Advertisement
Published: October 3rd 2011
Edit Blog Post
Travel agrees with me in a big way. I'd forgotten that, primarily because it's now been 5 years since my last extended trip, where I wasn't working with one of the tour companies. This morning was spent walking around the city early in the morning with no particular place to go and time to linger in the parks and sit on benches. I was reminded that people are the same everywhere you go. The travel guides emphasize the differences in cultures (people spit a lot! they're very pushy!) and if you take them too seriously, you walk in expecting a different world, but it never is. Not really.
People still smile back when you smile at them (though not as many smile here as at home). They sing to themselves. They get shy when you ask if you can take their picture, or else they become huge hams. They laugh, they dance, they flirt, and they cry. Language doesn't matter... you can communicate many things with expression, gesture, and shared references. At least when you're not trying to communicate anything too complex.
Today I walked North to a sculpture garden somewhat near our theater. On the early morning streets
(I left the hotel around 8am) I was struck by how much food there is in this city. It seems like a higher concentration of (mostly very small) restaurants than anywhere else I have been, all of which were open, no matter what sort of food they were serving. The sculpture garden was nice, though it was all modern stuff, so not as much fun to photograph as other places I have been. Particularly amusing was a piece with an ostrich sticking his head into the ground and several heads sticking up around the field. Up close the heads resembled wicked snakes, but from a distance it was rather comical.
After the gardens, I headed West, then South again, and stopped by another park, this one much smaller, but much more alive with activity. A group had a portable PA running and a couple dozen people were dancing various styles on the pavement. There was no common theme... there were men and women of all ages, women dancing with women, some doing complex partnering some doing simple steps. Nearby, and sometimes directly underfoot there were a few men who were writing on the pavement with water - making large Chinese character poems, or something anyway, that seemed to last around an hour, at the most, on the smooth stone and under the shade of the trees. I don't know the specifics of this yet, but the idea of it caught my imagination... maybe one of the most ephemeral art forms ever. I love the idea that they were making up brilliant poems, knowing that they were destined not to be remembered, or even read by more than a handful of people. I could read them, obviously, but others gathered around and did... and for the most part stayed more solemn, rather than laughing or smiling. I need to try to find out what this was all about.
In the same park I stumbled on the inevitable cluster of old men playing board games. This is a theme with me and parks, and the last time I got involved in a spirited day of backgammon with a bunch of Greeks. This time I didn't recognize the game, which was played with pained circles on fabric playing surfaces marked out with lines, and I couldn't discern the rules, so I just watched instead of playing, but got lots of amused smiles and friendly words as I pushed and elbowed my way in with the others to watch.
From there I continued South and stopped in a large electronics flea market. This was the chance to renew my negotiating skills, as I'd left my good earbuds at home, much to my chagrin. I looked around for a while, and eventually found a set of quality ear buds, confirmed that they sounded good by plugging them into my phone, then the process of negotiating began.
Me: How much?
Him: Ehhh.. 120
Me: (laugh and toss them aside, looking at others) Too much!
Him: (pulling out another set) These are very good.
Me: (after looking at others and tossing a couple others aside, then picking up the ones I actually want) I'll give you 30.
Him: (Pulling out his calculator, the easier to show amounts) 90
Me: No no. Seriously. 40.
Him: (laughing, turning to his wife) Crazy! 80!
Me: (turning to look at other stalls). Eh... I will pay 45, no more.
Him: 70.
Me: 50, final offer.
His wife: (stepping in on a tag team maneuver) 65
Me: 50 is all. (looking around now, ready to walk away)
Him: (holding out his hand) fine. fine.
and so I walked away with them for 50, which is the equivalent of about $8, American. In Austin, for the same quality buds, I'd have payed $60 or more. Sweet.
and with that I headed back to the hotel and meet the others for lunch, then go see our theater, and get some work done, which would be an entirely different kind of day (that story later tonight)
Advertisement
Tot: 0.067s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 43; dbt: 0.0436s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
tammy
non-member comment
...my thought,..those ear buds will always have significant value!!! It\'s about so much more than \"the ear buds!!!\"