Colleen Anderson's Blog, page 34

What's Good About the Dutch?

The top of the house shape is called a gable and this hook is used to bring items in.

I'm on day 5-8 of my European adventure and I've learned far more about Dutch history than I ever knew before. Granted, there are still gaping holes, but I know a few things about art and history now.

My education started before I arrived with reading the guide books, probably written a few years before.  They were the Eyewitness guide to Amsterdam and the Lonely Planet guide to the Netherlands. I'll review these books side by side later. However as I read through and forgot information the one thing that struck me was, "How could I have forgotten about the Dutch masters?" I didn't really.

I mean, the local gallery had a show the year before (with more impressive silver work and glassware than I've seen yet in any of the galleries). Yet my front lobes seemed to backfire and I kinda forgot. So what is Holland known for historically? Surprisingly little of it is military. Let's say that the great deeds of men killing each other do live on somewhat but it is the painter and writers, composers and jewellers and architects whose great works we go to see.

Holland was a great naval nation and that's only natural when you battled back the sea to claim land and most of the country is below sea level. Flying over Holland the great canals and swathes of very flat land were visible. I never realized exactly how pervasive the canals are and even before I landed I knew the Dutch would be superior at dealing with anything to do with land and water. They're perfect hydraulic engineers because they've been doing it for over 500 years.

This also gave rise to the tall narrow houses in various cities and especially Amsterdam. They were once taxed by the width of the house so people built up instead of out. Stairs are extremely steep and narrow, which means you can't get furniture in through the door. All the old houses have a hook at the top of the house where a rope can be put through and then items that are too wide can be pulleyed up the floors. Which means, when you look at Amsterdam streets, that all the houses all tilt out and look crooked. They're done this way on purpose so that heavy objects don't bang into walls and break windows.

The Dutch were huge sea traders and had a huge part in bringing tobacco,

Dutch canals are in every city. This is Delft.

chocolate and spices to Europe, not to mention being great silver smiths, painters and farmers. They're a pretty helpful bunch and they really love their beer. Oh and there are those chocolate spreads and sprinkles to put on your toast in the morning.

They also love meet and I've never seen so many Argentinian restaurants as in Amsterdam. Meat, steak, meat. And beer. Wine is at a minimum and cider can be found but it takes hunting.

Filed under: art, Culture, environment, history, travel Tagged: Amsterdam, Beer, building, canals, chocolate, Culture, Delft, Dutch, Dutch Golden Age painting, History of the Netherlands, hydraulic engineers, meat, travel

Travel Tips For Planes and Trains

Horely Station near Gatwick

I'm traveling in Europe and in the process of  finding transportation hither and yon I've discovered a few things. If you want cheap, book your flight about two months before your trip and shop around. Airlines will often hide costs so  check to see if they charge for baggage or seat selection and what weight you're allowed to carry.

I went with Thomas Cook to save on the flight, thinking it might be better than the Air Transat but it turns out they're just a horse of a different color. So, while the flight over was in a plane more modern than the one I took fours ago (if you have an iPod there is a plug-in for that and the light dimmer is digital now. However they've tried to make the most of a flying sardine can it is still a flying sardine can. A man and his 10-11 yea old son sat next to me and not even the boy could curl up or pull a leg  up on seats that are narrow and short in depth. I do not look forward to the return flight.

Headsets haven't been free for years but now they chinch you on a pillow. You have to buy it and while the price is reasonable, it's something you have to pack out of there. One deal was  a pillow that came with an eensy spot of wine, to make it more palatable . With a nine-hour flight it was a very uncomfortable sleep. I won't go into the highly mediocre, greasy plane food served in too much disposable but not necessarily recyclable packing.

Once in England I stayed at a local guest house in Horley, about a 10-mminute drive from Gatwick Airport (more on guest houses later). When I googled how long it would take to get into London, Victoria Station, I got 2-3 hours, no matter how I entered it. Google can lead you astray. Even the people at the guest house thought it would take longer but not that long. Well, it turns out a 10-15 minute walk (instead of a bus here and a bus there and a train) got me to the Horley train station, which took 45 minutes to get to Victoria Station, for 14 pounds.

