This is a paper I did for Economic Development of Asia for Colin White. Kinda gives a scant overview of conditions of the countries in regards to economic indicators I chose.
***
Introduction
In this paper I will go over my experiences in each individual country and try to correlate the individual indicators that I chose in my previous with their factors in the respective countries.
Indicators
To recap, here are the unique indicators not in any sequential importance:
1. The penetration of authentic Western brands in retail.
a. The massive quantities of knockoffs versus limited number of authentic indicate a very poor population that is conniving towards upward economic mobility via fake brand names. Vice versa an absolute lack of knockoffs and all items are conceived “real” indicate a developed economic system (also indicating enforcement of intellectual and property rights)
2. Drivable/ paved highways with actual cars on them.
a. Paved roads indicate economic progress but is not all inconclusive. The important factor is what types of cars populate the roads. Mass taxis indicate lower ownership of cars, while many personal cars indicate higher material wealth and prosperity.
b. Brand of cars are also an indicator, as wealthier luxury brands (BMW, Mercedes, Audi) indicate more disposable wealth and a stronger economy.
c. An addendum is the state of mass transit; only developed nations can afford decently working mass transit.
3. A sense of future well-being and prosperity amongst the populace.
a. Simply put, a foreboding feeling for the future by the population translates to a foreboding future for economic development.
4. Locals don’t try to actively avoid the police.
a. Well developed nations don’t have an overtly corrupt police force. The police are also actually helpful and do real policing.
5. The availability of uncensored internet.
a. Freedom on the World Wide Web is an indication of freedom of information and thus transparency in dealings, business economic and otherwise.
Canada
Given Canada’s entanglement with American culture and economic practices, I feel that no detailed comparison is necessary; it is a western nation in the sense of economic development.
Spain
Spain, like Canada, needs no elaboration. It is western in all senses.
Morocco
Morocco was our first real non Western nation. Morocco’s proximity to Spain gives it a distinct flavor different than the rest of the Arabic world (their king even wears a western business suit in official pictures). Given any experience in the souks, 100% of the clothing is fake articles of renowned brands like D&G, Nike, Gucci, etc. There were, however, official brand stores like Levi’s and the ever omnipresent McDonald’s, although both were in limited quantities and usually placed in the richest parts of town. Roads were paved, but not very well developed at all; most automobiles on the street were poorly driven taxis. Mass transit was nonexistent; the train from Casablanca to Marrakech hardly counts in efficiency. The people’s view towards the government was of muted deference given the king’s absolute authority. Things are, however, looking up economically with Morocco’s overtures to build closer ties to western economies and attract capital. I had limited dealings with the police, but locals say there is a level of corruption. The internet I used wasn’t censored, but I only used Google and Facebook; I’ve been informed that the government does indeed censor “immoral” sites.
Ghana
Ghana’s authentic brand experience, much like Morocco, was limited to McDonald’s. I didn’t have much experience with the Ghanaian shopping experience so I can’t differentiate their level of knockoffs, but it should be noted there was a strong culture of local clothing as well as a mad quantity of Obama enshrined in clothing. Ghanaian roads were paved, with an eclectic mix of personal cars and taxis; I saw a few BMWs and Audis around. The condition of roads deteriorated as you moved into the country, the highway system was nonexistent with only two lane roads being the roads between cities. Ghanaians are very proud of their democratic heritage as well as Obama’s recent visit, thus they have a very healthy outlook for the future; this is reinforced by a recent string of investments by mining companies as well as GE looking to develop the country with a $400 million investment. The police are utterly corrupt with bribes rampant; I remember being stopped at least six times on my way to El Mina in a cab so the police could take bribes from our cabbie because he was carrying foreigners. Internet was choppy in Ghana, but on the whole it was relatively uncensored.
South Africa
South Africa is a land of contrasts. The “white” part is entirely westernized, while the “black” part has all the non qualities of the indicators I’ve listed. The black townships are not penetrated by authentic Western retail brands, nor do they have any real roads in the townships (at least in the Khayelitsha township where I visited). Outlook is bleak in the townships with some places peaking 50% chronic unemployment. Policing is nonexistent in townships, and some police forces still hold racist tendencies. I had no experience with internet in the townships, but given that most of them don’t even have “official” power connections it wouldn’t be surprising to expect a lack of internet.
