Hello from Warsaw

where the River Wisla is threatening to overflow its banks.  There has been a watch on for several days due to flooding up river.  The weather has actually been quite nice since Gertrud and I arrived in Warsaw but there has been a lot of rain further north. 

We spent much of this past weekend visiting museums and hanging out in the old city (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Old_Town) which has been beautifully restored since the war during which an estimated eighty-five percent of the city was destroyed and 850,000 were killed.

Gertrud at Warsaw's Castle Square

We found the Warsaw Uprising Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Uprising_Museum) especially interesting. It documents the Polish Underground's uprising against the Nazis in 1944. There was also an 1943 uprising in the Jewish Ghetto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising). Unfortunately both were cruelly crushed. 

Poland, with its unfortunate location between much larger and historically more powerful Germany and Russia has had a very tragic history. And there are many monuments throughout Warsaw paying homage to patriots who tried to stand up for Polish sovereignty and culture. Among the most important historical and culture figures are Frederick Chopin, Madam Marie Curie, Nicolas Copernicus and more recently, Lech Walesa and Pope John Paul II who Poles feel were the most responsible for the fall of the Soviet bloc and the Soviet Union.  They would strongly disagree with Americans who believe it was Ronald Reagan. 

The tragedies of Polish history are again very visible in Warsaw in the form of a large exhibit in front of the presidential palace honoring the recently deceased Polish president Lech Kazynski.  As you have probably read, he died this past April 10th in a plane crash, together with his wife and several senior government officials, near the Russian city of Smolensk, They were en route to an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Forest Massacre in which thousands of Poland's elite were executed by Soviet secret police. In 2007, a Polish director made a film about the Katyn incident (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1207748-katyn).   A friend recommended this film to us just a few months ago and we ordered it through Netflix.  It now appears that Lech Kazynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kazynski, who was formerly President, may run again to replace Lech.  Neither have been especially popular but Jaroslaw is likely to have a lot of sympathy on his side if he runs.

(Update on 7/5/2010: Jaroslaw Kazynski was defeated by Bronislaw Komorowski).

There is not much left of Warsaw's infamous Jewish Ghetto but a museum, now under construction to preserve its place in history, is scheduled for completion in 2011.  The following website also provides a history of the Jewish presence in Warsaw.  http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Warsaw.html

Uzbekistan on the Great Silk Road

Greetings from Uzbekistan, the heart of the ancient trading route know as the Great Silk Road.  (http://www.orexca.com/silkroad.php)  As indicated on this map (http://www.orexca.com/silk_road.html), the Silk Road ran from the Gobi Desert in China to the Turkish Bosporus.  It is named after the famous Chinese export which moved along it by camel to become the rage of fashionable women in Europe and the Mediterranean.  The Uzbek cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Tashkent were major trading centers and cross-roads along the route and have become popular tourist destinations since the breakup of the Soviet Union.  I've been working in Tashkent, the modern Uzbek capital, for the past week which I find much less interesting than either Samarkand or Bukhara.  I visited Samarkand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarkand) 5 years ago, and spent last weekend in Bukhara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bukhara), flying there in an ancient Russian Tupolev aircraft.  (When was the last time you flew in a commercial plane that had open shelves above the passengers).  Both Samarkand and Bukhara are UNESCO World Heritage cites and contain some of the world's most beautiful Islamic architecture. For examples, check out the pictures on the links.  And then put both cities on your "must see before you die" list.

With new friends in Bukhara

A mosque in Bukhara

The vast majority of Uzbeks are Muslims but not very religious.  They enjoy their Muslim traditions and festivities but few pray 5 times a day and rarely go to the Mosque, especially in the cities. Uzbek men also like their beer and vodka, perhaps a corruption inherited from their former Russian rulers.  The young urbanites of Tashkent follow the fashions of Europe and the US with an impressive percentage of the girls (sorry I meant young women) very chic and pretty.  In more isolated Bukhara, which has the feel of a small town, many wear traditional dress.  But I didn't see any burkas and surprisingly few head scarfs.  Large minority populations include Tajiks and Russians.  There is also a long Jewish history in Uzbekistan with the Jews of Bukhara having been especially prominent. I stayed in a bed and breakfast in the Jewish Quarter which was formerly a Jewish home.  Today there are only about 200 Jewish families left in Bukhara with most of the community having emigrated to Israel or the US.  (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Uzbekistan.html).