Victoria Station, London

Vancouver, take note. In recent years there has been much discussion on putting in turnstiles at the SkyTrain stations because too many people get on board free. They now have the police pop on to check tickets. In England, you buy your ticket and you can put it through a ticket checker or walk right through. However, there are people on board who check the ticket, or when you leave they have the turnstiles closed at the smaller stations (or later at night) and you have to enter your ticket.  It's still people checking half the time.

Back to planes for a moment. When I was looking at taking a train from London to Amsterdam through the Chunnel prices were about $170. On a whim I checked flights, which were half that price. Because I waited until about two weeks before my flight, I ended up paying more but still $105 is better and flying faster. Check all options.

Once I landed in Schipol Airport, the fastest way to Amsterdam Centraal Station was by train in 20 minutes, for about 4 Euros. A tram then took me the rest of the way for about 2.60 Euros. It's a bit confusing and even the police were wrong on where I was to catch it but the driver of the tram was helpful.

In both Amsterdam's and London's stations, shops and even pubs abounded. These weren't sketchy little kiosks but full-on establishments, making the station part of everyday culture, not some place to hurry into and out of. People had lunch there and shopped. Vancouver's price may not be as high in comparison to Europe's but if they want to make the trains viable and affordable then they should look at bringing people in with carrots instead of sticks. Don't make the drivers of cars suffer, encourage them that the trains are better.

I'm sure to have more adventures on my travels and I'll talk about other aspects in the days to come. But the biggest thing about travel is to check in advance, check all types of transportation, leave early if you have deadline, and ask the locals. They'll almost always know the best route and usually won't mind telling.

Filed under: Culture, flying, travel Tagged: Amsterdam, fees, flights, Gatwick Airport, London, SkyTrain, trains, trams, transit, transportation, travel, turnstiles

Thoughts on 9/11 Ten Years After

Creative Commons: Kyrenius http://www.flickr.com/photos/jango-jo...

I am probably one of very few people in North America who has never seen a picture of the Twin Towers falling. Ever. In ten years. There are several reasons for this. I didn't and don't have a TV because I feel very bludgeoned emotionally by the trauma and tragedy of the world. It doesn't mean I don't care. I care very much. Too much. So I have never wanted to see the people falling, the towers crumbling.

Even ten years later, when CBC's The Current talks to a girl who was 12 at the time in a school near by, I find myself welling up with tears and emotion. It affected me enough that I don't think I could handle the images. And I know what a terrible thing it was.

I was geographically far removed from the event, living in Vancouver, BC. And when a friend posted online in the morning before I went to work that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center I thought it was an unfortunate accident. As I drove to work I soon realized the severity of what was going on. I was glued to the radio all day, alternating between tears and panic.

I felt a fear that day that I had never known before and it makes me very sad to realize that many people have gone through this or live in a constant state of fear in countries and regimes fueled by violence and tyrannies. My world, my comfy world of little mundane issues was turned upside down. Like many, I didn't know if we were under attack and war had reached our shores. I only know that my security was undermined and I was not prepared. Ten years later, were we to be attacked full on, I find I'm still unprepared. How do you prepare for such a thing. I'd like to think I'd survive, that I'm tough, that I'd adapt, but I don't really know, and I hope I never have to find out.

The falling of the towers was also the final clincher in my mental health. I didn't know I was going into clinical depression. I was already suffering from despair and sadness and not being able to cope with the little things. I was knocked completely for a loop after that. It was a long, painful year of recovery after that.

My story "Horizons" for the Mammoth Book of On the Road was for a collection of road trip stories. It was written during this time and about a woman who is late for work and therefore doesn't die when 9/11 happens. She deals with guilt about being tardy while others were good and showed up on time. She also chooses to disappear, drive into the wilderness and camp for who will know that she didn't die in the collapse of the towers? Interestingly, this story (which is not SF) got very little attention or reviews and even I forget about its existence. I might post it on this blog in the next few days.