Mauritius
Mauritius is almost up to western economic development in every sense, except for authentic Western brands. Of course there were McDonald’s there, but there were also some knockoffs I found in the market in Port Louis. The resort area of Flic en Flac could be comparable to Hawaii or other resort locations. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be much to distinguish Mauritius from a developed nation.
India
India is a nation of massive contrasts. On one hand, in the bustling cities such as Delhi or Bombay it feels very developed and very modern with all of the ritz and glamour expected. The roads are there, the Louis Vuittons are there as well as indigenous brands, the shiny new BMWs are there, the job opportunities are there, and so is the free internet. One thing all of India has in common is rife corruption, police and otherwise. On the flipside, there’s poor India with the masses huddled together and yearning for opportunity. This side lacks everything the up and coming economic movers have. India is simply developing on a massive scale. However, the future is bright given recent western capital investments in Indian companies and infrastructure, as well as some recent world class Indian companies taking the stage.
Vietnam
The children of the dragon have come a long way since the post-Vietnam War era and communism. I was there about ten years ago. Even though I was only in my young teens then I still remember what it was like. There are many knockoff brands in the open air markets (as many as Morocco) but there are also an increased number of authentic Western stores and local brands (some of which cost as much as their western counterparts!). There are significantly better paved roads now, the government has even taken the initiative to widen the many alleyways in residential areas, my aunts’ houses have had to follow this law and decrease their front parts. The economy has been growing for the past decade and the general feeling amongst my family there is that there is a future and opportunity being created for them, although unemployment still poses a problem. Police are still corrupt but there is an ongoing trend by the central government to crack down on corruption. The internet I used was for the most apart unobtrusive, however there are still some sites that are deemed subversive by the government and thus blocked.
Hong Kong
Another western nation, with the notable exception of ten thousand dollar watch shop stores next to cellphone shops that sell knockoff Iphone Airs.
China
China, like India, is developing in every sense of the word. The similarities are all too striking, with the coastal regions being the wealthy powerhouses while the interior is still very poor. China on the whole is more economically developed than India and is in a better position to take advantage of its natural resources and strengths. The authoritative government can push down policy quicker than democratic India. China also has a very censored internet, with Facebook still blocked from the previous Tibetan and Uighur riots. Certain parts of Shanghai looked and felt like any western city. China may still be developing but soon it will become the most developed.
Japan
Japan is a developed nation, possibly more westernized than most western nations in the sense that their economy is very stable and prices are through the roof. Japan has all the positives of the indicators with no negatives (possibly except for the extremely high price levels).
Conclusion
These are my observations from the voyage so far. Some are more astute than others given the varying length of time and degree of participation I had in each country. As country count increased my eyes became more open to the intricacies of the economies.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Unique Economic Indicators
Monday, November 23, 2009
Spring (Fall) Break 09
Mauritius… Spring (Fall) Break 09!
Mauritius is like Cancun for Europeans, it's one of their hidden gems of a vacation spot. We docked in Port Louis, then went to Flic en Flac (Andy Rachel and I) the first day. Carter, Jo, and Yvette joined us the second day. We partied with fellow SASholes in our villa. Our villa right across from the beach! W0000t. And by Villa I mean 3rd floor of a 4 yr old hotel in a family suite with balcony, pool, kitchen, etc. All for like $50 a night per person. Anyways, Mauritius was like living in a Spring Break thing, but kinda unnecessary, I would have much rather had more time in other countries than go to Mauritius for 2 nights. Funny story is we booked a different place for the first night but that hotel was out of the way and kinda crappy so Andy weaseled our way out of there and got full money back. Also, Mauritian culture is a broad mix of Chinese, Indian, and others. It's really a melting pot. There's also a lot of Indian immigrants coming in, like the assistant manager at our hotel. People there are really friendly as well and the alcohol is cheap.
Besides that, nothing honorable or worth mentioning at the moment given my procrastination.
