It's nice to get away from the cold...

I like to know exactly where I am.  I like maps.  I like to get oriented. So,

arriving in a totally new country at night, and not being seated by the window in the airplane,

we pretty much had to wait for the new day to catch a glimpse of what Bali was going to look like--and found that we could use the same descriptive words as when we went to Guam.  

Tropical.  Humid.  Hot.  Green.  Chickens crowing early in the morning.

Nice homes or hotels next to shacks with corrugated steel roofs.

Crowded streets.

 We arrived just before midnight, and the other family arrived at 3 a.m.  So our first day started a little later than usual.  We had a driver and car contracted, and he took us to a Hindu temple overlooking the Indian Ocean.  And there were lots of his "friends"--little mischievous monkeys.

We were advised to remove eyeglasses and fancy jewelry.

Alice forgot that you can't let your camera dangle from your hand!

Fortunately, she won the tug-of-war.

 Since this was surrounding a Hindu temple, we were given yellow sashes if our clothing covered our shoulders and knees.  Those who had shorts on were given a purple sarong to wrap around their waist. Since Kevin had on the shorts that his brother had made fun of ("What are those?  Capri's?), he was okay.  It looked funny to see many of the men wearing purple skirts!

 Part of the temple.  Alice and Rachel.

 The driver then took us to a local eatery for authentic Balinese food:  banana soup (in a pork base and it was delicious), then suckling pig prepared in various ways.  Some dishes were spicy, others not so bad.

 Kevin and Steve--our first view of the beach connected to our hotel.  I was envisioning being able to walk out from our hotel room and be on the beach.  Not the case!

It was a 15-minute walk down a dirt lane in-between another hotel and some new construction.

There was a shuttle that went every 15 minutes, but somehow, we only managed to use it about half the time.

 One of the things we partly enjoyed seeing was the traditional Balinese dance.  

The thing we didn't enjoy was it told a long story (15 minutes would have been perfect--this went on for an hour).  Towards the end it became gross--I guess some things are acceptable in other cultures but not in ours. I turned my eyes away for awhile.

There was nervous laughter in the audience.

 The dancing was accompanied by a gamelan--a group of instruments played in varying rhythms.

The Balinese scale is not like the western scale and takes some getting used to.

I'd have to say I'm not used to it yet!  It is easier to listen to than Peking Opera (which is my bench mark for the worst possible music to listen to), but it wasn't enjoyable. 

Beaded baskets.  We spent a day exploring the fairly unique crafts.  I wish I had purchased some of the batik fabrics we saw.  It was one of those situations:  "I'm sure we'll find it somewhere else for cheaper"... except we didn't.  And didn't take the time to go back.

Waiting for Chinese New Year

January can be a bit dull.  Nothing to do outside.  The sun still goes down before 5 pm so the evenings are dark.  But a cheap set of badminton racquets can solve the boredom.  Especially if you are careful and don't hit the chandelier, or the pictures, or the ceiling...

 It's been nice enough that a Saturday afternoon walk to the Apple man (who replaces screen covers on i-anythings for about 5 dollars with absolutely no bubbles), was not too cold.  We hadn't counted on some guy deciding the sidewalk was the perfect place for his car.

 On the way back... a different car.  A little higher priced.  Kevin knows all about all the expensive cars we see around here (not owned by the expats, I can assure you!); Aston Martin, Porsche, and then there was one the other day that Kevin said had a purchase price of about $200,000.  And it's being driven around here with all the crazy drivers!

 Another way to pass the time, especially when Alice was in Shanghai for Model UN, was to visit the Weihai Pub, and eat our favorites:  Kevin--lasagne, and me, their tender beef stroganoff.  It's a South African-run establishment with a very eclectic menu!

 I also spent one day heating honey to 115 degrees F.  We had begun to notice that the honey we purchased at a farmers market was beginning to taste fermented.  "Impossible!" we said.  "Honey can't go bad"  we said.  Then I read up on it, and yes, honey CAN ferment.  Honey mead, anyone?
So, the fermentation was stopped, the honey saved, but the flavor was affected.  Ten pounds of honey that will mostly be used in bread-making.

 On our walks, we always make a point of NEVER stepping on any manhole covers.  Sometimes the rusting away isn't visible.  But this cover was brand-new only one year ago.  We watched the construction.  Inferior materials????

 And now we're almost up to the Chinese New Year.  The last day of school before the two-week break, there was a celebration all about China.  Alice got to dress in a minority costume and perform a dance with other students.  Dragons came onstage.  Confetti shot out of little canons.  Fun!

  And lastly, I've learned to get all my grocery shopping done well before hand.  Chinese New Year is as big, at least, as Christmas is to Americans.  The stores are crazy!  But there is a festive spirit in the air.  And now, the new year arrives at midnight on the 30th.  Happy New Year!  (again!)

