On The Road

"Only when you have crossed the river can you say the crocodile has a lump on his snout"
- Ashanti Proverb

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Although my primary purpose for being in Ghana in July was to teach at Senchi Ferry Methodist School each day, our group was free to explore on evenings and weekends. We spent most evenings eating and resting, but on weekends we formed into groups, hired cars or vans and hit the road!

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A dancer in New Akrade, Ghana performs on a stage at the outdoor community center

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I spent most of my time in the various towns I visited - Akosombo, Kumasi, Accra - wandering through twisting city streets and exploring markets selling everything from vegetables to textiles. That doesn't mean that I didn't get to explore museums and cultural sites, but to be honest, I found just wandering the streets and chatting with people at the market more interesting.

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Our first week a few of us headed 25 minutes by van north of Senchi to Akosombo and the local market. It only runs on Monday and Thursday, but is the primary shopping opportunity for people in the area. I had only been in Ghana for a few days, and found the Akosombo Marekt little overwealming - the crowds, mud, variety, the flies... In hindsight I am glad I started with this small regional market instead of plunging first into the swirl of Makola Market in Accra!

When I was in Ghana I always asked permission before photographing anyone, and initially had very little luck in getting people to agree. The more local language I learned and the more time I spend chatting with people BEFORE asking permission to photograph them, the better my conversion rate was. One time I asked a market woman if I could photograph her and she said "so you want to take my picture and take it back to America with you and leave me here? Why don't you just take me with you - that will be much better!" Touche!

The approach to Akosombo Market - part of it was paved with permanent stalls, but most was muddy and informal

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A muddier view of the market - women in Ghana carry everything on their heads, regardless of bulk or weight

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Second hand clothing for sale - on closer inspection, much of it appears to be from North America

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A woman sells a common local delicacy - smoked fish caught in the nearby Volta River

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I found this tabloid poster wall interesting - a crowd was gathered around to see photos and read a bit about Michael Jackson - yep, even in the interior of Ghana it was a big story... Also depicted are shocking photos of the wealth and punishment of "Sakawa", or mobsters/con men who have become rich through organized crime

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Ghana is famous for many things - Kente Cloth, High-Life music, Ashanti Culture - and on a few occasions we were able to explore a little of each.

Another shot of a dancer in New Akrade

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The Jr. High HIV club does a skit on how to avoid the dreaded disease - there was a whole assembly dedicated to music, dance and drama to further HIV/AIDS education

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The HIV Club Poetry contest!

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A Senchi Ferry student in traditional dress dances at the HIV Club assembly

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Our second weekend in Ghana a couple of us (Jeanne, India, Emily and I) hired a car and set out for the ancient Ashanti Capital of Kumasi. Although only about 150 miles away, because of the roads (occasionally excellent, but more frequently pot-holed or gravel) it took us close to six hours to get to our B&B in Kumasi.

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Our B&B in Kumasi, the Four Villages. Your home away from home in Kumasi!
http://www.fourvillages.com/

Even though it took a long time, I enjoyed the drive very much. There was so much to look at - the least being the diversity of the jungle sliding by, full of large and dramatic trees, the occasional baboon. What was most interesting were the glimpses into the life of local Ghanaians. Whenever we drove into a village we would slow way down to make our way over the ubiquitous "speed-bumps" and we all got a look at village life - the busy carrying, buying, selling and socializing that seemed to go on unabated all day and into the evening. As we drove accross the country from east to west we would drive through areas where different products where available for sale on the side of the road - bright orange palm oil in gallon plastic jugs in one area, sugar-cane in another, abundant fruit and vegetables in another.

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I am fascinated by the trees in Ghana - so many unfamiliar species, and so big!

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Cow Crossing - they had baboon crossings too, but I didn't get a photo

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Once we got into Kumasi the traffic thickened up and the hawkers started to appear at stop-lights. One could buy hot food, drinks, soap, you name it, and all from the window of your car!

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Kumasi is the center of the ancient Ashanti Kingdom, and although the Capital is Accra on the coast, Kumasi is described by many sources as the cultural capital of Ghana and the Akan people. The Ashanti Kingdom traces its roots to 1670, when a collection of local tribes banded together. Ashanti history invests a great deal of importance in the story of the "Golden Stool" which is the divinely inspired throne of this matrilineal society. The Ashanti were one of the few groups in Africa that put up a serious fight against European colonial powers.

The Ashanti Kingdom, which also fought wars with the Fante and Ga people of Ghana, had upwards of 100,000 soldiers, making it more powerful even that the Zulus of East Africa. From 1823 to 1900, the British fought four wars with the Ashanti and it was only in 1900 that the interior area around Kumasi was incorporated into the British Gold Coast colony. Bottom-line: the Ashanti were tough, and even in colonial times, the British never trained Ashanti warriors to join the British colonial army for fear they would apply their military skills and rebel. One of the most interesting places we visited in Kumasi was the Colonial Fort and Military museum which had everything from African weapons captured in the 19th century, British Colonial photographs, German, Japanese and Italian weapons captured around Africa during World War One and Two, and even an old Bradley tank left behind by the Americans!

We toured around Kumasi to explore "cultural sites", but I quickly slipped off on my own to explore Kejetia Market, which is touted as one of the largest in West Africa.

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On my way to the market, I made my way through various neighborhoods

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Although I only scraped the surface of Kejetia, I was able to get a sense of its scale on this quiet Sunday morning

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This woman was selling cooked eggs in spicy tomato sauce and found my attempt at Twi - her language - hilarious

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I am told one can buy just about anything at Kejetia Market, and I sure saw lots of stuff!

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In a poor country like Ghana very little is wasted - here used bike parts are for sale

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Motor-bike repair shop in the muslim quarter in Kumasi

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A cobbler if your sole is in need of some work

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The Sunday that I visited Kejetia most of what was for sale was food and produce

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This woman - named Ama - took some convincing, but I finally got her to smile

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This woman - also named Ama interestingly enough - was all smiles and giggles until it was time to shoot, then she posed in a rather serious manner. When I met her she had her box on her head, navigating the crowd, selling bread

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One evening after tutoring, we had the chance to visit a nearby bead factory (Cedi Beads) that designed and produced Krobo-style beads from recycled glass. Although an ancient art form utilizing various materials, in the past century, discarded beverage bottles have become the most common raw material at Cedi.

Raw material

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An artisan prepares molds for liquid glass by "painting" them with colorizing agents

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Glass bottles are melted down and placed in molds to create beads

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After they are removed from the kiln, they are allowed to cool

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Another view of the kiln area

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After cooling, the beads are removed from the molds

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and polished in a stone basin

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Bead molds and finished beads on display

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A pile of the finished product - rough, but beautiful

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Traditional beads - painted with colorizing agents before being fired

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Plenty to buy in the gift shop!

