Spot Watch Day #3 and Headless Buddhas
Thoroughly depressed. Filthy, as usual. Incredibly smoggy today. Lungs feel blackened. Humid, also. INCESSANT honking of horns. Hot, oppressive, and smoky in internet cafe. Will spend my third night in a row on Halleck's couch this evening. Mosquitos plague me. The hotel room walls are plastered in ancient mosquito carcasses, probably left by disgruntled travellers during the seventies.
Spots on face remained swollen for the entire third day, so picked at them tentatively this evening to see what would happen. Immediately reddened and swelled up further, which I didn't think was possible. Have covered face in "crema antiallergica" left over from itchy Costa Rica experience (why is travelling always so itchy??) and have given up all attempts to look respectable in public.
Going to Pizza Hut tonight, since everyone else is craving pizza. Why pizza? Even the western food here is depressing. KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Fridays - none of which I would ever go to at home (except maybe to McDs for the occasional McGriddle).
On the bright side, classes ended today, and they seemed to go well. Students are very fun. Also bought more fossils for Matt :-) And other assorted things for Mom.
When asked to book reasonable hotel rooms near airport in Beijing, classmates went out of their heads with joy at the thought of escaping current accomodations and bought $170 a night deluxe rooms at the Holiday Inn which come with complimentary breakfasts and one complimentary cocktail per person. Can't say that I blame them.
Food at the "eatable musem" (according to their brochure) was very, very good last night, but due to Chinese practice of drinking only hot liquids with all meals (hot tea, hot water, hot milk...), was unbearably thirsty. Would kill for a tall glass of ice water. How do people live without cold drinks at mealtimes? Barbaric. The restaurant/museum was full of thousand year old Buddha statues, many of which were headless (a consequence of the cultural revolution). It also featured rows of severed Buddha heads, many of which were noseless (another popular pasttime during the cultural revolution seems to have been chopping the noses off of thousand year old pieces of art). You'd think all of this would be behind glass, but no - you could touch whatever you liked. We were strictly forbidden from taking pictures (since it would damage the statues?); however, smoking proceeded as usual. (Note: I've noticed in several places signs that say "no burning". No burning what? Do Chinese go around starting fires? It's different from the no smoking signs.) We ignored the no camera rule and took turns taking pictures of each other standing behind a headless Buddha and placing our heads on top of it. We were much amused by this.
I am informed by an Asian source that: "people in Asia either squat in the showers or get a large wash basin and use the shower head to pour the water into it and use a bowl with the water from the basin to rinse soap and stuff off the body.
Or, get a two liter coke bottle and fill that with clean water and use that to rinse off (You can unhook the shower head from the hose). It works nicely and you don't have to squat and maneuver so much.
Extra advice: if you use a squatty potty, roll your pants up (pretty high) before you go in, this helps for a number of reasons that I will not tell you."
Thought you should know. As I said to her, though, why bother to have a shower if you also need a basin?
Spots on face remained swollen for the entire third day, so picked at them tentatively this evening to see what would happen. Immediately reddened and swelled up further, which I didn't think was possible. Have covered face in "crema antiallergica" left over from itchy Costa Rica experience (why is travelling always so itchy??) and have given up all attempts to look respectable in public.
Going to Pizza Hut tonight, since everyone else is craving pizza. Why pizza? Even the western food here is depressing. KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Fridays - none of which I would ever go to at home (except maybe to McDs for the occasional McGriddle).
On the bright side, classes ended today, and they seemed to go well. Students are very fun. Also bought more fossils for Matt :-) And other assorted things for Mom.
When asked to book reasonable hotel rooms near airport in Beijing, classmates went out of their heads with joy at the thought of escaping current accomodations and bought $170 a night deluxe rooms at the Holiday Inn which come with complimentary breakfasts and one complimentary cocktail per person. Can't say that I blame them.
Food at the "eatable musem" (according to their brochure) was very, very good last night, but due to Chinese practice of drinking only hot liquids with all meals (hot tea, hot water, hot milk...), was unbearably thirsty. Would kill for a tall glass of ice water. How do people live without cold drinks at mealtimes? Barbaric. The restaurant/museum was full of thousand year old Buddha statues, many of which were headless (a consequence of the cultural revolution). It also featured rows of severed Buddha heads, many of which were noseless (another popular pasttime during the cultural revolution seems to have been chopping the noses off of thousand year old pieces of art). You'd think all of this would be behind glass, but no - you could touch whatever you liked. We were strictly forbidden from taking pictures (since it would damage the statues?); however, smoking proceeded as usual. (Note: I've noticed in several places signs that say "no burning". No burning what? Do Chinese go around starting fires? It's different from the no smoking signs.) We ignored the no camera rule and took turns taking pictures of each other standing behind a headless Buddha and placing our heads on top of it. We were much amused by this.
I am informed by an Asian source that: "people in Asia either squat in the showers or get a large wash basin and use the shower head to pour the water into it and use a bowl with the water from the basin to rinse soap and stuff off the body.
Or, get a two liter coke bottle and fill that with clean water and use that to rinse off (You can unhook the shower head from the hose). It works nicely and you don't have to squat and maneuver so much.
Extra advice: if you use a squatty potty, roll your pants up (pretty high) before you go in, this helps for a number of reasons that I will not tell you."
Thought you should know. As I said to her, though, why bother to have a shower if you also need a basin?
posted by jessica rabbit at 3:36 AM
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