Photos, and I’m back!
Hey all,
A big thank you to Mom for posting blogs for me– China and WordPress did not agree on much. I’ll post the rest about my travels soon. I’m still getting over jetlag!
Here are some photos from my trip. I took over six hundred fifty!
Whew. I’ll highlight some of the photos in later posts.
It’s good to be back, but it seems pretty surreal here. I had to readjust to using a fork. The other day, a guy came up to me in the mall and offered me a trial size chicken teriyaki as a part of a promotion for the store he worked at. My boyfriend told him “Thanks man, I’m good.” I totally ignored him. Matt asked me why I’d been rude to the guy, and it hit me then that this is America, not China, and if I talk to someone offering me something, they’re not going to chase me down the street trying to get me to buy it. Oops. Sorry, guy at the mall.
Almost Ready to Go
A lot has happened since I wrote last.
I was trying to post using my iPaq mobile, which I am taking on the trip, but I’m out of practice using it and merely ended up deleting my posts a few times. So in frustration, I’m back on the laptop. 
We’ve had a change of plans. The Tibetan police told both our translators and our hosts in Kangding that they were to have nothing to do with us. This is a problem, obviously. We don’t want to run the risk of getting our hosts in trouble, nor do we want to get kicked out of Tibet or get nothing done on our research. So we’re reverting back to an earlier plan of going to Shangri La instead. Shangri La will stretch our budget and we don’t have translators, but it’s a more tourist-friendly area that we should be able to get some research out of. Not to mention it’s a cool place!
Shangri La was originally a fictional place in the book Lost Horizon by James Hilton. The place was actually made by the Chinese government in Tibet, mostly as a tourist trap. While it is a far cry from our Tibetan village, we will have the chance to interview Tibetans who have made the switch from rural living to catering to the consumer culture.
Ally and I are working on getting tickets to see the 2008 Equestrian Olympic Games at Hong Kong. We’ll be there for the second-day Team Dressage event, which is very exciting! I found a good price on tickets, but since we leave Tuesday the issue is getting them. Fortunately, I’m going to try to get them couriered to our Hong Kong hotel so that they are there when we arrive. I really hope it works out!
I have my bag all packed. It was a tight squeeze after all, but everything is in there! The worst part is the 3 oz-1qt bag rule. How am I supposed to fit three weeks worth of shampoo and conditioner into that? Answer: tightly.
I’ll be headed to my parents’ house tomorrow night to drop off my car, so this may be the last post I do until Tuesday morning at the airport. I just bought a new 2gig SD card, so I should have plenty of room for pictures.
I’m getting so excited!
Preparation
I had a minor heart attack this morning when I couldn’t find my passport. Fortunately, I’d had a bout of intelligence and had already packed it. Whew.
Our flight leaves out next Tuesday at 6am… I don’t know how awake I’ll be… I’m taking my little PDA, so hopefully I’ll be able to blog some. I don’t know how internet connections work over there with these things.
I need to go by a store and grab some last minute things like camping toilet paper. How exciting! I also need to get my camera back from my neighbor, who borrowed it.
I’ve had a bout of lethargy lately which has been bothering me. I don’t do well in midsummer because of the heat (I’m a human furnace), so I admit to being a bit worried about hiking around in a hot area. I’ve also been diagnosed as hypothyroid about a month ago, so I’m still adjusting to my T4 levels on this new medication. I’m hoping it kicks in sooner rather than later so my energy level goes up.
I bought a lot of protein bars to eat if needed. We’re supposed to be very careful about what we eat over there. Dr. Henson says that as long as it’s cooked, it’s fine. We’re bringing Cipro however in case someone’s guts throw a wobbly. Due to water cleanliness (rather, lack thereof) drinking water will also have to be carried with us. It’ll be a culinary experience.
I got a new backpack to go on this trip. None of mine were well-suited to going on a three week hike. I went to River Sports in Knoxville and found a great backpack. It’s a Mountain Hardwear Iguana, and I like it because it has a pocket in front for my other shoes. It’s large enough so that I’ll be able to fit everything in there, but small enough so that I can actually carry it!
My new backpack, photo courtesy River Sports
Going to China
I’m headed to China for three weeks on July 22. I got the opportunity through my college and ASIANetwork, an organization that gives grants for Asian studies at liberal arts schools. I am going with four other students and one professor, Scott Henson.
The main idea of this trip is to study the effects of globalization on the Dong and Tibetan people. The Dong people are one of 56 minorities recognized by the People’s Republic of China. They are mostly centered around the borders of the Guizhou, Hunan, and Guangxi provinces. We will be visiting a village around the Liping area in the Guizhou province, called Zaidang.
In Tibet, we will be visiting a village called Tagong. If it is held, we will also go to the Litang Horse festival.
Within these villages, we’ll be interviewing villagers with the help of translators. We’ll split into groups of two, one guy and one girl, and go across the village. We each have different areas we’ll be asking questions about. My area is technology and communications, so I’ll be asking about how people communicate using phones, computers, and television. Tagong is more modern than Zaidang, so we expect to find a lot of interesting information about the differences.
I’m really excited about this trip! Its going to broaden my horizons when it comes to my cultural knowledge. I don’t know much about Asian cultures, so this will really be a great experience for me. I love international travel, so this opportunity is amazing.
Dr. Henson will have his computer on the trip, so hopefully I’ll be able to blog some when we’re in larger cities. Until then, I’ll be providing more information about the cultures we’ll be seeing.