Uzbek is a Turkic language and Uzbekistan belonging to the Turkic community of countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Turkic_states_and_empires).  During the Soviet period Uzbeks favored use of the Cyrillic alphabet, but after independence in the early 1990's, the government had the schools switch to teaching the Latin alphabet with the goal of strengthen their cultural and business ties to Turkey which they anticipated would become their top trading partner, However, this was a miscalculation: while relations between Turkey and Uzbekistan are good, Uzbekistan has found that their strongest trading ties remain with Russia and that after several years of teaching the Latin alphabet, they now have a shortage of young business people who can read and write Cyrillic.

Delhi in the Heat

I'm in New Delhi where not only the food is hot, but the average daily temperature during the last week has been at about 110 F with high humidity.  The early mornings are pleasant though and I enjoyed this morning's breakfast out near the hotel pool.  This is my second trip to New Delhi: I was here with the family about 25 years ago when we stopped during our transfer from Nairobi to Canberra to see the Taj Mahal and it was just as hot then.

To me the Indian subcontinent may be the world's most exotic area.  I find Hinduism and its derivative religions of Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism extremely fascinating although I can't begin to comprehend them.  From our years in Cairo, I can relate much better to Islam and Judaism since they like Christianity are monotheistic and share common roots.  Even Chinese Confucianism is easier to relate to since it is more a system of ethics and a way of living and not really a religion. And Africans are largely followers of Christ or Mohamed mixed together will a little animism or paganism and vestiges of European colonialism so were easier to understand.

There are many aspects of Indian religion and culture that are extremely interesting.  For example, did you know that both the "swastika" and the "Star of David" are also common Hindu symbols?  Of course they have different names and meanings but they are virtually the same in appearance.  One often sees stickers with the Indian version of the Swastika on the back of cars but it has nothing to do with the symbol made infamous by the Nazis. Here are some links providing more information on this subject.

http://www.kamat.com/indica/culture/sub-cultures/swastika.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_David#As_a_Hinduist_symbol

http://www.gaiamind.com/starbird.html

 
Although India legally banned its ancient caste system several decades ago, caste still plays a role in Indian life, especially in rural areas.  Urban Indians still make occasional reference to the caste they descended from but now intermarry and seem to regard it as past history.  But I'm told it still greatly determines the quality of life for rural Indians which even in today's booming India make up 70+ percent of the total Indian population.  And many peasants are among the "untouchables" which is something they may never be able to overcome.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_India#Modern_status_of_the_caste_system
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Indian_caste_system

There also seems to be a permanent servant class in Indian cities that I would guess have emerged from the old caste system.  These servants are readily evident everywhere one goes in Delhi and become a bit irritating for Westerners. I spent the last week in the Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi and here are some of my experiences with the servant class:

1. When I arrived at the hotel from the airport on my first day, I had been traveling for about 8 hour in my wrinkled jeans.  Nevertheless I was met taxi side by about 20 hotel employees all dressed in their finest and performing deep bows towards me as I got out of the car. Several called me by name and wished me a wonderful stay. One would have thought I was the King of England and I was frankly embarrassed.  It was really over the top.

2. I felt really harassed by the young man who performed the "turn down" service in my room each evening.  Instead of doing it while I was out, he would wait until I returned from work and then follow me down the hall and into my room before quickly starting all of his little tasks and asking me lots of little questions about how I like the hotel, his service, etc. After the second day, I finally had to tell him to take care of his duties when I wasn't there and to stop following me around.

3. In the hotel gym was a young man whose job was to do such things as adjust the seat on the stationary bike to my desired height, to put the pins in the weight machines where I wanted them and to push the buttons on the treadmill to get it going at the rate I wanted it at.  Now how's that for an interesting career?  But somehow he seemed happy doing it and was absolutely joyous when I thanked him or paid any attention to him. 

One last comment on servants in India:  A friend who was one posted in New Delhi told me that household servants are extremely specialized and territorial and refuse to do things they don't consider their duty. Ironers only want to iron and cleaners only want to clean which means one has to have several servants on a full or part time basis to get all the household tasks taken care of.  He said it also drove him crazy to have so many people around the house. The servants we had during our days in Africa were much more flexible and we generally got along quite with them. And before you say, "what, you had servants!" you need to know that we didn't have a lot of the amenities we have in the US such as dishwashers, dryers, etc.  And besides, why not -- wages were cheap and we provided employment for several people. 
Click on the following link for just one more interesting story about servants in India http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25083907/

Ok, that's enough. Now I can't wait to get to a country where I am allowed to do a few things for myself.