What 9/11 did was put the Taliban on the map for many of us. It also gave George Bush his misguided holy crusade. Perhaps the good things were that emergency response measures and security were looked at closely but we also received an overlarge dose of paranoia. To this day it's easier to fly from Canada to Europe than it is to the US because of ludicrous standards. And line ups and waits at airports seem to increase every year with another over-the-top precaution. Not all of them are but there are significantly stupid ones.

Many of us perhaps grew more fearful. Overall I haven't, though it's such reminders as this and close friends dying that tell me to enjoy every day and make it worthwhile. I still love and fear but I don't let some threat keep me from doing the things I want, ever. And I will never understand nor condone that innocent lives should ever be taken just so some nutjob who wants to push his/her views on someone else can get attention. Here's to world peace, letting us live and love and working at not hurting each other.

Filed under: Culture

Writing Update

Creative commons: http://freshink.blogspot.com/2010_11_...

It's time for another writing update. Recently published pieces include "It's Only Words" in the British Horror Anthology of Horror Anthologies, and the poem "Shadow Realms" in Witches & Pagans #23. The Aurora Awards voting is now open to Canadians. This is for Canadian speculative fiction, published anywhere in 2010. My poem "Of the Corn: Kore's Innocence" is nominated for the Aurora Award in poetry. If you want to see a list of the nominees and vote, you can do so here. Cost is $5.50 to vote unless you are attending the convention where the awards will be presented this fall. Voting is open until Oct. 15.

"A Book By Its Cover" is in the Mirror Shards anthology, which is now available online and will be out in print very soon."Tasty Morsels" in Polluto #8 should soon be making its way to me from the other side of the pond in England. This story blends parts of Little Red Riding Hood with aspects of the goddess Diana. And the poem "Obsessions: or Biting Off More Than You Can Chew" should soon be out in the gothic anthology Candle in the Attic Window from Innsmouth Free Press. I have another poem, "Leda's Lament" coming out in Bull Spec but I'm not sure when.

I also just received word that "Gingerbread People" will be in Chilling Tales 2, edited by Michael Kelly, and published by Edge Publishing sometime next year. This tale was hard to place because it uses the motif of Hansel and Gretel but is a dark tale of incest, drugs, abuse and murder. I wrote it based on infamous sociopath killers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. My premise was, what is the nature of true evil and which is worse: the person who commits the crime or the person who convinces them to do it?

And in little over a week I'll be traveling to Europe. I hope to do some work on my writing while I'm there. I will also be going to British Fantasycon so soon the posts here will change to travel and observations along the way. Before then I have one story to rewrite and send out.

Filed under: cars, crime, Culture, entertainment, fantasy, horror, news, poetry, Publishing, science fiction, Writing Tagged: Aurora Award, Bull Spec, Chilling Tales 2, Edge Publishing, Horror Anthology of Horror Anthologies, Innsmouth Free Press, It's Only Words, Kore, Michael Kelly, Mirror Shards, Online Writing, Paul Bernardo, poetry, Polluto, speculative fiction

Treasures in the Park: Geo Caches

Lighthouse Park

On Saturday I spent a great day at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver with a bunch of friends. It was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky, hot and perfect. We hung out near the water on the rocks, talking, playing drums and didgeridoos and wandering down a few trails.

The Geocache

We'd been there quite a few hours, taking a breaking from the sun under a couple of trees when one of my friends said, "There's a box here, hidden under some bark and leaves.

We looked and sure enough there was this scruffy dark green box. Speculation arose. Why would a person hide a box? And fear as to what might be in it. Being curious, I moved more of the bark and found that it said Geocache. That rang a few bells and we pulled it out.

Geocaching is a game where people hid boxes of stuff in different locales all over the word and then with the help of a GPS, or GPS enabled phone one can track them down. You log your find in a log book, add something to the cache and maybe take something to deliver to another cache. Then there is the whole geocaching site where you list what you found.

