Myanmar

Has it really been over eight years since I have posted travel??? Gracious sakes alive. So much has changed in the world and in my life, but travel remains. It may ebb and flow, but it's still there.

Since that post in 2008, I have been to Costa Rica, Macedonia twice, India three times (Delhi, Chennai, Deradhun and more), Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar (or Burma, if you like), the Bahamas....did I get them all? How fortunate am I to see what I have seen.

I am in Myanmar. What a country. What a history.

Despite all of my travels, I had the most extraordinary day today, which prompted me to want to remember it as I feel now, unvarnished by the patina of time.

The Nagar Glass Factory. Imagine a cyclone tearing through a glass factory in 2008. Now imagine that, aside from clearing a few pathways through the resultant carnage, nothing has changed since the day Nargis hit. And there you would have the Nagar Glass Factory.

There are several neat write-ups of the history, the owners, and why it's still the way it is here, here, and here.

An experience -- and a place -- I am not likely to forget. A bit haunting, a bit exciting (a treasure hunt!), a bit dangerous (all that broken glass + slippery pathways), and more than a bit sad. In many ways, it's an embodiment of the country that is Myanmar.

See that fishie there?

One of the paths, littered with glass on either side. 

Look for a woman in a blue shirt in the middle of the photo. She is sanding some things folks have found. Can you see the leather belts around those rusted wheels? 

we interrupt our regularly scheduled programming....

....to post something about America.

I am so freakin' happy and proud to vote today that I feel like I will burst. Let's hope that tomorrow I'll be even happier with the result. I had to document this historic moment---and have proof that I voted for change!!

Tbilisi, Georgia

I am in Tbilisis, where hospitality is paramount, and I think I've gained five pounds as a result! Arg. And that's with averaging only two meals a day and hitting the treadmill in the hotel exercise room. So you can imagine what it's been like....here is a photo of a "supra" we had Friday night. It literally translates to "tablecloth" but means huge feast with tons of courses, copious toasts led by a master of ceremonies, music, laughing, and gorging. I had the best roast suckling pig I had in my life! And plenty of Georgian wine.  :) 

I was home for less than a month before I had to hit the road again. Fortunately, this was a short trip--only 12 days. You lose 2 days traveling this way, and one on the way back, so I'm really only here about 9 days. 

This is a pic of their television tower, with a brand new church the light in between the city lights and the tower. I have forgotten how to rotate the photos on blogger. Sorry. Exercise your head! 

The tower has lights shooting up and down it, and definitely looks like the Eiffel Tower. I loved it. 

This is Freedom Square (where, it seems recently, people can't freely protest anymore).  Everyone here wears black. A gazillion churches, very proud, culturally aware, and interesting people. The script that they use is like artwork. The civil war in the early 90s was really tough on them, and there are some seriously decrepit buildings. I'm seeing more poverty in the city than I expected. 

The history and symbolism here are beautiful and all around you. The country's patron saint is St. George. There is a towering aluminum statue on a hill overlooking the city of Mother Georgia. She is holding a jug of wine in one hand, a sword in the other---welcoming her guests with her hospitality, and warning enemies that she will fight for her country. People say that this embodies the Georgian spirit: Fiercely proud, extremely hospitable and proud, but willing to fight for themselves. There are ballets and theatres and operas and museums and dance companies that everyone is saying we must see. It's nice to see people so proud of their culture, and working so hard to share it with you. 

This last shot shows the Georgian script as well as a little bit of Soviet nostalgia. I love it! Still watching you. That slayed me. 

Hopefully more to come about Georgia, Central Asia, and some more of my travels. I have not been posting regularly, which is a shame. It's fun to share this stuff with all y'all. 

changes

I am in Dushanbe again, and many changes are taking place. They have built a new presidential palace, on the tail end of the new park. There is a nice, new roard leading to Vorzob in the mountains outside of Dushanbe, where the Tajik president hosted the meeting 10-15 days ago with all the presidents of Central Asia, Medvedev, and China. They built these beautiful chalet-like houses, each with a different theme, and this glorious huge conference hall.

Manwhile, the water and power go on and off for ordinary people all the time.

Meanwhile, informal payment, corruption, and poverty is rampant. 