New year

January 12:  About finished with jet lag (I've read it takes the same number of days to recover as the number of hours out-of-sync) so when we travel to the US, and are 15 hours out of sync, it takes 15 days to recover.  Which happens to be longer than we actually stayed.  Then we fly home and the readjustment starts all over again!

Christmas decorations are all put away for another year (except the two that Kevin had to glue because they fell on the tile floor, and are mementos--they look almost as good as new).

Wow, the month is nearly halfway completed!  I think time goes faster on this side of the world. Our two and a half years here have flown by.  When I compare it to the three years we lived in France, those French years crept by and seemed to even stall--especially that first year (culture shock AND pregnancy all combined!).

And I really need to be more consistent with blogging.  I just sat down at the computer (no food needs to be prepared for at least another hour and I'm totally free from any commitments), turned on the VPN to circumvent the Great Firewall of China, opened up Blogger, and then realized I haven't downloaded any of the picture from Christmas.  Sorry!  No pictures to share this time!  That's been the story of my life the past several months.  If I have time, the VPN doesn't work.  Or the pictures aren't ready.  And then I get distracted by Facebook or something (if the VPN is working), and another month goes by without anything posted.  

Guizhou Province, Part II (and probably the last...)

Alice, Rachel and a 15-year-old Miao girl in full costume at Datong.  Her grandmother sat watching. This village was the "short skirt" Miao, as opposed to the "long skirt" Miao.

It was a cool morning, so the girl had leggings on.

 

 Then the grandmother showed us what she does in the village--weaving.

She was so fast!  Notice the new washing machine, but the window was the 

major light source.

 One of the big male pastimes is fighting bull water buffaloes. 

This one might have been on his way to a fight, or just off to a new owner.

The Miao do not eat beef of any kind--cattle are sacred, after a fashion. 

 Terraced rice paddies that have been cultivated for several hundred years. 

The rice is planted and harvested by hand.  In one location,

we noticed a new-looking rototiller being used.  These plots are too small for a tractor

but a rototiller is far better than a foot and a shovel!  It was probably purchased with the help of a micro-loan.

 At the village our guide was from, everyone left off the work of the harvest to greet us in their traditional dress, with a rice wine ceremony.  Kevin had alerted the guide on the first day that our group (all LDS) did not drink alcohol, so the village used Sprite for the ceremony.

The only problem was, they used the pitchers that have been used for rice wine for years, and the Sprite didn't taste like usual!  It burned a little as it went down and had a sharp flavor.

So I guess I kind of know how rice wine tastes...

I priced one of those silver head-dresses in one shop, and it was about $2500.  

 Miao folk dances.  The musical scale is 5 notes. Interesting!

The final dance invited us all in.

 Such a bunch of cute girls!

 Harvested corn hung off of every building, and made a great backdrop

for a happy couple.

A woman using a scythe to harvest the rice.  I don't think I'd be happy squishing around in the mucky water and mud!  The people put small fish in the paddy in the spring, and then harvest them after the rice is out of the way as the water dries up.

I loved the straw sheaves.  It reminded me of a fairy house.

 The Guiyang river walk might not be as unique as the San Antonio one, but it was really nice!

Well-lit, with a beautiful pagoda at one end and city lights reflecting in the water.

It was probably best seeing it at night.  (At least that's been my experience looking at rivers in cities in China--not pretty.)

 After the first day, we had low clouds, haze, fog, and even rain.  

The vista was diminished, but the steepness of these limestone mountains is breath-taking.

 Across Heavenly Lake, and into the Dragon cavern.

 "Watch your head" was the instruction given before the boat ride.  Yeah, right!  These huge stalactites were just about head-high and the boat pilot liked to take us right under them.  

But we were wise, and no one bumped their head.

And in true Chinese fashion, because a cave isn't amazing enough,

there was a laser light show in one cavern.

 Kevin vs. the Dragon.  

 Huangguoshu Falls.  I was expecting some awesome name, but it just means "yellow fruit tree" because there are some in the area (I'm not sure which fruit--I did see a couple of banana trees).

The largest falls in Asia.  For those who've seen Yellowstone Falls, or Mesa falls, or especially Niagara, this was underwhelming, along with the fact that we had to be there by 7:30 in the morning to avoid the crowds.  The day before, so many cars were in the national park that a traffic jam occurred and many did not get out until late that night.

We did get to walk around and go behind the falls.  That was fun. And wet.

 And it rained.  

Chinglish.

 After riding an escalator back up to the top of the canyon (yes!  an escalator!)

we had to wait for our bus.  This enterprising gentleman had fresh "bell" peppers for sale

right off the plant on his back.

 Another minority group.  These used embroidery instead of silver for their head-dresses.

I don't know how such a hat became the norm.

