This comes just as I’m about to embark on a trip flying on two different budget airlines.
Remember the budget airplane that crashed into the deep blue sea with over 100 people on board 15 months ago? They retrieved the black boxes last August with the help of a salvage ship and just this week the results were announced: primarily pilot error. They were distracted by some other problem and forget to check their instruments. The report also said that there was no evidence that the airline “included component reliability in its reliability control program, to ensure the effectiveness or airworthiness of aircraft components for the fleet at the time of the accident.” Hmmm. Poor maintainence and poorly trained pilots. The rumors were true.
Two weeks ago, the same airline was grounded by the government for failure to meet minimum safety standards after yet another of its planes had a mild crash–it seems some people never learn. Hats off to the government though. They do, eventually, with enough encouragement, get around to doing their jobs. Starting last July the EU refused to allow ANY airlines from that country to land anywhere in the EU. It was a national embarassment. I imagine that has motivated them to put a little bit of effort into doing inspections.
What amazes me the most though, is how angry the passengers were who had booked tickets on that airline only to find the airline was grounded for safety reasons. They weren’t angry at the airline, they were angry at the safety board. Some of them even went down and had a protest demonstration at the safety board office!
It’s part of the philosophy – if it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. If it’s not, then God Himself will hold that broken plane with the incompetent pilots up in the air and get you home safely.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Black Saturday
According to the paper, 35 people (including a woman) 
had themselves crucified yesterday. Of course, they didn’t die and I understand they use stainless steel nails that have been sterilized, so it seems to be a “safe” procedure. But still uncomfortable. Nevertheless, one guy has now done it for 13 years in a row. Other “scores of men pound their bleeding bare backs with bamboo sticks dangling from ropes in a flagellation rite meant to atone for sins.” Here are a couple of photos off the net:
Why do they do it? According to the article, in addition to atoning for sins, it’s done to pay a vow or to pray for an illness to be cured. The guy who’s done it 13 times said he’s doing it this time so that his sick son will get well. He also said “After being nailed to the cross, I feel so refreshed, like all my sins are washed away.”
Although religious authorities frown on the practice it has become an annual ritual in some places. The guy who has done it 13 times says his own father had done it 15 times.
In my area nobody gets crucified. But a number of people carry crosses or crawl on their knees up a winding road to the top of a hill at the top of which is a shrine. An even larger number go along in procession on foot. (Witnessed by the fact that today you can still see the entire road to the top is carpeted in discarded cups, juice packs, junk food wrappers, and water bottles.)
Tomorrow beginning about 2am there will be a procession starting from the nearby church. The Mary figure and accompanying procession will leave through one door and the Jesus figure and accompanying procession will leave through a different door. They will pass over different routes around town and then “meet” at the nearby mall. From there the two processions join and go back to the church together where there will be a special pre-dawn service. And then Holy Week is over.
had themselves crucified yesterday. Of course, they didn’t die and I understand they use stainless steel nails that have been sterilized, so it seems to be a “safe” procedure. But still uncomfortable. Nevertheless, one guy has now done it for 13 years in a row. Other “scores of men pound their bleeding bare backs with bamboo sticks dangling from ropes in a flagellation rite meant to atone for sins.” Here are a couple of photos off the net:Why do they do it? According to the article, in addition to atoning for sins, it’s done to pay a vow or to pray for an illness to be cured. The guy who’s done it 13 times said he’s doing it this time so that his sick son will get well. He also said “After being nailed to the cross, I feel so refreshed, like all my sins are washed away.”
Although religious authorities frown on the practice it has become an annual ritual in some places. The guy who has done it 13 times says his own father had done it 15 times.
In my area nobody gets crucified. But a number of people carry crosses or crawl on their knees up a winding road to the top of a hill at the top of which is a shrine. An even larger number go along in procession on foot. (Witnessed by the fact that today you can still see the entire road to the top is carpeted in discarded cups, juice packs, junk food wrappers, and water bottles.)
