we sat down. Thinking that we would be able to pick out the toppings for our bowl of rice Andrea grabbed the guide book prepared to figure out how to avoid the organ meats. But as I was away getting the drinks, it turned out we were just given an assortment of toppings from veggies to different types of meat. But as we tried them it turned out they weren't meat at all, but a tasty assortment of veggie fake meats. The fake chicken even had a fake bone (or ventricle) made out of a hard piece of pasta. Aside from the chicken our plate included fake fish, fake liver and fake bologna. Well I wasn't sure how fake the bologna was since neither of us really wanted bologna fake or real. Some mysteries are better left alone.

A different perspective

2007-10-27T07:18:00.000+08:00

With plenty of free time on my hands I've decided to try running again. As many of you may know I've had a pretty serious case of plantar fasciitis, which has prevented me from running these past 2 years. I did take a stab at running in Beijing with Stephan, and noticed I didn't have any pain. So I've tried running in the early morning before the rains start, which also happens to be the cooler part of the day. It's amazing how different things are when you are running. For one, I don't get harassed by all the motorcycle taxis who want to take me somewhere. I guess its seems more obvious that I have no need for that when I'm running. Also I don't get harassed by the various shop-keepers who try to charm you into their stores or restaurants.

A few of the more interesting things that have happened on my runs are racing some school children in Hoi An while they were riding their bikes and racing a young boy in Nha Trang as I was crossing a bridge. In both cases I was pretty much just trotting along, but the little bit of competition gave me an incentive to pick up the pace, and it was fun. In Nha Trang I happed on the famous basket boat fishermen...or fisherwomen. And the most interesting thing I saw was a cockfight on the beach. There was a group of men forming a circle around these two fighting cocks, but the fight looked more like a sumo wrestling match as the roosters were pretty much just pushing each other around. I was really wishing I had my camera but some things just don't transfer on film anyways. So I hope to enjoy future runs and look forward to what ever other interesting things I'll happen upon.

Night out in party town

2007-10-26T07:10:00.000+08:00

After a long day of snorkeling out off the coast of Nha Trang, we thought we should take advantage of the fact that we were staying in a party town, as designated by our guidebooks. So we decided to check out the bar scene. After having a beer at the Guava I was already feeling a bit tipsy. This was the most active bar that we had seen and it looked pretty swanky. Andrea and I knew it was going to be a wild and crazy night the minute we finished our debating whether one of the light fixtures is using an incandescent or halogen light. We did hit up another bar on the suggestion of one of the dive instructors from earlier in the day that we met at the Guava. The other bar definitely looked hopping. But aside from one other person I think Andrea and I were the oldest people there by at least 5 years and possibly 10. Ouch! We had our "Smile" a fruit smoothie with rum, we played a game of foozeball, connect four and enjoyed our complimentary mojito. We were out of there by 11pm...so much for a crazy night on the town.

Oh and I learned that divers get a high similar to getting stoned..so now I see why its so popular..but still I have no interest in it.

Snorkeling in the rain

2007-10-26T07:01:00.001+08:00

I was a bit concerned that trying to snorkel in the waters around Nha Trang would be minimally interesting at best. Since the waters around the beach were a bit turbid I figured there wouldn't be much to see. But after getting out to one of the islands off Nha Trang in the marine protected area we could see the waters starting to take on their greenish blue color. We got into our wetsuits and prepared to get in. I jumped into the water and started to see what I could find under the sea. I didn't see much of anything. But as I headed closer to the rocks seemingly out of nowhere a school of small blue fish appeared. Then more an more fish until I could see the colorful coral beneath me. Though I never did see the clown fish (no Nemo) I was still impressed with everything that I saw. I'm just amazed with all the colors of the fish and the coral. I was, however, a bit disappointed to see a stretch of dead and dying coral. It was such a contrast to the beautifully colorful part of the sea.

I only snorkeled for a total of 2 hours and though I thought that would hardly be enough time, I was very much ready to head back to dry land. The coolest part of the whole experience was how calm and tranquil it felt while I was under the water. Even though all around me the currents were pushing me towards the rocks and the rains started to get more and more intense. As we headed back to the mainland I was pretty exhausted, and I had to fight off a bit of nausea from the rocking boat and the diesel fumes.

Beaching it in Vietnam

2007-10-26T06:23:00.000+08:00

Since it appears we are traveling through Vietnam in the rainy season, we were really taking a chance at trying to check out the beach in Nha Trang, which is billed as having some of the best beaches in Vietnam. Well if that is true, I don't think I'll be hitting up any more beaches in this country. Though I think its more a factor of the rains which bring in debris and any thing else that is on the streets onto the beach and into the surf so the water takes on a brownish tinge and the sand is littered with all sorts of debris from palm fronds to plastic bits. We were lucky enough to have had a clear morning when we arrived from our overnight bus trip from Hoi An, so we still went down to the beach. After finding a nice spot under a palm tree we settled in and tried to nap on the beach. But we received an onslaught of merchants trying to sell us bootleg books, and sunglasses. Though we clearly had both these items and it didn't seem to deter the vendors. At first we tried being polite saying no thank you, but that just seemed to encourage them to further engage us and try to sell us other stuff we didn't want. We finally ended up shooing them away without much of an acknowledgment. And it seemed that Andrea was taking more of the vendors.

New wardrobe

2007-10-25T07:19:00.002+08:00

One of the highlights of our trip was going to Hoi An. This small town is known for its droves of tailors. Andrea seemed more prepared than I with ideas for the clothes she wanted to get made. I pretty much just went along for the ride, but soon was motivated to buy myself a fully tailored new wardrobe. It was fun and addicting. If only my bank account could afford it I would have bought far more clothes than I actually did. I did eventually get a couple of suits and some jackets made for me and shipped them home. It was so much fun going through the whole process of picking out the clothes we wanted, then making specific requests for some alterations and the fittings. It was a bit awkward putting on winter coats in 80-degree weather with humidity, but Andrea and I knew they would come in handy when we land in Europe in a few weeks.

We stayed in Hoi An for about a week, which was hard for me to believe. But there was lots to do between the fittings and fine dining and general lazy days exploring the town and trying to stay dry while the town nearly flooded when the river cutting through town breached its banks (which hardly fazed any of the locals).

Pics from Halong Bay

2007-10-15T17:09:00.001+08:00

Andrea and I took a day trip out to Halong Bay. Halong Bay has these amazing rock formations that jut right out of the bay for some impressive views. The weather was a bit gray, but we still had some impressive sights. Here are just a few pictures that I snapped up.

Same Same but 10 times more expensive

2007-10-14T13:31:00.000+08:00

In my quest to buy some new running shorts, since I ended up leaving my last pair behind in Zhongdian, I popped around the markets in Hanoi and looked high and low for a new pair. Since I bought my last pair in Beijing for around $US 2 I knew how much I wanted to pay. When I found a pair of shorts that I liked I checked on the price. The woman said it would cost 20.000 Dong..that's just over $US 1. They were exactly what I was looking for, but I wanted to see if she had another color. She called into the abyss behind the clothes rack, where I heard a bit of ruffling, then suddenly a new pair emerged the exact color that I wanted. I said I'd take it and she quickly stuffed both shorts into a plastic bag for me and asked for 40.000 Dong. It was almost too much effort to argue with her so I figures I'd buy both shorts for what was almost $US 3. Of course I didn't realize just how much a deal they were until I got to my hotel and noticed the price tag for the "Made in America" shorts see pic below.

Hanoi

2007-10-13T12:41:00.000+08:00

Here are some pics from our visit to Hanoi. It's hard to believe but I am actually missing China. Its a bit more crowded here and such a faster pace of life here than any place we've been to in China. Part of that is due to Vietnam's 1 million vehicles and over 18 million motor bikes that seem like they are all up in Hanoi! This heavily motorbike dominated transportation system makes crossing the street something between a zen moment as the bikes magically part all around you as you cross the street or just pure insanity as you just pray they don't hit you. This all depends on your point of view. One reason for the high number of motorbikes here is that there seems some sort of property tax that is assessed based on the frontage width of the buildings here. So you see lots of tall skinny buildings on very narrow streets with of course limited parking. This design scheme certainly make for a quaint looking city, but after Andrea and I went up and down several flights of stairs checking out several different hotels I was certainly missing the low-lying buildings from LA.

Crappy day

2007-10-12T15:00:00.000+08:00

Andrea and I just arrived in Hanoi last night. We had a bit of a rough time getting down here. Andrea got her bag slashed on the overnight bus to the China/Vietnam border then we had to spend all morning yesterday at the police station so she could file a report. We hiked the approximately 2 miles to the train station from the border since there were no taxis in sight and being that we already agreed not to take motorbike taxis we were laden with all our belongings. All along our sweaty and mostly quite walk to the train station we were greeted by folks trying to sell us something or another, but all we wanted to do was buy our tickets to Hanoi. When we got to the train station we were greeted to a closed ticket booth with not a single sign in English explaining either opening hours or any other useful bit of information for us. We tried to motion the buy inside to give us some information, but he just waved us away. Finally after a few minutes he came out of his booth and in the few words in English that he knew we got a quote for 2 tickets on the next train to Hanoi. It just so happened we had exactly enough to cover the cost of the tickets with the money had converted from our left over Chinese Yuan and left us with about 20,000. Once we agreed to the price he hurriedly rushed us onto the train. We didnt' even have time to grab some food and we were already getting hungry since we hadn't eaten anything since the night before. Fortunately the train stopped at some point on our journey and Andrea ventured out to buy us some food. She came back with one small rice and tofu dish and a bottle of water...d'oh! We had been placed in 3 berth high cabin that was already full with Vietnamese travelers. Our inability to communicate with them and their constant smoking left us annoyed at our fellow cabin mates. But eventually they started trying to talk to us and eve put out the cigarettes. We learned our numbers from them and they had fun looking through our Lonely Planet guide book. We couldn't understand a word they said, but we at least broke the tension and made the 6 hour+ train ride more bearable. When we got to Hanoi, our new friends whisked us off the train and past the guards, since apparently we had actually paid someone off rather than obtaining an official ticket. I guess that is why we were stuck in the staff quarters of the train rather next to the engine car.

We were a bit disoriented getting out of the train station. We were left with no local currency, in a part of town that didn't show up on our map, and no way of reading the signs. We were also a bit wary given that all our research on Vietnam warned us of the numerous scams that foreigners encounter. We wandered the meandering streets for what seemed like an eternity in search of an ATM. All the while we were fending off touts asking to take us to any number of hotels. When we found an ATM we had high hopes, but alas, it was not meant to be. So we wandered further in the direction of the hotel we hoped to stay at. After walking a bit more we saw a swanky wine store so we stopped in and asked for an ATM, she pointed us in the right direction and jackpot it machine took our cards and I instantly became a millionaire....Well I took out $2 million Dong...which I think is about $124 US.

We ended up getting into a cab that tried to rip us off, then we looked at a bunch of overpriced hotels that looked crappy. Finally, someone showed us a picture of a place that looked nice and said the right words, two beds, air conditioning, breakfast included and cable TV all for $15. It was one of the cheapest quotes we'd gotten and sounded the best so after 3 minutes of walking around the city again with our bags and going up 5 flights of stairs we made it....It was nice, soft bed too. We topped off our evening by eating a very delicious chicken and bacon sandwich on a French roll and watching HBO after taking a nice hot shower and enjoying the air conditioned room. Its amazing how small comforts can really change your mood.

Kunming...our gateway to Vietnam

2007-10-08T14:21:00.000+08:00

Andrea and I were very grateful to have made friends with Stephanie, a very cool Canadian girl doing some research in Kunming. She opened up her stylish flat for us to crash for a couple of nights so we could purchase our Visas for Visa for Vietnam and catch an overnight bus to the border.

Kunming is not all that exciting, but it would be a nice place to live or work. The streets are wide and well paved just like in Beijing, but there are substantially fewer cars and many more bikes in this city. Which makes a huge difference to the air quality…ah…blue skies. Being that the city is home to just over 3 million people, and a host of universities, it has many amenities that any foreigner can appreciate…especially ones that have been away from home for just about 3 months. The area around the main University has restaurants and cafés that caters to foreigners, including Salvador’s Coffee House where I ventured to have my second burrito in China. I have to admit it wasn’t too bad, though that could also be since I have not a good burritos in a long time.

Not much else exciting to report from Kunming, other than Andrea and I finally found a Wal-mart in China. It was definitely an experience. It didn’t really feel like walking into Wal-mart like in the States, but some interesting notes of culturally appropriate merchandising, there was no automotive section and the bicycle section was HUGE! Too bad I didn’t take any pictures in here, but here are some interesting photos from around town.

Clean and modern Kunming...the future of China...?

China in transition..

Maybe this is what happens to pork on too many growth hormones...

Yay for mixed use development...

Around the world in less than $80

2007-10-06T13:46:00.000+08:00

Ok, so maybe it's not that cheap, but in our quest to find the cheapest way into Europe from Southeast Asia, I stumbled on this great website www.discountairfares.com. So thanks to the results we got, we are now flying from Bangkok to Dusseldorf for just $430....that's less than 8¢ a mile!
(oh and on a side note read this article on the demise of the ¢ sign.....so sad)

Deqing: The other Shangri-la

2007-10-04T09:57:00.000+08:00

Andrea and I left Zhongdian and are now in Deqin. Its a smaller town in Northwest Yunnan Province as close to Tibet as Andrea and I could afford to be. You need to get a permit to travel in Tibet and it costs several hundred dollars, so this is good enough for us. Since the whole county has been named Shangri-la, the small towns in this area have all been claiming to be the actual Shangri-la. Though I really like this town, it’s a bit too small without all the amenities that I was getting pampered with down in Zhongdian, so I can’t quite put the name of Shangri-la on this town. But of course the whole reason for coming here was to avoid the potential crowds that we’d encounter at every other major tourist attraction because of Golden Week. This is one of three week-long holiday given to the Chinese in the year. This one is for National Day, commemorating the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1 1949.

We stayed at Tashi Lodge, which was located about 6 km from the main part of town. At first I was concerned that we would be so far away from the center of town, but when we arrived in Deqin, I was very happy to not have to stay there. The place looked more like a truck stop town and reminded me of Mairana, the town I lived in for 2 years in Bolivia. I’m sure this town has some character, but its a bit it’s not exactly the character that I was looking for on this trip.

