Traveling Cat

In the immortal words of Robert Earl Keen: “The road goes on forever and the party never ends.” So true, so true. Here’s my current road:

Austin
Houston
Austin
Chicago
Asheville
Austin
Road trip to Seattle

I just returned on Monday from a hilarious trip to Houston. (Are all of my friends stand up comics? Yes. Yes they are). This morning I leave for Chicago where I’ll see friends and attend a wedding. After Chicago I’m off to North Carolina to spend some time with family in the mountains. And then I return to Austin for another week or so before I begin the road trip back to Seattle sometime around July 13th… arriving in Seattle by July 20th. (I’m very excited because I think I have a fabulous road trip partner… more details to come soon). Hope everyone is well!

This is prolly my favorite t-shirt in Korea. I solemnly vow to introduce “prolly” and “awesomest” into my normal vocab…

This mother of two kids had the awesomest “I love my hooker” t-shirt. I can only assume she doesn’t know/read English.

Why get matching t-shirts when you can have couples underwear?

Typical Asian fashion: face masks. You can even get them with skulls or kittens designs on the front.

People spend money on “Beauty smile trainers”? This was just one of a large selection of similar smile training tools… bizarre.

Cute stuff, just a bit too ruffly/frilly for me, ya know?

That’s a lot of pink!

Lots of fake Converse everywhere here… quite a popular shoe!

Nothing says sexy like tight jeans and a hot pink zipper t-shirt! This very sweet vendor picked out this t-shirt because he knew it’d be perfect for me. How very kind!

I’ve been busy since getting home so posting hasn’t really happened lately. I’ve had lots of family time and am enjoying catching up with old friends. Am also doing some long awaited errands like trying to get the virus from a Nairobi cyber cafe off my (now dead) laptop. Let’s hope they can ressurect my laptop and preserve my journal and photos from Kenya and not bankrupt me in the process! Tomorrow’s the long awaited doctor’s visit where I go to a specialist and try to get them to cure me of whatever is lingering in me since my second bout of malaria. I’m not excited about the $200-300 bill that’s sure to ensure… wish I still had insurance! Why must everything cost money? When are the choice jobs going to magically appear? :)

What else to report? My luggage eventually arrived – that was pretty swell. There was a welcome home party this weekend (with a convieniently timed call from Susie!). It was great to see lots of folks all in one place and lots of babies too! A serious amount of babies have arrived on the scene in the year and a half since I’ve been MIA. It’s pretty wild. There have been lunch dates, coffee dates, dinner dates, multiple trips for live music, lots of salsa and queso, mutlipe visits to Amy’s ice cream (congrats on City Council!), and some shopping squeezed in there too. Seems my suits, trousers, and t-shirts made it to Texas for storage, but it appears as though my skirts and shorts ended up in Erin’s basement in Seattle. Texas heat rather begs for shorts so I’ve had to spend even more money and now have two whole pairs. Totally worth it though to wear shorts and tank tops, and even sandals!

Let’s discuss footwear for a moment, shall we? I’m excited to have a new pair of Walky sandals to add to the rotation with my rat-eaten Walky sandals that have journeyed with me across Africa day in and day out, hiking, beach, dress up attire, and everything else in between. Yay new Walkys! And I’m also excited to add a pair of Reef’s to the rotation. (I’m not usually a fan of flip flops as they tend to hurt my feet, but I recently tried the pair my friend Meg gave me and they’re super comfy! Who knew? Thanks Meg!). Oh, and did I mention there were a pair of Crocs waiting for me too upon my arrival? Not sure when plastic shoes became cool again (I had my jellies back in the 80s), but I’m willing to give them a try. They seem pretty popular in Austin… I see women and men both sporting them… often even striaght men wearing them in reds or maroons. Whoa. And people say Texans are conservative! Not our Austin men and their red shoes. Okay… enough about my three new pairs of shoes… Time to end the long list of random updates and get ready for dinner. Take care!

Better late than never: Pictures from Kisumu, Kenya
May 2007

Kisumu is one of just three official cities in all of Kenya. It’s mostly a small town with a decent downtown shopping district (ie it has five blocks worth of stores and boasts large Nakumatts, Ukwala, Uchimi, and more). There’s never much going on in Kisumu, but I still enjoy visiting, especially since it was very easy to make it there for an overnight trip or weekend away. It’s nice to be able to get supplies from the stores if you need them. It’s nice to be able to eat Indian food or Chinese food. It’s nice to be able to relax next to Lake Victoria in a swimming pool (even if it’s not safe to swim in the lake itself). Oh, and there is even a fancy movie theatre, a bakery, bowling, and decently fast internet (it’s by far the fastest I’ve found anywhere in Kenya, which sadly isn’t saying much). Enough babble. Here are are a few quick photos from my last visit to Kisumu, which also doubled as Susie’s first and last trip to Kisumu.