Tomorrow beginning about 2am there will be a procession starting from the nearby church. The Mary figure and accompanying procession will leave through one door and the Jesus figure and accompanying procession will leave through a different door. They will pass over different routes around town and then “meet” at the nearby mall. From there the two processions join and go back to the church together where there will be a special pre-dawn service. And then Holy Week is over.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Out of stock specials
Today I went out for lunch with two friends. We went to a place that is reputed to have good and interesting food – when it’s in stock. The restaurant has lots of windows and you can choose tables, booths or even a few bar stools along a counter. Outside were plastered signs about the current specials: Seared Tuna and Citrus Sauce, Thai Chicken, etc. One friend was especially interested in the Seared Tuna special. However once inside and seated we found out that the cook doesn’t come in until later in the day so those specials weren’t available. Oh, okay. So we looked through the menu and two of us ordered Chicken Fajitas and the other some Cajun Shrimp Chowder. Those apparently were in stock and there was someone present who was able to cook it.One of my friends ordered a watermelon shake. The waitress came back and said they were out of stock so my friend ordered a green mango shake. Soon the waitress was back and said that was out of stock too but they had ripe mangoes. OK, so ripe mango shake it was.
The food was pretty good once it got sorted out what was and wasn’t in stock. The fajitas came with 2 extremely thin “tortillas” in nice plastic tortilla dishes with a cover. Only they weren’t really tortillas, they were spring roll wrappers. Oh, well, never mind. There aren’t too many Mexicans in this part of the world so maybe no one else will notice. The salsa was fresh and not too salty and even had a mild hint of chili to it.
One friend insisted on separate bills. That isn’t really the norm here so sometimes people have incredible difficulty figuring out separate bills. When our bills came I couldn’t help giggling at the little descriptions typed on the top of each of the bills: brown hair, white hair, and pink blouse. I guess I was Brown Hair. Soon White Hair and Pink Blouse were giggling too and I thought we were really going to lose it. Actually two of us had pink blouses on and two had brown hair. But it still worked out. And after all, it could have SO much worse!! (Like Small, Medium, and Large. Or Glasses, No glasses, Needs Glasses. Etc.)
PS These photos are glamor shots off the internet, NOT the real thing.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Feet
One of the interesting things I have noticed between the first of my worlds and the other two is the attitude toward feet.
Everybody’s got feet and when feet are missing, diseased, or painful it makes life very difficult. In southeast Asia feet are considered to be cleaner than shoes. It is very common to take shoes off when entering a home and it is perfectly acceptable to walk around someone’s home in bare feet. But I noticed while back in the first of my worlds, that walking around someone’s house barefoot is considered rather disgusting behavior. Being stocking–footed is fine but being barefoot appears to be rather revolting to the natives. You can see it in their faces even if they are too polite to say anything. It seems that they see feet themselves as the source of disgusting smells and fungus. Perhaps this is because people must wear shoes most of the year because of the cold climate and so feet don't get much air, and thus actually ARE more disgusting.
In the southeast Asia, however, shoes are considered much more filthy than bare feet. In some areas you will offend people if you wear your shoes in their house. Far better to walk in barefoot even if you are dropping fungus spores all over the place. Because of the warm climate people do wear slippers more and feet get more air. But on formal occasions it is important to have nice-looking feet, otherwise you should hide them in closed-toe shoes. Women especially like to use nail polish on their toes. There are thousands of manicurists/pedicurists who work in beauty shops, or have their own business and go around making home visits.
Babies, on the other hand, should always have their feet covered in public. Despite the torrid climate, it is considered tantamount to child abuse to take your baby out in public with bare feet. The guy in this picture would have total strangers come up to him in righteous indignation and rebuke him for taking the baby out without foot coverings. (A babythat young also shouldn’t be held upright – but that’s another tale for another day.)
Showing the soles of your feet is also in poor taste in many areas. Of course most of the time people are standing on them so this is not a problem. But what I have found personally challenging is when you ae invited to sit on the floor in someone’s house. Many rural houses are simple and may not have conventional chairs, and if they do, the chairs are outside on the ground level. Sitting on a slatted bamboo floor and trying to keep your legs folded up so that nobody has to look at the soles of your feet can be challenging. I never have been much good at cross-legged yoga positions. Fortunately in the No area, women aren’t supposed to sit cross-legged. They sit with their knees bent and their legs folded off to one side.