We managed to squeeze in a hike to a nearby glacier. I’m sure it was the altitude and not that I’m out of shape that made me lose my breath and struggle to make it up to the top. The hike was just a bunch of switchbacks heading straight up the mountain. I was passed by a number of people on horses that are rented out for the less than fit and I have to admit that I was tempted to jump on one. But we pushed on and enjoyed the view then had to try to keep our knees from giving out on us as we hiked all the way back down.

As a treat for finishing this grueling hike, I got to break out the Mexican chocolate that I had been traveling with. I had originally wanted to get up early one morning and milk a yak and use that for the chocolate. But had we done that, Andrea and I wouldn’t even have been able to make one cup of chocolate. So we split the cost of two liters of regular cow’s milk with our fellow guests and indulged in the delicacy of Mexican Chocolate….mmmm so tasty.

Finding the Shangri-La in our hearts

2007-10-01T02:03:00.000+08:00

Because the entire county in north western Yunnan Province has been given the name of Shangri-La, there is often a bit of debate as to which town should be officially described as Shangri-la. So when I asked a woman who worked at a local handricrafts store if I was in the actual Shangri-la, she said I needed to find the Shangri-La in my heart. Well I think I found it the other day. We started our day off by going out to the hot springs near town. It was about 30 minutes away and we descend into this small ravine where at the base was the hot springs. Given our initial disappointment with hot springs in Xi'an we weren't quite sure what to expect. When we saw the large pool of water with steam coming off of it, we knew that we had indeed found the kind of hot springs we had been hoping for. There was a bit of confusion with the entrance fee since the accent in this part of the country is different. We had thought the entrance was 130Y. I seriously contemplated leaving rather than pay this exorbitant price. But Andrea suggested since we were already there and paid the cab to take us there, we should just suck it up and pay. So we handed out 200Y each looking for change and the guy kept saying no. I was getting more annoyed. Not only would I have to pay a crazy high amount but I wouldn't even get change! Well it turned out the price was only 30Y each...d'oh! So we gave him a 100Y note and all was settled. We got in, changed into our bathing suits and took a dip in the nice hot water of the spring. Then we touched the slimy floor...eww. So we tried our best to swim and walk on our toes instead. It still felt nice to be fully submerged in hot water for the first time in months (though I did have a nice hot bath in Qingdao).

The set up of the hot springs was nice, but nothing spectacular. But I would recommend it for anyone who is staying in Zhongdian for a more than a few days.

When we got back to town we hunkered down at the bar across from where we were staying to update our blogs and enjoy some hot chocolate. We were prepared for a completely lazy day of doing nothing then heading off to dinner at this Indian restaurant we found the night before called the Puppet Café. How do you not go to a restaurant called the Puppet? Well in the midst of our lounging, Andrea started chatting it up with this girl from Australia, Eleanor. Halfway through the conversation she invited us out to join a tour group that was going to visit a Tibetan family outside of town, to do some yak herding, have a traditional Tibetan meal and then go visit the school she was teaching at where high school aged children that are too poor to go to high school can learn hospitality skills (ETTI). Their education is subsidized by the Australian government and private donors. It sounded like a great deal so we shelved our plans for the Puppet Café for another day. We met the organized tour group that was also going and were off. The road was bumpy but not too bad. It took about 20 minutes to get out to the town, then we walked through muddy streets to get to the home. The views were spectacular. It was a clear and crisp evening with the mountains surrounding us and yaks all around us. When we made it to the small wooden shack that houses that yaks during the cool autumn nights we were greeted by a very kind and generous Tibetan family. They instructed us on how to call the yaks in. I took a short video, so you can click here to check it out. (insert video link here).

Meeting with the students was another highlight. They were using this opportunity to practice their English and we got to learn more about the school and where these students come from.They even tried to teach us the dance they did in the square, but we weren't the best students.

When we got back to Shangri-la, we had been invited by Eleanor to a 30th birthday party of a friend of hers. I took this to be a great opportunity to unload the bottle of cachaca I had been carrying around with me. Well I had no idea that Andrea and I would be dancing it up all night and drinking up Caipirinhas ...but wow, it was such a a great end to a magical day!

Paradise sleeps in

2007-09-26T08:46:00.000+08:00

We woke up early today to meet up with the Brits and Australians we met up with at the gorge so that we could share a taxi to a nearby wetlands. We made plans to meet up at 8:30am so we thought we'd get up early to grab some street food. Unfortunately not much goes on in town before 9am. Not only were there very few food vendors out and about, but there weren't even any taxis for us to take out to the wetlands that early. So we went to the Compass Café, this very nice western style café. After finally heading out to grab a cab we did a bit of negotiating to get out to this place. It was supposed to be only 7km away so after much haranguing on the price, mostly thanks to our newly made Australian friends Tamima and Mez who speak near perfect Mandarin, we talked the taxi into taking us for 60Y out and back and wait for us there. That's just under 10$ US for the 6 of us. Not a bad deal. When we finally made it out to the place, we were a bit disappointed to see that it was not a very exciting wetlands with trash strewn around. Then they wanted to charge us 30Y to get in which we still would have to pay for the horseback riding that was our original motivation for going. After a bit of haggling again we ended up getting in for 120Y between the 6 of us and had quite a ball just in haggling. At one point we tired to get the to throw in a free mini yak, they they didn't budge.

When we finally got in, it was slightly less impressive and turned out the only way to get around inside was to rent a horse. Here we worked out haggling magic to negotiate an additional 10 minutes on the horses for the same price. And we were off. Our local guides were chatting it up with each other and having a great time, as were we. We saw some free range pigs, some rummaging cows and a big expanse of wetlands. I was a bit concerned that Andrea's horse was going to bite my leg since every now and then it kept snapping at my horse, which were both being pulled by our guide, a very sweet older woman dressed in traditional garb. She was so sweet, she even snapped up my camera and took a bunch of photos of me, Andrea, me and Andrea, me, Andrea and everyone else...well you get the idea. Since Andres still had her camera, she was able to snap up a few photos of them photographing us.

When we finally used up our 30 minutes, we decided to take up try our hand at some archery. I loaded up a few videos of all our attempts. Andrea showed off her Oklahoma roots by firing the arrow right into the target on the first pull and then repeating the feat only moments later. I did manage to hit the target on one of my three attempts...so not too shabby. All in all, our second day in paradise has been fun. And now we are going to do some hostel shopping this evening hoping to find a more charming place than the one we are staying in now. But the good thing is we managed to get our laundry done...one thing about packing lightly is to constantly keep up on the laundry...or bear the wrath of an odoriferous journey.

Shangrila

2007-09-25T04:32:00.000+08:00

Yes, this is indeed paradise*! I can attest to that fact since when I got off the bus in Shangrila (Zhongdian). After hopping out of the cab that whisked us away from the bus station into the old town we immediately fell in love with this quaint little town. It has a very weird vibe to it. Somewhere between the Bolivian Altiplano, a Colorado mountain resort and some hippy tourist town with Tibetan influences. I just love it. We were greeted with dancing in the main square as today happened to be the mid autumn festival (though I later found out they do this every night).

Then while walking around looking for a place to stay we happened on a staring contest between two young boys, they couldn't have been any older than 6 and 7. When we finally got to a place to stay we set out and quickly picked up the potato on stick, which is basically 4 baked potatoes covered in chili sauce then grilled...mmm so good. Then we went to eat at the Kamapa Cowboy restaurant which was something like a log cabin with a mixture of Native American and Southwest US decor and Tibetan influences. Our meal was the most divine pork ribs and cucumber salad ... And to those of you who know my fascination with popcorn I almost cried when I saw the waiter bring out a fresh bowl of sweetened popcorn to the table of people eating and drinking on the patio. The town has truly lived up to its name...at least for me ;-)
Oh and we happened to run into the hikers we met on the Leaping Tiger gorge. Its so fun to run into the same people again. We are off to explore the Napa Hai Lake tomorrow.

*For those of you unfamiliar with the work of James Hilton, in his novel "Lost Horizon," Hilton describes an idyllic Tibetan mountain monastery that has discovered the fountain of youth. The town's name was Shangri-la. In 1996, the Chinese government created a task force to find the really Shangri-la based on on clues from the novel. Zhongdian fit the bill due the presence of a Tibetan monastery in the general area described by the book, and the supposed discovery of a plane crash that occurred in the 1930's.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

2007-09-24T01:20:00.000+08:00

Our hike to the Tiger Leaping Gorge was phenomenal. We ran into a pair of Brits at our hostel that were going to do the gorge trek. So we decided to coordinate with them in order to share a cab to the bus station. We also got some great advice from them on leaving most of our stuff in the town at the trail head then picking up our stuff after the 3 day hike to continue on to the next town called Zhongdian (also known as Shangri-la). I had seen pictures online that show these jagged mountains and spectacular views on the hike. And I have to say the pictures don't even come close to how beautiful it was. The hike is fairly vigorous 20km up and down semi-steep mountainsides with a few areas proving more of a challenge than others.

Since we weren't on much of a schedule we decided to take a leisurely three days to hike the gorge rather than the more grueling two day hike. The trail is fairly well marked with red arrows pointing you in the right direction and the trail is fairly well worn. And along the trail at various points there are guesthouses where you can stay the night or just get some food and water. Our first day we did the short 3-hour hike to Naxi's Guesthouse. It was so nice to get a hot shower and be able to lounge around for the rest of the afternoon and evening and eat some very good food.

The second day was a bit more taxing since we would be walking from early morning into the evening in order to arrive at the base of the gorge where a tiger is supposed to have leaped across, hence giving the gorge its name.

All along the last 2 hours of the hike we kept seeing signs pointing to Tina's guesthouse. I felt like I was on the road to Las Vegas from Los Angeles with those famed "Eat at Joes, 200 miles" - esque signs. So when we finally got there I was eager to check out the guesthouse that was responsible for all that trail graffiti. It was only so-so. Fortunately it did have a warm shower and beds for us. The third day we got up to hike down the final leg of the gorge. There was a perilous ladder and a safer route to get down.

We took the safe route down though we did take the perilous ladder to come back up. It wasn't as scary coming back up, but I did notice that one part of the ladder had just a tree branch propping up the ladder...yikes!

But Andrea and I survived. The river at the base of the gorge looked like it would make great white water rafting if it weren't for all those jagged rocks.

After getting our fill of the gorge(eous) views we decided to head back to continue on our journey to Zhongdian. Since there had been some concern at the start of our trip if we would even be able to the hike due to a landslide we were a bit curious at how we were going to get back. The landslide blocked the road but not the hiking trail so we had no idea what to expect. It turned out we could take a taxi to the landslide and then have to cross over on foot then find another taxi on the other side. Since it was early enough and we didn't feel like paying the now 4 x's higher taxi fare we decided to walk to the landslide and see if we could get a taxi from there. It was a pleasant hike, though we had an unspoken fear every time we saw rocks on the road, knowing that another landslide could happen where we walked. We made it to the landslide zone and saw that a tractor was being put to use to clear it up.

We had to wait until the tractor had a mouthful of rubble and was taking it to be dumped over the cliff so we along with everyone else that was waiting there could scramble over the rubble. I almost made it over unscathed until my left foot sunk about 2 feet into a soft patch of sand and gravel leaving me with a few cuts and now a quickly fading scar that I can show off to prove I had an adventure. After walking on for another half hour or so a taxi came zipping by and stopped. There were already two hikers in the car asking if we wanted to share the cost of the cab for the remaining 10 km or so...it didn't take long for Andre and I to jump on that offer. We got back to the town, picked up our stuff and found a our bus that would take us to Zhongdian.

Situational Orientation

2007-09-23T01:15:00.000+08:00

The title of this blog was in reference to our countless attempts at getting back to our original hostel so that we could get our stuff and move into a hostel that was closer to the center of town. The map we were given was practically useless since it showed barely a few of the streets, there weren't many street signs and the streets looked so similar. Our countless pleas for assistance to the local townspeople yielded a chorus of "ye ji itsu zho guay" which means go straight ahead then turn left. After hearing this at least four times we indeed went full circle until we were guided by a surly looking guy who said "follow me" then darted off with our map in hand down a dark and narrow alley. So we figured what other choice do we have other than to follow him, so we did. We passed right by the first place that we had asked directions from and had they told us to go right. If we had only gone to the left we would have been back at our old hostel with two turns. Of course we picked up our bags and headed back to the new hostel sure that we knew the way this time, but alas, we got lost again. This time we were helped out by a Chinese New Zealander who visits Lijiang often and knows his way around. Tired, hungry and a bit embarrassed for keeping Peter and Jenny waiting for us we dropped our bags and headed out to find some dinner.

After getting lost multiple times around Lijiang, I realized that every time that Andrea and I tried to remember or actually did remember where we needed to turn, we would constantly refer to an event that happened when we passed a certain spot. Like the spot where the guy told us "follow me" and led us into the dark alley. This became a new reference point for us to know that we were going in the right direction. Or the mini plaza that we passed where our Chinese Kiwi lead us to our hostel. It's interesting that when we are forced out of our way of orienting ourselves such as through absolutely useless maps, or when grid streets are only a distant memory we are forced to rely on other mental triggers to point us to our destination. Thankfully, the town is not that large and there are enough people here that either speak some English or can at least understand the few words we know such as "zainar" (where is) and pointing to a point on the map.

(Oh and those "digital crumbs" that I left to help us find our way back didn't work quite so well since I ended up taking photos of things that weren't quite as unique as I thought...say a red lantern or wooden door. At least we made it back...eventually.)

Digital crumbs lead you to yaks

2007-09-22T23:57:00.000+08:00

Our next stop was Lijiang. We've been told this is one of the most beautiful towns in China. Well that's a tall order to live up to, but in addition to the town's inherent beauty, we found out that there is an excellent hike to be done a few hours away. We arrived late at night by plane since taking the bus would have exceeded our newly decided on 15-hour rule. We were greeted to stars (the first I had seen in months) and cold weather. Everyone was in thickly padded coats and I felt like I had just arrived on the Bolivian Altiplano. Fortunately Andrea had made a reservation at our guesthouse and had arranged the hotel to pick us up. There were no street lights out on our ride into town, only winding mountain roads, so the stars were amazingly bright. However that also meant we really couldn't see where we were going or what the town looked like. So it was quite a surprise the next morning to find out selves in this beautiful quaint old town with a labyrinth of cobble stone roads.