Entering Kenya at Busia after spending 10 days with Brett in Uganda

Friendly public health message from MSF (Doctors without Borders)

Another public health message (gone a little wrong). Shouldn’t it say “DON’T drink and drive”? Hmmm…

Fastest internet in the country is in Kisumu at the KenShop where they have a bakery right next door!

Good ol’ Kisumu

Not the prettiest city, but it’s always held a special place in my heart… Indian food, the lake, and giant grocery stores!

More than anything, I love escaping to Kiboko Bay Resort for a peaceful afternoon that makes you forget you’re in East Africa. Not that you want to forget. It’s just so unlike the rest of Africa you feel temporarily transported somewhere entirely new and clean…

I know many of y’all think Brett’s a cutie so I thought I’d share an email for Brett’s fan club and for the rest of y’all who love a good travel story. It’s a story that makes me squeamish and want to say ewwww!

ok kids well i left africa but it came with me….yes today i became one of those stories you hear about……those dinner time fables…….i have just come back from the hospital.

the reason for my visit was the extraction and removal of some 500 or so eggs i found lodged in my little toe, doctors and nurses alike were amused and had no idea what they were doing but it seems they were only fly eggs of some sort and i’ll have a follow up on wednesday to try and see if anything else needs to be done apart from that which has already been carried out, i.e. numbing me up, cutting me open and flushing all my little friends out

YUCK.

Brett subsequently found out the cause of the eggs: fleas.

ok kids it seems it was a flea, here is a link for some gruesome photos from google, mine was very very low key and not nearly as interesting but for those of you looking for something interesting check it out. so it was a flea which came from South America to Africa in the 1700’s in some sand that was used as the bilge in a boat which dumped it off the shores of Angola, so maybe when i was running up and down the dunes in Namibia or the shores of Zanzibar i picked up my little friends.

For some gross pictures of other people’s feet (not Brett’s feet), check these out:
http://images.google.com/images?um=1&tab=wi&hl=en&q=tungiasis

Yuck. Let’s hope they got Brett all patched up and let’s hope doctors won’t have to pull any eggs, worms, or other fun stuff from my body anytime soon.

After a year and a half on the road, I flew home today to Austin. My three flights on Asiana and Continental were long, tiring, dull, and no where near as nice at KLM or Qatar Airways. I survived with no muscle cramps and only mild delerium.

Arriving at Austin is always a happy moment… green trees, giant blue sky, a live musician on the upstairs stage over by baggage claim, the Austin City Limits shop and AusChron shop, and local food vendors galore. It was a bit tragic when one of my bags didn’t show up in Austin, but I kept calm (probably partially because of the excitement at meeting Gus, and probably partially because of the afore mentioned delerium). I’m happy to report the luggage was eventually found 6 hours later and delivered to my parents home just moments ago. (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!) Was great to have Gus leading the welcome committee with a sign at the airport and was great to see my family tonight. (Btw… now that I’ve met him in person, I can confirm my nephew is indeed one of the cutest one year olds ever!). I don’t have much energy or sanity left in me to blog tonight, but wanted to throw out two invites for the Texas crowd:

** There’s a welcome home party this Saturday from noon-5pm. You’re invited. My eye is 99% healed and I promise not to get any pus on you. It’ll be at my parents’ new(ish) house and you’re all invited. Yes, of course you can bring your babies. Oh yes, and we’ll have burgers and such, soda and beer, etc. Email me for directions/rsvp/etc.

** Saturday evening we’ll be paying homage to this great city of Austin by supporting the local live music scene. Soulhat plays at 7pm and Bob Schneider goes on at 8:30pm. The show is downtown, tickets are $11, and everyone’s invited. See you here then there!

Nightlife in the Kangnam district near Hanna’s house

Tons and tons of people, and interestingly enough, many bars with signs that forbid US military guys

Bars, clubs, kareoke, dance rooms, and even DVD rooms. DVD rooms = room to rent with couch to watch a DVD = room to have sex with your boyfriend/girlfriend since you live at home with your parents till you’re married.

Korean for “one more cup” – such a happy sign

Not so happy sign… is that a chicken flicking us off?

Yep, that’s me. Disgusting. Want to hear all about it? I woke up yesterday with a bacterial infection in my eye. Generally I wake up, open my eyes, and the day begins. I was confused yesterday when I woke up and my eye wouldn’t open. It was actually crusted shut and I had to go to a mirror and use my hands to physically pry open it open. I felt like a scary character from a Neil Gaiman book. As I pried it open, a whole layer of crust fell off onto my face. Gross. The green pus, however, stayed put. Double gross.

