It is New Year's Eve. I was awakened this morning by a pig squealing. Lots of pigs are meeting their demise today to be spitted and roasted for the holiday.
My house helper and her friend are spending the holiday here keeping me company - and borrowing our kitchen. Last night they went shopping and came home and packed a box of goodies to send to their families in the countryside. They included things like small cans of meat and fish, a big bag of candy, packages of instant coffee, milk, and Milo, sugar, laundry detergent, soap, shampoo sachets, etc. They also included the makings for a favorite holiday specialty - macaroni salad. It's made of cooked macaroni, fruit cocktail, sweetened condensed milk, processed cheese, and a bit of mayonnaise. They also planned to send about 2 kilos of roast pork left over from the friend's Christmas party at work. They left early this morning bringing the box to the bus terminal to send home with a family member they met there.
Now they are busy in the kitchen making cupcakes and fried noodles. They have two loaves of sliced white bread and apparently plan to make fried noodle sandwiches with it. They will also make spaghetti for a relative who will be stopping by later for some cupcakes.
This evening they will watch movies on an old laptop, eating fried noodle sandwiches and cupcakes, until midnight when the whole city will be outside making racket to welcome in the new year.
As for me, I am writing emails, updating my blog, and pondering life around me. I, however, do NOT plan to eat noodle sandwiches! :-)
Wishing you a happy New Year!
Showing posts with label Events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Events. Show all posts
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Raining in the dining room
Well it’s “raining” again in our dining area. The 2nd floor bathroom of the apartment next door is once again dripping into our place. We are optimistically hoping it is clean water. Most of the previous occasio
ns have been. It somehow gets into the wall and ALWAYS drips down into our place instead of theirs. It would be so much easier if it leaked into their own place – then they would believe that there’s a problem. Sigh!
The handyman came by yesterday and tore out a piece of our ceiling. Ew, what a smell! It’s extremely mildewed and moldy with a hint of something worse. Obviously some slow leaking has been going on a long time to get that much mildew up there. But of course the worker was not able to see what the problem was. He could see where
it’s running out of the concrete wall but of course since the pipes are in the wall in the next apartment he can’t see anything from our place. We told him that, after all we have been through this many times over the years but each new handyman wants to rip apart OUR ceiling and see for himself. I’m going to take pictures this time and hopefully save the next guy the trouble!
The worker was uneasy about disturbing the neighbor, after all it’s not dripping into THEIR dining area. He suggested things like cutting a hole in our upstairs floor. Can’t imagine what good that would do, if he can’t see through the hole he already made in the ceiling he won’t see anything additional through a hole in the floor! The water pipes are embedded in the concrete wall – and the waste pipes are above the neighbor’s ceiling.. (I can just see somebody staggering out of bed and falling through a hole in the floor upstairs!) His other suggestion was to chip through the concrete wall from our side to try to get at the neighbor’s pipes.. (Just what we need, a window into the neighbor’s bathroom.)
ns have been. It somehow gets into the wall and ALWAYS drips down into our place instead of theirs. It would be so much easier if it leaked into their own place – then they would believe that there’s a problem. Sigh!The handyman came by yesterday and tore out a piece of our ceiling. Ew, what a smell! It’s extremely mildewed and moldy with a hint of something worse. Obviously some slow leaking has been going on a long time to get that much mildew up there. But of course the worker was not able to see what the problem was. He could see where
it’s running out of the concrete wall but of course since the pipes are in the wall in the next apartment he can’t see anything from our place. We told him that, after all we have been through this many times over the years but each new handyman wants to rip apart OUR ceiling and see for himself. I’m going to take pictures this time and hopefully save the next guy the trouble!The worker was uneasy about disturbing the neighbor, after all it’s not dripping into THEIR dining area. He suggested things like cutting a hole in our upstairs floor. Can’t imagine what good that would do, if he can’t see through the hole he already made in the ceiling he won’t see anything additional through a hole in the floor! The water pipes are embedded in the concrete wall – and the waste pipes are above the neighbor’s ceiling.. (I can just see somebody staggering out of bed and falling through a hole in the floor upstairs!) His other suggestion was to chip through the concrete wall from our side to try to get at the neighbor’s pipes.. (Just what we need, a window into the neighbor’s bathroom.)
Sometimes the best thing to do is to just go in your office, shut the door and play a computer game.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Teachers to loose jobs because of swine flu?
This would be funny if it wasn’t potentially dangerous. At a rural junior high school in the second of my worlds, the teachers sat around gossiping in the teachers’ lounge as usual. But today things got out of hand. Instead of the usual topics of money and their sex lives, they started discussing swine flu. One thing led to another and soon the majority of the teachers there, being followers (sort of) of a certain prophet, declared that the minority of teachers, being followers of religions that permit pork consumption, should all be transferred elsewhere. The connection with swine flu was obscure but perhaps they thought that because of the name “swine flu” that people are catching the flu from pigs and after all, didn’t the government run around spraying pigs a few days ago? So it seemed logical to them somehow that getting rid of teachers whose religions permit them to eat pork would somehow prevent swine flu. They got quite heated up about it and began referring to students and teachers of said religions as “unclean outsiders that stink of balsem”. Unfortunately they didn’t consider that 75% of the student body belong to one of those religions. Word got out and by the end of the day, parents of 75% of the students were up in arms and threatening to transfer their kids elsewhere.