We had made plans to meet up with Peter and Jenny, so in an effort to not get lost I decided to take some digital pictures of the various twists and turns in order so that we would could find our way back (read the next post to find out how well this turned out).

We found Peter and Jenny and they had already hired a minibus to take them to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Park. Andrea and I decided to tag along. It was great we strolled up to this park and took a cable car ride up to Yak Meadow. And you know what you see in Yak meadow...yaks!!! I was so excited to finally see one of these creatures, but was a bit disappointed when we got there and could only see these little specks off in the horizon. We tried our best to get as close as possible, but there were in a fenced off area that we were not allowed in so I began to do my yak calls. It wasn't very effective since I don't actually know how to call a yak, but I did get a yak to give me a dirty look before resuming its meal of wild grasses.

The zoom on my camera is only so-so, but I did get some pics and was happy enough to call it a day. Fortunately Andrea suggested we turn back and go check out a temple with prayer flags that we could see on the horizon.

When we got there it was interesting but nothing too exciting until we heard a local doing a real yak call. He got the yak to get closer to him and even enticed the yak with an apple. We were just frozen with anticipation...would we really be up close and personal with a yak? Well the local man brought the yak down to within about 10 feet from us and we snapped up dozens of yak photos including the young calf that came along in tow.

It was such a great experience. The yak has always been one of my favorite animals, mainly because I love the exotic sounding name of this creature and few people even know what one looks like. I have to admit that I was one of those people up until I met one in person.

Oh and the yak jerky is great too, we got to stock up on the stuff in town for our hike to Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Terra Cotta Soldiers

2007-09-21T00:40:00.000+08:00

Along with the Great Wall, the of Xi'an are thought to be one the greatest draws to China. We were fortunate to have Song and Jackie leading us since we were able to catch the local buses that led us to the historic sites in Xi'an. Andrea and I were very excited when we were told that we would stop off at the Imperial hot springs before hitting up the Terra Cotta Soldiers. Well perhaps we had a different notion of what a hot springs would be becauhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifse we both packed our swimsuits and towels, but were very disappointed when we realized this was just a historic sight where the Chinese emperors would bathe and come to relax. So we had to content ourselves by looking at the Tang dynasty architecture and washing our hands in the warm waters.

We finally made it to the site of the Terra Cotta soldiers and were amazed with how extensive the grounds were. Thanks to our Lonely Planet suggestion, we decided to catch the 360 degree movie theater that showed a short film on the man behind the soldiers. After watching the film I was even more impressed with the statues. For those of you who don't know, the terra cotta soldiers are a collection of over 8,000 life-size sculptures that were buried along with Emperor Qin over 2,0000 years ago. The movie showed that the soldiers were destroyed by angry villagers shortly after his death. Emperor Qin is credited with having unified China. According to my Lonely Planet, Emperor Qin had angered the monks who were also the scribes, and they then excluded him from the history books, only for any evidence of him to be unearthed in 1974. As a result of the sacking most of the soldiers are in some sort of broken state. Though it seems the restoration team has done a good job of putting them back together in the grand hallway. The grounds are quite extensive and even after spending several hours looking at all the soldiers we hardly saw them all, since there were still more buried. And they will remain so until new restorations can be developed that will protect the paint that the soldiers were originally painted with since too to their age they deteriorate when exposed to the air.

Xi’an

2007-09-20T00:37:00.000+08:00

It was nice to get out of Beijing. Though our trip out of Beijing meant we would be on a hard seat train for 12 hours. This meant sitting upright with now reclining seat for 12 hours. Needless to say after this quite uncomfortable experience Andrea and I have decided to no longer travel on a hard seat and that we would not travel for any more than 15 hours in a single shot.

Xi’an was nice. The pace was a bit more relaxed than Beijing with cleaner streets and seemingly fewer cars.

The main reason for coming to Xi’an was to check out the Terra Cotta soldiers, but since we would save that for tomorrow, we decided to check out the town. There was the Drum Tower and Bell Tower that provided some great views of the city and then the Muslim Quarter that had loads of street food to enjoy.

Thanks to Song and her friend Jackie for showing us around town and leading us to all these sights around town, including the Goose Pagoda, which is known for having housed the earliest Buddhist texts in China.

The journey begins

2007-09-17T00:34:00.000+08:00

I think this pictures below say it all…I’m not sure how many thousands of kilometers we’ll be covering but everything we have has to fit on our backs so that means you’ll have to get used to seeing me in pictures with the same outfits…deal with it.

Leaving Beijing

2007-09-16T00:20:00.000+08:00

With the end of our time in Beijing means the end of our internship at the China Academy of Urban Planning. I’ve learned a lot about China’s governance structure and how planning is done. Though at times it felt like my work here wasn’t that meaningful since the Academy is dedicated mostly to design and I’m more of a policy wonk. But I prepared a couple of presentations before leaving and was able to share some knowledge that I’ve gained from researching watershed management in the States. On the last day of my internship I presented to my team with the help of Gui Ping as my translator. I even got a cake as part of my send off.

As for saying goodbye to my fellow interns and Beijing we enjoyed a final meal of the Dai food...mmm deep fried potato balls. And Andrea, Stephan and I hit the town. I finally got to use that bottle of tequila that I had brought with me. Fortunately the clubs don’t pad you down when you enter so we made our own mixed tequila drinks all night long.

Also click here for a short video on our night on the town

Doing what planners do best..

2007-09-12T00:18:00.000+08:00

Our time in Beijing is quickly coming to an end. So Andrea and I have stepped up the planning for our trip around the world. As we’ve come to realize that we just don’t have as much time as we would like we’ve decided to cut out India from our itinerary. The world is just too big and too interesting to try to squeeze in everything. So the idea for now is to head down south through Xi’an then to Lijiang then get our visas for Laos in Kunming, work our way down to Laos then on to Vietnam then Cambodia and finally Thailand. We’ve decided to keep our trip flexible and take the advice of fellow travelers in checking out things that strike our fancy.

Great Wall

2007-09-10T00:13:00.000+08:00

Nothing evokes the grandeur of China more than the Great Wall. So it was with much anticipation that I was waiting to climb the wall. Andrea had already gone to the wall a previous weekend while I was at Qingdao but she went to Mutayun which didn’t quite capture the image of the Great Wall that she and I had because of the excess number of tourists and almost too well kept wall. So we took the less traveled road by hiking from Jingshaling to Simatai.

Our adventure started out by trying to find the bus station that would take us to the nearest town where we could catch a cab. Unfortunately, as we’ve come to know that the lonely Planet can’t quite keep up with the quick changing pace of Beijing, the bus station that was listed on our map was now a University. So we walked around a bit and ended up agreeing to paying a taxi driver to take us to Jingshaling then pick us up at Simatai.

Watch a short video documenting Andrea’s and my Great Wall Adventure below, or click here for the link.

International Water Conference

2007-09-04T15:48:00.000+08:00

With my work being less structured than I had hoped for, I began to look forward to attending the 2nd International Conference for China Urban Water Development being held in Beijing. I was tipped off to its occurrence by one of my coworkers, Gui Ping, who would be presenting at the conference. Andrea, Peter and Kenetha had attended the Transportation conference a few weeks ago and had to pay the hefty fee 800Yuan. As far as conferences go it was pretty cheap, but when you are making 100 Yuan a day, it’s not a small matter. So I was prepared to pay a similar rate. I took to shuttle bus that my office had arranged and arrive at the conference center. When I got up to the registration booth I was informed the registration fee would cost me 1,200 Yuan. I contemplated turning back home, but another of my coworkers said it would be taken care of. At first I thought the CAUPD would pay for my registration until all the badges were handed out and I got nothing. Then it became clear to me that my team was going to smuggle me in. By getting smuggled in I would miss out on the conference book, which was fine, since it was mostly in Chinese.

I sat through the opening speeches, a few were in English so I was content, but the majority of speeches where in Chinese so I had to sit there and let my thoughts wander since I couldn't make heads or tails of what was being discussed. It wasn't until after the session that I realized there was simultaneous translation going on and I could have rented the translation headphones. I spent the rest of the conference seeking out the sessions that had simultaneous translation, which proved to be few and far between. And the sessions that sounded most interesting to me were conducted entirely in Chinese. Well I still learned a lot and I got to see the nearby Olympic Stadium that was still under construction. Its pretty impressive and I only wish I could have gotten closer.

Parks and open space in Beijing

2007-09-01T16:28:00.000+08:00

Parks in Beijing are quite different than how we view parks in the States. As I've learned from my daily walking commute to work through the Purple Bamboo Park. But the scale of the difference takes on a whole new level on my visits to Beihei Park. Beihei Park is one of the oldest parks in Beijing. It's history goes back as far as the Liao Dynasty (916AD – 1125AD) when it was first built, following subsequent repairs and reconstructions since then. And it appears that parks had the function more of a place for serene contemplation. And the notions of being in the wild or in some pristine natural space is completely foreign. Every inch of this park seems to have been manicured from the trees to the stones. And an amazing thing is that people use these spaces for everything from spending a day away from the hustle and bustle of the city and the traffic, but of course the immense crowds here draw a hustle and bustle of merchants and people traffic as the crowds meander about here and there in the park checking out the different sites of interest.

Amusement park

2007-08-22T00:11:00.000+08:00

Our last day in Qingdao meant we finally got to check out the beer festival I wasn’t quite sure what to expect other than copious amounts of beer. But what I found was pretty much a temporary amusement park complete with carnival games and amusement rides. We started off by going on the swing then working our way up to the roller coaster which was pretty much like the . Now I know that some people would be a bit concerned about riding a roller coaster or other amusement rides in a foreign country with lax safety regulations, but that thought didn’t cross my mind until I was trying to put the safety restraint on and noticed that there was a bit more wiggle room than I was comfortable with. But before I could do anything we were off and running. Fortunately for me, the g-forces kept me glued to my seat, but there was a point where we were upside down that I felt like I could have slid off my seat. That was pretty much the end of my thrill seeking that day. One of my workmates went on this crazy hammer like ride. I was content to just take the video.

We topped off our day by going on the Ferris wheel and where treated with a full view of the entire fairgrounds.

And after all the fun and games we never even touched the beer. I was a bit bummed. We didn’t even get the 1Yuan bag of beer that was being sold. Oh well I guess I’ll just have to go back some time.

On my own

2007-08-21T23:59:00.000+08:00

When we arrived at the hotel in Qingdao I was taken aback with the excellent view of the bay and the city that the hotel room provided. I was first whisked into this huge room that was for all 6 of us. All the guys in one room and the one girl that was with us had her own separate room. Given that much of the experience of this trip I had been wading through with few things spoken in English for me I was getting prepared to stay up all night with the rest of my team. But then out of the blue, Liu Han suggested that she and I switch rooms since she would have to be up all night translating a document from English to Chinese with a few of the other team members. So given that I would be completely useless in this task, as with most things around work, I agreed. When I got down there I was completely ecstatic of the possibility to have not only my own huge room, but satellite TV complete with CNN and a few other English channels, and the bedroom opened up to an amazing view of the bay.

I was told to meet up in the group room at 8am so that we could get breakfast in the hotel restaurant. After breakfast I was told that I’d be on my own for the day since everyone else would have to work on the translation which I would not be able to help out with. I was fine with this prospect given that most of the previous day had been left out of much of all the conversations due to the lack of my Chinese skills.

This day was sunnier than the first day in Qingdao and the heat was absolutely unbearable. Well it wasn’t the heat so much as it was the intense penetrating rays of the sun, far more than in Beijing, I think partly because there was no layer of pollution to block the sun’s powerful rays.

So my walk down this coastal path from the hotel to where the Olympic Regatta would be held for the 2008 Olympics left me a sweaty mess. But at least it was a pleasant walk.

Field Trip

2007-08-20T23:09:00.000+08:00

My previous knowledge of Qingdao was only that it was some sort of Chinese beer. Well now I know that this city used to be a German concession, hence they left their mark by establishing several breweries. But that wasn’t why I was visiting Qingdao. I was here to check out the site that my project team has been working on. It’s an area outside the central city where an amusement park and an eco development will be built. When we made it out to the project site I was a bit perplexed at how such a development would get built. Not only is the site extremely rocky, it is also very hilly and covers a very nice open space area that would be great as a park. Well given that China has to accommodate the growth in its population somehow.

But the most interesting thing on this trip was the inordinate amount of seafood I’ve had to eat while with my team. It seems that whenever they travel its on the company’s dime, so that means that you get to eat out at the finest restaurants and order the most expensive food on the menu. And of course the most expensive food happens to be seafood. So one of our stops was this quaint seaside seafood restaurant with a view of the bay and Qingdao in the distance.

I’m not a huge fan of seafood, but I also didn’t want to be rude to my hosts by declining what I’ve been offered. And of course eating Chinese style means that all the food is served on the table and you eat a small portion as the table spins around to you. At one point there was nothing but seafood on the table not a single carb, vegetable, or meat that did not come from the sea. So some of the more interesting things I had were some sort of sea snail and a pale mini lobster-like creature. Now you know its bad when I’m looking forward to these two items as the table runs around, since my other options where this tube like sea creature which looked a lot like pasta, but sadly was not. There was also this gelatinous cube thing which I was informed was also a sea creature.

(for more photos check out my photobucket page)

Clearing the streets...cleaning the air

2007-08-17T16:55:00.000+08:00

Many of you have probably heard that Beijing is imposing new driving restrictions this weekend as a way of testing out their plan for cutting air pollution during the 2008 Olympics. In the weeks leading up to today, the day the test begins, I had been searching high and low for some accurate information about just what this meant. Well it looks like a third of the 3 million plus cars that ply through the streets of Beijing will be taken off the read each day by only allowing cars with an odd number on August 17th and 19th to be on the road and cars ending with an even number will be allowed to drive on August 18 and 20th.

Many cities around the world have used this type of policy for air pollution control, with Mexico City being the most notable. It did help to bring Mexico’s air pollution levels down, that is until the policy became institutionalized and drivers wizened up by buying second cars that turned out to more polluting than their first car…d’oh! Let’s hope this policy stays as an emergency measure to ensure those pitfalls aren't repeated here.