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Some more delicate painted examples

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A view of the Akosombo Dam and Lake Volta beyond from the Volta Hotel

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The largest public works project in the history of this region, and a source of great national pride for the Ghanaian people is the Akosombo Dam. The dam was built in the early 1960s to power an American built aluminum smelter in nearby Tema, and opened in 1965 creating Lake Volta - the largest man-made lake in the world (8,500 sq/km). The lake covers 3.6% of the land in Ghana and required the resettlement of more than 80,000 people (some in nearby Senchi Ferry New Town). The damn is an internationally controversial subject - leftists would tell you that it is an example of neo-colonialism in that the majority of the project benefits foreign investors, a point of view with which I sympathize, but that said, the project might never been built otherwise. I have many opinions on foreign aid and investment in Africa - more pro-business than many of my comrades might expect - but I shall share these elsewhere...

Where was I? Oh yes - big dam, bigger lake, impressive powerplant, etc. A few of us went up one morning to take a tour. Later that weekend, Emily, Jeanne and I took a bout tour on Lake Volta itself.

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Maureen, India, Shirley and Maria pose with our guides on the dam itself - the southernmost tip of the lake in the background

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Looking down river from the top of the dam

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The turbines leading to the power-plant

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A view of the Dodi Princess docking on Dodi island on Lake Volta. Jeanne, Emily and I took a cruise one day. Not that much to see, but it nice to get out on the water.

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Dodi Island - one of the many in Lake Volta.

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I was surprised at how few boats there were on Lake Volta. I understand that it is restricted to those who live nearby, but in five hours I only saw three or four boats.

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Anne and Peggy pose near one of the entrances to the food portion of Makola Market

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On my last weekend in Ghana we all travelled to the Capital, Accra, for the day in order to catch our early morning flights home. We had a full afternoon to explore the city, and Anne, Peggy and I headed right for Makola Market. Billed as the biggest in West Africa. I couldn't tell if it was bigger or smaller than Kejeta Market in Kumasi, but since I spent at least four hours at Makola, it certainly seemed bigger.

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The crowds in the streets surrounding the market were crowded - not as crowded as say, Stanley Market in Hong Kong, but for Ghana, as busy as it gets!

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A woman sells two varieties of local peppers. One of the best things about Ghanaian food were the spices - hot and lively, but not too hot

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These are actually palm kernels. They are pressed to make palm oil, a local staple

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Fresh crabs

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Although the market area looks spacious enough, most of the action was down very narrow alleys or packed into vast collections of partially covered stalls.

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This fellow's shirt was too white for him to be a butcher - I suspect he just liked posing with entrails

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The African staple crop of cassava. It doesn't taste like much on its own - its like a very bland sweet potato - but serve it with a pepper sauce and subsistence never tasted so good!

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Two women take a break from grinding cassava flour. Note the t-shirt - from some goodwill box in Oregon all the way to Ghana...

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More snails - these ones were big, but not the biggest I saw

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Granted, that is Anne's petit hand, not mine, but it gives you a sense of scale

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The spice grinder

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Household goods of every description

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Small dried fish and shrimp

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Spices and other ingredients

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Bananas and more snails

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Newsstand at Makola Market

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A roasted grass-cutter. This West African delicacy is like cross between a beaver and a rat - quite expensive and much loved.

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A gregarious seller of pig's feet. From Jacksonville, Florida to Beijing, people seem to love their pigs feet....

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Anne and Peggy grew tired of Makola after about an hour, so we split up and I explored deeper into the clothing section on my own. It was amazing - hundreds upon hundreds of small stalls, all selling used clothing, much of it from North America. I was looking for some Obama in Ghana t-shirts, but since it was two weeks after his visit, I couldn't find any. A local guy, led me deep into the market - down back alleys, through underground sweatshops where men sweated over ancient sewing machines, and finally to one stall that still had the shirts I was looking for.

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Imagine this scene going on for hundreds of yards, twisting and turning, the ground under-foot soft with discarded rags

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I did find a few shops with new textiles, and in hindsight I wish I had bought some, but I was so dazed by the variety that I ended up buying almost nothing.

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Although not the Kente cloth that Ghana is most famous for, the selection of textiles was of very high quality

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Buttons galore!

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Finally, on the way to the airport, one of the hundreds of Welcome Obama billboards in Accra

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I had a wonderful time in Ghana and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in exploring Africa, but a bit nervous about how intense it might be. The people in Ghana - both in the capital and the countryside - are wonderful, and will go out of their way to welcome you and help you out if you have lost your way. Certainly a little tip is always a nice gesture, but is rarely, if ever, demanded (except at the airport).

The museums in Accra and Kumasi are limited, and this is not a big tourist country, but the countryside and the people make it worth the 12 hour flight from New York!

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My next stop? Hilary and I are off to Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto in October - look for the Japan blog in November!

Peter, Conscious, Doh, Shalom and Esther after tutoring

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“Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.”

- Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary General, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and famous Ghanaian

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Although our team worked on multiple projects while in Ghana, most of us were placed in one of three schools in Senchi Ferry - Catholic, Bea Akoto, and Methodist. The denominational names are based on their founding years ago by missionary groups - they are now all part of the public system. From first to seventh grade, we were scattered throughout the community based on need and our preferences. I ended up working at the Methodist School, teaching 6th grade with Mr. Daniel Ankamah.

Mr. Ankamah and Bryan

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Mr. Ankamah is a seasoned educator with 35 years of experience teaching in Ghana. He grew up in the region east of Lake Volta, near the border with Togo, but had been teaching in Senchi Ferry for years. Actually, our local group leader, Benjamin, was in Mr. Ankamah's class back in the 6th grade!

I was welcomed into his classroom, and taught all subjects to his sixth graders for three weeks. Mr. Ankamah was present most of the time in the classroom, but on occasion left to attend to other business. My situation was common, in that I was not filling a void in the school's teaching needs, but rather invited in to assist regular teachers already in place. The Global Volunteers model is based firmly on the concept that volunteers work with local partners and participate in a cultural exchange. Thus, none of us was supposed to be working alone. That said, some of our teachers were present less than others.

After the kids got used to me, and I them, I did my best to teach Math, English Grammar, Science, PE, and yes, Ghanaian Citizenship. Each class had a very detailed syllabus, so after studying this and available text-books, I was good to go!

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Hagga poses in front of Senchi Ferry Methodist School

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This is the classroom - tin roof, open to the outside on the sides, chalk board

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Classroom lighting provided by openings in the cinderblock walls

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Each student in Ghanaian public schools is required to wear a uniform, but school fees have been abolished in recent years. Thus any student with enough money for a uniform (about $4) can attend school. That said, there seemed to be lots of a la carte expenses the students had to pay. For example, at the end of the term, in order to take the exams that would secure or deny their promotion to the 7th grade, each student had to pay 20 peswas for the copying of their exam (20 cents).