Moral of story: engage brain before opening mouth, ESPECIALLY if you are a teacher.
Moral of story: engage brain before opening mouth, ESPECIALLY if you are a teacher.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year!
We had an astonishingly QUIET New Year’s day in sharp contrast to Christmas. Though we are surrounded by electronic noise generators they were all on vacation for New Year’s! The schools are closed, as is the appliance chain office. Many of my neighbors in the apartment complex are also gone for the holidays so we were actually in a quiet cul-de-sac in the midst of all the other racket going on at midnight. Firecrackers have been banned since 2001 and though people try to make noise in other ways, it is just not the same intensity. There was one lone kid with a paper horn out back and in the distance we could hear a low roar of noise: cars honking, peop
le banging on things, loud music and TVs.New Year’s day is very quiet. People believe that whatever you do on this day you will do all year so they generally prefer to stay home and eat and sleep, maybe visit with relatives. It is also the local custom to assemble 12 different kinds of round fruits and then proceed to eat one fruit a day on each of the first 12 days of the new year. So fruits such as papayas, pineapples, bananas and mangoes aren’t in big demand. Jicamas (called sinkamas loc
ally) , though a root crop, are considered to be round fruits. All sorts of exotic fruits not normally seen in the market suddenly appeared last week. Watermelons cost 5 times what they normally do. They were even selling unripe rambutans! Apples, oranges, durian, pomelos, grapes, guavas were in big demand. Even imported kiwi fruit! (Y
ou can also use lemons but the downside is you have to eat it!) Judging by the lines, other hot selling items at the super market on New Year’s Eve were sliced bread, hams, mayonnaise, macaroni, sweetened condensed milk, and the makings for spaghetti. So I presume everybody today is eating spaghetti, macaroni fruit salad, and ham sandwiches in addition to one round fruit.As for me I'm enjoying a fruit shake made of all the unwanted fruits - papaya, mango,
banana, and pineapple!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Harvest, Agricultural and Cultural Festival
And here we have some shots a friend got at the annual Harvest, Agricultural, and Cultural Festival. See what I missed?!
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.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Shot dead by own security guard
December 25
A rather shocking development back in the third of my worlds, is that my Korean neighbor of 10 years was shot dead on Dec 23 by our own security guard. It is rather a puzzle as to what happened, or rather WHY it happened. Neighbors said that the Korean had returned a bit after 9:30pm. The security guard was apparently sleeping so the neighbor had to get out of his car and open the gate himself. He was quite irate about that and may have kicked the guard post or slammed the log book down or something. He drove his car down to his apartment and hit a rock that someone had left in the drive to wedge their tire. That of course made him even more irate so he picked up the rock and then went back up towards the gate and started shouting at the security guard. People say that there was shouting and yelling for about 5 minutes and them bam! The man’s 26 year old son ran out to check out what happened and called for a neighbor to accompany him. They found his father laying in a lake of blood in front of one of the other apartments. He had been shot in the chest with a shot gun at rather close range. The son and his cousin took him to the hospital but he was dead on arrival. The security guard vanished. The Korean was said to have been drinking, as he often did at night. But the security guard was also said to have been drinking which he shouldn’t have been, and he certainly shouldn’t have been asleep at that time. No one actually saw if one of them hit or kicked the other and the Korean wasn’t armed.
The 911 phone line was apparently closed for the holidays but somebody managed to call the police. The police were over later that night and the next day. The security agency was over as was the owner of the building. We heard that the Korean embassy may get involved if the security guard isn’t found. Nobody seems to satisfied as to WHY the man was shot.
The people living in the apartment he died in front of are the ones that ended up having to clean up the mess. They have been burning candles on the spot. I understand that the local belief is that the soul hangs around the spot for about 40 days after death so maybe they will burn candles that long?
Apparently shot ricocheted around the front of our apartment, there are “burns” on the wall and a big chip out of the plastic front of the motorbike parked out front as well as a hole in the seat. It scared the daylights out of our cat who was probably sitting on the bike as is his custom.
It’s really a puzzle because the Korean had lived here for 10 years, in fact he was the one who pushed to have a security guard in the first place. He did have a temper. In the past we have heard him slamming things and breaking things in his apartment when angry at his wife or kids, though not recently. But I had never heard him yell at others. That particular security guard had been here three years and always seemed pleasant, and laid back and easy-going. Neighbors near the guard house said he had in fact apologized to the Korean for being asleep so it is unclear why the matter progressed any further. The security agency said that the guard may have been having some personal problems recently and suggested that the Korean may have appeared threatening.
It doesn’t really make sense. But one could safely conclude that it
is unwise to argue with an armed man.
PS The guard finally turned himself in and last I heard will be tried for manslaughter. When asked why he didn't shoot in the air if he thought the Korean was out of control- he said he just didn't think.