My morning walk to work today did not immediately seem any different but as Andrea pointed out, the flow of traffic did seem to increase. Andrea’s more versed in transportation concepts than I am, but it made sense that fewer cars can move faster. So even though it may not immediately look like there was less traffic for the pedestrians, I’m sure the drivers sure felt the difference. We did also notice a lot more bicycles on the road this morning. As for the air quality, that’s harder for me to say. In the days following the official 1 year countdown to the Olympics, we had some amazing air quality. Partly due to the rain that cleaned out a lot of pollution from the sky and lifted the veil of foggy haze that normally hangs over the city blocking out the sun and traps in all that pollution with it. So the air quality this past week has been amazingly great. I was able to see blue skies for several days, much to our chagrin, that meant our morning commute felt even hotter without the haze and smog providing some protection from the sun’s penetrating rays. We of course weren’t sure if this was nature’s present to China or if the government actually succeeded in altering the weather through their cloud seeding plans. Apparently even China’s state run media wasn’t quite sure what the cause was.

We asked some people at work how this was all affecting them. Most of the interns take public transit so they didn’t notice much difference and I didn’t hear from anyone that drives a car so I can’t say how the drivers are dealing with these restrictions. The fact that the test is being done from Friday to Monday will certainly minimize the disruptions to people’s lives, but it will be interesting to see how people deal with the 2 week long implementation of these measures during the Olympics.

I’ll try to take some pictures of the hopefully less crowded streets and cleaner air to post here soon.

I feel like I just won the lottery!

2007-08-17T15:44:00.000+08:00

I was just informed that I would get to travel to Qingdao (known in the West as Tsingtao…yes that is the home of Tsingtao beer) for work. We’ll be flying out on Sunday morning and I think we will be gone for 4 days. Since I took a trip last week to this wetlands outside of Beijing I thought that was treat enough, but being able to visit Qingdao and see the project site is a pleasant surprise. So I’m definitely excited about this trip, but this sort of last minute planning has been happening to me a lot, I’m starting to wonder how people function around here when they are told that they will take a 4 day trip on just a day’s notice? At first I thought it was just because I didn’t speak Mandarin that I was being kept out of the loop, but I found out from one of the Chinese interns also working here that it’s a fairly common practice. She told me that she has usually been given a heads up that a trip will take place during a given week, but not know the date they actually leave until the day before. Being that my schedule here is very flexible, I can easily cope with the changing schedules, but what if I lived here? What good is a day planner here when you constantly have to wait around not knowing when a meeting will take place or when you’ll be leaving for a multiple day trip? She just kind of laughed and said “you just wait.” She then admitted that it never really occurred to her before to have things scheduled with more certainty. Perhaps I’ve been too entrenched in the American model of efficiency and certainty, always wanting to control everything possible right down to how I spend my time. So when you are confronted with this sort of last minute arrangements you can either view it with frustration or as a pleasant surprise. I’ve choose to do the latter.

It just so happens that our trip to Qingdoa coincides with their international beer festival. I'm not entirely sure how much work will get done, but I'm sure I'll learn a lot. I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as I sober up

Virtual Tour of Boyle Heights

2007-08-17T10:33:00.001+08:00

I'm still in China, but thanks to the internet I can keep up with what's going on at home, and this recent blog posting has certainly made me a bit nostalgic for my hometown...so check out and explore the KCET websitehttp://kcet.org/explore-ca/departures/for a look at Boyle Heights..

Sent to you by Guillermo via Google Reader:

Virtual Tour of Boyle Heights

via Metroblogging Los Angeles by EL CHAVO! on Aug 16, 2007

EL CHAVO!:

I finally got around to checking out this link http://kcet.org/explore-ca/departures/ that was the subject of a NY Times article (mentioned over at view from a loft) and I'd highly suggest anyone with a bit of computer time do the same. Ed and the NYT focus on the artistic merits (there's some talk of cyber murals) but the website has elements that should make it enjoyable for the layperson just taking a stroll down some internet side street. With pictures, video, and audio, the flash based site does an excellent job of capturing the feel of walking thru the Eastside neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

It's pretty fucking amazing, go check it out already!
http://kcet.org/explore-ca/departures

Comments (3)

Comments on this Entry:

(teck on Aug 16, 2007 10:30 AM) I live in Boyle Heights, and I love it, nothing will ever compare to this place.

(chimatli on Aug 16, 2007 11:14 AM) Hey Teck, Did you grow up in Boyle Heights? I've noticed the accent is changing there. It used to be more sing song almost like a Norteno or Tejas accent. Now, it's...different.

(cindylu on Aug 16, 2007 4:54 PM) That's a familiar place of Boyle Heights, and now you can't really drive down that stretch of First St. because of the Gold Line expansion. I used to practice Danza a few blocks East of First and Boyle. The spot is pretty to look at, but I think it may have been razed like the buildings around it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/cindylu/34319368/

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Friendly...?

2007-08-15T14:38:00.000+08:00

The mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics are called the Friendlies, but as you can see from the picture above you might not want to piss them off. Actually, this cute and cuddly character known as Jingjing is just showing off the modern sport of shooting. There are a couple of Youtube videos below that you can also check out to see these little guys in action.

The Official Mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

China's environmental movement

2007-08-11T15:44:00.000+08:00

It’s been tough keeping this blog current with the pace of change taking place here in Beijing. I had started writing this post about two weeks ago alonghttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif with a slew of others posts and as I got back to making my final edits, I realized this was woefully out of date. So I’ve had to completely redo this post (I guess that should teach me not to procrastinate too much).

I had been thinking a lot about the state of the environment in China and the attempts that the Chinese government has made to address those consequences, from global warming to polluted rivers, and horrendous air quality. So when I came across this article in the Washington Monthly on I was pleasantly surprised to read that China has been taking proactive steps to develop grow its economy and raise standards of living all while trying to turn back the environmental destruction that has allowed it to do so. China has already passed some strict environmental protection laws and last year started factoring in the cost of environmental degradation as a way of correcting the value of the nation’s GDP. Additionally China has taken dramatic steps to curb its emissions, with its investment in green technologies, and a commitment to have Beijing receive 20% of its electricity from renewable energy sources in time for the 20008 Olympics.

Where China has been lacking is in the enforcement its environmental laws and monitoring of companies that violate those laws. I was intrigued to find out that China has been tolerating and to some extent promoting the growth of a civic engagement on issues of environmental protection. And with that has grown up a burgeoning environmental movement where the people are allowed to criticize the government in a watch dog role. The balance has been in making sure this doesn’t spill over into greater calls for human rights, or any challenge to the current power structure. Though it looks like the limits of China’s openness to environmental criticism are being tested. I recently read that one of China’s eminent environmentalists was taken into custody…so much for openness. That and China has put a hold on its environmental audit for this year and no plans have been released for when and or if the program will continue. So the skeptics out there certainly have much cause to wonder if in fact China is committed to taking the steps necessary to curb its environmental destruction. I guess only time will tell if the calls for greater attention to the environment are merely window dressing, or if the recent snafus are just growing pains as China learns to deal with its environmental problems.

Food to Dai for!

2007-08-10T15:42:00.000+08:00

Beijing has some amazing food options, and I am fortunate enough to live near the University of nationalities, which I think has attracted a fair number of ethnic restaurants. There are 55 ethnic minority groups in China, though they make up only 8.4% of the population (or course that’s 106.4 million people). It’s been great exploring the great variety of the cuisine thanks to this diversity.

Andrea turned me on to this Dai food restaurant, and I think I've found my new favorite place. It’s hard to describe the food other than absolutely savory. We ordered three items, this tater tot-like dish, which were mashed potato balls deep fried and arriving with a dipping sauce that I only wish I could buy jars of to take home with me. Then there was the eggplant dish smothered in this dark sauce and again completely amazing. And finally there was the pineapple rice that is served inside the pineapple. Andrea and I gobbled up everything on our plates and are looking forward to going back.

“Sorry I can’t call you, you have a 4 in your phone number”

2007-08-08T16:04:00.000+08:00

When I was looking to buy a cell phone number here in Beijing, I had been told that people will pay top dollar to buy a cell phone number that have lucky numbers such as “6”, “8” or “9” but of course if you are looking for a bargain, you can buy a cell phone number with a bunch of 4’s (an unlucky number). When I was looking to buy my cell phone number I had asked, half jokingly if I bought a number with a bunch of 4’s if people would not want to call me. I got a few laughs, but no one really answered my question….and pretty much the only people that call me are Andrea and Peter…so maybe there is something to that whole 4 business.

“Mobile Numbers for Sale = big business as the usual numbers for mobile phones in China starts with 13 (bad luck). Recently users are willing to pay high prices to purchase unique number such as numbers with 4 eights which can sell as high as 2400 to 2800 RMB and those which have no lucky or fortunate numbers can be purchased at 50 to 60 RMB. (Lucky numbers are 6, 8, and 9.)”
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reportinfo.asp?report_id=470888

Morning Commute

2007-07-31T23:15:00.000+08:00

Getting to work has never been so much fun. Each morning I join up with my bipedal carpool (i.e. walking group) for the 35-45 minute walk to work. The crew has varied but its pretty much Andrea, Peter and I. This walk has given us a chance to catch up on the latest blogs and other articles we've been reading, new finds, and pretty much anything. The conversation has certainly gotten me to think much more about planning and helped to spur my creativity and interest in planning. But if that weren't fun enough, the detour that we take through Zizhuyuan Park (translates to Purple Bamboo Park) is like the icing on the cake. Aside from the daily escape from the city that the walk provides we get to see throngs of mostly elderly people engaged in some sort of physical activity each morning, including Tai Chi, some modified hackey sack game, badminton, fan dancing, ball room dancing, sword fighting and my favorite aerobics (both jazzercise style and classical Chinese music). The only drawback is that its hot and muggy, but fortunately the office is on casual dress so I don't have to worry too much about arriving in a hot and sweaty mess. And then there is air conditioning in my office to look forward to.

Art tour of Beijing

2007-07-29T23:55:00.000+08:00

I'm getting the feeling that China doesn't do anything on a small scale. The Forbidden Palace is huge, then of course there is the Great Wall, and the recently complete Great Restroom. So its no surprise that the Dashanzi Art District would cover 1 square kilometer (or about 247 acres), it is absolutely immense.

I had learned about this place during a presentation given by one of the student interns from USC who mentioned 798 Space in this artist district and showed pictures of some converted warehouses. It looked cool but it didn't prepare me for what I got. Andrea, Peter Jenny and I hopped in a cab on Saturday to visit this place. It was in the cab ride that I learned the area had been featured in a number of articles of late including a New York Times piece, which discussed China and Beijing's growing art scene. What we found when we got there was a huge area dedicated to mostly art galleries exhibiting works form local artists that have moved to other areas as the rents here have increased due to its growing popularity (ah..gentrification..its everywhere). I think I ended up taking more pictures here than I did at the Forbidden City. So I'm just including a few photos here. And you can check out the rest on my photobucket page.

Streetside gourmet

2007-07-28T23:04:00.000+08:00

Andrea and I ate what looked like a cross between a falafel and an egg McMuffin, filled with some marinated pork (or at least I think that's what it was) cilantro and onions...mmmm so good.

Next was the Chinese crepe burrito. The process of making it was so mesmerizing...the taste. so so, but if I could get the falafel McMuffin lady to work with the crepe burrito lady they would make a killing.

This mini street feast took place in our attempt to explore the city by bus in our quest for books in English and cheap electronics. With our maps in hand, our limited Mandarin, and Andrea's nifty compass on her wristwatch, we were able to make our way around and get to where we wanted to go. We stumbled on the street food near Book City, designated in our guide book as a good place to find books in English. We were looking for books and found them...lots of them ..including a sizable English section, mostly comprised of the classics, and lots of business and self help books.

After getting our fill of the books, we headed out to find the electronics market. But as we were standing around staring at our map, completely lost, a nice Chinese guy, Alex, offered to help us find what we were looking for. He spoke excellent English, which was amazing, since he said he learned to speak English by himself because he couldn’t get into an English language course. He said he had nothing else to do so he joined us. Since he was also new to town he kept asking everyone we passed if they knew where the market was. It turned out the map showed the market on a corner that was now a major construction site. But it appears the market was moved up a few blocks, practically right next to where started. Alex was even nice enough to help Andrea negotiate with the electronics store vendor in purchasing her card reader and made him giver her a receipt so if she had any problems she could bring it back...wow

We topped the evening off by going out to dinner at this restaurant that we have been passing everyday on our way to work. The decor was imperial Chinese, so what would we expect to have there, but pizza, hot wings and beer right? Well that's just what we had and in fact that was the only thing on the menus so we really had no choice. I think I'll be back there again...that pizza was very good.

Forbidden Palace/Forbidden City

2007-07-23T23:41:00.000+08:00

The Forbidden Palace and Forbidden City are often used interchangeably to describe the residence of the Qing and Ming dynasty emperors..and with good reason. This really is a bit of a city all unto itself. The place is huge with numerous courtyards that you can spend days or even weeks exploring and still not see it all.

I went with Andrea, Song, He Wei, and Wang Wei. Song, He Wei and Wang Wei acted as our tour guides and translators, and I must say they were great on both fronts. They got us to the palace and helped us get our tickets.

Though we probably could have figured that out on our own, since they even offer audio guides in 20 languages including Esperanto!

The grandeur of the palace is just not easily captured on film. I could only imagine what it must have been like for the first non Chinese people's to see the palace thinking they had reach the palace only to find courtyard after courtyard after courtyard before getting to either the ceremonial center, administrative center or the imperial residence or those of his numerous wives and concubines. In addition to the grandeur of the structures, we got a taste of the opulent lifestyle when we checked out the clock museum and the precious jewels museums in the Forbidden City.

Some of the buildings are used for museums and the clock museum shows off some amazing examples of both imported clocks form the late 19th century and those produced in China.

One of the signs in the museums describes the clocks as entertainment pieces. I'm not sure I would have ever figured that a clock would be entertaining, but when you see these and imagine them in motion, I'm sure it would be entertaining to see, and I’m sure it's more fun than watching paint dry.

One of the more exquisite pieces was the huge water clock that measured time with every drip. This was an invention developed in China though this technology gave way to the imported mechanical clocks from Europe.

The precious jewels museum was amazing. Lots of gold work, works in jade, and other precious stones, from the small the very large. These were carved from single pieces of stone.

