7/3/2001
Some highlights from around the world:
for me, London was kind of neat, even though we were only there 2 days (we were only every 2 days, except Saigon!). I think we are going to visit > next spring break because it’s “only” seven hours away! I hadn’t been there before.
I enjoyed their anguish in India. It is an acquired taste, and has changed far less than I had hoped. We sat with a brilliant economist in an enclave in Delhi. His comment: “Infrastructure doesn’t matter.” I thought about that for much of the trip, especially in countries that had it. It matters if quality of life matters! He had to breathe that air and navigate through the hordes. India may well be the most photogenic country in the world (I love the colors!), but it is still the least habitable. When we were there in 1997, we were with a private car and there were three of us. With a tour bus, the hordes descended on us, and my Bloomington students got to see things they only read about in books. But to have > seen the Taj not once, but twice…. And I loved Indian foods (which were “too spicy” for some of my students; others got “Delhi belly” and did not eat foreign foods the rest of the trip). One came in and said, “Hoyt, we gotta talk about my bowel movements.” “What’s the problem?” “They’re different. They come every hour.” “Are they solid?” “Yes.” “Don’t worry. I’ll bet they’re even a different color!” “How did you know!”
They were glad to escape India, but many of them, soured by the experience of “differentness” stuck close to the familiar. As my colleague and I wondered, “why are 2 59 year olds, who’ve been to many of these places, more adventuresome than 20 year olds who have not?”
Bali is an awesome place. One of my crappy colleagues, who fancies himself an expert on Indonesia, spread the rumor that Indonesia would be unsafe and wasn’t Fred concerned? I found out about it second (and third hand)–from students taking my trip who he’d said this to in class (class act). We monitored the situation, and while Jakarta and Aceh etc. are volatile, Bali’s biggest problem is too many tourists. We stayed at an elegant beach resort (Intercontinental) that brought me back into favor. But offered a chance to explore the island and its unique culture or staying poolside, 12 of them opted for poolside (it was the only opportunity they had to turn down a cultural or site visit!). Two drunks got into their 14 year old modes when told they had to attend the cecek dance. Quivering lower lip (that I see so often with my scouts) and the “you can’t make me attitude”…my response was yes I can and I will (should have punished them and made them stay in the hotel). They did thank me afterwards, and as I pointed out, they had so much scheduled activity since they did not seem to know how to use “free time!” (Someday they will thank me, but not that week!).
They enjoyed HCMC, but I keep forgetting that for them the Viet Nam war is “history.” We spent four days in Saigon (the longest anywhere, and just about the right amount of time), with tours of the delta, etc. Our guide was an ARVN lieutenant (which gave a different perspective; he hates the north and is about to evacuate to the US, one of the true victims of the Vietnam War; in Cu Chi, he showed us where he got his scar). It is sobering for Americans to go through the war museum. My colleague was offended by its propaganda value, but as I noted, it’s great to go somewhere where pc means something different–and besides, they won! The food was great (students liked the Italian restaurant). Breakfast at the Rex set the bar too high for the rest of the trip: Choice of any or all of the following–pho, miso (the empire of Japan was out in force), four types of cereal, eggs and bacon, pancakes, dumplings, wondrous spread of
fruit–jackfruit, mango, etc., and the piece de resistance, baguette, pate, and ham and cheese. One of my self-described “picky” eaters had a hard time with this. She said she could eat either ham or cheese but not both on the same plate.
They will thank me for this someday.