I’ve worked with kids since I was about 12 years old and never once had pink eye. (Pink eye is viral conjunctivitis. It’s what kids commonly get from classmates and give to teachers all the time. Itchy bloodshot eyes caused by allergies to anything and everything. Happy to have always avoided it). I’ve apparently got bacterial conjunctivitis. I was hoping it was going to be itchy like a bug bite – annoying but able to ignore. I’m actually a little surprised how painful it is. I have itchy bloodshot eyes and a strong sensitivity to light like the viral conjunctivitis, and I’ve also got gross green pus pouring forth, an eye swollen mostly closed, blurry vision, and my eyes seriously crusted shut in the morning. Whine, whine, whine.

I prefer a cure to pain, so yesterday I went to the International Clinic (where you happily pay Western prices for a doctor who speaks English). I started antibiotics within an hour of the doctor’s visit and ideally I’ll be better in no time. (It’s still painful today, but it hasn’t been too long yet). Okay. I’m done whining and being disgusting now. Thanks for listening. Take care!

Six days to go before flying home for real. Had some fun touring around with Hanna, with Beal, and with friends Grace and Chris too. Saw some palaces and fountains, hit some shopping districts, saw live music at a b-boy competition finale concert, and some live jazz at an art cafe. (Still trying to find some live Soul music in Seoul for Suzan, but most seems to be jazz or hip hop or Asian ballads or who knows what). Been eating tons, walking around tons, and spending lots of time people watching which is fabulous fun. Even went to a Korean spa which included lots of naked time with older Korean women, scrubbing, facial masks, hot baths, hot hot saunas, and even phat bing soo (ice flake stuff with red bean and gummy fruits – yum!).

I’m honored to find that both of my fabulous hostesses have been very generous with their time and energy… Hanna even treated me to a great Engrish t-shirt that includes the words “think” and “honeypot” and Beal treated me to jujube tea and snacks at a traditional tea shop in Insadong. Today’s a national holiday which means last night we got gussied up and stayed out all night long. By gussied up, I mean to say I wore makeup and body shimmer and painted my toenails again and wore a crazy shirt and a giant necklace (that Brett helped me pick out from Mombasa). Korea’s very into girly, ruffly things so I tried to play the part for a night. Was highly entertaining all around. We went dancing at a packed club (it’s been way too long since dancing!) and then we did karaoke literally till the sun came up. Here in Korea it’s called “norebang” and you get private rooms, crazy decor, and free ice cream. Our room even had floor to ceiling windows facing the street so the crowds of revelers outside at 5am could watch our sweet moves and awesomest dance steps (while being oblivious to our awful singing as we belted out George Michael, Hedwig songs, and even some classic Mr. Big). A good time was had by all.

I am now down to my last week here… and still have lots of plans and a long list of things the girls think I should do. I’ve started to look for jobs online in the mornings, but it’s a bit depressing (and expected) to not find much yet. The search will intensify, but probably won’t start in earnest till next week when I’m home in Texas. For now, I’m enjoying Seoul, loving seeing friends, and enjoying time to think and process the transition. Hope everyone is well. Many more photos and observations to come later! Take care!

Observation: My safety isn’t constantly at risk. In Kenya in the village, Cindy and I had to be home in our house each night before dark (about 7pm). It just wasn’t safe to be out and we needed to be home behind locked doors and gates. Even behind locked doors, you never knew when thugs might come to your house at night with a gang of men with guns (like when they robbed David and his wife in their home, or Paul and Josaphat, or the multiple attempts at the Sisters’ house). You never knew if your matatu or bus would be the one stopped by thugs in the woods to rob everyone. In Korea, on the other hand, it feels like it’s always safe and tons of things are open late or even 24 hours: grocery stores, clothes vendors, cafes, bars, coffee shops, internet cafes, spas/saunas, etc. I can even leave my bag at my table in the cafe, leave for a few minutes to go to the restroom, and then return and see my bag and belongings safe and sound. Such a different reality here than the worries inherent in the rural life of much of Africa.

Brett IM’d the other day… we both left Africa within a week of each other and are now doing some little re-adjustments to life in developed worlds. He was asking about safety. “Isn’t it weird not worrying about getting robbed?” What a funny question, Brett, but actually YES. It actually IS very weird. At first I hadn’t really thought about safety as I’d walked around at night both by myself and with Beal and Hanna. I think I noticed it for the first time my second night in town when I was walking solo after dark. There were other people out. I had my purse (with sunglasses, money, ATM card, ID, camera, notepad, snack, etc). And I heard quick footsteps behind me. What did I do when I heard the quick footsteps behind me? I immediately clutched my bag and turned quickly to assess the danger. It was the perfect reaction – I’m relatively well traveled and know enough to follow my instinct and watch out for myself. Of course, in this situation, I just felt a little silly realizing no one was going to rob me… it was only some guy hurrying somewhere who couldn’t care less about me.