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Christian and Emmanuel work on their Maths

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Victor stays behind during recess to complete his assignment

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I brought a stack of photos with me to share more about my life in the U.S. with my students. I then used these photos as prompts for a writing exercise. Here Eric writes a paragraph about the photo of my Nephew Jacob eating ice cream

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Gladys prepares to ring the bell (analog) for recess. Gladys was one of the students who was obviously hungry each day. Although very bright, she didn't have much energy. During recess I would share my Cliff-bars with her and she would perk right up.

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Diku relaxes on a bench during recess

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Mavis, Conscious and Abigail

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Priscilla learns to throw a frisbee during recess. I brought a frisbee and soccer ball with me for my students to enjoy. The school had only one ball for all 400 students.

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Catch!

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Helen during break

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The Library at Senchi Ferry Methodist School. The selection of books was very limited, but there were plans to install electricity and install a donated computer. Its a start!

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Patricia reads an old favorite

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After a snack, Gladys reads during library time - she is puzzling over the concept of "Igloo" (she has never experienced a temperature lower than 75 degrees, so her concept of ice is limited to the freezer at the local market).

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Gladys, Esther and Martha

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Another wing of the Methodist School

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I picked up a soccer ball at Target before leaving for Ghana, and I suspect it was the most popular thing I brought with me (including myself!)

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Who needs shoes - that is why they call it football!

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Moro and Diku

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Elijha

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Diku was about 15 and in the sixth grade, so he tended to dominate at recess

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Al-Haji, one of the few muslim students in my class, takes a shot on goal

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Karen, another volunteer on our team, teaches her 5th graders the Hokey-Pokey

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One morning as I arrived at school I saw what seemed like the entire student body in the main yard leaning over. I soon realized that they were "mowing" the lawn... with machettes. Apparently, they do this as a group now and then. And apparently, every kid in Ghana has their own machette (they call them cutlasses). And they can often be seen toting them to school. I am not sure why I was so fascinated by this. It was interesting to see students taking care of their school, but also funny to think that in the Untied States we expel kids for bringing toy guns to school, where in Ghana, kids are required to bring big, heavy, sharp cutlasses to class....

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The girls seemed especially good at it - I suspect they had lots of practice

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Eric mowing

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Hagga takes a break

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Some of our group worked on a construction project in the center of Senchi. The Library was a partnership between the community and Global Volunteers, and the July goal was to complete as much of the roof structure as possible.

Benjamin, Emily and Samuel post in front of the Library

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Anne, India and Shirley take a break (while Brendan, Austin, Mark and Matt toil in the background!)

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Brendan provides the muscle

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Cleaning valuable tools

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Regardless of where we were working in the community, in the afternoons we all gathered in the yard at Senchi Methodist School for afternoon tutoring. We showed up on first day and were swarmed with kids eager to read and spend time with us. Benjamin, our group leader, did his best to limit our groups to three or four, but there were always extra kids hanging around wanting to join in. Although the afternoon program was designed specifically to help kids with their reading skills, I used the time for Math and Geography as well. I found that my 5th grade boys responded enthusiastically to competition, so I devised geography and math challenges where teams of boys would compete against each other and score points for finding a country on a map, calculating a math problem correctly, etc.

Caleb, Tika and Moses read about Obama from a book on of our team-members brought along

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Nancy works with her girls on their reading

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Anne, Benjamin and Shirley at our tutoring session

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My guys swarm the map looking for Sri Lanka in one of my GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGES!

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Tika, Alfred, Caleb and Moses

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Miss Emily and three of her students. One day she was sick and couldn't come to tutoring and they cried all afternoon...

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Peggy, from San Bernadino, California, works with her group

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One of India's students walks her home after tutoring. Men and women of all ages hold hands in Ghana

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Even with the rough hewn building, the oppressive humidity and the lack of student foot-ware, sometimes, deep in a lesson about descriptive adjectives or translating fractions into decimals, I would forget that I was in Africa, 6,000 miles from home.... Then, I would be reminded...

There were lots of bats living in the rafters of the classroom - a fact that hardly elicited any notice from my students or co-teacher. The classroom is open to the outside all day, all night - if I was a bat I would live there too. One day, a particularly big one was up top and it shit on me while I was teaching. I was disturbed by this.

A bat, minding his own business in the classroom rafters

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My students caught on to my annoyance and during recess they killed the offender and left it on my desk. I was horrified as where I am from, we are taught not to touch bats as they can harbor rabies. My students saw my horror and Akoto said: "don't worry Sah Bryan, it is dead, it will not feces on you anymore...." True enough. I guess I will need to do some more work on nouns and verbs though...

Akoto and the Bat

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On a final note - I plan to continue my relationship with Global Volunteers and Senchi Ferry Methodist school. I hope to help support the school as best I can in the future. If you are interested in going to Ghana through Global Volunteers, I strongly recommend the program. If you would like to assist me in gathering supplies for the school or offering support in any way, please let me know. Even a little bit can help this community immensely!

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Greetings from Senchi Ferry Methodist School!

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Next time - exploring Ghana - Music, dance and markets!

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Billboard in Makola Market, Accra, Ghana

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Now, that triumph must be won once more, and it must be won by you. And I am particularly speaking to the young people. ...
You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities, and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease, end conflicts, and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can. Because in this moment, history is on the move.
- President Barak Obama, July 10, 2009, Accra, Ghana

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I arrived in Accra on the 4th of July after an 11 hour flight from JFK. I stepped off the plane into oppressive equatorial humidity and local jubilation at the prospect of Obama's visit the following week.

Although I was not in the Capital during the Presidential visit - I was about two hours away in a small community called Senchi Ferry on the Volta River - everywhere I went Ghanaians were buzzing. When people found out that I was an American they would perk up beyond their normal friendliness and tell me how happy they were that Obama was visiting Ghana and how important Ghana's friendship with the United States was. How refreshing!

Once, while I was wandering through Kumasi - Ghana's second largest city - I was surrounded by a crowd of children. When they found out I was from the United States, they started singing a locally popular song about Obama - see here for the studio version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L85YF0pyPH0

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Even my students, many of which had never seen the Atlantic Ocean (90 kilometers away) knew all about Obama

Conscious, one of the students in my class, shows off his Obama chocolate candy

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But wait, why was I there? As many of you know, I was laid-off from my job in May and I received a modest severance. That and some savings gave me a little breathing room and I decided to explore volunteer opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa. A friend told me about Global Volunteers (http://www.globalvolunteers.org/) which had a program in Ghana in July. After ruminating on the idea for a day or two, I decided to make the trip. I spent much of June networking and sending out resumes, and on July 3rd, headed off to Ghana - first to the capital, Accra, then on to a small community called Senchi-Ferry.

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Downtown Senchi-Ferry one evening

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Global Volunteers runs year round projects around the world, and their work in Senchi-Ferry is focused on education, construction and medical services. Our team of 19 taught in local schools, helped in building a community library, and worked in area medical clinics. We were from all over the United States (and one Canadian) and some of our group had been on numerous Global Volunteer teams before. (Jeanne was up to 17 I believe!)