After all that walking we were totally exhausted. And we still barely scratched the surface with the Forbidden City. It’s easy to see why the throngs of tourists pour into here every day. And why the palace has captured the imagination of many a visitor to Beijing.

I feel lik I'm in the not too distant future!

2007-07-22T11:41:00.000+08:00

A trip down to Wangfujing Road feels just like fast forwarding 20 years into the future. I stepped out of the subway and was taken aback by the sheer scale of the street life. The throngs of people milling around the street heading into the sleek buildings made me feel like I could be in a much cooler and hipper Universal City Walk.

Now I normally would cringe at the comparison or yearning for Universal City Walk amenities, but this feels so much better. Unlike City walk which is a very manufactured experience, this has some history and connection with its surroundings. The area also reminded me of Koreatown, with its flavor of modernity, sleek buildings and fashionable people milling about, but taken to a whole new level with the scale of the buildings and by having a pedestrian only street.

Grant it the sky matched the color of the buildings (gray), but it still left me totally mesmerized and questioning why on earth we don't have more pedestrian only streets in LA. I thought how cool it would be to have this replicated (in a much smaller scale) on Broadway, and was ready to start a campaign to shut down Broadway when I get home. Fortunately someone else seems to have had the same idea so I can focus on other things.

The whole reason for trekking to this part of town was to eat Beijing’s famous hot pot cuisine. The way hot pot works, is you have a large..well.hot pot..that is has a heating source in the center and is filled with boiling water. Then everyone around the table gets raw meets and vegetables to put in the hot pot until they are cooked, then you dip your meet or veggie into this special sauce and enjoy. This really makes dining as entertainment and very delicious. I can't wait to get back to LA and see if I can find a hot pot restaurant in, its like a Korean BBQ, only with boiled water.

Other interesting tidbit of history on my tour of Wangfujing Road, include this Catholic Church,

and this famous alley where you can get virtually anything on a stick. We stuck to the glazed fruit on a stick, though the more adventurous out there could enjoy everything from squid, crab, scorpion, beetle and locust on a stick.

I think I'll stick to animals with between 2 and 4 legs for my culinary experiences.

The sun came out!!

2007-07-21T12:50:00.000+08:00

Wow, the city looks completely different on a clear day. Thanks to the rains we just had yesterday, the smog and the overcast have lifted leaving a beautiful blue sky. I almost thought I would never see the sky as long as I was in Beijing. But amazingly I can even see mountains off in the distance from my apartment window.

And the view from one of the windows in my office show’s of just one of the many construction projects taking place all over Beijing.

I have a job to do...

2007-07-19T09:42:00.000+08:00

I just got out of a meeting with my supervisor and her boss regarding the work I’m supposed to do while I’m here. I’ve been asked to do some research on storm water management, eco villages, and wind power, and give advice on the best management practices for this new development they are planning. It’s a cool project. The development will have residential areas that are designed in the style of various European countries, so there will be an England land, Norway land, Holland land, etc. There will also be an amusement park and an industrial zone geared toward creative industries, such as design, fashion, etc. It’s a bit overwhelming to think that my advice will help to determine how this project gets implemented. I just hope I don’t fall into the same troubles that other eco villages built in China have experienced.

First day of work

2007-07-18T09:28:00.000+08:00

I am in Beijing as part of an exchange program from UCLA with the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning. Four students form UCLA, including myself, are here as are a bunch of students form USC, one student form Sydney, Australia, and some students form Germany. Though it’s my understanding that all the German students have been sent to Shenzen. Kenetha, one of the UCLA students, arrived about a month ago and she has been great at helping us settle in. She’s given me tons of advice and useful tips.

I’ll be staying about 45 minutes walking distance from where I work. We took a cab to get to work this morning which took about 10 minutes, and cost 3 yuan each…(about $0.50). Pretty cheap, but I guess these small costs can add up, especially if I do it daily each way. I’ll be earning 100 Yuan a day, which seems plenty.

I was told I’d be working in the old building of the CAUP. The building has recently been refurbished and everyone has new furniture. The one problem with this new furniture is that they are off gassing, which spurred my new co-workers to remove about 7 wooden book cases from our office. Aside from that, the building is very nice. There is plenty of natural light from the large windows and you can they keep the air conditioning on, just a hair below comfortable, so sometimes you don’t realize its on until you step outside. No word yet on my actual work here. I was asked to prepare a presentation about myself, including my experience and interests and they would find a place for me after I’ve met the full team. We’ll see how it goes.

I arrived in China

2007-07-17T13:29:00.000+08:00

I’ve arrived in China. My initial reaction is wow! Everything looks so modern. However, the sky is thick and gray, which looks like an intense marine layer or heavy fog, but I know better. This thick air is what Beijing has become infamous for, filled with heavy particulate matter from its coal burning power plants and growing fleet of cars. In fact, visibility is so bad, I can hardly see more than a few blocks in front of me before everything disappear in to foggy haze. But in my limited exposure to Beijing, I am amazed with how clean everything looks. The ride from the airport to my apartment is about an hour. We passed tree-lined streets and freshly planted buildings with plenty more under construction.

It’s hot and muggy, but not unbearable. My room is simple with what could have been an impressive view of the city, since I am on the 15^th floor, but all I can see are the buildings that are closest to mine Here are some pictures of my room. I tried to get a picture from my window, but, not surprisingly all I got was a fuzzy gray image.

I have to admit that it hasn’t fully sunk into me that I am in China. I t just feels like I am in some really big Chinatown. I guess I can thank globalization for letting me feel like I am in any modern city anywhere in the world. Hopefully as I get to explore China more I will refine my impressions. But for now, Beijing is pleasant, hot and muggy, clean, modern and fuzzy.

I'm graduated....sort of

2007-06-17T06:28:00.000+08:00

Well folks, yesterday was my graduation. I got to walk down the aisle with my classmates and celebrate the culmination of my academic pursuit of a master degree in Urban Planning. But I still have a few project I'm working on, so I won't technically be done with my program until I turn them in, which might not be for a few weeks.

I did have an awesome time at graduation, filled with mixed emotions, the joy of being (nearly) done, but a bit of sadness that I won't see many of the people who I've become good friends with as often as I'd like.
Aside from that I was nervous as hell since I was chosen by my classmates to give the commencement address. But they showed me so much love that even if I did suck they wouldn't have let me know it. Oh and I didn't tell my family that I was speaking so they were completely surprised when they saw me on stage. Anyways, I'm posting my speech for you all to read as well.

Enjoy!

UP 2007 Student Commencement Address
By Guillermo Jaimes - MA Urban Planning

Thank you Dr. Loukaitou-Sideris. I would like to start off by thanking the wonderful faculty that have imparted their wisdom on us for the last two years. The staff for answering our every question and making sure we would be able to graduate. And I want to thank and welcome the family and friends who have come to support this year's graduating class …and for all of you who have supported us throughout the last two years. Thank you. Bienvenidos y gracias
I guess I should have told my parents that I'd be speaking today, but I just couldn't resist giving the people sitting next to them a bit of a show as they sit there surprised and hopefully a little prouder. Y para mi Tata, espero que sabes que tanto te agradezco para todo su apoyo en este paso de mi vida.

I had to give this speech if only so my family could actually believe that I was not only graduating but that during all of those missed Sunday dinners and times I couldn't make it out to the family gatherings, I was actually studying or writing a paper and not just having wine and cheese parties in the computer lab or surfing the web for the latest youtube video, or weblog updates.….well some of that undoubtedly happened, but the point is I'm here…, we are all here today because our countless hours of hard work has finally paid off. Today we get to reflect on the progress we have made and look forward to the next stage in our lives.

I have to admit it's been a struggle to come up with a speech for this occasion. I've been recently reminded by some of my fellow classmates how important this is and the lingering effect that these words can have. Do I dwell on the past? Do I look for some all encompassing advice that will guide us in our future endeavors? Well I'm not sure that I can come up with some empowering statements or words of wisdom that will forever change your lives. I'll leave that for the after party tonight when after a few drinks everything I say will be genius…or at least that's what I'll think.

We often hear we shouldn't dwell on the past, but I'd like to do just that for a moment and step back to see what life was like back in 2005. I had a good job, went out most every weekend with my friends, could leave work at 5 pm and not worry about it until the next day….ah…the memories. Then grad school came and shook everything to pieces. But it was worth it.
On the first day of class I walked into that now infamous room 2355 only to be struck with a sense of awe and amazement. I was greeted by a room full of bright eyed, idealistic, intelligent and snappily dressed individuals, but we left as friends, as a community and as a family…a sometimes dysfunctional and incestuous family, but a family nonetheless.

I found on that first day of class a group of people that I knew I would share a bond with that would last far longer than the 2 years here at UCLA. I had met a group of individuals that were at once diverse, representing different academic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Yet they had certain qualities that could easily bind them together to form a unified group. Was it the way they walked?…with that air of confidence that they knew best how to run things be it a formal board meeting or a rowdy group of volunteers? Was it that sense of sophistication that one acquires form having collectively circumnavigated the globe several times over? Was it that everyone could just as easily spot the flaws in new urbanism as they could find the hottest nightspots in LA? Or was it that they were part of that select club of people who not only knew that LA had a subway…but they had actually ridden it, and now some will be working to expand it.

No, this group shared a deeper connection, one that transcends politics, religion or fashion. This group shared that deep passion for wanting to make the world a better place. They were the ones who though too young to actually remember John F. Kennedy's call for civil service back in the 60's took it to heart. Their idealism and optimism was very palpable then as it is today. Yet at the same time they had a very common sense approach to things, the knowledge that even the best ideas and plans still need to be implemented…and that is why we were here…not only because we believed we could make the world could be a better place, but we wanted to learn the tools that would allow us to do so.

And now on the day that marks the end of this leg of our academic journeys, I would like to leave you with some advice that I have gleamed from my classmates and professors

Be Creative:

Why else would we have joined a program as interdisciplinary as planning if we thought the world could be fit into some sort of box. The challenges we will face in our careers and in life will require fresh approaches. So expand your horizons, travel, pick up a hobby, be free to explore and just when you think you've figured things out, take a step back and see what other perspective you can take.

Be flexible

Not everything in life will go as planned. I'm sure we already knew that, but perhaps we can be reminded that when life throws us curve balls we should be prepared to face these challenges with a smile. I can thank Prof. Leo Estrada for always reminding me that.

Look at the big picture

We enter a world that is ever changing. A world where the city is no longer bounded by an easily defined city limit; so let's not limit ourselves to these arbitrary boundaries. The problems we will tackle as planners will cross multiple boundaries and we will need to use as wide a lens in order to fully understand what the consequences and benefits of our actions would be. I think Prof. Ed Soja would be pleased to know that he's imparted his regional thinking on me and many of us here. And though I could probably not come up with a word to describe this, I'm sure he could.

Tread lightly on the earth

This is the only world we have, so let's leave something for the next generation ok? I want to thank Prof. Stephanie Pincetl for challenging me to think critically about what it means to be environmental and what does the pursuit of sustainability mean. We need to be better at understanding what the consequences of our actions and inactions have so that we can live in a world that not only sustains our lives but our spirits.

Be compassionate

Know that the world continues to have an unequal distribution of resources. And we have now further alienated ourselves from the majority of the world's population by joining a very select group who hold advanced degrees. Let's be sure that we put the knowledge and skills we have learned to benefit those who have been denied the opportunities that we have.

Be fabulous

Urban planning was voted as one of the top five hottest jobs in 2007. According to fastcompany.com. We are the architecture of 2006, so always remember that when you are out in the world representing your profession. I hope that we can also live up to the fashion sense Professor Ligget inspired us with as well as her knowledge of regression analysis.

My fellow graduates. I hope that we can all take to heart the skills we have learned. And not forget that the accomplishments we have achieved in large part through the love and support of those around us and through the close bonds we have made with each other.

So congratulations Class of 2007, you've done it…now get out there and start making the world a better place.

Working in China...the details are starting to roll in

2007-05-15T06:26:00.000+08:00

It's official. I finally got some details on the kind of work I'll be doing in China. I'll be working with the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning's Water Resource and Environment Institute based in Beijing on a water system planning project for Miyun County. I still don't know what I'll actually be doing for them, but at least I know I'll be in Beijing and I'll be working on water issues, so I'm very excited about that. I'll keep you all posted as I hear more news about the assignment.

A journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step...

2007-05-08T06:23:00.000+08:00

And a trip around the world begins with a ticket to China. Yes, that's right folks, Andrea and I have finally bought our tickets to Beijing which will be the first leg on our trip around the world. After way too many hours researching flights and possible. options, Andrea in all her wisdom suggested we just by the ticket to Beijing and the ticket home so that we could concentrate on more important matters at hand, like trying to graduate in June. Once things get settled down we'll work on the full itinerary for our trip and fill you in on all the details. As of now we hope to hit up China, for at least 2 months, then make it over to India where Heidi will join us as we travel all over India and Nepal then fly over to London and explore a bit of Europe before heading back to LA in time for Christmas. Stay tuned for more details, and better yet, maybe we can see you somewhere along the way ;-)

Lima

2006-09-22T07:59:00.000+08:00

Before arriving in Lima I was told by pretty much anyone who had ever been to Lima that it’s not a pretty city and not much worth going to. Well after being here for less than 24 hours I think I’ll have to agree with them. The city has this grey sky that hangs over you sucking the life out of everything. Not to mention the lack of interesting architecture, haphazardly constructed buildings, wide streets and the general lack of color in most buildings. But the saving grace is that Marcel and I are staying with his cousin Fernando and his girlfriend Joysee.

They have been generous enough to let us stay with them during our 27-hour layover on our way to Los Angeles. It’s amazing how big a contrast there is from the poor areas to the better-kept areas. Even in the center of town where the presidential palace and cathedral are located you can see some very well preserved buildings, then you go around the corner and find streets and buildings in serious disrepair. Not to mention that as we strolled along this area no less than 7 people told us not to go any further because we would be robbed and that we should turn around and get back to the main plaza.

Well you don’t have to tell us more than seven times before we listen and decided we should head over to Miraflores, the part of town where the wealthy Peruvians and foreign tourists have also fled to. The streets are cleaner and fast food chains are abundant, from Starbucks to KFC.