A rather shocking development back in the third of my worlds, is that my Korean neighbor of 10 years was shot dead on Dec 23 by our own security guard. It is rather a puzzle as to what happened, or rather WHY it happened. Neighbors said that the Korean had returned a bit after 9:30pm. The security guard was apparently sleeping so the neighbor had to get out of his car and open the gate himself. He was quite irate about that and may have kicked the guard post or slammed the log book down or something. He drove his car down to his apartment and hit a rock that someone had left in the drive to wedge their tire. That of course made him even more irate so he picked up the rock and then went back up towards the gate and started shouting at the security guard. People say that there was shouting and yelling for about 5 minutes and them bam! The man’s 26 year old son ran out to check out what happened and called for a neighbor to accompany him. They found his father laying in a lake of blood in front of one of the other apartments. He had been shot in the chest with a shot gun at rather close range. The son and his cousin took him to the hospital but he was dead on arrival. The security guard vanished. The Korean was said to have been drinking, as he often did at night. But the security guard was also said to have been drinking which he shouldn’t have been, and he certainly shouldn’t have been asleep at that time. No one actually saw if one of them hit or kicked the other and the Korean wasn’t armed.
The 911 phone line was apparently closed for the holidays but somebody managed to call the police. The police were over later that night and the next day. The security agency was over as was the owner of the building. We heard that the Korean embassy may get involved if the security guard isn’t found. Nobody seems to satisfied as to WHY the man was shot.
The people living in the apartment he died in front of are the ones that ended up having to clean up the mess. They have been burning candles on the spot. I understand that the local belief is that the soul hangs around the spot for about 40 days after death so maybe they will burn candles that long?
Apparently shot ricocheted around the front of our apartment, there are “burns” on the wall and a big chip out of the plastic front of the motorbike parked out front as well as a hole in the seat. It scared the daylights out of our cat who was probably sitting on the bike as is his custom.
It’s really a puzzle because the Korean had lived here for 10 years, in fact he was the one who pushed to have a security guard in the first place. He did have a temper. In the past we have heard him slamming things and breaking things in his apartment when angry at his wife or kids, though not recently. But I had never heard him yell at others. That particular security guard had been here three years and always seemed pleasant, and laid back and easy-going. Neighbors near the guard house said he had in fact apologized to the Korean for being asleep so it is unclear why the matter progressed any further. The security agency said that the guard may have been having some personal problems recently and suggested that the Korean may have appeared threatening.
It doesn’t really make sense. But one could safely conclude that it
is unwise to argue with an armed man.
PS The guard finally turned himself in and last I heard will be tried for manslaughter. When asked why he didn't shoot in the air if he thought the Korean was out of control- he said he just didn't think.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
World switch
I have been travelling so much lately that sometimes it’s a challenge to keep my worlds straight! I just arrived in world 3 a week ago after having been in world 2 for a month. Now I am about to leave for world 1 for a couple of months. This requires not only a major adjusment in packing because of climatic considerations, but also a major reshuffle of the mental filing cabinet.
If you think of the human brain as a sort of filing system, then you can think of information being stored in files. So a big part of this travel is to keep the appropriate file folders at the front. Since it's been two years since I was last in the first of my worlds I have to dig out and dust off the world 1 files. They no doubt also need to be updated.
The file folders for the first of my worlds are quite fat. I need to re-remember names of places, streets, and products and update what has changed. I have to try to get back into time-consciousness. I won't be able to depend on the sun for my clock. I will also be driving a lot more as public transportation is non-existant where I will be (but at least road-construction season should be almost over!). Plus the whole of social interaction is different.
Anyhow, I will try to update this blog as I land jet-lagged into the midst of world 1. Stay tuned! :-)
If you think of the human brain as a sort of filing system, then you can think of information being stored in files. So a big part of this travel is to keep the appropriate file folders at the front. Since it's been two years since I was last in the first of my worlds I have to dig out and dust off the world 1 files. They no doubt also need to be updated.
The file folders for the first of my worlds are quite fat. I need to re-remember names of places, streets, and products and update what has changed. I have to try to get back into time-consciousness. I won't be able to depend on the sun for my clock. I will also be driving a lot more as public transportation is non-existant where I will be (but at least road-construction season should be almost over!). Plus the whole of social interaction is different.
Anyhow, I will try to update this blog as I land jet-lagged into the midst of world 1. Stay tuned! :-)
Monday, October 08, 2007
Fasting Again
15 September 2007
Once again it is the time of the annual fast. Economically, this time is a boon to merchants and a bane to household finances much as Christmas has been in the West. The local village market is already selling prayer clothes and Arabic-style month-of-fasting finery. Many people buy new prayer clothes at this time of year. This is sarongs for men and women, black hats and long-sleeved shirts for men and long white head coverings for women long enough to cover the arms too and leave only the face showing. Many people, especially professionals who have a lot of public events to attend this month, buy special Arabic-style finery to wear. This is ornate pantsuits with long-sleeved tunics or long dresses and fancy head coverings for women, and long fancy shirts for men.
Out in the village there aren’t many professionals so farmers at the local market would mainly be buying new sarongs, new headcoverings, new flip flops for everybody in the family plus a new outfit for everybody in the family but not necessarily Arab style. The women buy baking ingredients for the annual cookie baking: flour, sugar, shortening, eggs, spices, glass jars, cookie cutters and molds, maybe a new box oven to use on top of a kerosene burner. People often like to do home improvement at this time – paint the house, buy new appliances. Motorbike sales boom at this time of the year with special fasting-month terms of credit. Shops have later hours to accomodate the crowds.