Shalom and Jeanne after an afternoon tutoring session

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After an initial orientation session with our local leader Benjamin, we were formally introduced to the community chiefs and the next day we got to work. My job was to serve in one of the local schools - Senchi Methodist - where I taught sixth grade for three weeks (more on this later).

I organized my blog entries into this first one 1) an introduction and look at the community, 2) more detail about the school where I worked, and then 3) my explorations around Ghana - mostly in markets!

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One caveat - all of my blog entries are my own photos, observations and thoughts - they do not necessarily represent the opinions of Global Volunteers or any of my team-mates.

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My students from Senchi-Ferry Methodist School and I

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Me with the local Chiefs of Senchi-Ferry at our going away party at the end of our visit

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Senchi-Ferry

Ghana is a country of about 22 million people and is roughly the size of Oregon. Its neighbors are Togo, Benin and Nigeria to the east, The Ivory Coast to the west, and Burkina Faso to the north. It is a peaceful and stable country that was the first West African nation to achieve independence from England in 1957. Although seen as an African success story in recent years, Ghana is poor with a per-capita GDP of $2,480 in 2007 compared with $41,890 per head in the United States. 57% of Ghana's adult population is literate, and life expectancy is 60 years. For comparison, the literacy rate in the United States is 99.8% and life expectancy is 79 years.

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A few gentlemen in the community grab a lamb for me to photograph - yum!

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I was told that the conditions in Senchi-Ferry were average to slightly below average for Ghana, and that most of the residents were employed in subsistence farming as the primary source of their livelihood. They raise corn and cassava, gather snails and fruit in the jungle and raise goats and chickens around their homes. There is piped water in the community, and some homes have electricity, but very few. The school where I worked has no electricity, running water, or even walls - the classrooms were open to the outside.

Animals wander freely in Senchi, sometimes into class, but apparently at night they always go home - like house-cats. Some residents find work selling things at the market in nearly Akosombo, and some also work in local banana and pineapple plantations (owned by foreign interests and produced for export).

Goats and chickens everywhere!

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Corn growing near Senchi

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Even though most Ghanaians are of modest means, I found the people to be friendly, welcoming, and overwhelmingly generous. It was truly eye-opening to meet people with so little, yet so intent on sharing what they did have with me.

A woman in Senchi prepares Banku - a white yam that is a local staple

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We all walked from our guest house to our various work-sites each morning and passed through the community. I tried to learn as much of the local language (Twi) as I could. Even though almost all Ghanaians speak English, a little local language goes a long way and I was able to make many friends!

Desmond greets me on my way back to the guest house where we stayed

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The Banana Plantation

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Organic Bananas protected from bugs with blue plastic

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The Pineapple Plantation

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Pineapples!

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Many structures in Senchi was constructed of earth bricks - this is a kitchen

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A commercial building being built in a traditional manner - earth bricks

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Another view of a local street

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A home we visited one afternoon

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A girl in Senchi selling her catch - a plate full of big snails!

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Close up of local snails

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The Eye Clinic in Senchi

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Our team, accompanied by many of our students, pay a visit to a local home

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One of my student's courtyard (Caleb) - main house, apartment, kitchen

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Caleb helps his grandmother make Fu Fu - a mash of yam, plantain and/or corn - that is a local staple

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Caleb cleans the kitchen

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Caleb poses proudly in front of his wash-room

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Two neighborhood kids play on the only piece of equipment at the school

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There were lizards everywhere in Senchi - this one was at least 10 inches long

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Another, small orange guy

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Emily, Benjamin and Samuel at the Library - one of the projects our team helped with

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Some local guys play checkers in the community common

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This guy was relaxing on a sand pile and I told him to hold up his cutlass and look tough...

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The main road in Senchi leads down to the Volta River, where there used to be a ferry about 40 years ago

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Down at the river's edge, a small Tilapia farm

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Down by the river, a burned out church awaits rebuilding - it has been waiting for decades

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Anne, Benjamin and Shirley pose after one of our afternoon tutoring sessions

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A couple of friends pose on their porch. I asked them what was for dinner and took a closer look.

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Now, before you freak out, know that many residents of Senchi would find our love of Pork distasteful - many consider pigs unclean. In Ghana, many rodents are a delicacy

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The local diet is consists mostly of corn, yam, plantains, and a little meat. This treat was captured earlier that day over by the Banana Plantation

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Moses, Caleb and Alfred take a break during our regular afternoon tutoring sessions

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I hope you enjoyed your haphazard tour of Senchi-Ferry, next time I will share more about my teaching in Senchi-Ferry!

Me in front of the swearing in location on Martin Luther King Day

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Well, the city is filling up with well dressed people and the skies are buzzing with helicopters, but the crowds have yet to become impossible. Hilary and I took a long walk on the Mall today to check out the place where the big concert took place yesterday and scope out the set up for the formal swearing in that takes place tomorrow. We decided to host a brunch at my place for 20 instead of heading down to the mall on Inauguration Day - I gave up two tickets in favor of a warm apartment, big TV, and no lines for the bathroom - but still wanted to check out the buzz downtown.

Hilary in front of the Lincoln Memorial - where Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Obama and 450,000 spectators were yesterday. Note the reflecting pool is frozen!

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I was fascinated by the sheer number of porta-potties set up on the mall - there are literally THOUSANDS lining both sides!

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MSNBC was playing on the big video screens up and down the Mall today - note George and Laura waving good bye!

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Although there were no formal events on the Mall today, there were thousands of people gathered. There were small performances here and there - like this one by a boys choir from Kenya.

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The Smithsonian Institution main building, nicely framed by some of the ubiquitous porta-potties...

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The entrance to the exclusive portable studio MSNBC has set up right on the Mall

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Another shot of MSNBC's indoor, heated studio - where all of you will be tuned into tomorrow!

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Not everyone is ready to move on and focus on the future rather than the past!

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The West Front of the United States Capitol Building where tomorrow, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the President Elect will be sworn in at 12:00 Noon.

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Have a GREAT day everyone!

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(update - the BIG day - January 20th)

George W. Bush's helicopter flies past the Washington Monument on its way back to Texas after the Inauguration of Barack Obama - Bush's LAST flight

One of Shepard Fairey's iconic works - the artist was on hand at the show to answer questions

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There is so much going on in Washington this weekend that a few gems fall off the radar. One of these is an art show on M & 34th Streets in Georgetown sponsored by Moveon.org and the SEIU called Manifest Hope. It only runs through tomorrow, January 19th, so if you are in town, I highly recommend it!

http://www.manifesthope.com/index.html

The show is made up of art created by individuals who have been inspired by Barack Obama's campaign and impending inauguration.

I took cell phone photos of some of my favorites, so forgive the low quality, but it will give you a sense of the show.

Happy Inauguration Everyone!