I'm fearing a cult of personality thing is starting to happen in Tajikistan. The president's portrait is suddenly appearing everywhere (not just hanging on certain buildings, but also in people's offices) and he has changed the constitution to stay president for the next 15 years or so. Not a good sign. 

back in action

I'm back in Central Asia for nearly three weeks! Boy is it great to see the old people and places that I enjoyed so much.

Itinerary: Dushanbe for 9 days, Bishkek for 4 days, then Almaty for 2 and Tashkent for 2. Lose 3 days traveling, and there you have nearly three weeks.

So far it's great. I can't believe how well I remember Dushanbe, I was able to find an Indian restaurant that was pointed out to me a year ago.

Some changes for the good in Dushanbe, including a razing of that dreary dead amusement park I wrote about, and changing it into a nearly-complete lovely park!

More to come (one hopes!). Free wifi in the place we're staying at definitely increases that likelihood....

a long winter

I am heading back to the US Friday, and probably won't be back out here until May. I am looking forward to a break from the cold, though I understand the cold snap that has had a grip here since mid-December has spread to the US.

We are hearing of food shortages in some countries in the region and more and more neonatal deaths due to the extreme cold. Organizations are starting to try to finance emergency heaters, but it's challenging due to shortages of electricity and gas. We're working on finding some solutions for some of our clinics.

When I came back from Ferghana, Uzbekistan where there the ambient temperature of the hospital I went to was about 35 degrees, I was telling my colleagues about my experience. No heat, no running water, no hot water....one man commented that when everyone was part of the Soviet Union, power outages/water shortages didn't exist. If power was low in Uzbekistan, they would take it from Siberia and send it over. (I'm not an electrical engineer so can't assess whether this is something that can be done.) He commented that shortages of such basic things would not be tolerated, and that heads would roll if power outages occurred. Others concurred.

I know that it's hard for people in other countries to understand why people in former Communist/Socialist countries talk about how it was "better under the old regime..." . We think about the Cold War, a police state, shortages of meat and other "luxury" goods, and think it has to be better now. But most of these countries---and definitely in Russia, there is a very, very lopsided distribution of wealth. There are a number of "Nouveax Riche" that have gotten that way through connections, graft, crime, politics, etc. And most everybody else is struggling to get by. Despite the Gucci and JLo and other stores, most people in Almaty are scraping by. And they have a lot more options than people out in the far-flung regions and rural areas of the country.

Sure, luxury goods weren't available back then (OK, with the exceptions of the political elite), but at least the masses had a moderate standard of living that left them warm, clothed, and reasonably well-fed. It's quite a statement that people had electricity and hot water in the 1950s, but they don't in 2007.

Sorry for the bummer post. It's the unfortunate reality here, however.

Random bits

So Sunday night my Air Uzbekistan flight lands in Almaty. (No, it wasn't some rickety Soviet-era two prop. It was a brand-spankin' new Boeing 757-200. With announcements in Uzbek, Russian, and English, and the drop-down video monitor safety briefing in English and Russian.)

As we're waiting to disembark, the disembarkation music goes on. As it starts playing and I realize it's "Summertime and the Living is Easy," I started thinking about the choice of music. Maybe they are subliminally promoting summer tourism in Uzbekistan? Perhaps they have some American or EU advisors on staff, encouraging them to seem worldly? Who knows? Regardless, the tune put a smile on my face. Yet another reason for people to stare at me because it is so painfully obvious (glasses, clothing, watch, shoes, lack of excessive makeup and shiny accessories) that I'm not one of them.

This morning I was running late, so hopped in a cap. The Gypsy King's "Volare" was on.

I would hazard a guess that I hear Kazakh music about 10-15% of the time I ride in a cab. The rest of the time it's either US Top 40, Russian pop music, or some other type of music. Globalization: good or evil? Tawwwk amongst yahselves.

Uzbekistan

I have had the pleasure of traveling back to Uzbekistan for the first time in 15 years. I like it here this time around as much as I did as a 20-year old college student. :) My study abroad group had an excursion to Tashkent, Samarkand, and Buhara. I remembering thinking this place was so exotic, so Eastern, so cool! I also remember drinking a lot. :-) Make that, vaguely remember drinking a lot...