Conclusion: There's nothing really long to write about Mauritius, it's a great vacation spot in the Pacific, but probably wouldn't return.
TIA
Let's see…. Docked in Cape Town, beautiful harbor that's well developed, sweet view of Table Mountain as we were docking. Rich waterfront that's well developed and full of white people and a lack of black people (the ever so present ominous theme of racial tensions in South Africa).
I had an FDP visit with Mitnick on the first day to the Khayelitsha township. If you've seen the movie District 9, the townships for the most part are exactly like the slums the prawns live in. We went on a bus tour for part of the township, went to some place where single mothers made things to sell and I got an overpriced art décor piece from there, but that's alright it was for a good cause. I brought some cotton candy for the kids but I gave it to the guy incharge of the charity place, I sure hope he gave it away to the kids. Drove on the bus some more to see other parts of town, stopped at a bed and breakfast ran by this nice old lady. She talked about the township and how she started her B&B to help guide visitors safely through townships to explore that side of South African life. There was a bar right across the dirt path that was full of black people drinking early in the morning; I should mentions a lot of townships have very very high unemployment rates 50+%. Hoped back on a bus, went to a weaving place where all female weavers made stuff, everything was horribly overpriced. Played some minor soccer with the neighborhood kids. Then went to another B&B where the lady running it was some sort of scholarship recipient from U of Pittsburgh or something. Told her schpeel, got fed some South Africanish food. Had a walking tour of the township, kind of creepy as it was getting dark and everyone was staring at us. Got back in our bus and left. Some of the girls that were handing out stickers got mobbed by little kids as we were leaving. Note for the townships: even though most houses were built out of sheets of metal and were shantytowns that had public water sprouts and stole electricity, I peered inside a lot of them and everyone had nice furniture, working stoves, and a big TV. More thought on that later.
Also, went to Robben Island where the South African apartheid assholes kept the political prisoner… really interesting stuff about the island itself and our tour guide was a former prisoner, as well as most of the tour guides. I'm not going to spoil their wonderful and tumultuous struggle but it was inspiring to say the least. Go see it or read about it.
I'm going to gloss over South Africa, it just wasn't a memorable port ,everything was too much like America. The underlying racial tensions, however, were sweet and I made friends with a club manager named Sidney at a club that I forget the name of, got his views on South Africa as well as America. The coolest thing I did there was that me and Carter went parasailing off of Lion's Head mountain on the last day and the guys told us it was the most perfect day they had seen in 4 months for parasailing, got great footage from that. Also bought some neat wooden African stuff. Also the main bar street of Capetown, Longstreet had an asston of security guys patrolling the street, but I was told by a local that if you even go a block off of Long Street at night you're at risk of being mugged or kidnapped, no joke. Otherwise….
Conclusion: I don't foresee me coming back to South Africa. And, it's really not safe there, according to SAS, people who live there (white & black), and the overall experience.
Ghana pt 2
Carter and I rented a cab to go to El Mina, where there was supposd to be some scenery. It was just an old fort that they used to ship slaves out of, nothing really spectacular there. Funny story along they way, we got stopped by about 4 or 5 different cops because they saw Carter's white self and wanted a mad bribe from our cabby. Of course the cops were friendly to us and our cabby was a fox so we didn't pay the cops squat. Lol@ police corruption. Another funny thing that happened is outside of the castle in El Mina there were some kids up to no good trying to sham us out of money. They pretended they were part of a school collection drive or some crap like that, an offical SAS trip had come to the castle before we did and we had SAS branded items on us so they figured we were part of the same SAS group. Anyways one of these guys had a shirt that said "Fuck all of my enemies"… If you're trying to get "charity" donations that kinda shirt probably doesn’t help. Anyways they gave us seashells with our names written in sharpie as a gift for donations. I told them I didn't have any money but I had a bottle of Deet. One of the guys thought I was going to give the bottle to him in return, but I gave him a spray in the chest, got in my cab and left. He didn't get ripped off, the marker rubbed off of the shell 1/2 hour later and they didn't clean the insides so those shells stunk horribly a day later. We got back to town right at the beginning of rushhour so we missed most of that, but traffic was backed up for at least a good 4 miles in some places, shitty roads man. I gave our cabbie my pair of fOakleys I got in Morocco as a departing gift. Nothing much happened after this, met up with Prosperity again to try to trade my Puma hat for a mask but he wouldn't budge on the negotiations so I just left. Chilled out some more, went back to the ship, and sailed off.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
underneath it all
underneath it all you can smell the presence, you can feel the presence. its all around you in the room, it is the room. its all around you in the world. it is the world. well then what is it? the smell of wine and cheap perfume? no its not that. its humanity itself, halfway around the world it all smells the same to me. the tears the drench the sweat the stains the fear the power the love the loathing, all in all the same all over. the world over beats to the same rhythm, everyones basic primal instincts splurging out forward from whatever recesses they hide it in. it starts off small, you dont notice the underlying undulating waves at first, but as they become gradually bigger and more and more smash into you more and more frequently you suddenly feel the effects and realize them.