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Hilary poses in front of one of the larger pieces

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The artist Shepard Fairey interviewed for a documentary that was being made about the show

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A view of the old North Bridge from Nathanial Hawthorne's house

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On April 19, 1775, British and Colonial forces clashed on this bridge - the first skirmish that led to the Revolutionary War. It is often called the "shot heard round the world" and is one of the most important moments in American History. It was then that the long suffering colonists wouldn't take the opression of the King any more - and they didn't want to pay taxes...It is even cooler that, years later, Nathanial Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau lived just yards from this site. Even cooler still is the fact that Louisa May Alcott, authoress of the smash hit "Little Women" grew up right down the street. On top of that, this place is as cute as can be - well worth a visit....

Hilary and I decided to take a summer driving vacation during Independence Day week, and on our way up to Quebec to spend our economic stimulus checks, we stopped in Holden, Massachusetts to visit her Mom and Dad, Malcolm and Ellen.

We had a very nice visit, and on a warm, overcast saturday, Malcolm and Ellen drove us up to Concord to take in some history...

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The Minuteman Statue, by Daniel Chester French - who also sculpted the statue of Lincoln in Washington, DC

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700 British Regulars marched out to Lexington and Concord to secure a munitions depo and were met by a smaller, but ever growing force of local militia.

Years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson, another Concord native, penned the poem "Shot Heard Round the World"

The relevant bit, etched into the Minuteman statue's base

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A small memorial to the British troops who fell that day

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The monument erected to mark the site where the battle began

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Hilary and Ellen stand in Hawthorn's yard

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American Transcendentalists like Hawthorne, Emerson and Thoreau developed a philosophical movement - religous, cultural and artistic in nature - that focused on individual intuition as a source of spirituality instead of the divinations and doctrines of the church. Many of you might be familiar with Thoreau's work - "Walden" - about his life in a shack out by Walden Pond, near Concord.

Louisa May Alcott's home as a girl and as a young woman - she wrote "Little Women" in the 2nd floor bedroom on the right

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The Transcendentalists were not the only game in town back then - Amos Bronson Alcott, famous educator, part-time socialist, and all around smart guy - also lived just steps from Hawthorne and the Old North Bridge.

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The "School of Philosophy and Literature" run by Mr. Alcott

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Amos Alcott is far more famous as the father of Louisa May Alcott than for his own thinking and writing, as his daughter's books have been enjoyed by millions for over 100 years. I myself have never read "Little Women", and doubt I ever shall, but I hear it is a page turner...

After a day in Massachusetts, we jumped in the car and headed north into New Hampshire, next stop: Quebec City!

A view down the beach at Buck Island National Park near St. Croix - Sailboats bring snorkelers out here each day

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Sunset at "Off The Wall" - a little joint on the beach at Cane Bay

Hilary and I headed south for a little mid-winter getaway last month, spending a week on St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. We had a great time - the weather was great and there was plenty of time to relax on the beach and explore some of the island's history.

(photos courtesy of Hilary E. Parkinson and Bryan V. Gibb)

The main battery at Fort Christiansvaern on St. Croix, USVI

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I know, I know, when you think about Denmark you think about Vikings, Legos, tasty breakfast treats - maybe my great Grandfather Jens Nicholi Kreuger Johannsen - but did you know that the Danes were slave holding Caribbean sugar barons as well? Yep. The sugar trade in the 17th and 18th centuries was just too lucrative to leave it to the English, Spanish, French, Maltese and Dutch, so the Danes got themselves a few islands too....

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See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

Located just southeast of Puerto Rico, St. Croix is one of three U.S. Virgin Islands - one time zone later than the east coast and 1,729 miles due south of Halifax, Nova Scotia

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Christopher Columbus himself came ashore at Salt River, on the north side of St. Croix on November 14th, 1493 and was quickly chased off by the arrows of the native Arawak people. The Italian was undaunted though, and returned later to kill most of them in the name of God and the Queen of Spain.

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Bryan strikes a pose in front of a restored windmill at the Wim Sugar Plantation Museum near Fredericksted

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For years the island was held by various powers, but in 1733 St. Croix was purchased from the French West India Company by the Danes and soon became the heart of the Danish sugar trade in the Caribbean. Based on the labor of enslaved Africans, the sugar trade enriched generations of Danish traders and plantation owners. The slave trade was abolished on the island in 1848, but slave ownership persisted until as late as 1867. The island is dotted with the ruins of windmills that suppled the power to process sugar cane into sugar, molassas and yes, the prized Cruzan Rum.

A map of St. Croix during the Danish period - 1754

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The main house at the Wim Plantation - first established in the 18th century

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An old sugar-cane processing still on the Wim Plantation

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The United States bought St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John from the Danish in 1917 for $25 million in gold in order to keep the Germans out of the Caribbean. Just a few hundred yards out into the ocean from our hotel, the water goes from 20' to over 13,200' - from light green to deep, dark blue - perfect for German U-Boats...

A view from the road as we approch our home for a week - the Carambola Beach Resort

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Our resort was lovely and a real bargain. Based on the price, we were prepared for something a little ratty, but the resort was beautiful, the beach was deserted and the room was spacious and clean. It had a big bedroom, living room, huge bathroom and a screened in porch.

Hilary gets her first look at the beach near our room

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The view from our screened in porch

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We ate breakfast each morning on the porch - here Hilary studies her birding book, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive Caribbean Bananaquit

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A local dove visits us as we wait for our lunch

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The beach was only about 75 yards from our room and most of the time we were the only ones down there

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The resort is tucked into a valley at the base of steep mountains and is full of local flora

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The Carambola was separated from the more settled part of the island by rocky surf-swept coastline

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The island was crawling with critters - birds, mongoose, geckoes, sea turtles, conch and lots of bright green Iguanas!

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Another view - parts of the beach were rocky and home to lots of spiney sea urchins, but there was a smooth part perfect for swiming

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Cocoanuts overhead

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There were hammocks placed here and there around the resort - you were never far from one if the powerful need to lounge overcame you

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Hilary (in red) wanders up the beach one evening

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Hilary really starting to dig this beach vacation idea...

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The sun finally drops below the mountains to the west - look out, night time temperatures plummeted from a day time high of 83 to as low as 75!

Seen enough? Ready to book your own trip? You won't be disappointed! Here is the web site: http://www.carambolabeach.com/

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Yes the resort is secluded, peaceful and beautiful, and yes, the weather is perfect and the sea inviting, BUT, there is also lots to see and do on the island. One of the first things we did was explore more of the Capital city, Christiansted. About 65,000 people live on the 28 by 7 mile island, and the biggest employer is not tourism, but a refinery on the south side of the island. Consequently, there really were not that many tourists around - we kept seeing the same people all over the island and never felt crowded at all. Whenever we did see large groups of people, they were invariably Danish. Apparently there is some nostalgia for the colonies back in the old country...

First things first - in St. Croix, you drive on the left - all the more confusing since all the cars have the steering wheels on the left just like on the mainland

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The historic part of Christiansted is protected and preserved by the U.S. Park Service - your tax money at work!