It is the custom here to pay employees an extra month’s salary at their special holiday time. So Muslims get it now, Christians at Christmas, and other religions at their main holiday. But even so, people are scrambling for extra money at this time of year. So there are lots of door-to-door salesmen selling sarongs, prayer clothes, footwear, medicines, plasticware, and gadgets. Women have not been left behind. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of small stalls springing up where women sell cooked food in the late afternoon for the convience of folks who fast all day and don’t feel up to cooking. (Not only Muslims take advantage of the extra foodstalls!)
In recent years the government has started getting into decorating. Usually it has been lights, asking every household to put up a bamboo arch with lights or something of that sort. But this year they have lighted artifical coconut trees in the center of main roads! In the land of acres of real coconut plantations, it seems to me just a little bit bizarre! But what do I know? The locals seem to think it’s pretty cool.
Once again it is the time of the annual fast. Economically, this time is a boon to merchants and a bane to household finances much as Christmas has been in the West. The local village market is already selling prayer clothes and Arabic-style month-of-fasting finery. Many people buy new prayer clothes at this time of year. This is sarongs for men and women, black hats and long-sleeved shirts for men and long white head coverings for women long enough to cover the arms too and leave only the face showing. Many people, especially professionals who have a lot of public events to attend this month, buy special Arabic-style finery to wear. This is ornate pantsuits with long-sleeved tunics or long dresses and fancy head coverings for women, and long fancy shirts for men.
Out in the village there aren’t many professionals so farmers at the local market would mainly be buying new sarongs, new headcoverings, new flip flops for everybody in the family plus a new outfit for everybody in the family but not necessarily Arab style. The women buy baking ingredients for the annual cookie baking: flour, sugar, shortening, eggs, spices, glass jars, cookie cutters and molds, maybe a new box oven to use on top of a kerosene burner. People often like to do home improvement at this time – paint the house, buy new appliances. Motorbike sales boom at this time of the year with special fasting-month terms of credit. Shops have later hours to accomodate the crowds.
It is the custom here to pay employees an extra month’s salary at their special holiday time. So Muslims get it now, Christians at Christmas, and other religions at their main holiday. But even so, people are scrambling for extra money at this time of year. So there are lots of door-to-door salesmen selling sarongs, prayer clothes, footwear, medicines, plasticware, and gadgets. Women have not been left behind. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of small stalls springing up where women sell cooked food in the late afternoon for the convience of folks who fast all day and don’t feel up to cooking. (Not only Muslims take advantage of the extra foodstalls!)
In recent years the government has started getting into decorating. Usually it has been lights, asking every household to put up a bamboo arch with lights or something of that sort. But this year they have lighted artifical coconut trees in the center of main roads! In the land of acres of real coconut plantations, it seems to me just a little bit bizarre! But what do I know? The locals seem to think it’s pretty cool.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Another war
There’s a war going on south of here, with government troops fighting against rebels. (Actually this sort of off-and-on skirmishing has been going on for years, decades even. But a couple of months ago the rebels beheaded nearly a dozen soldiers so the government sort of feels it can’t just let that go. Thus the current war.) We are told that the rebels may try to take it out on civilians so we should expect security will be tighter here too.
They took the unusual precaution of starting to check baggage on passenger ships now. For their efforts, the other day they found a guy bringing a sack of bananas and sweet potatoes on a ship travelling to the capital. And deep inside the sack was also a grenade and another explosive. It’s part of the local culture to bring a gift, especially food, for those you are visiting or for those at home when you return from a trip. But not usual at all to bring them explosives.
Bus bombings in the rural areas occur all too often as well. A couple of weeks ago a local pastor was killed when a bomb went off in some baggage at a bus terminal. He was standing near the pile of bags waiting for his wife to return from the ladies’ room.
Two other bombs were found and defused this past week. Some of these bombings are thought to be related to extortionists who plant bombs in buses when their demands aren’t met. Only explosives experts can tell extortionist bombings apart from rebel retaliation bombings. For the dead and injured, it’s all the same. Passengers are mostly gratified to now have their bags checked before being allowed to load them on the bus.
They took the unusual precaution of starting to check baggage on passenger ships now. For their efforts, the other day they found a guy bringing a sack of bananas and sweet potatoes on a ship travelling to the capital. And deep inside the sack was also a grenade and another explosive. It’s part of the local culture to bring a gift, especially food, for those you are visiting or for those at home when you return from a trip. But not usual at all to bring them explosives.
Bus bombings in the rural areas occur all too often as well. A couple of weeks ago a local pastor was killed when a bomb went off in some baggage at a bus terminal. He was standing near the pile of bags waiting for his wife to return from the ladies’ room.