Since Miraflores is on the coast we headed toward the ocean and were greeted with a spectacular view. From our vantage point the earth dropped down about 100 meters (~300ft) to a road that hugs the coast then a not so attractive beach. Because the ocean floor drops off quickly and the currents bring water from the south it leaves the waters much colder than you would expect for being as close to the equator. But we did see some brave (crazy) people surfing. Apparently there is good surf here.

Now we are just a few hours away from heading back on the plane and making the final leg of our journey home. I’m sure there is more charm to Lima than our little foray has allowed us to see. At the main plaza area we saw that there are plans to improve the public transportation system by building a section of underground bus way, a quasi-subway. The plans looked cool and it would be very interesting to see if this will help with the congestion and pollution. So maybe I’ll come back here again….maybe.

Até Logo Brasil

2006-09-20T22:56:00.001+08:00

My time in Brazil has finally come to an end. I'm now just waiting for my cab to take me to the bus station where I will catch a bus that will whisk me away to the airport. Ok so I probably still have quite a bit more time here, just not with an internet connection. I'll be making my way to LA via a couple of detours, a one day layover in Lima and then a couple of days with the family in Riverside (including a day at Disneyland ...woohoo!!).

I hope you've enjoyed reading these blogs as much as I've enjoyed writing them...actually I hope you enjoyed them more than that. I'm hoping that I'll be back here soon enough to finally do that elusive research I was hoping to do here. But I've learned so much with my experience here (Portuguese for one thing) and I've met some incredible people.

To my friends and family back in LA, I can't wait to see you soon. And to my new friends here in Brazil, I'm looking forward to coming back and seeing here or wherever in the world you happen to be.

So I won't say goodbye, just Até Logo (until later)

Tchau Gente,

I thought I would leave you wiht the picture that a friend of mine took on our trip to Rio. I think its a nice photo to close this series of blogs with. It's a shot of the Pão de Açucar with the full moon rising in the horizon.

Curitiba Day 3

2006-09-20T21:14:00.000+08:00

To sum up my Curitiba experience, there are a lot of cool things and cool ideas that have been implanted. But all these pieces don’t quite add up to a cohesive city. The architecture is reminiscent of many other Brazilian cities and the unique sites seem to have been plopped onto the ground with little attempt to be balanced with its surroundings. But Curitiba is definitely a livable city, often considered one of the most livable cities in Brazil. Though most of the guidebooks pretty much ignore this city or mention only the cool buses it merits more than a passing look. But I guess I’d be hard pressed to spend more time here too if my other options were Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Salvador.

I'll leave you with some pics of one of the many parks in Curitiba...this is the Parque Japones and was built to honor the Japanese heritage of this city

Curitiba Day 2

2006-09-20T21:09:00.000+08:00

On my second day here in Curitiba I decided to take the Linha Turismo (tourist bus line) that let’s you jump on and off a bus following a set route to check out interesting sights both in and around the city center. I was a bit disappointed when I found out these buses weren’t the same as the cool tube busses, but I definitely recommend this bus for any visitor to Curitiba. It rained all day today, so I zoomed through the outdoor sights spending only the 30-minute interval between when one tourist base dropped me off and the next would arrive to pick me up. The sites where still worth seeing and I wish I could have stayed at them longer under better weather conditions, but given my limited time schedule the poor weather probably let me see more things than I would have.

Traveling alone lets you do a whole lot of site seeing and take pictures of more things than you probably should. So I’ve posted a few of the more interesting pictures here and you can check out the rest of my pictures here

Rua das flores
A few streets in the city center have been set as pedestrian only thoroughfares. This gives a bit of a European feel to the city center.

Rua 24 horas

This interesting little spot was created by the city to generate a nightlife. As the name implies the street is open 24 hours. I dropped by here at around midnight and yes it was open, but not a whole lot other than an internet café, and some bars. But still a cool idea

Jardim Botânico

Museu Oscar Niemeyer

I love this building. The museum has a tiny bit about Oscar Niemeyer, the man who has pretty much designed every modern building in Brazil. The museum has modern art and other exhibits. But everything just seems like a pretense to have such a cool exterior.

Universidade Livre do Meio Ambiente

I still don’t know what this place does but the idea of a Free University for the Environment is really exciting. Even more so when you find out that it was opened up in 1992 with Jaques Cousteau around for the ribbon cutting ceremony. The best part of this site is that you feel like your walking through the jungle before leading you to a clearing with an impressive cliff and elaborate tree house type structure that houses the classrooms and offices of UNILVRE

Curitiba Day 1

2006-09-20T21:08:00.000+08:00

Arriving in Curitiba is like entering into some quasi-futuristic version of Brazil. There is a soft airport-ish voice that greets you in the bus terminal letting you know when the next bus is leaving and from which gate. Stepping out of the terminal I was greeted with a row of orange taxis all clean and efficient (perhaps it’s the German influence here).

But the most striking feature is of course the thing that has drawn many an urban planner to this town…the Bus Rapid Transit system. Yes just outside of the terminal there sits this beautifully crafted glass and steel tube that enter before getting onto the bus.

It’s just as efficient as all the textbooks say and you really feel as if this were some sort of above ground subway. You pay before entering the tube so that when the bus shows up everyone can just get off and get on in one fell swoop. No searching for the right change and holding up the line.

Seeing that I arrived at the semi-ungodly hour of 6am I was a bit surprised to see a decent amount of foot traffic on the city streets. Fortunately my hostel is only a few blocks away from the bus terminal so rather than immediately try out the cool buses, I decided to walk. I checked in and after having been given tons of advice on what to do in Curitiba I decided I should try to hit up the train to Paranaguá. So back to the bus terminal to buy my ticket for the train that leaves at 8am. Unfortunately the train only goes to Paranaguá on the weekends so I had to settle for a train to Morreta. The train still affords you some spectacular views, and I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Packing up…and procrastinating

2006-09-20T11:53:00.000+08:00

I’m packing up my stuff since I leave Brazil in about 16 hours. I’ve been trying to finish up some of the blogs that I started and I stumbled on some interesting articles on Brazil from the BBC online edition. Anyways, here are the articles to give you another view of Brazil. You can expect my completed blogs to follow in a few hours (hopefully).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5355692.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4468042.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4468070.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4460068.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4462914.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4464536.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5263384.stm

Goodbyes in Campinas

2006-09-19T04:55:00.001+08:00

Today turned out to be my last day of doing work in Campinas. I head out to Curitiba tomorrow and when I get back to Campinas on Monday all the people I’ve been working with will have taken off to a conference in Caxambu. So I had to say my goodbyes to the good friends I’ve made here. But I’m hoping to be able to come back here and actually be able to do the research I’ve been setting up.

Since I’m on the subject of my Campinas peeps, I feel remiss in that during the past 4 weeks I’ve been here I’ve neglected to inform you on all the good times I’ve had here and the really cool people I’ve met. So I’m finally uploading some photos. I’d also like to give a special thanks to Wilson for setting me up with my chique apartment in the center of Barrão Geraldo (its centrally located to both the bus terminal and the Mc Donald’s, what more could you ask for) and I had a consistent and fast internet connection which has let me be online so much (probably more than I should). Claudia, thanks for teaching me proper Portuguese, like “belhosa creosa” and “filar uma boia”, I’m constantly using those phrases. Roberto, my advisor here, thanks so much for your guidance and setting me up with contacts and resources. I’m really looking forward to working with you in the future. Rafael, Marcello, Simmone, Maísa, everyone, thanks for making my time in Campinas so much fun. And of course thanks to Maren and Stefan for showing me the ins and outs of Campinas, I’ll try to drop by Austin to visit you. Um Abração!

I can relate!

2006-09-14T23:00:00.000+08:00

I stumbled across this article by David Sedaris in the New Yorker (the online edition, so no I did not pick up a copy at the local newspaper stand in Barrão Geraldo). After reading this article 1) I couldn't stop laughing and 2) I could definitely relate to the author's musings on misunderstandings. So rather than bore you with one of my own banal examples, I thought I'd just include the link to the article and you can imagine it's me in Brazil (not Paris) and change the underwear story to something more trivial like inadverantly ordering an egg plant smoothy (which actually happened to Alexis but I was with him when it happend so I can claim it as my own).

Enjoy!

http://www.newyorker.com/shouts/content/articles/060918sh_shouts

Some Class Time

2006-09-14T12:38:00.000+08:00

I just finished listening to Profa. Dra. Lívia de Oliveira give a lecture entitled “OS ESTUDOS DE PERCEPÇÃO DO MEIO AMBIENTE NO BRASIL E A GEOGRAFIA HUMANISTA” (Studies of perception of the environment in Brazil and Humanistic Geography). The topic seemed interesting anhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifd when I saw that Profesora Oliveira was a sweet grandmotherly type woman (she actually looked a lot like my grandmother) I thought I’d be in for an interesting lecture. Well as it turns out the subject matter was completely over my head. You’d think that my Portuguese would be good enough by now to sit through this sort of lecture, but alas its not. Though I will have to say the acoustics were pretty bad in the room and she did speak softly so that everyone in the room had to crane their necks to hear the words she spoke. When the time came to ask questions I was stretching my brain to remember parts of here lecture that I could ask for further clarification but I couldn’t think of anything intelligible to say so I remained silent. Maybe some day I’ll figure out what she was talking about. Profesora Oliveira is one of the pioneers in the studies of geography in Brazil in addition to being prolific in her publications, though again, they are all in Portuguese...guess I need to do some more studying.

More Field Work!

2006-09-14T12:10:00.000+08:00

Today I got a chance to get out into the field and finally do a bit of research that is much more interesting than sitting behind a computer searching for pertinent articles. I went out to Americana to interview Katia Gotardi the director of the Environmental Education program from the Cosórcio Intermunicap das Bacias dos Rios Piracicaba, Capivari e Jundaí. Americana is a city located about an hour away from Campinas. The layout of the city looks typical of the region here with many buildings topping out at about 15 stories or so, giving it the impression of a larger city than you’d think for a city of 180,000 people. Here’s a unique bit of Americana history. Apparently Americana gets it’s name because the town is the sight where Americans from the South moved after having lost the Civil War. But I wasn’t here for the interesting history of the town. In my meeting with Katia, I learned more in the 2 hours talking with her about how water resources are management than I’ve learned in the last 3 weeks reading various articles and websites. She gave me books, pamphlets, dvd’s, stickers, magnets...more information than I know what to do with. I couldn’t help but get drawn into all these materials (many of which she also happened to co-author) and be amazed at how many resources there seems to be available dealing with environmental education and specific to the region’s water resources. Of course I still had some questions such as how does this information get distributed and the more intriguing question of how to ensure that all segments of society are involved. Unfortunately my head was spinning from all the information I had just received so I wasn’t able to formulate these questions until after I had already left her office. Fortunately Katia has offered to answer any questions I have by email so I should get my answers soon enough.

Back from Rio….why?

2006-09-12T09:39:00.000+08:00

I’m back from my trip to Rio and all I can think is why did I leave??? Finally getting to see Rio with some sun is quite amazing. I mean I loved Rio before for its scenery, its easy pace of life and cool architecture, but add the sun and beautiful beaches and who would want to leave? Because I took care of many of the points of interest on my last trip I was able to just relax on the beach and soak up some badly needed sun. Last week was pretty cold here in Campinas so I definitely welcomed the change of climate. But being that its still technically winter down here I was even more fortunate to not have to deal with humidity so we had on average 80 degree F temperatures during the day and about low 70’s at night.

I took the bus from Campinas and met up with the rest of the exchange students at the Rio bus terminal. There were about 15 of us…I think, but I was staying with Alexis, Caroline, and Justin at the Ipanema Beach House (thanks to Caroline’s suggestion), while the rest of the crew was staying at some other hotel between Ipanema and Copacabana Beach. The Ipanema Beach House turned out to be the best hostel I’ve ever stayed at. Not only was it situated just a few blocks from the beach, but it had a really cool vibe and great staff and really cool assortment of guests from all over Brazil and the world.

Of course our Rio excursion started off with a bus trip from the terminal to the hostel that none of us has remembered to write down the address or phone number to. Fortunately I had a couple of cross streets and since Caroline had actually stayed there before we figured the bus would be the ideal way to get there especially since we were in no hurry. Well our bus driver was super energetic. Since I’ve been here almost two months now I feel my Portuguese has improved dramatically, but I could hardly understand anything this bus driver was saying. He was speaking so fast and he just seemed like he couldn’t stay still for one minute. Even during our ride into town, it seemed like at every stop light he would leave the driver seat and chat us up, then race back to his seat once the light turned green. He was friendly though, helping us with our bags on and off the bus and making sure we got to the exact corner that we asked to be dropped off.

Well having so many friends in town comes in handy when you are trying to make it to the top of the Pão de Açucar (also known as Sugar Loaf-the other famous mountain peak attraction that provides an amazing view of Rio) in time for the sunset and you are at the other end of the beach. We were fortunate enough to meet the other group of exchange student at the front of the line for the teleférico (cablecar) and skip the hour-long line so that we could be zipped up to the top of the mountain just in time to see the sun set over Rio. The view was breath taking. And if that wasn’t enough we happened to be there on a clear night with the full moon that shown over the city. This was truly a magical experience. Unfortunately my battery ran out after I snapped a few pictures of the sunset so I’m waiting to get some pictures that my friends took.

Well my time is starting to wind down over here. So I’ll be taking one more trip in Brazil and hope to finally make it to Curitiba this weekend, then a quick trip to Sao Paulo to say goodbye to my new friends and then a couple of days in Campinas to wrap things up before heading out. Wow, just 9 days to do all that…I think I’m already a little tired.

Here are a few more pics to get a better taste of Rio! Até logo!

Heading back to Rio

2006-09-06T12:14:00.000+08:00

I'm determined to enjoy a little bit of sun in Rio before I leave Brazil, so I'm heading back during the holiday weekend coming up. Brazil's Independence Day is on Sept. 7 so the 7th and 8th are national holidays. A bunch of my friends from the language class are heading out to Rio so I've decided to postpone my trip to Curitiba (the Valhalla for Urban Planners...or at least Bus Rapid Transit enthusiasts). I checked the weather and it looks like I might be in luck. It's been pretty chilly here in Campinas so I'll be looking forward to relaxing on the beach sipping my caipirinha.

I think I finally understand…or at least I thought I did!