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Painted bright yellow, Fort Christiansvern used to protect the Danish harbor from the English, Spanish, and yes, even Pirates!

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A view of the old town to the south from the Fort

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Hilary ponders the defensive position of the battery

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Another view

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A stockade from which even Jack Sparrow could not escape!

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Later in the week we visited Fredericksted, a smaller town on the other end of the island, to see another fort and the then vacant cruise ship pier

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The interior of the fort in Fredericksted

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We explored the "rain forest" on the west side of the island, but all we found was a creepy old collection of shacks with scriptural warnings, so we moved on!

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After settling into our hotel and exploring the island a bit, we booked passage on a catamaran sailboat through "Big Beard's" tour company to take us out the Buck Island for a day of snokeling. The day finished off with a BBQ on the beach back on St. Croix.

Hilary, myself, and another couple from Chicago were the only Americans on the tour, the other slots were filled with 25 good natured and leathery Danish retirees in speedoes... Good times.

After a 45 minute sail out to the island, we spent some time on the National Seashore's gentle, white sand beach

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Buck Island is administered and protected by the National Park service, and no food or fires are allowed on the island

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It was a bit windy and the current was strong, but the front of the boat was best place to ride

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Buck Island from the east, quite close to the underwater snorkeling "trail" we explored

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Hilary gears up

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After snorkling for a bit in a strong current we were hungry - good thing they took us to this beach for a BBQ

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Our boat at anchor

On old sail made for a useful shelter as we waited for the fresh Mahi Mahi to grill up

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Time to head back to Christiansted, and then the Carambola

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The trip to Buck Island was a highlight of week. The crew was cheerful, the weather was nice, and we even learned a few words in Danish... For more on this day trip and others, take a look here: http://www.bigbeards.com/index.htm

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As many of you know, wherever I travel I am always looking for good local food. I subscribe to Anthony Bourdain's philosophy that food is one of the best ways to get to know a place and its culture better. This trip was no different, and Hilary and I sought out the freshest fish we could find and explored indigenous West Indian cuisine.

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Bryan in front of Harvey's Restaurant - Good to see the locals are politically sophisticated!

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Our research suggested that the best place to try West Indian food in Christiansted was at Harvey's Restaurant. The small restaurant is in an old building on Company Street in the historic downtown. Interesting historical detail - In 1765, Alexander Hamilton lived on Company Street with his mother Rachel after his father abandoned them...

The first time we showed up (on Presidents Day) it was closed, but we tried again and were not disappointed. Harvey Junior was at the bar, and his Mother was in the kitchen. The special on that particular day was conch in butter sauce - tender and flavorful - and spicy goat curry. Both dishes also came with a side of "fungi", or corn meal mixed with okra - a savory polenta like side dish. Harvey Jr. welcomed us warmly and explained each dish to us in detail. Be sure to visit next time you are in Christiansted!

http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/caribbean-and-bermuda/virgin-islands/st-croix/restaurant-detail.html?vid=1154654634294

Most of the people on St. Croix are ethnically Afro-Caribbean, but the island is a real mixture of Puerto Ricans, Rastafarians, Cruzans, and white mainlanders. Everyone speaks English, but many on the island also speak Spanish, and/or a strongly accented local dialect similar to Jamaican English.

As a part of the United States, there is a U.S. Post office, a few Air Force cargo planes at the airport, a McDonald's or two, and they had their Democratic primary the week before we arrived (Obama 76%, Clinton 24%)

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One of two Baobob trees on St. Croix - this one is in a parking lot, the other is near the west end of the island's "rain forest"

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For good local seafood, we found our way to a harbor-side bar called Rum Runners. It doesn't look like much, but our guidebook promised good food at reasonable prices.
http://www.rumrunnersstcroix.com/
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Perched right on the water, Rum Runners keeps its local lobsters in a tank below the dining room floor

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The view from out table at Rum Runners

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Bryan digs into a plate of conch fritters - a local delicacy!

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Hilary enjoys a plate of fish tacos filled with fresh Mahi Mahi pulled from the sea that morning

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We asked one of the crew-members on our sailing trip to Buck Island where to get some good local Caribbean lobster and he sent us to Duggan's Reef on the east end of the island.

Funny enough, when we got there one of the other crew members, Mike, was our waiter, so we got the best table in the place...

Hilary enjoys the Queen's Throne at Duggan's

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The view from the dining room at Duggan's

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Duggan's is an interesting place - a little bit of Boston in the Virgin Islands. Yep, we flew four hours south to eat at a seafood restaurant with Red Sox, Holy Cross and BU pennants on the wall. The owner is from Massachusetts and proudly notes on the back of the menu that Senator Kennedy eats there every time he is on the Island and former Red Sox and Yankee pitcher Roger Clemmons has been there twice - no doubt between injections.

http://www.caribbeanedge.com/st_croix/restaurants/duggans_reef.html

For those of you who have never had Caribbean lobster, they don't have claws, but do have large, fat tails and flesh that is sweet as candy....

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Bryan in the King's throne

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Finally, our favorite place to eat on the island was "Off The Wall" at Cane Bay. This little spot right on the beach had a perfect view, lousy pizza, but great burgers. No indoor seating here - its all al fresco. Right next to the world famous Cane Bay "Wall" scuba diving location (where the ocean depth goes from 20' to 13,200' in a few hundred yards) "Off the Wall" is worth a visit!

Hilary enjoys a large, fruity and STRONG drink at the bar on Cane Bay

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Bryan awaits his bad pizza, but at least the view is superb!

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This was the first time I had ever been to the Caribbean and I cannot wait to go back. We loved St. Croix - it had everything you could want in a beach getaway, but was also quiet, affordable, easy to get to, and offered up lots of interesting historical field trips for your nerdier side...

Next on the agenda? Quebec City and Montreal in July.

Finally . . .

A late evening view of Buck Island from Point Udall (the eastern most point in the United States BTW...)

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It has been awhile since I have created any entries on here - been working away at my new job - but I HAVE to get out of town on occasion...

Last month my girlfriend Hilary and I went on a day trip to Luray, Virginia to go Spelunking!

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This is a very shallow pond in the caves - the reflection of the formations above give it a sense of depth.

Those of you who live in the Washington, DC area have probably seen the TV spots for Luray Caverns. Although from afar it seems like like a tourist trap, but once you pay your $15 and get underground it is really quite dramatic...

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Another view

So, what is the difference between a stalagtite and a stalagmite? Here is an easy way to remember: Stalag-tites are "tight" to the ceiling, stalag-mites "might" reach from the floor to the ceiling......

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This particular formation looks like dripping cake batter!

Created by the slow draining of an inland sea 200-600 million years ago, Luray Caverns was "discovered" by a local tinsmith and photographer in 1878.

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Ms. Hilary Parkinson in the hole...

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A vertical tower formation

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In one portion of the cavern with particularly good acoustics they set up an organ years ago.