people, everywhere from the scorched suns of africa to the dirtiness of india to the monsoons of vietnam to the highrises of hong kong, people everywhere are the same, they come from the same mold they have the same wants and needs, they all desire the same thing. itll take a journey around the world for the surprise to not be ruined for yourself, take it and find out.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
on messed up dreams
I set my alarm clock for 7:25 AM.
I dreamt my alarm clock went off at 7:25 AM.
I woke up at 7:25 AM.
My actual alarm clock wasn't properly set.
It did not go off at 7:25 AM.
What?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Ghana pt 1
To preface this, I <3 Ghana. Awesome country with awesome awesome people.
Everyone is just so friendly in Ghana, even if they're trying to nickel and dime you and you refuse. A guy who was trying to sell me stuff that I rejected explicitly told me it was their way to be super friendly regardless. Ghanaians also have a pretty sweet Fresh Prince-ish handshake that ends with a snap, its almost universal there. And, they smoke a lot of weed, freely offered (but not taken).
We ported in Tema, which is about 45 minutes away from Accra, the capital. First thing off the ship and on the bus is that many people were smiling, and everyone was waving at us and very accommodating. The roads between Tema and Accra were surprisingly modern and not full of potholes, but that isn't reflective of the rest of the country. Carter and I got a room at the Hotel Byblos, which was owned by a half Lebanese, half Ghanaian guy that was pretty cool, his wife was an American from either Minnesota or Montana. The owner guy, I'll call him Fred even though that's not his real name, was actually in some horrific car accident a few years earlier when his Ford (lol Ford) SUV flipped over and sent him through the windshield, he broke his spine in the C5 and C6 or something like that, the Ghanaians doctor sucked and had in the hospital for weeks without a proper diagnosis, he was flown to Lebanon for treatment. And now, he smokes a lot of joints to ward off the constant pain. The Byblos was decent, for Ghanaian standards. The staff, however, were quite simply some of the most welcoming and warm hotel staffers, ever. Our first waitress there was Tina, cool awesome girl that made a lot of friends with fellow SASholes. Another waiter whose name I forget, but I'll call him Bob, was a pretty cool guy too. Actually everyone was friendly in Ghana once you introduced yourself to them, asked for their name, and did the handshake.
For the first day in Ghana, Carter, Yvette, and I went to the "cultural center", which is nothing more than a smallass souk full of Ghanaians that can't really negotiate. Everything inside was overpriced and crap. The rows of shops outside are a different story. It was a bunch of crafts and drum shops which were full of chill dudes. David, one of the owners of a shop there and whom I bought a drum from, actually met us outside and was helpful and not pushing anything on his, he gave us good advice about the shops inside and told us to stop by and played drums, and that we did. About half an hr or an hr of drum playing, which was awesome. I got myself a nice midsize drum and a sweet Ghanaian colored carrying case with it. There was another guy named Prosperity or something like that that ran a shop with his brothers, Prosperity met some girl from Philadelphia that was doing her masters from the U of Ghana and they got married, the guy was gonna immigrate to America in January, what a future. Prosperity wanted to trade my sweet Puma hat for a mask in his shop, but dude was too greedy and tried to get money from me for a small mask, that didn't happen at all. After our drum shopping experience we left the place but on the way out saw Andy and Joanna in the bar right outside so we sat down and had a drink. David joined us, so did Prosperity and his brothers. This dude name Louis came up to me and told me that I spurned him earlier because I didn't buy his crap, but I got him a beer so it was all good. Prosperity even got me a shot of palm wine, which is like freakin everclear, my mouth was numb after that shot. Speaking of alcohol, Ghanaian beer was actually good, I wouldn't mind having more, but it wasn't extra special.