On the Great Wall

Greetings from Beijing.  Today I hiked on the Great Wall of China, my last of the "Seven Wonders of the World" according to the following list which is not universally accepted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonders_of_the_World#New7Wonders_Foundation.27s_seven_wonders_of_the_world

See the following link for other lists of the "Seven Wonders."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonders_of_the_World

I hiked along the Mutianyu section of The Wall which is about an hour and a half from Beijing. Construction of the Great Wall began about 220 B.C. and it is 5,500 miles long. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China

On Saturday I joined a tour to see other historical and cultural highlights such as the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and Tienanmen Square.

At the Forbidden City

Click on the following links for more information and pictures of these interesting places:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Palace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananmen_Square

 
A few days ago I sent a few friends some Chinglish quotes.  This became an issue of interest during the Shanghai Worlds' Fair as reported in the following two links from the New York Times.  Enjoy!

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/05/03/world/asia/20100503_CHINGLISH.html?emc=eta1

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/world/asia/03chinglish.html?emc=eta1

Kim and Kimchi in Seoul

Greetings from South Korea where Kim is by far the most common family name (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_(Korean_name) and Kimchi is the country's best known food. With a German wife, I know well the role of  sauerkraut in the German diet but it doesn't begin to compare with the importance of pungent Kimchi in Korea.  It seems that no Korean meal is complete without it and I had no idea that one could prepare cabbage in so many different ways ((http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi).

I was in South Korea once before but since my cultured better-half wasn't with me then, I  paid little attention to the nuances of Korean history beyond the fact that the country was divided into North and South Korea following WWII.  From visits to several museums and palaces, I now see Korea as "the Poland of Asia" -- a pawn of history due to its unfortunate location between two powers. Japan and China have played dominant roles in Korea's history just as Russia and Germany have played in Polish history.  I am embarrassed to admit that until now I had not realized that Korea belonged to the Japanese Empire until 1945. which I'm sure all the rest of you remember from school!!

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Korea)     
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Korean_history#Japanese_Colonial_rule

From a tourism point-of-view, there is more to see in Seoul than we expected, including several royal palaces and excellent museums.   (http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto)  Unfortunately we didn't make it to the DMZ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone) but the US military presence in Korea is still much in evidence.  (http://www.usfk.mil/usfk/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1).  Most Koreans appreciate Americans and seem to emulate our lifestyle more than most Asians. 

Tokyo - Lost in Translation

Gertrud and I have been in staying in the Tokyo Ginza for the past week. For a short introduction to this area you can check out the following clip based on the movie "Lost in Translation" which was filmed here, 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCB7cxv-Ey8&feature=fvw

We too have certainly gotten lost in the Japanese language and culture but have had a wonderful time nevertheless.  Gertrud has enjoyed browsing in the high-end stores during the week and we were able to visit the ancient capital of Kamakura on the weekend (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2166.html).  The famous Japanese cherry blossoms are currently out in full glory as shown below:

Gertrud with Japanese acquaintances

The Internet contains a great deal information on Japan so we will not bore you with a travelogue.  But you may be interested in knowing that the famous Japanese toilets are for real.  We have one in our hotel room and it is just like the one in the following clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSj-XQLrdDc
Here is another unique Tokyo institution -- the hanging gas station

http://photos.travellerspoint.com/91874/tokyo_gas_station.jpg


And here are a few news clips from what appears to be the Japanese equivalent of "The Onion":

From Metropolis.com.jp - The Negi "Reporting the News Before it Happens"

U.S. SENATE HEARINGS LINK TOYOTAS TO DRUNK DRIVING ACCIDENTS
Toyota executives faced hostile questioning from a US congressional subcommittee on Wednesday, as Senators investigate reports of numerous, often deadly accidents involving highly intoxicated drivers who lost control of their vehicles. It is believed that Toyota cars and trucks are prone to accelerate without warning and difficult to bring under control when operated by inebriated drivers.

In graphic, sometimes horrifying testimony, Toyota owner Dale Hicks recounted losing control of his Corolla on March 12, 2006.

“I was coming back from a night with my friends at Pete’s Tavern when I reached for the fifth of whiskey in the passenger seat,” Hicks said, in a sometimes wavering voice. “Suddenly, the car swerved. I tried to correct it, but the wheel spun out of my hands. I tried desperately to regain control, but the car wouldn’t respond. The more I tried, the more erratic it became. Fortunately, I was able to stop with the help of law enforcement officials.”

“These high-speed death traps must be taken off the road, before more of our nation’s innocent drunks are senselessly killed,” thundered Senator Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.).  Toyota executives responded by announcing a new drunk-driving-friendly auto made entirely from Nerf and Styrofoam.
-----

JAPANESE CRITICS LAMBASTE THE COVE FOR LACKING IDOL SAYING “OISHII”
Oscar-winning documentary The Cove continues to stir up controversy in Japan, where critics argue that the film paints a one-sided picture of the dolphin slaughters in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture.