Daisy Duck looks out over the Strait of Georgia

Although we did have a couple of GPS phones, we're not actually playing the game, nor registered. We pulled all of the trinkets out of the rather full box and looked at them all. I guess, as the game goes, we could have taken something. However, we logged our discovery, noticed that there was Daisy Duck, a special geocaching item in which you needed to log her journeys. Since she took extra responsibility we left her for those more involved in Geocaching but we did take a picture of her close to water as requested. She got to look out over the Strait of Georgia, which leads to the Pacific Ocean.

The full cache spread out

We didn't take anything from the geocache and did add a little purple glass bead I found in my pocket, adding to the treasures for explorers to come. One of

the interesting (read: scary) items in the cache was a trading card called "American Terrorist" with highly hyperbolic information on the infamous Charles Manson. And to think this was put out by the Piedmont Candy Co. Eat the candy,  kids, but don't talk to murderers.

After we returned the geocache to its hiding place for other intrepid adventures, we continued our own exploration.

The rocky shores of Lighthouse Park

Mine included taking many photos so It added a bit of unexpected adventure to the day, finding the cache and I can certainly see the fun of finding hidden treasures. I'll end this with a few more pictures of the geocache, and the beauty of the day that we were lucky enough to have.

Low tide at Lighthouse Park

 

Filed under: entertainment, environment, nature, travel Tagged: American Terrorist, Cache, Charles Manson, Daisy Duck, Geocaching, Global Positioning System, hidden treasures, hide and seek, Lighthouse Park, Pacific Ocean, parks, West Vancouver

Insta Fashion: Is it Art?

Fabrican or fabric can't spray-on clothing

I recently came across a new form of art. Or is it a new fashion statement? In some cases it's both or just one. NewScientist reports on a process of spray-on clothing. You'll need to watch the video to get a good idea of the process. There is a second one of an artist working with cellulose as well. The problem with cellulose is that it swells or gets slimy once water is introduced.

The spray-on clothing is a mixture of cotton fibers, polymers and solvents. I can't find what those polymers or solvents are made of and if this would even be a good thing to put on bare skin very often. While the experimentation is ongoing and researchers see the possibility of medical usages, such as spray-on bandages, the aspects of fashion are quite limited.

First, you would have to go into a shop or have a friend spray your clothing on. Otherwise, everything would be backless. I imagine that spraying this stuff on to any length of body hair could be problematic with removal. Considering that we're living in a nearly hairless body era, that might not be an issue. The material can be washed and re-worn but it looks pretty fragile in maintaining its shape. I also noticed that the women were small breasted overall for the application. Does that mean that dealing with larger curves for breasts or buttocks could be an issue of tension for the fabric? Not to mention, if your breasts aren't perky, your top will sag.

The models were all very slim and trim. I think that spraying on a T-shirt over a large beer gut might just be a bit more than anyone wants to see. And what about pants? This material gives a whole new meaning to skin-tight and indeed nothing would be left to the imagination. What I've seen of the styles so far are pretty basic and seems to be used in a very basic T-shirt or tank top style, so style still needs to develop.

While spray-on fabric might be useful for scientific applications or one of a kind art displays, I can't see it catching on yet for fashion. Not until they solve the form-fitting aspect. But in the future, perhaps when we've deforested so much of the earth that the remaining stands of trees are protected as oxygen sources, maybe we'll be recycling every fiber and spraying on our loincloths (what with global warming and all) and dissolving them when we need a new one. It might be the way of the future but I think we're stuck for a while yet with clothes that cover us up. Which gives us time to all get in shape so we look good when the inevitable happens.

Filed under: art, Culture, entertainment, fashion, science, shopping Tagged: art, arts, clothes, clothing, design, Fabrican, fashion, Fashion design, skin-tight clothing, spray on clothing, T-shirt, Textile

And Another Review of Cider

I treat my ciders like others treat beers, getting into microbreweries and flavors and styles of beer. It's partly because I cannot drink beer, being allergic to the hops, that I got into cider. Cider is my summer alternative to wine and having a cold cider is just more refreshing at times.