If Almaty is like NYC with it's less-than-friendly people, fashionistas, and high-end cars, then Tashkent is like Chicago. Big city, but people have time to smile and say hello, and everyone is like "So where are you from?" when you talk to them.

I got chided by a cop in the metro for taking pictures, and when I said "I'm sorry, I'm not from here, I didn't know you were not allowed" he (of course) asked, "Where are you from?" I explained to him that I had never seen such a clean and beautifully-designed subway in America, and so he let me off easy. I tell ya, you can take the Soviet Union away, but some of the kooky regs they enforced during the Cold War to this day linger on in people's psyches. Trust me: I'm not a risk to your national security, mmmmkay? Geez Louise.

Tomorrow I upload pictures, tell you about shopping at the markets, and about going to hospitals in Ferghana where they don't have heat. And it's been the coldest winter in 40 years.

I {heart} Uzbekistan! Sorry, Kazakhstan, but this place kicks your ass. Maybe it's just nostalgia talking....maybe it's the Baltika 7 I've consumed. Or maybe it's the fact that I am in a kick-ass hotel with free wifi in your room, a breakfast to die for with homemade preserves and baked goods, and staff that are gracious and smiling and pleasant (instead of bored/surly/annoyed, as most workers I've encountered in Almaty are). All for the bargain basement price of $55.

Trust me, you want to go to Uzbekistan! Put it on your list of places to see.

Baby it's cold outside

Wow. I've stopped looking at the weather forecasts on my iGoogle page because the lows are dipping in the minus range. I just don't want to know! Everyone says that it's an unusually cold winter. And unusually long.

Last Friday was an interesting Orthodox holiday, "Kreschenitsa." Everyone was saying that if you collected the water that ran from the faucet at midnight, it would be holy, healing water. Evidently this water keeps all year, and if you're sick you can put a few drops in regular water and will recover. They wash babies' faces with it, etc. It was very interesting to see how much everyone believed in it---even the ethnic Kazakhs talked about it, and they're Muslim!

It also is known as the coldest day of the year. Then everyone expects the weather to start warming up. Unfortunately, no thawing out yet!

I have heard that the extreme cold has caused some infant deaths in Tajikistan. They don't have power 100% of the time, and even when they do some hospitals don't have sufficient heat. Two infants died of hypothermia. So sad. Don't take your infrastructure for granted.

The Party's Over

I am back in action after a lovely month in the US. I did a lot of work while I was at home, but it doesn't seem like work when there's a fuzzy black dog snuggled up next to you, or a great guy coming home with a bottle of Malbec. :)

This time I'm only out here for about a month, and will head to Uzbekistan, the one country that I didn't manage to travel to the last time I was in the region.

I just flew into Almaty yesterday (door-to-door travel time was 27 hours) so I've got a ton to catch up on. Will try to post more this weekend. Of note: the weather.

Global warming has not hit this part of the world. There is snow and ice piled everywhere, with average daytime temps in the teens (F) and dipping into the single digits in the evenings. I bundle up and don't care about looking fashionable. I also bought a really warm camelhair scarf with a Kazakh motif. Between the scarf, my non-stiletto boots, and my hat, it is very obvious to everyone that I'm not one of them. :) At this point I am used to "getting looks" !! And couldn't care one whit about it. I am warm and toasty, which is the point. I am too old to choose looking hot over being warm, and furthermore don't care to draw attention from Kazakh men. I got me the greatest man in the world back in Baltimore, thankyouverymuch. So warm and frumpy works for me on two fronts.

feeling festive

So Wednesday I went to Ramstore to seek out condiments and garnishes for my buffalo wings. Ramstore is a huge Turkish endeavor that is all over the Former Soviet countries and Eastern Europe (I found out online that they opened one in Skopje in 2005 when I was googling Ramstore's products).

It's basically a small-ish mall with about three floors of shops, a massive "hypermarket" (one step up from supermarket), a food court, and an indoor ice skating rink. As swanky as it is, it charges you a refundable 50 tenge to use a shopping cart, something it took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to use. (Grrrr. Funny how it's the very minor things here that can make you crazy.)