 We also got to watch a village "opera", which means it was a dramatic presentation.  The bad guys are distinguished by having bigger noses.  (Like westerners have bigger noses?)  Fortunately, it only lasted 10 minutes, and wasn't even closely related to Beijing Opera. That stuff is unendurable!

 The second falls.

And a great time was had by all!

National Holiday in Guizhou, China

With a week-long vacation decreed by the government beginning October 1st, we decided to join with another tour organized for the BYU teachers. So we were off to a little-known spot in southwestern China to see mountains and ethnic minorities.  I came home with over 1000 photos which were edited down to just under 400, and I'm sure you don't want to see all of them.  I am reminded of the seemingly endless slide shows someone would bring back from their vacations when I was a child.  

The truth is, most pictures are only meaningful if you were there.

So, I'll do the best I can to give you the flavor of Guizhou Province, without going on and on and on ...

First, I was happy to find out that although it was in southern China, because of the altitude the climate is quite moderate--no snow in winter, but not too hot in the summer. 
We arrived with the rice harvest well under way.  Often the rice straw is burned.  Other times it is fed to the water buffalo or used as their bedding. 

Our first afternoon, we visited Qingyan ancient town, which turned out to be lots of shops selling

mass-produced trinkets (and some genuine souvenirs)

and we got to pay an entrance fee for the opportunity to shop here.

At least many people were in native dress, and the town streets were old. 

  There were lots of Chinese, and no other westerners,

so we were stared at a LOT, and a lot of pictures were taken of Alice and Rachel, as well as different BYU teachers.

Many people said "hello" to us and were SO excited if we said hello back.  

And really excited if we spoke any Chinese to them.

In Guiyang, a small Chinese city of 3 million people, there are tunnels under the main intersections so pedestrians can cross safely.  Normally, these tunnels are filled with shops.  This one was under renovation, and we were amazed--in the US an area like this would not allow anyone in--there were live electrical wires hanging down; sharp metal rods sticking out about knee-height, and so on.  Not to mention the cement dust in the air...

Still, we survived!

Once we were above-ground again, we were in the city square of Guiyang, which happens to be the capital city of the province.  It was here that Mao became the leader of the Communist party in the 1930's.  I've been reading a very interesting history, "Wild Swans" about a woman and her family's experiences over the past 100 years in China, and my opinion of the Chairman has been

going down quite steadily.  

Looking the other way--the city square, and an amazing sculpture over an open-air auditorium.

With temperatures in the low 70's, it was a beautiful evening, and thousands of

people were enjoying themselves. 

It doesn't matter which city you go to in China, in the evenings and the mornings, there will always be a group of women dancing, doing a type of Chinese line dance.  We joined in, a couple of nights, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was like doing "Just Dance" on the Wii, only following a live leader.

Next day, we drove several hours by bus to Kaili, then on to Leishan. The route is now a 4-lane highway, with tunnels through the mountains. In the past, this area was very isolated. Most young people left and went to the east coast (Shanghai, etc) for jobs,

leaving the grandparents to take care of their children.

And since these are minorities, they can have 2 children.  If they stay in the country, they can have 3 children (but cannot move to the city).  It was fun to see families with more than one child.

Now the government is building more roads, a high-speed railroad,

and encouraging foreign companies to build here.  They are even building tourist attractions to bring other Chinese in.

At one point, due to an accident, traffic came to a standstill.

We were able to get out and look around, watching a local family harvest their rice. I loved how the sheaves were stood up and looked like pictures from the 1700's in Europe.

The road began to parallel a river, and it is the first river I've seen in China that had clear water.

It was so amazing to see that I ended up taking tons of pictures,

because it looked like a river in the Rockies, pine trees included!

But one thing you won't see in America--cars pulled into the river to be washed.

Langde Miao minority village.  The Chinese have named these minority peoples "Miao" (sounds like someone calling their cat!)  The people have their own name, and they are actually Hmong, and related to those of Laos and Cambodia, some of whom relocated to the US after the Vietnam war.

These people used to live further north in China, but kept moving southward with the aggression of the Han Chinese.  They ended up in the remote mountains for their own protection.

I was struck at how similar their homes are to those in the Alps.

The area is known for embroidery and silver.  Most of what we saw was mass-produced.

Only in China... a pony was being used to give rides (for a price, of course), and happened to walk by just as I was taking a picture of a group of people at the bottom of the stairs.

What had me so interested down there?

A couple of women were washing all the dishes that had been used for lunch in the open-air

food court, but right next to their big dish pan was a bunch of dead chickens that were being plucked and butchered.  There was no water for rinsing the dishes.  No place to set them out to dry.  And of course, no mess from the chickens splattered that way, right?

And that's why we ate off paper plates and didn't eat chicken.

At least the water used for the dishes was good and hot

and I was impressed with the make-shift stove.

The girls purchased pan pipes and with their musical knowledge, it didn't take long to get

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star" going.  

That probably hadn't been heard here before!