“The concept that it is unlawful or immoral for the Japanese people to continue a centuries-old tradition is absurd,” said Fisheries Minister Sakana Ippai. “Because Americans think these animals are cute, they expect us to forget our own culture. For us Japanese, a 17-year-old idol eating a dolphin donburi is cute. But at no point in the movie did [the filmmakers] allow an adorable teen to remark how ‘Oishii’ this sea creature truly is. Without this, the film is biased and seems to suggest dolphins are smarter than our pop stars, which we know to be false. They are clearly equally intelligent.”

Abidjan in the former Pearl of West Africa

Greetings from Abidjan, the capital of Cote d'Ivoire, the last stop of my West African trip.  And what a disappointment Abidjan has been. I was here several times in the early 1980s when it was one of most desirable places to live in Africa with a beautiful ocean setting, rain forest, fantastic beaches nearby and extensive French infrastructure and culture. To paraphrase a term often used to refer to British India -- it  was the jewel in France's colonial crown.  From independence in 1960 to the mid-1980s the country flourished under the leadership of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, a benign and beloved dictator, who endeared himself to the former colonial power by worshiping everything French and trying to emulate it.  During his early tenure, the key to the Ivorian economy was the country's ability to produce some of the world's best cocoa and coffee which was in great demand throughout the developed world.  Houphouët-Boigny popularity was due to his being open to all elements of Ivorian society and maintaining good relations with neighboring countries, even welcoming many of their citizens as workers who could then send money back home.  However towards the end of his reign in 1993 he became very strange, perhaps even senile and much of what he did probably contributed to the country's demise.  He wanted his legacy to be his home town of Yamoussoukro and had it designated as the country's official capital even though the embassies and much of the government's work is still in Abidjan.  He arranged for the world's largest Catholic church
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Our_Lady_of_Peace_of_Yamoussoukro) to be built there, incurring in the process a large national debt.  As completion neared, he commissioned a stained glass window of his image to be placed beside images of Jesus and the apostles. His image depicts him as one of the three Magi, kneeling as he offers a gift to Jesus.  To emphasize his loyalty to France and the French language, Houphouët-Boigny also announced a policy that the country should henceforth be called Cote d'Ivoire in all languages and that the English name Ivory Coast was no longer to be used.  Of course the British Press and others refused to honor his wishes and still call it Ivory Coast.

The gradual demise of Cote d'Ivoire as an African power started with a sharp downturn in world cocoa prices and was no doubt exacerbated because Houphouët-Boigny remained in power long after he lost his ability to lead.  The leaders that came after him were much more nationalistic and even tribal which led to two civil wars during the past 10 years. There is frequent talk of elections but they keep getting postponed. The current government also has a strong anti-foreigner sentiment, even against families who have been in Cote d'Ivoire for several generations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Côte_d'Ivoire#Politics). The civil wars caused the French to depart the country in droves, selling many of their businesses for cents on the dollar to Lebanese businessmen who have long been prominent in the commerce of surrounding countries. And the unrest continues even this week with demonstrations in cities all around the country (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50409)

A large new US Embassy that was opened just a couple of years ago now sits half empty because regional personnel from USAID and other agencies have moved to the safer capitals of Accra, Ghana and Dakar, Senegal.  Current staff draw hazardous duty pay and are not allowed to bring their families with them out of security concerns.  Most shops in the downtown area which was formerly a paradise for connoisseurs of African art and handicrafts are now boarded up.         
 
The demise of Cote d'Ivoire during the past couple of decades is not unlike what has happened across the continent in Kenya the former Pearl of British East Africa.   Gertrud and I spent three years in Nairobi in the mid-1980s when it was still a very pleasant place to live. Corruption and unrestrained population growth are among the factors that are ruining Kenya.  And reminders of the bombing of the US Embassy are still very much alive and undermine Western confidence in Kenya. The names of seven embassy employees who worked directly for me are among those on the wall honoring those who were killed. It was erected in a memorial park where the former embassy stood (http://www.memorialparkkenya.org/)

So the obvious question: what is the future of Africa and what can be done to stem the continent's continuing tragedies and chaos?  Are African countries doomed to continue in this pattern indefinitely?  Recent successes in democratic Ghana and a few other countries offer some hope.

Update 21 Dec 2010: 
 It is possible that the Ivory Coast will soon be wrapped up in another civil war.  The President of the Ivory Coast was defeated in a recent election and refuses to concede, demanding that all UN personnel leave.  The Ivory Coast may fall even further from its former status as one of the most desirable African counties to live.