Story to be continued, tonight we have the crew talent show going on, which may top the earlier SAS talent show we had.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The American Dream
Imagine after a long arduous voyage across the unknown depths you see a shining beacon coming up in the distance. As you get closer the giant green lady holds that beaconing torch stands tall and strong to greet you. Her greeting bellows out to all who come:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Lady Liberty embodies all that is the American Dream, a pursuit noble and worthy of commemoration.
The American Dream itself is the biggest enticement for any immigrant yearning for America. It is because of this dream that millions have come to our shores, and millions more hope to do so. Since the birth of the country there has never been a shortage of wanting immigrants, from persecuted English pilgrims to the starving Irish farmers to outcast Jews to the war bloodied Vietnamese refugees to those who want just a better tomorrow, the list has not been dry.
This is my speech commemorating the American Dream for my public speaking class with Mitnick.
*****
The American Dream is the ultimate culmination of all the yearnings and hopes that fresh immigrants have. It vindicates the decision to take flight and shelter in America, to walk and live amongst the foreign, to contribute part of American culture, to create a better future, to live free. After years of struggles, immigrants can look back and see how far they've come. Take Andrew Carnegie, Scottish immigrant turned business mogul or Barack Obama born of an immigrant father, now lead of the free world, two of many examples who have achieved and prospered.
The American Dream is a personal relevation for me. I'm a first generation immigrant in pursuit of the American Dream. The road has been long and not without its bumps, but I think I've made a good leg of the journey and the American Dream is within my grasp. I've avoided many pitfalls and went on to higher education to open more doors, I'm to be graduating this spring. I've earned and made my mark and post graduation prospects are bright. I've learned and experienced so much in my continuing pursuit of the American dream. Pursuing the American Dream has even lead me to be aboard the MV Explorer to sail the world. All in all I think the effort has been worth it.
Heralding back to Lady Liberty's greeting, her words are etched into my mind like glowing embers. I was tired and poor. I was the huddled masses yearning to be free. I was tempest-tossed. I am not anymore, I'm living the American Dream.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
shipfood
Curse the wretched ingredients that come into this sea food for it is bland and undistinguishing from a bottomless whirl of mediocrity and livid indignity.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Morocco, way back when
Moroc, Al Maghreb, something in Arabic I can't type…
We ported in Casablanca…. The city isn't very white/clean. Just ugh dirty. Traffic everywhere, taxis everywhere. Actually went to Rick's Café, the recreation from the movie Casablanca. It was apparently true to life but very touristy and kind of a waste of money and time, but I can say I've been there. Also went to the Hassan II Mosque, which apparently cost $600 million to construct. It's grand and huge, and shoots out a green laser beam at night calling the faithful to prayer. It's quite opulent and grandeur, but also a complete waste of money consider how much it cost and how dilapidated the adjacent neighborhoods are. We spent a day in Morocco then went to Marrakech.
I took the train to Marrakech with Andy, Tina, Linda, and Travis. We couldn't get 1st class train tickets so got 2nd class instead…. That was an experience, our AC didn't work too well and it wasn't the best of conditions (check out the video I put up). Of course we got 1st class on the way back, and the only improvement was there were curtains and there were armrests on the chairs, but all in all the same quality/ safety. Oh how I love creaky trains. Also, the toilets for second class were a literal hole in the train.