The hypermarket was all set up for New Year's. Because Christmas here is celebrated January 7 (the Orthodox Christmas) and a gift-giving orgy isn't done, New Year's is more of the big holiday that everyone gets ready for. There were huge displays of Soviet Champagne, Frexinet (sp?) champagne, chocolates, and lots and lots of garlands and lights. For some reason, I didn't find it horribly commercial or offensive. Maybe that's because it was just that one store that was like that? Anyway, it definitely helped get me in the holiday/celebrating spirit. Today it's snowing like crazy and I just want to make peppermint patties (yannow, hot chocolate + peppermint schnapps) or hot shlivka and play in the snow.

My wings are ready to go. I cut them all last night, made the blue cheese dressing, made the hot sauce, and cut up the celery and carrots. Frank's is what I prefer, but all they had was Tobasco (way too hot!) and Louisiana hot sauce. They also had a Tobasco brand Worshteshire sauce, which I hadn't ever seen before. All that remains to be done today is the fry-fest. Cutting apart the wing tip from the wing from the little leg is a nightmare with dull knives. I don't miss much from America, but I definitely miss my Sabatier's when I am in the kitchen.

Next Thursday we're having another party, three of our staff members are leaving. They did it on Thursday because both the project direct and I fly to the US Friday morning. So I'm going to have to pack ahead of time. And will likely by flying on very little sleep and a little too much alcohol. :) But that will just mean that I will be comatose on the flights, which is good. Being comatose is the best way to fly...though flying hung over isn't much fun. :p That just means I'll have to go to the Duty Free in Heathrow and load up on the free samples of Pimm's Lemonade. A bit of the hair of the dog and I should be good to go for that second leg. ;>

There may be as many as 20 people at the joint birthday party tonight, so it's really going to be a lot of fun. I will take a buttload of photos and post them here over the weekend.

party planning

There are two birthdays coming up in the office this week, and we decided to have the birthday party at my flat. It is centrally located and has two big living rooms, so it's perfect for a shin-dig.

Everyone's bringing something, and I have decided that I am going to make buffalo wings. I thought and thought and thought, and decided that that would be the ultimate American party food.

So I am going to go to the Chicken House to buy some wings. (Yes, the store is called Chicken House, I'm not translating it for you.) I hear they have great chicken.

I haven't seen any blue cheese dressing here (only ranch and 1000 Island) so I'm going to have to make my own. Epicurious to the rescue! Mayo + yogurt + blue cheese = blue cheese dressing!

I will scout around for some Frank's hot sauce, but Texas Pete's might be my only choice. Not a bad second. Bet you didn't think you could find stuff like that here, but you can. The randomness of what you can find. Surprises abound, both in the "I can't believe no one has this!" category, as well as the "I can't believe someone has this!" category.

If I have time, I'll also make some pinjur. Gotta through in something Macedonian, yannow. :) Besides, if I'm making something as bad for you as wings, I need to balance it out with something healthier.

old man winter

It's really nice and wintry here. I'd say the temps have been in the 25-35 F range for a while now. I wear my hat, gloves, and scarf when walking. My hat is decidedly American (just a typical fleece winter cap), something no fashionable Kazakh woman would wear, so I get a lot of looks. Once upon a time I was young and vain. Now I'd rather be warm than look hot, so let 'em stare.

I was bemoaning the fact that I'd be launched back into frenetic, US, Christmas-time consumerism when I got home and the karma wheel gave it to me but good. First I get an announcement that local artisans are selling their wares all this weekend and next weekend at the national museum. It's timed so that all of the expats can do their holiday shopping before they fly home.

Then on the bus ride to my friend's house, at the stop across the street from Hotel Kazakhstan I notice a 20-foot blow-up Santa Claus and Frosty flanking the entrance to the hotel. *sigh* Maybe they're catering to homesick Americans this holiday season. But signs of consumerism, I just cannot escape. What's a girl to do? Go shopping, that's what! I have gifts to buy for everyone back home! And a fur shapka, so that I can fit in!! ;>

holy fog, Batman!

It is really, really foggy here. Everyone says that the sun shines brightly in January, but November and December are very foggy.

The other day I couldn't see the trees outside my office window, much less the building that they're building further down. It was very interesting---almost like looking out the window of an airplane when you're climbing through the clouds. Nothing was visible, and it was somewhat disorienting.