Two other bombs were found and defused this past week. Some of these bombings are thought to be related to extortionists who plant bombs in buses when their demands aren’t met. Only explosives experts can tell extortionist bombings apart from rebel retaliation bombings. For the dead and injured, it’s all the same. Passengers are mostly gratified to now have their bags checked before being allowed to load them on the bus.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Floods
Monday May 7, 2007
Today it looked like more rain so I hurried and put on my soggy shoes and went into town as I had several errands to run. I left my computer at a friend’s house and then headed off to meet somebody I needed to see. When I got to that part of town there were police everywhere, traffic was crawling, and lots of people were standing out on the road. I wondered if there had been another bombing! When I got to the office I asked what had happened and they said that the neighborhood between there and the river were flooding. As I crossed the bridge on the way to the next stop I was apalled at how huge the river had become. I have never seen it that full. It was near the top of the concrete retaining walls that were built a few years ago. Apparently the tide was coming in at the same time the river was carrying all that water from the previous days’ rain. Downstream from the bridge towards the sea there were giant waves like you’d see in the sea. Police were on the bridge waving traffic on and telling people not to stop. The sidewalks were full of gawkers. The little mosque on the river’s edge on the other side was just about to flood. When I crossed back again a couple of hours later, about noon, there was water filling the street just before the bridge, you had to pass through it to get to the bridge. The concrete retaining walls were only a few inches above the water and were breaking in several places, you could see water pouring over the broken places.
Later I heard that my friend’s house - which had never flooded before - was thigh deep in water. The water had started coming up about 6:30 in the morning as she was getting the kids off to school and getting herself ready to go off to teach. She texted her brother to come to town and help, so he went to town with his car. He had to park it on the main road but they were able to wade out and load up some things to take to a niece’s house. Other things they stuck up above the ceiling. He said there were other houses flooded much deeper. He saw all kinds of debris being carried along including motorcycles, refrigerators, and even a wardrobe tumbling along in the current. The police tied 3 ropes across a place with a particularly strong current so that any people being carried away could grab the rope, if they missed it there was a second and a third rope they could try for. Meanwhile police were on standby with a boat and rubber inner tubes to help rescue people. (I was impressed to hear that they actually were doing something useful for a change!) People were saying what a good thing it happened in the daytime and not at night. And also a mercy that the sky cleared up and it didn’t rain anymore.
Unfortunately my friend put her cellphone in her pocket and then forgot about it as she was in and out of waist deep water salvaging their things. So the cellphone is now ruined.
The nearby Salvation Army office was putting up a tent and getting organized to cook rice and noodles for lunch for flood victims. Some of their staff were busy helping people rescue their things, or accompanying any injured to the nearby hospital. They expect the water to be high for a couple of days and then there will be a huge mess to clean up. One lady I talked to said rather heartlessly that it wasn’t really a humanitarian crisis, that those people shouldn’t have built their houses so close to the river. Maybe so, but on the other hand this IS the worst flood ever. Many of those places have never flooded before. I suppose all the chopping down of forest up stream also contributed significantly.
Today it looked like more rain so I hurried and put on my soggy shoes and went into town as I had several errands to run. I left my computer at a friend’s house and then headed off to meet somebody I needed to see. When I got to that part of town there were police everywhere, traffic was crawling, and lots of people were standing out on the road. I wondered if there had been another bombing! When I got to the office I asked what had happened and they said that the neighborhood between there and the river were flooding. As I crossed the bridge on the way to the next stop I was apalled at how huge the river had become. I have never seen it that full. It was near the top of the concrete retaining walls that were built a few years ago. Apparently the tide was coming in at the same time the river was carrying all that water from the previous days’ rain. Downstream from the bridge towards the sea there were giant waves like you’d see in the sea. Police were on the bridge waving traffic on and telling people not to stop. The sidewalks were full of gawkers. The little mosque on the river’s edge on the other side was just about to flood. When I crossed back again a couple of hours later, about noon, there was water filling the street just before the bridge, you had to pass through it to get to the bridge. The concrete retaining walls were only a few inches above the water and were breaking in several places, you could see water pouring over the broken places.
Later I heard that my friend’s house - which had never flooded before - was thigh deep in water. The water had started coming up about 6:30 in the morning as she was getting the kids off to school and getting herself ready to go off to teach. She texted her brother to come to town and help, so he went to town with his car. He had to park it on the main road but they were able to wade out and load up some things to take to a niece’s house. Other things they stuck up above the ceiling. He said there were other houses flooded much deeper. He saw all kinds of debris being carried along including motorcycles, refrigerators, and even a wardrobe tumbling along in the current. The police tied 3 ropes across a place with a particularly strong current so that any people being carried away could grab the rope, if they missed it there was a second and a third rope they could try for. Meanwhile police were on standby with a boat and rubber inner tubes to help rescue people. (I was impressed to hear that they actually were doing something useful for a change!) People were saying what a good thing it happened in the daytime and not at night. And also a mercy that the sky cleared up and it didn’t rain anymore.
Unfortunately my friend put her cellphone in her pocket and then forgot about it as she was in and out of waist deep water salvaging their things. So the cellphone is now ruined.