Marrakech…. The Vegas of Morocco. It was much much cleaner than Casablanca but then again it was so touristy. The souks (bazaars, outdoor markets, money traps, whatever you want to call it) were designed to accommodate tourists, whom were mostly French due to Morocco's ex-colony status. The shopkeeps in the souks are vicious, and dicks. They're very aggressive in trying to pull you in, sometimes even physically grabbing. They're also very aggressive with bargaining, I'd say a general rule of thumb is go for 1/3rd of their price, don't budge twice, then walk away. Always walk away, if they want to sell at that price then they'll pull you back, but don't budge up. I made the mistake of listening to someone once and upped my price but what a waste. They're also douches, I kept getting "konichiwa" from everyone, it was pretty fucking aggravating and racist. However, there were some genuinely nice people in Marrakech's souks, I met this really cool kid that learned English, German, and French from just listening to tourists talk. Casablanca's souks were radically different, it wasn't geared towards tourism there so shopkeepers were a lot less pushy and annoying, and I met more cool people there, one shopkeeper actually lived in Minneapolis, and another lady that was shopping was on vacation from Pennsylvania (both native Moroccans). On a whole I enjoyed Casablanca souks much more, people were friendlier; I met a guy in there that had a friend from SAS from like 2 decades ago and showed us around the place offering to be our tour guide, he owned a fabric shop that he wanted to bring us to at the end but the group I was with wasn't feeling it so I guess that was an opportunity passed to meet a friend and learn more about his culture.
We also went to the casino in Marrakech…. What a joke. Their dress code was retarded, they required pants on guys but not specifics, I was wearing shorts so I actually traded my shorts for pants with a girl in our group, the girl wore my shorts with a pashima (scarf) wrapped around as a skirt. Went inside, the casino was extremely small and expensive, with $25 minimum bet for blackjack. I didn't gamble, just had a drink then left.
We tried a lot of local cuisine, and actually stayed at a "four star" (supposedly) hotel outside the old city in the new city. Other SAS kids were there, but they were on actual SAS trips. It was a cool place with a swimming pool, we "borrowed" a roll away bed every night since it would have cost extra to put 3 in a room, which is an offensive charge. Went to the hookah (shisha) bar every night and smoked hookah and had some beers with fellow SASers, it was a chill time. On a side note, I found a Vietnamese restaurant in Marrakech, but it was closed for all of Ramadan, blaaagh. All in all we stayed in Marrakech for 2 days, went shopping in the souks, smoked good amounts of hookah, and I bought a cowboy hat that I sported the rest of the time in Morocco. It was just an oddity for me to find a cowboy hat in Morocco, it was only 30 dirham (30/7 = $4). I also learned some cool hookah smoke tricks too.
Ok back to Casablanca. Even though Marrakech was cleaner, I met a lot more locals in Casablanca. One of the coolest people I met was actually a worker/manager of the hookah bar near our ship, Brad had met him the night before I got back. The guy's name was Mohammad (lol surprise), he didn't speak much English, or at all, but Brad and him communicated through hand signals and such. Guy was a baller, I don't think they liked the other loud typical American SASers there since they kicked them out early, but they let me and Brad stayed for as long as we wanted and even sat down and chilled with us, the guy even lit up a joint while we were smoking hookah. There was another dude that worked there also named Mohammad, he used to be a merchant marine with pretty good English and friendly. The owner's son (I assume) Hassim also stopped by, he spoke broken english but was also very friendly. So moral of the story here: people in souks aren't there to be your friends, meet them on the outside and take some time to communicate even if you don't speak the same language.
I forgot to mention it was also Ramadan the entire time we were there, so none of the locals at or drank during the entire day. We were told it'd be disrespectful if we drank or ate infront of them, but they were completely cool with it (the shopkeeps and restaurant owners at least). Also Mohammad said he only smoked 2 joints a night in observance of Ramadan, instead of the normal 7.
I feel like Morocco warrants more indepth exploration, and probably speaking French or Arabic would help greatly. The younger generation speaks fluent French because of the colonial ties, although the middle aged ones don't, but the grandparents also speak French, I guess they tried anti French sentiments but it didn’t work out so well. Something to note is that with Arabic French you have to hock some of the pronunciations with a harsher sound to be understandable to Moroccans. I kind of miss Morocco, but not Marrakech souks.