2006-09-06T11:52:00.000+08:00

Sorry for leaving you all in the dark for the last couple of weeks. Since I’ve started my routine of going to UNICAMP to do my research I just haven’t been getting the urge to write. But I’ve gotten the urge back and I’ll update you on what’s been going on. I’ve been immersing myself in the subject of water resources and public participation in Brazil. Before arriving in Brazil I thought issues of race and inequality would be a rather straightforward concept. I’ve since realized that there are so many nuances here that I could hardly wrap my brain around. That coupled with my virtual ignorance of Brazilian water resources and public participation history has left me spinning my wheels for the last couple of weeks. The first step out of this black hole has bee acknowledging that I’ve been looking at the role of public involvement in Brazil through a set of American eyes. For one, issues of race and class are quite different here. Back in LA I’ve been looking at how to involve Latinos into environmental decision-making. The basic thought behind that is that as Latinos have grown in numbers and in political strength there have been movements on various sides to involve Latinos in the political process. This involvement is an attempt to better represent the interests of the community as a whole by having representatives that better reflect the community. Since Latinos have historically been under represented this movement has for the most part been viewed as a positive goal.

Here in Brazil issues of race are not seen as important. The national ideal is that Brazilians are a mixture of African, European and Amerindian heritage, in addition to the significant presence of Asians and people of middle-eastern heritage. Because of this mixing people don’t refer to issues of inequality in terms of race or ethnicity but rather on class. This complicates matters when you are trying to involve historically disadvantaged groups and their only common denominator is that they are poor, or that they live in a certain “barrio”.

Though for someone like me who has been well versed in the ideas of racial politics it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to ignore the effects that race has on issues of inequality. Additionally from my experience in Mexico which is supposed to be a Mestizo society of Indian and Spanish heritage we see plenty of instances of inequalities that result because of this false notion of total “Mestizaje” or pure mixture. This notion makes it easy to ignore the needs of Indigenous communities and other minorities such as the often overlooked African population leaving these groups vulnerable to exploitation and lacking in services.

But even the example of Mexico does little to shed light on the complexities that Brazil presents. In the brief time I’ve been here just walking around I’ve seen the stark contrast from many parts of this country where if you are in the “chique” parts of town you notice mostly European descendents walking around, yet when you go to the favellas or other more modest areas you see a much broader representation of people of color. I’ve also observed African descendents holding fewer positions of authority compared to their numbers in the total population. But again things get tricky in trying to show this through data since there is a very large mixed population where you would have to figure out how much African heritage leads to a disadvantaged group. This adds to complicate matter s for me here so I’ve decided to drop this for now. But I hope to come back and look at these issues more in depth in the near future.

First public meeting

2006-09-06T06:45:00.000+08:00

Since I’m researching public participation in water resource management here, my advisor suggested I attend this open meeting held by the watershed committee. These meetings are held as a part of a way to involve the public in the management of water resources. So I was excited to finally be out in the field and step outside of my little workstation. First I had to figure out how to get the meeting. It was being held in a smaller city outside of Campinas. I found out that I would need to take 3 buses to get there...great. So I left my house at 7 am, and headed for the bus terminal. I caught my bus into Centro Campinas then had to find a bus to take me to Jaguariuna. After a bit of asking around I found where I could catch my next bus. Once in Jaguariuna I found my bus to Pedreira. All I had was an address and the name of the building where the meeting was being held. So I figured since it’s a small town people would know how to get there. No one on the bus was able to help me out so I ended up taking the bus to the terminal and hoping to just grab a cab. No cabs. I asked around and was told to head down a road and make a left at some marker that I wasn’t exactly sure I’d be able to find. I eventually made it to the meeting about an hour late and a full 3 hours after I had left my house….hmmm…so much for easy public participation.

When I got there I signed in and took a seat. Since my Portuguese isn’t the greatest I wasn’t able to understand a whole lot of what was being said. But I did catch that there were only two committee members that seemed to monopolize the conversations. That and there really wasn’t any space for public comments. Motions were raised with some explanation by either the counsel president or the vice president then he asked for any objections…no one spoke…approved. This went on for several motions without any one from the audience making a comment or any sort of discussion. There were a few people that got up to speak, but I couldn’t tell if they were other committee members or from some nonprofits. In any case it seemed like all the decisions had been made before this meeting and I was observing some sort of formality. I did meet a woman, Katia Rossi Gotardi, from the Cosórcio Intermunicap das Bacias dos Rios Piracicaba, Capivari e Jundaí, where she on environmental education. Katia is very familiar with the committee’s work so I’m hoping to set up a meeting with her soon.

On my way back home I flagged down a bus and asked the driver if he was going to Jaguariuna (the town I needed to get to get back to Campinas), he said yes, so I hopped on. I noticed however that there were only men on the bus and everyone was wearing these white polo shirts. I took my seat and as we made our way we stopped and picked up more guys wearing white polo shirts with some sort of logo on them. I thought to myself, did I just join a cult? Well we eventually made it to the bus terminal and I asked the driver how much I owed him. He caught my thick accent and asked where I was from. I said the US, and then he just shook my hand and said that was all I owed him. That was strange yet pleasant end to my little fieldwork adventure.

Campinas life

2006-08-21T22:07:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I have finally, finally started to do some work. I’m working with Roberto Luiz do Carmo and will be looking at popular participation in regards to water resources in Campinas. I found a bunch of articles that I need to read and I’m developing my workplan. But in the few days that I’ve been in town I did some wandering and thought I’d show you a few points of interest. Though UNICAMP is in Campinas, its located in a part of town called Barrão Geraldo which is located about 15 minutes from the center of Campinas. Here the McDonalds functions as the main point of reference, so I just look for the golden arches to orient myself.

There also seems to be a few types of establishments that dominate this part of town, Pet shops/Veterinarian offices, bars, and real estate offices.

There is a clear difference between life in Campinas and São Paulo. Some times while walking around I have to do a double take and ask myself, where am I? Here cars are the primary form of transportation, which is a bit tough for me since I don’t have one. There are busses that circulate, though not as frequently, and many establishments here seem to follow the same suburban planning as in the states complete with parking lots and drive-thrus. This mainly applies to life in Barrao Geraldo, as the center of Campinas looks like it could be another section of Sao Paulo. I'll post some pics for center Campinas in a future post.

Weekend Getaway—Ouro Preto

2006-08-19T01:25:00.000+08:00

Belo Horizonte is the third largest city in Brazil, and though I am sure there are plenty of points of interest, we didn’t find many. But one of the biggest claims to fame for Belo Horizonte is that it’s the gateway to some very cool old mining towns. Maren and I got a chance to visit Ouro Preto, which means black gold. The UN has named the city a World Heritage Site. This designation basically means that everything in the city must be frozen in time, or at least their façades have to. Maren and I toured more churches than I can remember and it seemed that every few feet we stopped to snap some photos. It’s hard to resist when the entire town can be made into a postcard. Well I would try to describe all the sites that we saw, but I can’t remember them all, so I’ll just post the pics that best captured our visit. Though unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the churches from the inside, which is a shame since some of them were exquisite with gold leaf baroque adornments and walls and ceiling paintings depicting biblical scenes. Of course I should also mention the various statues that were made with real human hair, well lonely planet thought it was interesting.

A cool bit of Ouro Preto history is that there was a guy named Chico Rey who was an African king that had been captured along with his whole tribe and sold to work in the mines in Ouro Preto. Apparently he managed to earn enough money to buy his freedom and worked to free his entire tribe. The Church of Santa Efigenia is one of the last bits that remain of this history. Unfortunately we got there when it was closed.

One last bit of trivia, apparently Ouro Preto had a bought with phantom robbers. So the townspeople built this shrines that were intended to scare away these ghosts. I have to say I was sadly disappointed when I came across one of these few remaining shrines. Maybe they were more impressive at one time….maybe.

Weekend Getaway – Belo Horzonte

2006-08-17T22:40:00.000+08:00

Just a short 8 hour bus ride away from Sao Paulo you arrive in the first planned city in Brazil, Belo Horizonte. Well from looking at the map you can easily see that the city has easily outgrown it’s humble origins and the planned portion encompasses barely a fraction of the current extent of the city.

After arriving in Belo Horizonte, Maren and I attempted to find the bus that would take us to our hostel. You’d think it would be easy making our way around the well laid out grid pattern, but with the diagonal streets that transverse the grid we were soon disoriented and ended up meandering about the town. Luckily our meandering lead us to some cool spots, include the Parque Municipal, which has a small lake where you can rent rowboats. How could we pass that up?

We eventually made it to our hostel and met these two Brazilian guys that joined us in our daylong wandering. With few points of interest mentioned in the Lonely Planet Brazil guidebook we opted to head for the Mercadao, the municipal market for Belo Horizonte. There you can pick up everything including leather goods, cachaça candies or a new puppy. I opted for the candies.

The Mercadao also serves as a gathering spot for people to socialize with friends over beer, so of course we had to join in the fun.

To round off our time in Belo Horizonte, we headed out to Pumpulha. We walked through this cool ecological reserve. Maren had a bit of a mistep and nearly lost her shoe to the receding lake.

This part of town also boasts a museum designed by famed Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. Though we weren’t able to get to the museum we were able to see a cool looking church. But I am still not sure if Oscar Niemeyer designed it.

Campinas nightlife

2006-08-12T01:01:00.000+08:00

Campinas definitely has a college town feel to it. There aren’t a lot of options for going out here, which in some way makes your choice fairly easy. Last night Marcel and I hung out with Stefan and Maren, two University of Texas students who are part of the same program that brought Marcel and I to Brazil. They have been doing research in Campinas for the last couple of months so they’ve been kind enough to show us around town and give us the scoop on life in Campinas. We started off with drinks at Star Clean, which is a car wash/ bar/luncheonette. It was packed with students from UNICAMP since its sits just outside of the campus and there aren’t many other options in the vicinity aside from the McDonalds. Later in the evening it was off to this very cool restaurant where the waiters were dressed in 1920’s garb complete with bow tie and cuffley caps . The food was excellent and the prices are substantially lower here than in Sao Paolo. I’ll leave you with a bit of Campinas trivia that I learned. Apparently Campinas was larger than Sao Paulo at one time in its history and was poised to become the capital of Sao Paulo state, if it weren’t for an unfortunate outbreak of the plague that decimated the population. I guess some things just weren’t meant to be.

Campinas….Finally

2006-08-12T00:47:00.000+08:00

I arrived in Campinas on August 7 for the conference on municipal governance. I had originally thought this would be a large regional conference with people from various agencies and organizations, but it turned out to be a gathering of academics from UNICAMP and the University of Texas. This was not bad; I just had a very different set of expectations. Many of the presentations focused on comparisons between the greater Austin municipal region and the greater Campinas municipal region. Campinas is very different from Sao Paulo. There is a suburban feel to the city. Plus the campus is located on the outskirts of Campinas, which gives you a further sense that you are in a rural setting. But I do like the change of pace here. I spoke with a researcher here and it looks like I’ll be helping him out with some research on public participation around water issues. He even gave me a book and a CD-Rom to look to familiarize myself with the work he is doing. So it looks like I’ll be back on Monday to start working. But in the meantime one of the UT students who is also doing exchange work in Campinas asked if I wanted to join her on a trip to Belo Horizonte. How could I pass that up?

Sao Paulo Gastronomic Adventure

2006-08-12T00:41:00.000+08:00

Some time ago I heard that Sao Paulo is the gastronomic capital of the world. After spending my Sunday exploring the city with Marcel I would have to absolutely concur with that statement. Our day started off with a stop at the Mercadao, it’s a large enclosed market that dates back from the 1920’s. In there you can find a wide assortment of fruits and vegetables, meats, fish, spices and of course lots of delicious prepared foods. One of the big draws here is the Mortadella Sandwich. I’m not exactly sure what mortadella is in English, but its incredibly delicious. Fortunately I’ve got some pictures for you. After gorging on this sandwich, it was time for dessert. With some baklava, then more desert with the chocolate covered strawberries. Topped that off with some diced watermelon and of course the ever present sucos (freshly made fruit juices).

The other motive for our Sunday wandering was to check out the section of the city where a proposed BRT (bus rapid transit) line is slated to go through. Marcel is working on this project so I tagged along, as he wanted to get a feel for what sorts of impacts the project will have on the community. Marcel has informed me there is a large Bolivian population here, about 100,000 legal and another 150,000 undocumented. So as we walked around I was able to spot Bolivians all around. I think I even heard some Quechua spoken. I had hoped to find a Bolivian restaurant, but no luck.

Our walking tour ended with a stop at this bar called Café Bichega. They had live music. This bar was located on a strip filled with other similar type bars that have live music or other performances. Finally walking home we stumbed on the Itallian festival.

Rio getaway

2006-08-11T03:45:00.000+08:00

Language class is over and my work is still not set. So I’ve taken off for a few days to Rio with Chinyere, Gaetan, and Alexis. We arrived on August 2, on the night bus from Sao Paulo, which only took 6 hours. The weather has turned to be more winter-like which does not make for the ideal time to visit Rio, but there are still plenty of sites to be seen. Our first day in Rio involved walking on the famed Copacabana beach in the rain. It’s hard to believe but even with this less than perfect weather the scenery is so amazing that we were compelled to brave the elements.

After hours of walking around, we ended up at a shopping mall where we were hoping to see a free concert of Brazilian Rock, unfortunately when we got there, there was no concert to be found. At the end of our long day, we set out an itinerary to hit up some points of interest in Rio. Alexis took charge as our tour guide by mapping out the most efficient route for us to see all main points of interest up in Centro Rio. Here are some of the pictures we took.

The city is amazing. It is much older than Sao Paulo and you can definitely feel it. People also seem to be more laidback up here and they are more diverse with a stronger African presence than we’ve seen in Sao Paulo. I don’t remember the names of all the places we visited, but there were a lot of churches including this really cool church that was built in the 1970’s with some amazing stained glass windows. But of course, no trip to Rio is complete without a visit to Corcovada, the hill with the giant Jesus. Though I must remind you that the largest freestanding statue of Jesus stands in the slightly less exciting city of Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Going out Sao Paulo Style

2006-08-01T11:05:00.000+08:00

I went out the other night for some drinks at the Sky Restaurant. It’s located on the top floor of the Hotel Unique. I had heard it has a great view of the city but I was amazed when I got to the top and saw the lights of the city glittering all around me. I felt like I was in the middle of Central Park looking out at the skyline. The pictures I took can hardly capture this impressive view. The drinks were overpriced but I will definitely have to go back. The building itself is also impressive. It’s shaped like a watermelon or a ship, depending on your perspective.

