....or lack thereof. The roads are full of potholes (even though there is never any frost). The main bridge is one lane each way -- and it takes 6 hours to clear if a car breaks down. Buses are remaindered buses from all over Asia. I literally saw one from Osaka Japan. The buses have their original markings. People wait and wait for buses at many corners; the buses come in all all sizes. At these bus stops, ther are also various sizes of trucks with benches under a canvas covering that stop. They fit more than 100 in a small bus, and probably close to that in and hanging off the back of a small truck. We did not travel by local buses, but some students and life-long learners took overnight buses to some of the outlying areas.
There is electricity in town. The spaghetti/birdnest tangle of wires that passes for an electricity delivery system is even more tangled than in Vietnam. For pay phones, on the street a vender will have a couple of old phones sitting on a TV-tray sized table, and you can pay to make a call.
All the registered taxis have red license plates, making it easy to see if you are getting an "official" taxi. Before getting in, you say where you are going and negotiate a price. In the city (a city of a few million, with almost no high rises), $1 to $3 takes you most everywhere. With our Servas day host, we took a ride of more than an hour to an outlying area, the driver waited for our visit, and then took us back, dropping us at the museum before taking her home. Total cost was $12 (which I paid).
Water. Don't even think about drinking it. After washing my hands and drying them on my pants, I used hand sanitizer too.
Cooking -- a lot of the street cooking was charcoal. Heating -- not really necessary.
Garbage pick-up. It must not exist in the outlying areas. Near an outlying market we saw a foundation being dug for a house -- the first 15 inches of excavation was through dirt mixed with trash. In outlying areas, we saw people sweeping up the trash and lighting the piles of trash on fire.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Downtown Ho Chi Min City
There are thousands of overloaded motorbikes (scooters). The wires overhead are somewhere between spaghetti and a bird's nest -- a complete tangle at every pole. Essentially no traffic lights. Sidewalks covered in parked motorbikes, bicycles and food stands. To open a restaurant, it looks like youjust need a low plastic table and 4 small plastic chairs (child sized). Or maybe you just serve food off a platter or hibachi with no chairs at all.
The colonial cathedral was built with imported bricks -- not so interesting to me. The colonial Post Office was much more interesting. Also built from bricks, with very high ceilings, a spacious interior, and ceiling fans to keep it cool. Because the workers are federal employees, the women are wearing Vietnamese traditional outfits -- a long form-fitting dress.
I had checked it out the day before I tried to mail things. I took the items to the back counter where I filled out a long form in pen for each of the 3 boxes. Then they put the things into boxes in front of me. Each box was wrapped with yards and yards (or, probably, meters and meters) of tape. Then I was directed to another counter where a woman took all the information from my written form and typed it onto a new form -- more than 5 minutes for each. When she gave me the total, I was a bit short on Vietnamese money -- not to worry -- they have a money exchange counter right there in the Post Office.
One of the boxes has already arrived in America, so the Post Office project seems to have been at least partially successful.
One morning we went to the downtown "wet market" -- live fish, including a large one flopping around on the floor, were interspersed with leafy vegetables wetted down to keep them fresh. Parts of dead animals were laid out in baskets and were hung from racks. Most parts I was familiar with from the Italian markets in South Boston during my undergraduate days, though I never saw pig breast tissue before though. Tofu and noodles were also in this section, along with a bin of silkworms (not alive). It seemed perfectly acceptable for our guide to pick one up to show us, and drop it back into the basket. (We were shopping for our cooking class later in the morning.)
Also downtown is the night market. Will and arrived the first time just a little before 6:00 pm when it starts. The street was just being blocked off (though scooters could still wind their way through), and vendors were setting up tables and racks. I had my eye on some of the loose rayon pants that the students had been buying. Prices they had paid ranged from the equivalent of $4.00 to $7.50. The stated prices was quite a lot higher, and bargaining was expected. Will was not keen on the bargaining process -- thought the people had little enough and we should comfortably pay close to the asking. I bought several of the pairs of pants, mailed two back to the US, and went back another night for more.
The colonial cathedral was built with imported bricks -- not so interesting to me. The colonial Post Office was much more interesting. Also built from bricks, with very high ceilings, a spacious interior, and ceiling fans to keep it cool. Because the workers are federal employees, the women are wearing Vietnamese traditional outfits -- a long form-fitting dress.
I had checked it out the day before I tried to mail things. I took the items to the back counter where I filled out a long form in pen for each of the 3 boxes. Then they put the things into boxes in front of me. Each box was wrapped with yards and yards (or, probably, meters and meters) of tape. Then I was directed to another counter where a woman took all the information from my written form and typed it onto a new form -- more than 5 minutes for each. When she gave me the total, I was a bit short on Vietnamese money -- not to worry -- they have a money exchange counter right there in the Post Office.
One of the boxes has already arrived in America, so the Post Office project seems to have been at least partially successful.
One morning we went to the downtown "wet market" -- live fish, including a large one flopping around on the floor, were interspersed with leafy vegetables wetted down to keep them fresh. Parts of dead animals were laid out in baskets and were hung from racks. Most parts I was familiar with from the Italian markets in South Boston during my undergraduate days, though I never saw pig breast tissue before though. Tofu and noodles were also in this section, along with a bin of silkworms (not alive). It seemed perfectly acceptable for our guide to pick one up to show us, and drop it back into the basket. (We were shopping for our cooking class later in the morning.)
Also downtown is the night market. Will and arrived the first time just a little before 6:00 pm when it starts. The street was just being blocked off (though scooters could still wind their way through), and vendors were setting up tables and racks. I had my eye on some of the loose rayon pants that the students had been buying. Prices they had paid ranged from the equivalent of $4.00 to $7.50. The stated prices was quite a lot higher, and bargaining was expected. Will was not keen on the bargaining process -- thought the people had little enough and we should comfortably pay close to the asking. I bought several of the pairs of pants, mailed two back to the US, and went back another night for more.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Run? Swim? Walk?