In Kenya, one of the unofficial national mottos is “pole pole” – slowly slowly. Or, “there’s no hurry in Africa.” The first time I remember hearing the footsteps of someone running on a city street was when Cindy and I were accosted by robbers in Kisumu. (It was that whole scary messy “I will kill you!” episode that reiterated the need to be home before dark and never walk with a purse or valuables). The second time was when a thief grabbed my digital camera through the window while I was taking a photo from a moving vehicle in Nairobi. He ran, while the camera was strapped to my wrist, and the camera lens broke off in his hand – bastard. Otherwise, no one really runs in normal day to day life. There is, indeed, no hurry in Kenya.

Here in Seoul, everyone’s in a hurry and people seem to run everywhere… they always seem to be in a rush to get to some unknown location. People here also carry more electronics than I could ever hope to own and they carry them openly without fear of getting them robbed by thugs. Everyone seems to carry both fancy mobile phones and iPods or other MP3 players. Many additionally carry digital cameras, portable Play Stations. and even 2″ mini TV/video things to stay entertained on the subway. Whoa.

Mini video player

Surrounded by technology in Seoul… mini movies and a mini Play Station. In Kenya, no one can afford gadgets like this, and if they could they’d likely be stolen. In Seattle, we just read library books when on public transit. Guess I need to get used to the idea that people aren’t going to attack me or steal from me. And guess I need to get used to the idea that in a developed country, I’m going to be the (materially) poorest one around my peer group for a while.

Hi all… I’ve been getting a lot of comment spam this week, so I changed the comment permissions. Comments are great for sharing your own perspective and/or for stroking my ego so I know people still remember me and come here to catch up on occasion, so by all means you’re still welcome and encouraged to leave comments. However, you’ll need to register first. It only takes two seconds and requires 1) a nickname and 2) your email. Then you’re done. Just click on the “comments” link of any post to register, or go directly there and register now: http://www.travelingcat.com/wp-register.php. Thanks!

Observation: Everything’s fancier here… especially toilets. This is a photo of the very first toilet I used in Korea. I shouldn’t have to tell you how alarmed, shocked, and entertained I was to walk into a stall and see this facing me. I didn’t even know where to begin… I was just dying to go pee, and instead I was faced with a remote control keyboard for a toilet??

After peeing I could concentrate and I checked the pictures and puzzled over the foreign Korean characters. I didn’t know what any of it meant, but I’m an advenertous sort so I was willing to push the buttons and give it all a try. What did I find? A seat warmer – fancy. A bidet for my bum – interesting. A bidet for my… girly bits? Whoa. (Hard not to giggle out loud when trying that one… makes you feel kind of silly to be in a public bathroom giggling, but c’mon… you’d giggle too if it happened to you). In addition to all of that, you even get variable settings for water strength and water temperature. OMG… what a strange and foreign land I arrived in.

Let’s compare to my house toilet in Kenya. You already know my house didn’t have running water. We threw away toilet paper used during “short calls” that we’d later burn in the trash pile. For “long calls” we’d throw our paper in the toilet (aka hole in the ground) and “flush” it all down. How to flush when you don’t have running water? Easy… save the dirty water that you used for bathing during your bucket bath from the day before and keep it in a another bucket near the toilet. Use an empty butter container or a small pitcher to scoop water from the bucket and flush as much as needed so the house didn’t start to stink of sewage. At work we didn’t have an indoor toilet, just an outdoor pit latrine.

Things in Korea are fancy. Things were just a wee bit different in Kenya:

1. You’d have to search hard for public toilets in Western province. (Men just pee on the street, women hold it all day and get bladder infections).
2. Even if you found public toilets in Kenya, they weren’t likely to be clean.
3. You’d always have to remember to carry toilet paper in your pocket on a daily basis, and more if you were going to be gone for more than a few hours at a time.
4. Many toilets were drop toilets and didn’t have seats, this was ideal in my book. The toilets that had seats usually had pee all over them… yuck.
5. Most toilets didn’t have running water and were often outdoors, sometimes were smelly, and regularly had big spiders and other bugs cohabitating.

Korea seemingly has nice, clean, and fancy everything. Here are a few more nice toilet photos… enjoy!

At the coffee shop

At the restaraunt

A toilet so complex it requires an 8.5 x 11 set of instructions

Thanks to modern technology, this is no ordinary bidet. It appears as though this public toilet can actually give you a free enema!

The fancy toilets aren’t everywhere, but they’re pretty common. Even normal apartments like Hanna’s have fancy toilets in the units.

Bum parts, girly parts, and a fan to dry you off afterwards