But ciders don't have as many varieties nor are cideries as multitudinous as microbreweries. So it's often hard to find a new cider to try. As well, some coolers and other alcoholic beverages masquerade as a cider because apples are the base. In some ways, these are still ciders but in my opinion there is very little that really makes them a cider. True ciders are made with cider apples. Cysers are made with honey and there are a host of factors that make them flat or effervescent, clear or thick, sweet or dry.

Crispin Hard Apple Cider

So, it was with interest I saw three bottles of Crispin Hard Apple Cider, which I had never seen. (In Canada when we say "cider" people presume it's alcoholic; in the US we have to say "hard cider" or people think it's nonalcoholic.) One was labelled as being made with honey, really a cyser called Honey Crisp, and since I don't really like honey or mead, I decided against that one. The second was called The Saint and was made with Trappist yeast (as in Belgian Trappist monks famous for their beers) and maple syrup. I thought that might be too sweet as well so I decided on the one that looked all dark, dour and gothic, called Lansdowne, made with Irish stout yeast and molasses.

What is nice about the Crispin brand is that they use organic apples and other ingredients, make their ciders gluten and preservative free and I don't think there are any sulfites as well. These three ciders are part of the Crispin artisanal reserve and they make a "blue" regular cider line as well. There is a fourth artisanal cider called Cho-Tokkyu made with sake yeast but I didn't see it in the store. Crispin uses a blend of apples, with their blue line being made with the West Coast type apples, but the artisanal ciders are unfiltered with no grape or malt flavoring added, which is used in a lot of the overly sweet supposed ciders (BC has Growers and Okanagan brands).

Crispin should be given kudos just for trying the unusual, with these cider mash-ups. They also have limited releases and if I could I would definitely be buying those to try. Their operations are in California and Minneapolis. From the write-up on their site these guys are truly a cidery and very much into experimenting with apples.

The Lansdowne experiment was…interesting. Now the caveat is that I don't drink beer and have never had a Guinness or a stout. The hops allergy and overall pungency of beer has kept me away. I actually didn't think the stout yeast would be so…stouty. After all, beer battered fish or other foods cooked in beer rarely taste that beery to me. But this drink was heavy. I now know what Guinness drinkers mean about chewy drinks. Lansdowne is unfiltered and cloudy, dark like a watered down stout, and not effervescent at all. I immediately didn't like it; it shocked my taste buds. However, I did some more sipping and shared it with someone who is a beer drinker. After a few sips he said it was growing on him and quite liked it. The drink was strong in all senses, tasting both of the yeast and the molasses, a lot.

However, while I didn't like it, I did drink it all and it was okay to my taste buds. It was not sweet at all. The 500 ml (22 fluid ounces) of Lansdowne has 6.9% alcohol. I would think you wouldn't want it with a particularly heavy meal and for me one was enough. The Crispin cidery has intrigued me and I just might try those other artisanal ciders to see how they come out. I'm more curious about their limited releases if I can find any in Canada.

Filed under: consumer affairs, Culture, entertainment, food Tagged: alcohol, Alcoholic beverage, Apple, Beer, cider, Crispin Hard Apple Cider, cyser, Drink, Growers Cider, Guinness, hard cider, preservative free, Trappist, Wine tasting descriptors

Another Short Review of Cider

Samuel Smiths Organic Cider

This last weekend I was in Ferndale, Washington and found a couple of ciders I had not seen before.

I picked up a bottle of Samuel Smith's Organic Cider from the grocery chain Haggen. The bottle is the 550 ml size or 27 fl. oz. The alcohol content is 5%.

I like my ciders slightly sparkly but this one was flatter, with only the very slightest effervescence. The color as you can see is of a medium amber, consistent with most apple ciders. The glass is the lightest blue-grey so it could have affected the color slightly.

The flavor was a little too yeasty or musky for my taste. It didn't have much aroma nor did it taste strongly of apples.Your basic hard cider.

Overall I found this cider lacking in flavor even if the apples were organic. I forgot to check the ingredients but often companies don't list the types of apples they're using. It's very possible that Samuel Smith's doesn't use cider apples, which are specific and can make a difference in flavor and dryness.

