In 3 more days, it will be a full month since I started on my travelling holiday. In 10 more days, it will be the start of a hopefully less dreadful research internship at the Niopolis. I suppose it will be a hard transition back to work, but its really time to pick up tempo again after such a long holiday!
Philadelphia, Washington D.C, NYC and Boston trip was relaxing, meaningful and full of learning. The mere combination of those four cities meant a package of historical, political and cultural themes from the States. Boston, MA, was quite a tourist trap, but still remained the top on my list for its scenic views of the Charles River and the flashbacks of British, Irish, WWII history. Downtown was small enough to cover by foot and every single person you spoke to seemed in such a relaxed mood. The only throwback was the heavy Boston accented English.
Right now, I'm in Shanghai, blogging from the comfort of my dad's apartment in the heart of Shanghai's pristine shopping district, Huai Hai Road. The landscape of Shanghai has ceased to amaze me so far. To the north of the apartment, running east-west is the famous HuaiHai Old Town district, peppered with skyscrapers, throngs of office worker crowds and affluent shoppers. To the south lies the still poverty-striken lower class of China housed in low lying communal housing, often running their home "businesses" from their squeezy compounds. From family restaurants, dry good shops,roadside snacks, street barbers to rows of vegetables and fruits laid out on the already squeezy pavements, this bustling bazaar is the real reflection of many sub-urban places in China. For me, living in a thirtieth-floor apartment flanked by this two contrasting districts, serves more than a bird's eye view of the mosaic landscape. I can see the daily struggles of the lower class people when I visit the wet market with my mother as well as the flagrant spending of the upperclass at topnotch restaurants three blocks away. I can hear the constant buzzing of cars, taxis, buses alike- the very trademark of the congested roads of China. This is resolute proof of its unstoppable rising world power as hurried unflinching street drivers skilfully wind in and out of lanes, with only their eventual destination in mind. I can breathe the slightly musty, highly polluted air of this land which bore the Great Wall of China and the current host of the 2008 Olympic Games- events that have and will mark an indelible mark in the minds of many global people.
Interestingly, I landed in Shanghai 2 days after the massive 8.0 Richter scale earthquake annihilated WenChuan. In the first few days recovering from jetlag and waking up at the most unearthly hours, I refueled with the news on CNN and BBC. Later in the morning as my parents awake, the channels are changed to local Chinese news on CCTV. The difference in news content and delivery regarding the earthquake then unravels. The Chinese news carry largely more positive news depicting the People's Liberation Army heroic deeds of ploughing through 3 days of mountainous trekking to deliver supplies to the trapped villagers, music of newly composed songs celebrating the unity of the Republic of China in the wake of this disaster resonate during commercial breaks and a plethora of donation hotlines, latest disaster news constantly adorn the left hand column of the screen. Everywhere on the street donation boxes scream in your face, hoping you would donate a litte more today. In contrast, BBC and CNN news drill on the poor quality of building materials responsible for the tofu-buildings that crumbled at the slightest earthquake tremors and of how generations of Chinese are being wiped out in this natural disaster due to the one child-policy. I am not insinuating that the Chinese government is promoting propaganda, but that visiting China in the early wake of a truly devastating cataclysm, I really feel the unity of this masssive country that probably has been unfairly overviewed as a communist barbaric country. Millions and millions of dollars have been donated by the locals, and many spontaneously travel to the disaster area to volunteer. In my opinion, the disaster has helped to illuminate the economic strength of China. If everyone in China just donates one dollar, they have billions to tide them through another crisis. The strength of this country, is a question that neither any one nor any country/superpower will dare to answer.
Having just finished a 421 page turner
the Persian Mirror: The Elusive Face of Iran, I feel especially a compulsion to compare between the States, China, Singapore and Iran. But I will keep my opinions to myself for they are not worthy to mention here. More importantly, I want to recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand the situation in contemporary Iran, the holy ruins of the ancient Persepolis and the only Islamic Republic in the Middle East. Elaine Sciolino, writer for the NYTimes as well, has been in Iran for since the time of Khomeini's 1979 revolution. She is in a unique position herself, being an American and having married a American Jew. She artfully explores the different private and public faces of Iranians, their love-hate relationship for their homeland currently plagued with economic inflation of up to 40%, as well as the constrant contradiction between a theocratic Islamic government and the need to modernize, yet still carry out Westoxication. Iran is a young country still struggling to reach a clear consensus on the religious and secular boundaries of its clerics-ruled government. My reflections after finishing the book? Iran is only a microcosm of the religious and political unrest in Middle East. She is flanked by the extreme fundamentalist Taliban ruled Afghanistan and authoritative Saddam Hussein dominated Iraq, to just mention two of them. The diversity of Islamic influenced themes across the Middle East is just too confusing: Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kurdistan, Lebanon, Israel etc. Under the chador that all Iranian women are forced to don, one sees more than the actual facial lines of Iranian women, more than just repressed feminist voices, but inexplicable faces of frustration and ambivalence towards the Iranian government.
Elaine Sciolino said it most aptly. While America is struggling with a divide between different races, Iran and many parts of the Middle East are still struggling with the divide between the two genders.
Word of caution: Don't attempt this book if you dont have a basic understanding of the history of contemporary Iran. Even though Elaine Sciolino intertwines snippets of history with her anecdotes, it might still be too dense for one with a shaky understanding of the Middle East.