Global Warming

2006-07-29T08:03:00.000+08:00

I’ve seen the news that the US and Europe have experiencing record heat waves . Well I must add to the list of record high temperatures. I’ve been told that Sao Paulo has been experiencing the highest temperatures on record for the month of July, which is of course the winter down here. The weather has seen highs in the 80’s. But even at night the temperature has stayed in the mid 70’s. Now this may not quite compare to the 100+ temperatures some of you may have been feeling, but for a city that has average winter temperatures in the 50’s this is definitely an abnormal occurrence. Perhaps this is more evidence of global warming.

Prison to park

2006-07-29T07:43:00.000+08:00

The name Carandiru was once synonymous with one of Brazil’s most notorious prisons. So when Marcel said there was a park at that sight I knew I had to go there. Of course the biggest selling point is that within the park there is free canopy zip lining. The park is called Parque de Juventud. The subway stop still carries the name of Carandiru which at this point it the line the subway becomes an elevated rail system giving you great view of this section of the city. Most of my explorations have gone I have a general destination with no real idea of where we needed to go. So as I walked with Alexis, Justin and Caroline we asked a few people if they knew where the entrance to the park was. The general rule is to ask three people and hope that at least two of their stories match up. Though all the people we asked gave us the same general direction they all gave us slight variations. But we trudged forward and found ourselves passing by a large housing complex that definitely gave the impression of a favela, though it looked nicer than what I would imagine a favela would look like. After walking close to 2 kilometers we noticed the neighborhood quickly change from these dodgy housing projects to a more upscale area complete with auto dealerships. Then finally we stumbled on an entrance to the park. It looked like a park you might see in some suburb back in the US complete with a skate park.

Though the heavy presence of security officers certainly leaves one wondering what the reasons are for the heavy police presence.

We entered the park and sticking out like sore thumbs with our tourist attire and taking pictures of everything. This led to our first taste of the security system.

After Justin and I took some pictures at the skate park I noticed that a security officer was checking us out then radioed someone. We continued on and another officer approached us and asked us if we were journalists or researchers approached us. I quickly said were just tourists so the officer just warned us about having our cameras out because of thieves and welcomed us to Brazil. Its interesting that at this point in my time in Brazil I see the presence of how the government exerts its control and where. Why was there no police presence in the government housing yet the park was rife with uniformed officers checking out everyone that entered the park. Also why did he care if we were journalists or researchers? I wonder if it’s part of the government’s attempts to control how the image of a site with such an infamous history is being portrayed abroad.

Aside from the security presence I was also struck by the fact that the people using the park were certainly not from the neighborhood we passed by earlier. It’s been challenging for me to get my brain around the concept of race relations in Brazil. Since I’ve been living in a part of town that is much more “chic” you don’t see many people begging on the street nor do you get the sense that poverty exists in the high numbers that you hear of. You would also be left with the impression that Sao Paulo is mostly made up of European descendents. The park patrons are mostly lighter skinned and the housing project residents were mostly darker skinned. It’s quite an eye opening experience. Yet because you definitely see exceptions to this rule it’s hard to say that racism the way we think about it in the states exists here.

I have some pictures of the park for you to see just how much of a beautifully designed park it is. Elements have been left from the original prison including the wall and some structures that definitely remind you that something more ominous once stood there. But beyond that you see that the park is still some sort of a prison because it is walled in from the community that surrounds it. When we got the end of the park with the tree canopy zip-lining we found out that they only allow 4 groups of 15 a day. So we will have to go back again.

Since this was a park I had to leave my urban planning mind for at least a little while and actually take advantage of the green space. So before leaving the park we took some time to do some yoga and a few cartwheels. It felt so good to move around some and feel some grass and see trees. We were leaving the park when we realized there was an exit that was only 100 meters from the subway station entrance. I’m still glad we took the long way, because sometimes the short cuts make you miss out on the bigger picture.

Work, work, work…

2006-07-28T20:28:00.000+08:00

I've gotten a few emails from, my professor Susanna Hecht from UCLA who has been coordinating my work here, and its sounding more and more like go to Campinas. It sounds like the work like the work being done over there is more related to what I want to do, so since I haven't found a place yet I might end up going out there. I'll keep you posted on how that develops.

Since I’ve been having difficulty signing on to the internet I’ve been writing my blogs offline and trying to post them with pictures when I get access to some wireless internet or find an internet café that can read my USB jump drive. I’ve also figured out how to let people comment on this blog without having to be members, so feel free to comment away, just try to keep it clean. ;-)

Sunday Stroll

2006-07-26T02:55:00.000+08:00

Here are some pics of my random walking tour of the city. Sundays most everything is closed so it’s kind of eerie to see empty streets and very few cars on the road. I wasn’t sure where everyone went on Sundays but it seems like many folks head for the many open-air markets that abound in this city. The markets are know as “ferias” and are packed with people walking up and down eating good food and shopping for everything from handicrafts to antiques, and jewelry.

Besides the ferias I stumbled on (3 within an hour of walking) I stumbled on a cultural center that was rife with environmentally sustainable features. Everything from a green roof, multiple recycling cans, plenty of natural lighting and many more features. I’ve learned that cultural centers like this one abound in this city and offer free cultural events including movies, live music and art exhibitions. Various industry associations generally fund these cultural centers. I’m hoping to take advantage of these free cultural events since everything else in this town seems to be bleeding my pocket book.

But one of the coolest sights on this day is that some roads are closed to automobiles so the pedestrians take over walking their dogs or riding their bikes. I could just imagine shutting down Wilshire Blvd for the day…ah.

Home…at least temporarily,

2006-07-26T02:44:00.000+08:00

I still have not found a place to stay so I’m at this hotel, which doesn’t exactly leave me with a sense of being home. But Friday night hanging out with my fellow classmates really helped me to feel like I was home. We got together for Gaetan’s birthday. Of course this had to be done Brazilian style so a bunch of us met up for a drink at the corner bar/loncheria. The cool thing about these places is that it’s a place where people gather from the neighborhood everynight and socialize. You don’t have to drink beer because you can get a suco (juice/smoothie) or you can also buy food. After the pre party dining/drinking we walked across the street to Gaetan’s place. As soon as he opened the door to the apartment he was sharing with some Brazilians, it looked like we were stepping into some swanky bar lounge. There were vinyl records arranged on the walls, antique tin cans hanging from the ceiling and of course velour couches, red-lighting and a wet bar in the middle of the living room. We’ve only been here a week but this night we bonded. It felt like we had all known each other for ages. No one brought their camera, including myself, so no pictures were taken. This was probably a good thing since our attempt to practice the Brazilian method for checking testing sobriety, which involves standing on one leg and forming a figure 4, led to some yoga poses and a eventually a handstand… so of course we were sober….right?

Friendly Brazilians

2006-07-26T02:39:00.000+08:00

I’ve been baffled in my attempt to understand how on one hand there is this perception that Sao Paulo is a dangerous city yet still I’ve had a few experiences where I’ve been completely amazed with how friendly people are here. On several occasions Brazilians and foreigners alike have warned me that I need to be careful in Brazil. The other day I had my camera out in an Information Kiosk when an older Brazilian woman approached me and warned me that pickpockets would snatch my camera so I had better put it away. Then the other night Marcel and I were trying to find the Shopping Frei Caneca, which we weren’t sure how to get to. When we asked the first person that walked by us if she knew how we could get there. Instead of giving us directions she just said she would walk us there since she had nothing else to do and wanted to go for a walk anyways. In the states when I think of a place that is considered unsafe I don’t think of random strangers taking time to show you around or stopping to talk to you at great length then wish you farewell.

Shopping here is also a different experience. It’s taken me a while notice, but it seems like shopping, at least in Sao Paulo, doesn’t involve the hard sell. When Marcel and I walked into a store that sells wine and cachaça, after having a brief conversation with the salesman about cachaça we asked we asked him to recommend a really good bottle of cachaça he showed us a bottle that cost R$20 even though there was a R$400 bottle right next to it. It really is nice to shop like this even if the prices are still higher than I was expecting.

2006-07-26T02:18:00.000+08:00

Vila Madalena

Thanks to the suggestion from Marcel to visit Vila Madalena I was able to get a taste of the uber chic part of town. We weren’t quite sure what we would expect. All we had heard was that this was the new hip spot of town with swanky shops and bars. Not knowing where your going can make it difficult to ask how to get there. We eventually took a cab after several people we asked weren’t quite sure where to direct us. The cab left us in the middle of this long steep street that had very cool shops interspersed between some very beautiful homes. The street we were on had many shops specializing in wooden products. I just hope these aren’t contributing to the destruction of the rainforest. Though I didn’t ask too many questions lest I ruin my experience. After getting down to the bottom of the hill we stumbled on an alley that was covered in graffiti art. We found a sign showing that this project was funded by Boston bank, though I don’t much else about this project other than it is quite amazing. The pictures speak for themselves, but for an added sense of how impressive it was you can check out the video on youtube.

Day 3

2006-07-22T03:59:00.000+08:00

A bit more settling in. I just found out that the school we are taking the language classes has wireless internet…woohoo! This is a really good thing since I’ve been having trouble finding an internet café. Well today we finally took care of activating our cell phones. It was quite a sight about 10 foreigners invading the Tim office asking how to take advantage of a deal that gives us 500 free minutes of calling within the Tim network. That’s more than I pay for my cell plan back in the States and a lot fewer minutes. But the funny thing was that I was acting as translator for two of my fellow classmates one from Bulgaria and one from Hungary. It was quite a site to see me translate in my broken Portuguese but it seemed to work out all right. And in the end I learned everything about the Tim service network and their plans, so I think I will have to just get a job with them.

The prices here are quite a bit more than I expected. The exchange rare is R$2.2 for $1. But all the prices just seem to be higher. My last few meals have cost me R$12 for a modest amount of food (I miss those Bolivian prices). I will have to do some more exploring because I know there are cheaper food options around, just not in my area.

Well I did find a deal this evening which was a bowl of Yakisoba for only R$2.50. And it was quite good. Or course there was a heaping dose of MSG, but hey, that just makes it better.

Day 2

2006-07-22T02:27:00.001+08:00

I’ve now been in Brazil for just under 48 hours yet it feels like I’m getting more and more settled. Today I took care of some very basic necessities like getting my cell phone to work here. I bought my phone partly because it was advertised as a GSM phone, which can be used most anywhere in the world. Of course theory always works better than practice, so when I went to the cell phone carrier I thought it would be just as easy as buying a new chip for my phone, unfortunately my cell phone was blocked from using other carriers’ chips. Fortunately since I started my language course I was able to take advantage of the experience of my fellow classmates who are all going through the same processes of settling in. MaFe (Maria Fernandez) told me where I could go to get my phone unblocked for just a mere R$50, which is about $22. It worked and I was well on my way to getting connected to my temporary new home. Now on tomorrow’s task list is to leave the hotel I am in, the Formule 1. It sounded like a good deal at first but given my budget I can’t exactly afford to stay here for too long, plus as much as Marcel and I get along, this is a very small room, and the idea of switching the bunk beds we are in every night is not looking very appealing. So for the same price we are each paying for this double, we will be moving to another hotel and each get our own room. Or course this is also just a temporary situation since we are hoping to find out in the next couple of days whether we will be able to stay in Sao Paulo or if we will have to move to Campinas. As if the trouble we had just to get here wasn’t enough, now we are stuck in a bit of limbo not knowing if where we will be. So we are just taking it all in stride and since its all new to me I don’t mind going off to Campinas if that’s the case. But a bit of good news did come when we found out that we will be here long enough to take a class though again its uncertain if we will do that in Sao Paulo or Campinas.
Aside from that we were given a tour of the campus at FGV and its pretty cool.
Now the Portuguese class has been going well. I met a bunch of other international students so it’s like making an instant group of friends. Of course since we are all here for a cultural exchange I will need to mix it up and start meeting more Brazilians.

First day in Brazil

2006-07-18T10:13:00.000+08:00

The first blog is always the easiest. The hard part will come when I try to keep filling these virtual pages with at least semi-interesting content (though I hope it will be more than that). Now the impetus for this blog is my recent arrival in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I’ll be spending nine weeks here doing research on an environmental issue related to planning. The details have not been fully worked out yet, but I hope to get that nailed down by this week. I’m in Brazil as an exchange student from UCLA and will be working with the Fundação Getulio Vargas (or FGV for short).

I’m traveling with Marcel, a fellow classmate of mine and we arrived this morning in Sao Paulo safe and sound. Thanks in large part to Helen for saving me from my transportation drama yesterday morning and getting me to the airport in time to catch my flight (um abraço muito grande).

Our first foray into Brazil began with renting a car and driving ourselves from the São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport into the city center. I was surprised that e driving here wasn’t as hectic as I had feared, though my Marcel did the driving since I just don’t think I could be aggressive enough. On our drive into town I could see signs for a major river project that has been underway to improve the Tietê River, which flows along the northern edge of Sao Paulo. I’m hoping to do some research on this project and see to what extent this project is being integrated with broader water resource management. I’m also hoping that as I learn more about this project I can see what comparisons if any can be made to the work being done along the Los Angeles River in my home town.

Once we arrived in the city I was taken aback with how clean the city is. The air seems relatively clean and the streets are pretty clean. I know this is a relative judgment that I am making based on comparing the parts of Sao Paulo I’ve visited so far with other cities I’ve been to including Mexico City, Cairo, and Bangkok. I’ve also been struck by the absence of the destitute poverty that one hears of about Brazil. And contrary to all the warnings I’ve heard, I felt very safe walking around the city and felt welcome to ask random strangers questions on how to get around the city, which they all responded to with a friendly smile and without a complaint about my very broken Portuguese. Now I have not been to the favelas or any part near those areas and I’ve only been here one day so I may have to revise these observations over the next two months that I’ll be spending here. I also hope to figure out what has set Sao Paulo apart from the aforementioned cities.

Well that’s about as much blogging for one day. I’ll keep you posted on other interesting things I find out, and hope to dispel some more myths in the process.

Abraços,

Guillermo