A dedicated music lover scoured the cave to test the tone given off when certain stalagtites were struck with a rubber hammer. He designed an organ where the keys are connected to a series of hammers throughout the cave. When it plays the tones echo throughout the cavern...

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Another view of the organ

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One of the more impressive columns

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Stalagtites come in many shapes and sizes - these are "pencil-like"

There were no animals or insects in the cave as it is a sealed system, but there are some creepy characters found in the shadows...

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For more on the Caverns, visit their website here: http://www.luraycaverns.com/index.html

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As an added bonus, your ticket to the caves also grants you admission to the transportation museum next door... To be honest, it was kinda creepy...

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The first wheeled vehicle. I suspect this is a recreation, and not the original....

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The carriages and cars where cool, but the place was full of creepy manequins to add to the "realism" of the transport museum experience...

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All the President's initials found on old Ohio license plates - THIS is the kind of thing you didn't know you needed to see until you actually stumbled upon it...

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Creepy manequin in a fur coat...

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The creepiest of all creepy manequins...

After a chilly picnic nearby it was back home for another working week... Man, we need a VACATION! (Next stop, the Caribbean!)

A burned out car parked below the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, New York.
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Since I moved to Washington, DC from California eight years ago I have been able to get up to New York City at least once a year to visit friends, wander the streets, look at art and eat good food. I am embarassed to say, that until the third weekend in June I had never set foot in Brooklyn.

When I was planning my travels last winter I was thinking of finishing in New York (I was due), so I took my friend Jamie up on a long standing invitation to visit her on the other side of the East River. Jamie lives in a great apartment in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn on a commercial street between a high school and a meat distributor. Her neighborhood borders the very hip (and expensive) area around Metropolitain Avenue where the hipsters, artists and young professionals live and play. We hung out in Brooklyn and Manhattan, sought out interesting music and art, and yes, ate very well...

Graffitti in Williamsburg
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I arrived friday evening after driving up the New Jersey Turnpike all afternoon. After settling in at her apartment, Jamie and I met up with her boyfriend Allen, had some dinner, then headed to a local nightclub called Southpaw for a special Classic Soul Review that Allen was looking forward to seeing.

Allen is not only a fan, but a bit of an expert on such things. When he isn't working his day job for an NGO dedicated to fair-trade products, he writes liner notes for re-issue recordings of classic and Brazilian Soul Music.

The show poster - I loved the 1960s era photos of the performers so I bought a copy - now hanging in my hallway...
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The show was amazing. Roscoe Robinson must have been in his late 70s or early 80s, but still had a terrific voice - the young hipster crowd loved him!

The Legendary Roscoe Robinson - courtesy JiveMagazine.com
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Clarence Reid was the headliner and went back and forth between his hits from the 60s and his raunchy 1970s alter ego, "Blowfly". Reid was a kick, but a little creepy. He had long fingernails and between songs was telling the young ladies in the front row what he would like to do with them later...

More on the performers here: http://www.jivemagazine.com/article.php?pid=11272
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The next day I met up with my old college pal Dignan in SOHO to catch up and walk around lower Manhattan together. We started at a favorite - Ino in the West Village.

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This tiny cafe doesn't have a kitchen, but they serve excellent coffee and make very good cafe breakfasts. Dignan is a bit of a foodie (he is a former Chef and currently a waiter at the world famous modern Japanese restaurant, Nobu) and has yet to steer me wrong. He suggested an Ino specialty - Truffled Egg Toast.

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It doesn't sound like much, but it was very good. Take a thick slice of fresh bread, cut a slot, drop in an egg, baste liberally with white truffle oil, pop it under the broiler, then sprinkle with sliced asparagus. Simple, but darn good...

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For more on Ino, look here: http://www.cafeino.com/
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After our morning repast, we just walked around the Village, SOHO, Little Italy and Tribeca. The weather was nice, the humidity moderate, and people were out enjoying the day.

A little-league practice session in the West Village - a Father gives his son some pointers...
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Little Italy on a Saturday afternoon. This neighborhood is shrinking as its neighbor, Chinatown, grows - one immigrant enclave encroaching upon another...
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Tribeca - traditional row houses are being remodeled and turned into condos

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That night, Jamie, Dignan, his wife Jinn-Hee and I all went to dinner. I wanted to eat at a French place in lower Manhattan called Bouley. This two star Michelin rated restraurant is supposed to be one of the best in town (and the country) so I made a reservation a few weeks in advance.

Jamie Brown poses on the threshhold
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As you enter the restaurant, the waiting area is filled with racks of ripening apples that give off a wonderful aroma.

Dignan and Jinn-Hee at Bouley
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Bryan and Jamie at Bouley
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The meal was truly memorable - fresh ingredients expertly prepared with excellent service. Seven courses and three and a half hours later we stumbled outside fat and happy...
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For more on Chef David Bouley's projects in New York and beyond, look here: http://www.davidbouley.com/

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The next morning, Jamie, Allen and I went to one of their favorite brunch places - Pies n' Thighs - under the Williamsburg Bridge. As the name suggests, they specialize in home-made pies and BBQ chicken. Their donuts are REALLY good too...

Entrance to Pies n' Thighs - the seating area is in a vacant lot next door
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Jamie and Allen in front of Pies n' Thighs and the burned out car - vandalism or public art? You decide...
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Remind me to never valet park my car at Pies n' Thighs...
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Want to try for yourself? Visit their website here: http://piesandthighs.com/
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Jamie and I both wanted to see the Richard Serra sculpture exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, so we bid dear Allen goodbye and jumped on the L subway line to Manhattan.

Big-Foot Jamie Brown
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If you have not been to MOMA's new building put it at the top of your list for your next visit to New York. Not only is the permanent collection unsurpassed, but the architecture is really cool - lots of clean modern lines, large windows, and peek-a-boo cut outs that give you a glimpse of the gallerys from the atrium.

View from the upper level of MOMA's atrium
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The Richard Serra exhibit was and in-door / out-door affair, but photography was prohibited inside the gallery, so I took a few in the museum garden.

Serra's iron sculptures are huge - I am not sure how they moved them here - I looked for seams or bolts but could find none.

Jamie Brown inspects the piece
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What is she looking at? The rust patterns on the sculpture is one of the most interesting things about it...

Detail 1
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Detail 2
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This little girl was more interested in the water than the piece behind her
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I have a few favorite pieces in the permanent collection, so whenever I go to the MOMA I try and visit them.

One of Monet's large water lily paintings
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Water Lily detail
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Newly restored, Pablo Picasso's painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), is one of the collection's highlights
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A woman takes a break in front of Richard Diebenkorn's Ocean Park 115 (1979). This painting is my favorite work in the collection
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For more about the museum and its collection, go here: http://www.moma.org/
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After an afternoon at the MOMA and a well deserved gelato break, we headed back to Williamsburg. I had a wonderful weekend in Brooklyn - thanks for sharing your city with me Jamie!