The nearby Salvation Army office was putting up a tent and getting organized to cook rice and noodles for lunch for flood victims. Some of their staff were busy helping people rescue their things, or accompanying any injured to the nearby hospital. They expect the water to be high for a couple of days and then there will be a huge mess to clean up. One lady I talked to said rather heartlessly that it wasn’t really a humanitarian crisis, that those people shouldn’t have built their houses so close to the river. Maybe so, but on the other hand this IS the worst flood ever. Many of those places have never flooded before. I suppose all the chopping down of forest up stream also contributed significantly.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Planes, ships, and guns
Pieces of that plane that went missing on January 1 are finally being found in the sea 150 miles south of where the plane was last seen on radar: seatbelts, flashlight, tray tables, seat covers, tail fin, pieces of fiberglass but still no sign of bodies, clothes, or luggage. The first pieces were found 11 days after the disapppearance. They are still looking for the main body of the plane and especially the black box. (Word just in that the signals from the black box have been detected.) There are aircraft and ships from at least 3 other countries which have also joined in the search. It is now assumed that the plane either broke up in the air or upon impact into the sea from a catastrophic loss of power/control at high altitude. It is assumed that there are no survivors, but they are still hoping to find the main body of the plane.
They are also still looking for the ferry that sank a couple of days after the plane disappeared leaving 350+ people still unaccounted for. But the water is murky from bad weather and there is apparently so much metal down there from other sunken ships and WW2 mines that they can’t be sure where it is. It would be VERY interesting if the sea ever gave up all of its secrets.....
Regarding the preacher that was shot last October, the school girls that were beheaded, the bombings, shootings, etc of the last 3 years... recently the authorities have announced that they have pinpointed the troublemakers. It has been narrowed down to two villages composed mainly of people from another island who relocated there a few years ago. Those folk apparently want to set up their own version of heaven on earth and it doesn’t include the native population – especially those of another religious persuasion. Since negotiations and appeals have apparently failed, the police decided to go in and arrest people. When the police went in to make arrests, the residents responded by throwing bombs and shooting at the police. Generally not a wise idea. Naturally the police persisted and arrested some 25 people at the cost of 1 dead police officer and 13 civilians, plus others wounded. They found a large number of guns, including automatic weapons, ammunition and plenty of explosives. They are currently reported to be searching the jungles for others who escaped. The weapons are said to be from a neighboring country since it is illegal for civilians of this country to own firearms.
The interesting thing is that some religious leaders are advising the government not to be heavy handed, because it would not solve the problem but might cause new wounds in the people especially as innocent bystanders are killed or injured. After all, violence will only lead to more violence. Of course in this case, non-violence has also led to more violence. So if violence leads to violence and non-violence also leads to violence, then what? I suppose they could just allow this little group to continue to be violent and hope that maybe eventually they will get it out of their system and settle down. Gets a little mind boggling.
Today's news reports that after questioning many of the arrestees it turns out that the innocent civilians killed in the conflict may not have been so innocent after all. Most if not all had participated in recent shootings, bombings, beheadings, assembled explosives, etc. Nevertheless a well-known elderly cleric recently released from jail for his involvement in a tourist island bombing a few years ago, apparently feels that folk of his religion who kill folk of other religions for any reason at allare not criminals and should not be treated as such. In fact he cursed the police action and said that it only aided the cause of the infidels and threatened that he might have to organize a holy war. (Mind you, he is a bit of a windbag but he does have a few followers.) Sigh! Thus violence begets violence and the cycle of revenge goes on unbroken.
What better illustration of the need for regeneration?
They are also still looking for the ferry that sank a couple of days after the plane disappeared leaving 350+ people still unaccounted for. But the water is murky from bad weather and there is apparently so much metal down there from other sunken ships and WW2 mines that they can’t be sure where it is. It would be VERY interesting if the sea ever gave up all of its secrets.....
Regarding the preacher that was shot last October, the school girls that were beheaded, the bombings, shootings, etc of the last 3 years... recently the authorities have announced that they have pinpointed the troublemakers. It has been narrowed down to two villages composed mainly of people from another island who relocated there a few years ago. Those folk apparently want to set up their own version of heaven on earth and it doesn’t include the native population – especially those of another religious persuasion. Since negotiations and appeals have apparently failed, the police decided to go in and arrest people. When the police went in to make arrests, the residents responded by throwing bombs and shooting at the police. Generally not a wise idea. Naturally the police persisted and arrested some 25 people at the cost of 1 dead police officer and 13 civilians, plus others wounded. They found a large number of guns, including automatic weapons, ammunition and plenty of explosives. They are currently reported to be searching the jungles for others who escaped. The weapons are said to be from a neighboring country since it is illegal for civilians of this country to own firearms.
The interesting thing is that some religious leaders are advising the government not to be heavy handed, because it would not solve the problem but might cause new wounds in the people especially as innocent bystanders are killed or injured. After all, violence will only lead to more violence. Of course in this case, non-violence has also led to more violence. So if violence leads to violence and non-violence also leads to violence, then what? I suppose they could just allow this little group to continue to be violent and hope that maybe eventually they will get it out of their system and settle down. Gets a little mind boggling.
Today's news reports that after questioning many of the arrestees it turns out that the innocent civilians killed in the conflict may not have been so innocent after all. Most if not all had participated in recent shootings, bombings, beheadings, assembled explosives, etc. Nevertheless a well-known elderly cleric recently released from jail for his involvement in a tourist island bombing a few years ago, apparently feels that folk of his religion who kill folk of other religions for any reason at allare not criminals and should not be treated as such. In fact he cursed the police action and said that it only aided the cause of the infidels and threatened that he might have to organize a holy war. (Mind you, he is a bit of a windbag but he does have a few followers.) Sigh! Thus violence begets violence and the cycle of revenge goes on unbroken.