I guess I'm getting used to the fog. This afternoon when the sun broke through and started shining brightly, it was startling. I felt like I needed sunglasses. Interesting, no? Usually I'm very foggy-brained when it's foggy, but I guess I've adapted to it.

*sigh* The Embarrassment of an American

The other day something very interesting happened. I still cringe when thinking about it and am hoping that working it out here will help me get over the embarrassment I felt.

So I popped into the store downstairs with a friend of mine to get some cookies to go with our tea. This is a locally-owned, Kazakh version of a 7-11: open 24 hours, selling all sorts of staples and junk food, as well as booze (by the shot, even) and fruits and veggies. Better than the local Qwikie-Marts in the US, actually, since you can get healthy things.

These three guys are there who speak no Russian and are struggling to purchase beer and Snickers. One guy asks one shopkeeper in English, "Do you speak English?" She looks at him like he's from Mars. He tries another girl. Same response. I took pity on him and in English said to him "I speak English. Tell me what you need and I'll ask the girls for it for you."

After helping them find the strongest available beer (Baltika 9, it's dark and highest alcohol content) and a few other things, I take my leave of the store, wishing them luck in Almaty. As we're heading back to my place, two of the guys run after us and ask if I could translate for them for an engineering conference they're attending. I take down their number and promise to pass them along to my contacts, and they thank me profusely.

Then they ask, "Where are you from?" To which I replied "America."

They glance at one another, hesitate, and then one admits "We're from Iran. But don't worry! We're not terrorists. In fact, we love Americans...." and launch into apologies over who they are and where they come from.

I was so terribly embarrassed. I felt horrible that they felt that they had to apologize for themselves, based on the actions, rhetoric, and policies of the US government. I interrupted his apologies and said "First of all, you have nothing to apologize for. Please know that not every American thinks the same as George Bush. Americans don't believe that every person from the Middle East is a terrorist. Second of all, you are not responsible for the actions of your government, just as I'm not responsible for the actions of mine." And we agreed that governments do really shitty things, with their constituents paying the price. These days, it's a very, very dear price indeed.

It's only within the past 10 years that during my travels I've actually stopped and paused before responding where I'm from. Most of the time I will admit to being an American, but sometimes I will say I'm Macedonian. Usually, it's because I don't want to deal with the inevitable barrage of questions, and of having to provide endless explanations. But more and more, I don't want to admit to it because of the horrible foreign policy choices that the Bush administration has been making these past 7 years. (Though being in the Balkan after Clinton started bombing Serbia was also not a good time to run around shouting "I'm an American!" in some enclaves.) And that, my friends, is sad. I'm actually ashamed to admit to being an American sometimes.

I've been lucky in that 99% of the people I meet are able to separate American foreign policy from me as individual and don't berate me for the things that my government does. That says a lot for the decency of people. It helps that I can start out with "Don't blame me, I voted for Gore/Kerry." Some of the most common questions I've gotten here are:

--How much longer is Bush going to be in office?
--How could the US re-elect Bush?
--Why did you go to Iraq?
--Why don't Americans care about what's going on in the world?
--Why does the US boss everyone around?

Of course, there's always that dichotomy. If people aren't happy with American policies (i.e, the war in Iraq) they are like "Why does America have to stick its nose where it doesn't belong? Why do they have to be the policeman of the world?" But there are people here who are very open about how it's to their benefit that the US is in Afghanistan: It helps bring stability to the Central Asian region, too. So it's a good thing that American is fighting the war against the Taliban--at least to some people.

The other dichotomy is that while America is often seen as the bully in the world political arena, lots of people want a piece of the American pie. The US--for better or for worse--is that mythical place where immigrants can become millionaires, or at least afford homes with running water and heating, and still have some money to send back to help those out at home. The land of milk and honey. The streets are paved in gold.

But the reality for most immigrants is long hours of arduous physical labor, barely at a living wage. And those sending money at home often are living in less than ideal conditions, working multiple jobs, struggling to get by. My mom and I had a talk about how America somehow has become this idealized place for people wishing for better, without realizing that America is far from utopia. And a lot of poor people get sold on this idea, only to face a very cold and harsh reality when they set foot in the USA.

In most of my discussions about America, I end up closing with "In America you will find the best of all possible things, but also the worst of all possible things." I think it's the fairest and truest statement I can make.