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Well my travels are done and this is the last post of the blog. I hope you have enjoyed travelling with me. I am back home in DC now with no current plans to hit the road again anytime soon (we will see how long that lasts). I am picking up some consulting work this summer and I start the second year of my Executive MBA program in late August. If you know anyone who needs some work done, give me a call - I can design and facilitate executive education seminars, manage non-profits, mow lawns, walk dogs, etc...

Until next time - Bon Voyage!

Bryan

A Novice takes a call at the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai

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The Shanghai World Financial Center rises in Pudong:

To say that Shanghai is a blending of the old and new in China is a bit of a cliche, but it is true. This town is very modern in sections, and there is money here - you can get a Latte at Haagen Daaz on the riverfront and shop at Ferragamo if you like -

Joe sips his Cappucino - he could be in any large city in the world...

A Chinese guy works on his laptop on the river-front in Shanghai

...but there are also millions of people that are living a more modest, and I guess you could say, traditional, lifestyle in Shanghai. After a week of factory tours and corporate meeting rooms, most of my view of street life in Shanghai was out the window of our tour bus.

We had a free afternoon on our last day, so I grabbed Jim and Elvis (good travel companions both, and it never hurts to bring a little extra-muscle when exploring unfamiliar neighborhoods...) and we headed off to the alleys and markets of the Old City. We were not disappointed. Except for the occasional shoppers at Dong Tai Lu, we wandered for hours and didn't see any other tourists. Needless to say, we got some puzzled looks from the locals.

I don't think these guys are from here...too well fed.

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The Old City is tucked into a bend in the river is southeast Shanghai. The relatively organized and planned avenues and intersections give way to tiny streets and alleys that have grown organically for hundreds of years. Large parts of the Old City are being torn down for new construction, but plenty of off-the-beaten-path streets filled with people going about their quotidian lives still exist.

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But before heading into the Old City, a little about the Jade Buddha Temple pictured at the beginning of the post.

The Jade Buddha Temple was our first stop when we arrived in town. We were all a bit tired and not sure where our guide was taking us, but when we entered the courtyard and saw the warm ochre of the temple walls contrasted with the bright red lanterns, we understood.

The place was quite active as Monks and Nuns moved from their quarters to worship in the Temple

The actual "Jade Buddha" is inside and upstairs - worth a look - but not as interesting to me as watching the Monks practice... Another view of the courtyard:

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Ok, back to the Old City. After a week of watching my classmates return from shopping excursions with armloads of jewelry, watches, pens, leather goods, etc., I had yet to buy a thing.

A tea house in the shopping part of Shanghai:

Mark, Elvis, Steve and Sean at the shopping mall - taking a break from shopping and touring...

I was not that interested in knock-off goods - even if they were dirt cheap - but I must admit, some of the stuff looked pretty nice. What I was looking for were a few more historically themed souvenirs, so when I heard about the antique flea market at Dong Tai Lu, I wanted to take a look.

Although the guidebooks I consulted warned that the antiques found at Dong Tai Lu were most likely fakes, I was looking for some Maoist era stuff to take home. What I found may not have been genuine, but it sure was Maoist!

I wish I had a bigger suitcase - I might have taken this statue home...

The flea market runs down a few streets near the Old City and is made up of crowded stands in front and shops behind. The pace is much slower here than in other "tourist" markets in town - you can bargain, but it is a pretty low key experience.

In addition to posters, watches, little red books, and wooden jewelry boxes, a few of the vendors had diverse collections of porcelain figurines from (or inspired by) the Cultural Revolution.

Sure they are cute, but it dawned on me that they represented a period in Chinese history when anyone deemed an intellectual or otherwise influenced by the West was persecuted. Note the worker standing on the back of an intellectual, little red book raised. The victim of this humiliation is wearing a "dunce" cap and a sign repudiating his western ideas and celebrating the revolution of the common people.

They would make a nice addition to my extensive collection of Hummel figurines don't you think?

If you were looking for older objects, you could pick up antique looking furniture, statues, phonographs, etc.

I was hunting for a small statue of Zhou Enlai (a local party leader who rose to become Premier of China from 1949 - 1976) but they didn't have any. I settled for a large colorful propaganda poster of Mao surrounded by workers, soldiers, farmers - if you come over to my place you can see it framed in my kitchen...

Jim picked up a small authentic looking "Little Red Book" of Mao's quotations for his Dad - a history buff - and we headed deeper into the Old City.

The weather was fine, so people were out and about everywhere - walking home from school, working, shopping, socializing, playing cards...

This woman was cleaning fish on the street - her dog was more interested in the stranger than the fish bits...

Elvis discovered a "1 Yuan" store - like a dollar store I guess - where you could get a package of sponges, plastic bowls, tools, etc. For those of you interested in doing a purchase power parity analysis, one Yuan is about 12 cents.

As with everywhere else in Shanghai, there was plenty to eat in the Old City.

Duck:

Crawfish:

This young woman was staffing the crawfish store in the crawfish section of the Old City - the Crawfish seller's daughter perhaps?

This guy was selling clothes and shoes on the street - a budding entrepreneur. Who says political dissent is not allowed in China?

One best not cross this threshhold un-invited. The Old City guard-dog is ready to spring into action...

There was a great deal of activity in the Old City, but not everyone was busy. The chair repair-man takes a break...

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On the edge of the Old City, Jim, Elvis and I stumbled upon a huge market area where you could buy just about everything from electronics, food, clothes, shoes, washing machines, bicycles, pets, you name it.

I was most interested in the food market - no suprise there - so I peeled off from the guys and went in.

Anything you need to make dinner could be purchased here at rock bottom prices...

Vegetables -

Tofu -

Frogs!

This guy gave me samples of his dried ham - good stuff - Dean and Deluca in SOHO has nothing on this cool ham dude...

Fresh noodles were being made upstairs...

... and sold downstairs...

There was an extensive section of dried mushrooms, beans and other ingredients I could not identify...

Some sort of dried berry?

For the real carnivors among you, there was a big meat section:

Pigs feet, freshly cleaved

A closer look - anyone see the movie "Babe"? They got all of him it seems...

If you didn't feel like cooking, you could get some take-out - wonderful looking steamed buns, usually filled with pork:

Some chicken feet were available in the salad bar section...chewey I bet...

Fruit too:

If you were looking for fashion, they could take care of you...Jim knows that the shoes make any outfit complete:

On the way back to the hotel we passed briefly through the pet section of the market. If you want a low maintenance pet, crickets or cicadas in little wicker cages might be a good choice...

Well enough of our day in the Old City....

The next day we boarded a plane for Chicago, and 13 hours later we were at O'Hare...right in the middle of a day of weather delays...The airport was full of people who had been there all day. Our flight from Chicago to Dulles was delayed a few hours, and by the time we got home that night (Joe and I minus our luggage) we had been on the road for 24 hours... The trip to China and back is not for the faint of heart...

China was amazing, especially Shanghai, and I can't wait to go back. In the meantime I will be working on my Mandarin...