What better illustration of the need for regeneration?
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Lamp shade hats
Yesterday I went to a graduation. I've managed to avoid them for a long, long time but finally one came along that I just couldn't say no to. This was someone receiving a master's degree in business administration. She wanted me to go along as the "parent". You see each graduate is allowed only one guest. It is usually a parent or sibling or aunt or uncle. But in this case none of her family was available so I got the honors. Literally. I was given a green ribbon with "PARENT" written down it to stick on my blouse. And my friend had to wear a yellow one saying "GRADUATE". (I suppose that was just in case someone wondered if she was really a graduate or whether she just always wears long baggy black polyester gowns in the tropical heat.)
It was the kind of cultural event where everyone pretends to know what to do, but actually, I think not everyone did know. I wasn't the only one watching everybody else to try to get some clues. Kids were selling ribbon and flower garlands and corsages. Hmm. Maybe we're supposed to buy them. Yes indeed as it turns out. They are a necessary part of the ceremony. Fortunately the kids were also selling little cloth and bamboo hand fans because all the pre-ceremony standing around was done outside in the sun.
About 1:30 we were finally lined up and marched single file into the gymnasium. We had to all walk to the front and then circle back down the other side to our seats. Masters and PhDs were first in and sat near the front. There were probably over 500 grads all together. Undergrads had colored cords strung through their gowns along the yoke front and back. Masters had wide satin borders down the front of their gowns, colored according to major. They also wore square black boxy hats with long fringe all the way around. Looked a lot like lamp shades.
Extra guests filled the bleachers way up in the balcony. Not sure what they could see from up there. It was pomp and circumstances as a university leader solemnly paraded in with the college emblem on a stick. All the staff paraded in behind him in their colorful graduation regalia. Some intrepid boy scouts stood at attention across the front of the stage holding various flags. Peppy march band music was piped in from somewhere.
And then we waited. And waited. It turned out that a major donor to the university was going to be given an honorary PhD in humanities that day. He is a very wealthy man, owns the national airline and a big brewery in addition to other businesses. But even he couldn't get the plane to arrive on time. So we all had to wait 45 minutes for him and his party to arrive. Those boy scouts deserve a badge - they stood there at attention the entire time and didn't falter or faint.
Finally Mr T arrived and the shown was on. He was awarded the first degree and all his honors were read out. Then he read a speech in English. It was very disapppointing - he's either not a very good reader or he needs new glasses. After some other speeches, the grads and "parents" had to stand and award each other with the corsages and garlands/leis. You would have been really embarassed if you hadn't bought some because your poor grad would have been the only one without one. And you would have been the only "parent" without one. Then some more speeches. Then the grads and parents had to stand again and the poor parents had to try to figure out how to put the "hoods" or whatever they are around the shoulders of the grad and stick it in place with straight pins. These hoods are more colored satiny stuff with weird projections and protruberances. I think I finally got it on more or less right but no guarantee I could do it correctly a second time! Even the undergrads had these "hood" thingys so it was quite colorful.
Then we had to line up by departments, two by two. As two intrepid people read out the names of each and every grad and their "parent", groups of 6 pairs of "parents" and grads had to go up front to a line of colorful university staff handing out fake diplomas. It was kind of like going forward to take communion - the staff stood behind a long table and on our side of the table the space was divided into six sections so that each pair of us went up a step to stand in one of the sections before one of the staff and recive a rolled up fake diploma. We got a guy with a cool purple fringy hat. We both shook his hand and then backed down off the step and paraded back around to our seats.
This took awhile as there were several hundred grads but finally it ended. Then they had everybody but the masters change their tassle to the other side of their hats. (The lamp shade hats didn't allow for moving the fringe anywhere.) They made the grads all stand and give an oath of loyalty to their alma mater, sing the school song, plus a school "victory" song. And then they were pronounced graduated and some nets on the ceiling full of balloons and confetti were opened and all that stuff floated down on top of us. That was kind of cool. After the emblem on a stick and the staff paraded out, the rest of us were allowed to leave.
Of course you have to hang around awhile and take pictures of your grad and all their friends and the "parents". But finally it's time to leave and you wend your way slowly out to the main road and join the rush hour traffic trying to find transportation home.
I am grateful graduations don't occur every week!
It was the kind of cultural event where everyone pretends to know what to do, but actually, I think not everyone did know. I wasn't the only one watching everybody else to try to get some clues. Kids were selling ribbon and flower garlands and corsages. Hmm. Maybe we're supposed to buy them. Yes indeed as it turns out. They are a necessary part of the ceremony. Fortunately the kids were also selling little cloth and bamboo hand fans because all the pre-ceremony standing around was done outside in the sun.
About 1:30 we were finally lined up and marched single file into the gymnasium. We had to all walk to the front and then circle back down the other side to our seats. Masters and PhDs were first in and sat near the front. There were probably over 500 grads all together. Undergrads had colored cords strung through their gowns along the yoke front and back. Masters had wide satin borders down the front of their gowns, colored according to major. They also wore square black boxy hats with long fringe all the way around. Looked a lot like lamp shades.