The Food
The Food is really really really bland. It's like cafeteria food with 1/10th of the selection. I may be losing a ton of weight from the food on the trip, I have no appetite whatsoever. OF course the exception is theres an ala carte bar on 7th deck by the pool, they have great burgers that are delicious but even that only lasts so long.... Let me get on land and get some real food already!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Thoughts on Spain
Thoughts on Spain
First off, Barcelona was an awesome time. It was an extremely awesome experience, lots of stuff to do, lots of partying and lots of sights to see.
The architecture in Barcelona is amazing. There's so much to see and so many different styles. Most of the buildings are your run of the mill concrete industrial mini skyscrapers. I think most buildings in Barcelona weren't taller than 10 stories. But there were some really unique and funky designs, look at my pictures (that will come up when I'm in South Africa). I was really impressed by how these funky buildings blended nature with asymmetry to produce a fusion of elegance. The stuff design by Gaudi was eye popping. His cathedral, the Sagrada Familia is unfinished but still a masterpiece in every sense. The details in it are so intricate, EVERY aspect of it is meant to resemble or mimic nature, nothing I've seen comes close to how much drugs this guy must have tripped to design the thing.
The Spaniards themselves, however, are mainly dicks. It seemed like they didn't like Americans at all from the onset; or anyone else from another country for that matter. I mean sure America's international reputation has been damaged by the Bush years, but that's no excuse for being impolite to random strangers. On the whole I feel the Spanish just weren't warm people.
Spanish food - meh. I'm not a fan of tapas really, and really don't miss it. It was kind of funny to me that the busiest places at night were McDonald's and Burger King. There were really long lines there.
Partying in Barcelona was awesome. We stayed in the hostel on La Rambla street, which is Barcelona's main touristy/ happening street. So many people walking up and down there, maybe even more than the magic mile in Chi town. As I said in a previous post, we went to a bar called Espit Choupitos (or something like that), choupitos is shot in spanish, and they were purported to have 1000 types of shots in the bar. Check out my pictures (coming later!), we did a baller flaming shot called the Harry Potter, vodka, sugar, orange, carmelized by flame. We did another shot with flaming marshmallows but I don't remember the name. The ice bar by the beach was a novel experience, it was a try-it-once thing. The ENTIRE bar was inside a big cooler, and everything (bar counter, stools, table, drink glasses) was all ice. Kind of small and expensive but awesome pictures from it. The beach 40 feet away probably made the night. Sweet sweet warm Mediterranean sea is so relaxing.
I'm just rambling now, we're off of SW Africa and in a storm of some sort, the water is so rocky and there's nothing to do on the ship. It gets real boring here real quickly. I saw three college guys doing a crossword puzzle with an old man, it was really odd for me but I guess that's what no alcohol and nothing else to do does to people.
Conclusion: Spain is cool to party in, but I wouldn't live there.
- Minh 'bobbingoffthecoastofafricalikeanangryhippo' Vo
Saturday, September 26, 2009
9-26-09
Short update:
Off of the coast of Africa, left Ghana yesterday. Shaved head today for Neptune Day (crossing the equator), had lifeboat drill. I think I left off in the middle of Morocco during my last real update? Maybe later
Friday, September 25, 2009
The beginning, a little bit late
This is from an email I sent to some friends, it chronicles Canada to Spain to the beginnings of Morocco. It kind of is crap and really late, but I'm going to start here. Will write more when we leave Ghana later today!
---
Anyways, we started off in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Shared a Days Inn in the apparently dangerous part of town, the cab driver told us that the gas station had been knocked up about 8 times in the last four years. Shared a room with another guy and two girls. We went and had a bunch of sea food there, went to a Canadian Wal-mart, which is the same as an American one, and they even accepted US Dollars! We went to a Canadian club at night, it was the first time I was ever frisked at the entrance. The bar had like 4 different areas and about 6 seperate bars (where you could order drinks). Was pretty sweet, met a bunch of other SASers there. There was also two stripper poles you can guess what went down.