Exercise on the ship. There were two treadmills for 700 people -- but
one is broken, leaving 1 treadmill for 700 people. There are some
morning hours reserved for faculty and staff (since we work during the
day) -- If I go at 5:05 after the sign-up sheet gets put out at 5:00, I can get a 1/2 hour on the treadmill before 8:00. There is no prominade for walking around the ship -- only a small distance for walking back and forth.
The pool is a little bigger than a jacuzzi, and the kids under 7-year-old are enjoying building their swimming skills. For an adult, 1 to 2 strokes would take you across. There is a small basketball court that gets used for basketball, dodgeball, etc. And there are weights -- mostly guy-sized weights. I brought my Japanese free weights on board and left them for sharing. Yoga -- the ship photographer is a "certified" yoga teacher, and has lead 3 classes. I hope for more.
The pool is a little bigger than a jacuzzi, and the kids under 7-year-old are enjoying building their swimming skills. For an adult, 1 to 2 strokes would take you across. There is a small basketball court that gets used for basketball, dodgeball, etc. And there are weights -- mostly guy-sized weights. I brought my Japanese free weights on board and left them for sharing. Yoga -- the ship photographer is a "certified" yoga teacher, and has lead 3 classes. I hope for more.
Almost a goner in Shanghai
"Miscommunication" among the various parties lead the pilot captain to NOT meet our ship at 6:00 am
outside Shanghai. So we had to wait for the tides, then wait for the
ship to be cleared (customs/immigration). This had us arriving in the
dark on a rainy night. Since I have been to Shanghai before, I knew how
to get to the Bund. We walked along the streets, then along the
waterfront and enjoyed the views of the huge buildings all lit up. Then
we decided to cross the street, and go back along the other side with
some hotels and office buildings.
We had been well-warned about the dangers of the traffic, and I have experienced it before. So we waited to cross the street with the light and with a group of people. When we were 9/10th of the way across -- a bus was barreling down on us and honked his horn. Will and I each RAN for the curb, and did not get annihilated......
Next day we took a bus tour to see some historic gardens and a silk factory. Still rainy off and on, but much tamer being IN the bus rather than CHASED by the bus
We had been well-warned about the dangers of the traffic, and I have experienced it before. So we waited to cross the street with the light and with a group of people. When we were 9/10th of the way across -- a bus was barreling down on us and honked his horn. Will and I each RAN for the curb, and did not get annihilated......
Next day we took a bus tour to see some historic gardens and a silk factory. Still rainy off and on, but much tamer being IN the bus rather than CHASED by the bus
Actually running
It was July/August 2012 when I fractured my pelvis running. January
2013 I got a diagnosis, and began swimming every day. July 2013 when I
moved to Japan, I still was careful of getting bumped or standing the
wrong way on the bus. I joined a swimming school/gym so that I could
swim regularly. By October 2013, I could ride a bike, and began
commuting and running errands by bike. January 2014, I got on the ship
-- no pool. So I started walking on the treadmill, then walking 45 sec,
running 15 sec., then walking 30 sec., running 15 sec. VERY gradually,
I have got myself so that I am now running 25 minutes at a very slow
pace with "hills". YAY!
Not shoveling snow
This has surely been a good winter to miss! It is hard to believe the
extreme cold and snow that has characterized this winter in the US.
We have been doing everything possible to avoid the sun and heat. In the market in Vietnam, many of us bought loose, long rayon pants that have done a good job of protecting us from sun and mosquitoes. I still carry my UV parasol from Japan. We are close to the equator -- students still sun themselves -- and burn themselves when they fall asleep in the sun.
We have been doing everything possible to avoid the sun and heat. In the market in Vietnam, many of us bought loose, long rayon pants that have done a good job of protecting us from sun and mosquitoes. I still carry my UV parasol from Japan. We are close to the equator -- students still sun themselves -- and burn themselves when they fall asleep in the sun.
Safe eating
Years ago my colleague Lewis Leavitt traveled in Pakistan without
getting sick by following the "hot to the touch" rule. Over the years,
this advice has been supplemented with the suggestion of also taking 2
Pepto-Bismo tablets before each meal. The curries in Myanmar arrived
with a big plate of greens that we left untouched. We did not drink the
water, or let them put ice with anything. Beer was sanitary, and we
got B vitamins too! After washing our hands, we used sanitizer too.
And it pretty much worked. The night after leaving Myanmar, Will got a
bit of crummy tummy, but I have stayed fine.
In a particularly nice place, I drank some exotic fruit smoothies. And I buried a bit of cilantro in my soup/noodles combination for a while to sterilize it. I so wished that I had a kitchen and could buy all the food that I wanted in the market, take it home, and peel/clean/cook it.
Friends had an experience with a shop that had the food sitting out, then the shop microwaved it to heat it. I think that possibility obviates the "hot to the touch" rule in today's world. SAS folks made all kinds of different decisions -- some eating most everything, some eating mostly just white rice.
In a particularly nice place, I drank some exotic fruit smoothies. And I buried a bit of cilantro in my soup/noodles combination for a while to sterilize it. I so wished that I had a kitchen and could buy all the food that I wanted in the market, take it home, and peel/clean/cook it.
Friends had an experience with a shop that had the food sitting out, then the shop microwaved it to heat it. I think that possibility obviates the "hot to the touch" rule in today's world. SAS folks made all kinds of different decisions -- some eating most everything, some eating mostly just white rice.
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