Extra guests filled the bleachers way up in the balcony. Not sure what they could see from up there. It was pomp and circumstances as a university leader solemnly paraded in with the college emblem on a stick. All the staff paraded in behind him in their colorful graduation regalia. Some intrepid boy scouts stood at attention across the front of the stage holding various flags. Peppy march band music was piped in from somewhere.
And then we waited. And waited. It turned out that a major donor to the university was going to be given an honorary PhD in humanities that day. He is a very wealthy man, owns the national airline and a big brewery in addition to other businesses. But even he couldn't get the plane to arrive on time. So we all had to wait 45 minutes for him and his party to arrive. Those boy scouts deserve a badge - they stood there at attention the entire time and didn't falter or faint.
Finally Mr T arrived and the shown was on. He was awarded the first degree and all his honors were read out. Then he read a speech in English. It was very disapppointing - he's either not a very good reader or he needs new glasses. After some other speeches, the grads and "parents" had to stand and award each other with the corsages and garlands/leis. You would have been really embarassed if you hadn't bought some because your poor grad would have been the only one without one. And you would have been the only "parent" without one. Then some more speeches. Then the grads and parents had to stand again and the poor parents had to try to figure out how to put the "hoods" or whatever they are around the shoulders of the grad and stick it in place with straight pins. These hoods are more colored satiny stuff with weird projections and protruberances. I think I finally got it on more or less right but no guarantee I could do it correctly a second time! Even the undergrads had these "hood" thingys so it was quite colorful.
Then we had to line up by departments, two by two. As two intrepid people read out the names of each and every grad and their "parent", groups of 6 pairs of "parents" and grads had to go up front to a line of colorful university staff handing out fake diplomas. It was kind of like going forward to take communion - the staff stood behind a long table and on our side of the table the space was divided into six sections so that each pair of us went up a step to stand in one of the sections before one of the staff and recive a rolled up fake diploma. We got a guy with a cool purple fringy hat. We both shook his hand and then backed down off the step and paraded back around to our seats.
This took awhile as there were several hundred grads but finally it ended. Then they had everybody but the masters change their tassle to the other side of their hats. (The lamp shade hats didn't allow for moving the fringe anywhere.) They made the grads all stand and give an oath of loyalty to their alma mater, sing the school song, plus a school "victory" song. And then they were pronounced graduated and some nets on the ceiling full of balloons and confetti were opened and all that stuff floated down on top of us. That was kind of cool. After the emblem on a stick and the staff paraded out, the rest of us were allowed to leave.
Of course you have to hang around awhile and take pictures of your grad and all their friends and the "parents". But finally it's time to leave and you wend your way slowly out to the main road and join the rush hour traffic trying to find transportation home.
I am grateful graduations don't occur every week!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Smoke and haze
Imagine living in a city where instead of a dry season you had a smoke season. Imagine for over two months having the airport closed due to low visibility. And not only the airport. Sometimes the roads into town are also closed, even river traffic has difficulty due to poor visibility. Imagine having to frequently use headlights to drive around town in the daytime. Imagine school being cancelled for days at a time because the smoke is so thick that there is a real danger of children being hit by cars on their way to and from school. Not to mention the air quality in unairconditioned schools. People who can afford it leave town for the season. But most must stay.
I was planning to go there this week for a workshop, but was informed today that the workshop has been cancelled. The area covered by smoke is steadily decreasing as the rains finally begin to fall. But this city is right in the heart of it and so far the particulate matter in the air is still well in the dangerous zone, and the airport is still closed.
According to the local news, the government is renting two water bomber planes from the former Sov.U. The planes can scoop up 12 tons of seawater and fly in to the worst of the fires and dump it. Friday the pilots said they were were disappointed because they had not been able to get to the worst burning places due to poor visibility. Saturday one of the planes slid off the runway in a neighboring city and is now awaiting repairs. It was thought that poor visibility was the major contributing factor to the accident.
The smoke is the result of farmers and plantation owners burning the land off every year as a cheap and convenient way of clearing it. Because there is so much peat, the peat continues to smolder long after the surface fire has gone out and only a period of substantial sustained rainfall puts it out.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
When is enough enough?
October 16, 2006
Today another preacher was shot to death in broad daylight on the main road of the city. He was shot in the head between 8-9am while out shopping with his wife. Though some may see it as part of religious conflict, I am not so sure that it is. Who has guns? The people do not, not of any religion. Only the authorities have guns. Only someone with official protection could shoot somebody in broad daylight on the main road and not get caught. This was an assassination. That preacher was dangerous to somebody big, somebody with a lot of status and a lot of money. Perhaps because of his knowledge of that person's corruption in general or collusion in the inter-ethnic conflict a couple of years ago? Perhaps because of his willingness to appeal to the UN for what many perceived to be the unjust trial and rushed execution of three men last month? Or simply because somebody benefits from keeping the conflict going?
What was the first response of the local govt? Did they do something useful like search the local police and army barracks for fired weapons? No, they set up roadblocks to check cars and motorbikes coming INTO town for sharp weapons. Hmmm. Are they really that incompetent or is it on purpose?
Today was another hot, dark, and gloomy day as smoke covers the face of the earth, as if even God Himself can’t stand looking at the rottenness in this place…
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