First few days on the ship sucked since I had mild seasickness, but I got used to it and I hardly notice the rocking now. Classes are a breeze here, we actually don't have many days of class since we spend so much time in port, last week and this week we actually have 12ish days off from class. Also everythings 2-4 minutes away from my cabin so it's all easy to get to. Speaking of my cabin, it's tiny tiny tiny and I have two roommates, and I sleep on the top bunk, but it's alright since I'm not there most of the time.
So last week we docked in Cadiz, Spain. Flew to Barcelona right away. Stayed in the Kabul Hostel on La Rambla street, which is like their main shop/touristyish area. The hostel was actually alright and kinda clean, nothing worse than a dorm room. Went to a place called Espit Choupitos (sp?), choupitos means 'shot' in Spanish, and they had over 200 or 1000 shots. The famous one is a Harry Potter, which is vodka or rum, then on orange and sugar ontop. They light the orange/ shot on fire to carmelize it. Delicious! Second night I was in Barcelona we went back to Choupitos to pre game, then went to an ice bar. The ice bar was basically all ice on the inside, chairs, bar counter, table, and my drink was in a glass of pure ice. Pretty sweet place, but a novelty. The ice bar is literally on the beach so we chilled there for a while, went back to our hostel and went to a dance club that's literally right next to the Kabul. Danced-ish til 5am, lotta creepy douches there though. 2nd night was Sunday and all the good clubs were closed sadly. Btw, Spanish food kinda sucks, its nothing special. And tapas are retarded, they're a "way of eating" not an actual dish.
I'm now currently in Morocco, and gotta run out to dinner at a Chinese place and a hookah bar. Will write more later.
Hurray
directly instead of having to use internet minutes... HURRAY!
--
Minh Vo
BBA Economics, MIS
University of Iowa 2010
www.minhdvo.com
(712) 574 4060
"Relax, it will all be alright."
Thursday, August 27, 2009
O Canada
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Itinerary/ Where in the world is Minh?
| Fall 2009 Itinerary/Calendar | ||||
| Destination | Day | Date | Time | |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | Depart | Friday | 28-Aug | 1700 |
| Cadiz, Spain | ||||
| Arrive | Saturday | 5-Sep | 800 | |
| Depart | Tuesday | 8-Sep | 2000 | |
| Casablanca, Morocco | ||||
| Arrive | Thursday | 10-Sep | 800 | |
| Depart | Monday | 14-Sep | 2000 | |
| Accra, Ghana | ||||
| Arrive | Tuesday | 22-Sep | 800 | |
| Depart | Friday | 25-Sep | 2000 | |
| Cape Town, South Africa | ||||
| Arrive | Saturday | 3-Oct | 800 | |
| Depart | Thursday | 8-Oct | 2000 | |
| Port Louis, Mauritius | ||||
| Arrive | Thursday | 15-Oct | 800 | |
| Depart | Saturday | 17-Oct | 2000 | |
| Chennai, India | ||||
| Arrive | Friday | 23-Oct | 800 | |
| Depart | Tuesday | 27-Oct | 2000 | |
| Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam | ||||
| Arrive | Tuesday | 3-Nov | 800 | |
| Depart | Sunday | 8-Nov | 600 | |
| (On-ship time is 2100 on Saturday, November 07) | ||||
| Hong Kong / Shanghai, China | ||||
| Arrive | Wednesday | 11-Nov | 800 | |
| Depart | Monday | 16-Nov | 2000 | |
| Yokohama / Osaka, Japan | ||||
| Arrive | Friday | 20-Nov | 800 | |
| Depart | Tuesday | 24-Nov | 2100 | |
| (Cross International Dateline; Add One Day) | ||||
| Honolulu / Hilo, Hawaii, USA | ||||
| Arrive | Friday | 4-Dec | 600 | |
| Depart | Monday | 7-Dec | 2000 | |
| San Diego, California, USA | ||||
| Arrive | Monday | 14-Dec | 800 | |
On Packing:
It's the day before I fly out, nothing is in an actual suitcase or duffel bag, but I'm not disorganized. I've actually already picked out the stuff I want to bring along, and I'm pretty sure all of it and them some will fit in one suitcase, leaving me plenty of room. Glad I'm not a girl.