While it is true that people spend a lot of leisure time wearing flip flops (rubber slippers) they often must wear shoes at work or school. Since many families don’t want to spend a lot of money on quality shoes especially for kids who outgrow them rapidly, many shoes are made of cheap materials and are not conducive to good ventilation. (Indeed, sometimes there are no quality shoes to be had even if you DID want to spend the money.) Thus fungus does grow well. Fortunately buildings and public vehicles usually have good ventilation since windows are open and so smell is not a problem. But once in a while you get in a situation where the ventilation isn’t too good. Like on an airplane being loaded with passengers who of course are dressed up and wearing their closed shoes. And the pilot, presumably wishing to save fuel so he can get a bonus, does not turn on the air conditioning until you have reached cruising altitude. As the heat in the cabin rises dramatically, the fungus infections of all these feet start to smell quite ripe. In fact I have heard that in China, one of the most common complaints of travellors is other people taking their shoes off in the trains.
For those who have King Tut type feet (at left) it can be quite challenging to get around socially. Perhaps this other footwear I saw on the internet would be a possible solution:
Everybody’s got feet and when feet are missing, diseased, or painful it makes life very difficult. In southeast Asia feet are considered to be cleaner than shoes. It is very common to take shoes off when entering a home and it is perfectly acceptable to walk around someone’s home in bare feet. But I noticed while back in the first of my worlds, that walking around someone’s house barefoot is considered rather disgusting behavior. Being stocking–footed is fine but being barefoot appears to be rather revolting to the natives. You can see it in their faces even if they are too polite to say anything. It seems that they see feet themselves as the source of disgusting smells and fungus. Perhaps this is because people must wear shoes most of the year because of the cold climate and so feet don't get much air, and thus actually ARE more disgusting.
In the southeast Asia, however, shoes are considered much more filthy than bare feet. In some areas you will offend people if you wear your shoes in their house. Far better to walk in barefoot even if you are dropping fungus spores all over the place. Because of the warm climate people do wear slippers more and feet get more air. But on formal occasions it is important to have nice-looking feet, otherwise you should hide them in closed-toe shoes. Women especially like to use nail polish on their toes. There are thousands of manicurists/pedicurists who work in beauty shops, or have their own business and go around making home visits.
Babies, on the other hand, should always have their feet covered in public. Despite the torrid climate, it is considered tantamount to child abuse to take your baby out in public with bare feet. The guy in this picture would have total strangers come up to him in righteous indignation and rebuke him for taking the baby out without foot coverings. (A babythat young also shouldn’t be held upright – but that’s another tale for another day.)
Showing the soles of your feet is also in poor taste in many areas. Of course most of the time people are standing on them so this is not a problem. But what I have found personally challenging is when you ae invited to sit on the floor in someone’s house. Many rural houses are simple and may not have conventional chairs, and if they do, the chairs are outside on the ground level. Sitting on a slatted bamboo floor and trying to keep your legs folded up so that nobody has to look at the soles of your feet can be challenging. I never have been much good at cross-legged yoga positions. Fortunately in the No area, women aren’t supposed to sit cross-legged. They sit with their knees bent and their legs folded off to one side.
While it is true that people spend a lot of leisure time wearing flip flops (rubber slippers) they often must wear shoes at work or school. Since many families don’t want to spend a lot of money on quality shoes especially for kids who outgrow them rapidly, many shoes are made of cheap materials and are not conducive to good ventilation. (Indeed, sometimes there are no quality shoes to be had even if you DID want to spend the money.) Thus fungus does grow well. Fortunately buildings and public vehicles usually have good ventilation since windows are open and so smell is not a problem. But once in a while you get in a situation where the ventilation isn’t too good. Like on an airplane being loaded with passengers who of course are dressed up and wearing their closed shoes. And the pilot, presumably wishing to save fuel so he can get a bonus, does not turn on the air conditioning until you have reached cruising altitude. As the heat in the cabin rises dramatically, the fungus infections of all these feet start to smell quite ripe. In fact I have heard that in China, one of the most common complaints of travellors is other people taking their shoes off in the trains.
For those who have King Tut type feet (at left) it can be quite challenging to get around socially. Perhaps this other footwear I saw on the internet would be a possible solution:
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