This wasn't a repulsive cider and if there was no other cider but this or Hornsby's, then I would definitely choose this one. It just wouldn't be that high on my list.

Filed under: consumer affairs, Culture, entertainment, food Tagged: Alcohol by volume, alcoholic beverages, Apple, apple cider, Beverages, cider, Drink, drinks, Ferndale Washington, flavor, Fluid ounce, food, Food and Related Products, Haggen Food & Pharmacy, Recreation, Samuel Smith Brewery

Travel Tips for Amsterdam

Amsterdam canal by phault: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/people/pjh/

I'm getting ready to travel to the Netherlands and Belgium in about a month's time. There is actually a fair amount to do, check and get beforehand. Because I'm traveling alone, there are a few other considerations to take into account.

When I traveled to Ireland a few years back I went with my sister. We rented a car, drove as far as we could each day and then as the sun was dipping below the horizon we'd drive into the nearest town, have a drink at a pub and ask them to recommend a B&B. It worked well 90% of the time. We were off season (the end of Sept.) and the towns we stayed in were not the larger cities. That's why in Kilkenny, a college town, it almost didn't work. It was a Saturday night and full of party people. It took three tries but we did find a B&B.

So I thought I could do the same thing as I traveled to the Netherlands. I land in London first and as I always do I like to book my first and last nights so that I know that I'm set. I find that Trip Advisor though you have to look at more than a few reviews to get a sense of place. But I will then search elsewhere for rooms, hotels, B&Bs or hostels and check their own sites as well.

As I did the preliminary research for Amsterdam I was a bit shocked at the price of any lodging. A quick look into Belgium showed it to be much the same. My sister and I got a B&B for an average of 25-50 Euros, which equaled between $$35-$60 CAD. Traveling with someone can definitely cut the rate down but here I was looking at hostels, sharing for 50 Euros a night. Yes, there are cheaper places but it's a fine line to find something that is cheap enough, fits your needs and is clean and pleasant enough. The reviews fit one or the other criteria, but not both.

So I started looking farther afield, googling things like B&Bs Amsterdam, and cheap lodging Amsterdam. This turned up a few more sites. Bed and Breakfast Netherlands lists a lot of actual homes used as B&Bs that you might not find on Trip Advisor. It also breaks the cost down to a single person price. I haven't yet tried it though.  Couch Surfing can also work and I'll be trying it for the first time though I've already hosted a few people. You don't have to reciprocate in hosting but it helps for references. I'm looking forward to meeting some of the people who live in these cities. It's the best way to know a culture. Note that during the high months, Amsterdam hosts can get as many as 10-20 requests a day. It's one of Europe's hotspots and a mecca for the gay crowd. I didn't realize all this and even though I'm going at the end of Sept. I'm glad I started early. I've spent quite a few hours (probably 24-30) just searching out possible accommodations for Amsterdam. I'm not going to book every night everywhere because I don't know where I'll go but I now have an idea of what it could possibly cost me (my whole budget). My stay in London is coming in at $120 for two nights at a B&B and that's a good price.

Know that many Dutch homes are narrow and tall, with very steep stairs. it's part of their history where land was eked out from the sea so up was the way to go. Amsterdam is of course more expensive than some of the other towns and there are such designations in some of the travel guides as "stoner hotels." Yes, smoking pot is allowed in some if not all establishments.

Again, money is interesting and it's looking like traveler's checks are becoming too outmoded, and that most places won't take them or will charge an exorbitant fee for cashing them. As well, many Dutch hotels or B&Bs only accept cash because credit card charges eat up their profits so they just don't use them. Once I'm on the road, I'm sure my experiences will differ some and I'll report on that. But the best advice for traveling to Europe is check ahead of time on the type of lodging you want and whether you can afford it. I'm glad I did and I'll be using several options.

Filed under: Culture, history, people, travel Tagged: accommodations, Amsterdam, B&Bs, Belgium, couch surfing, Dutch homes, hostels, hotels, lodgings, Netherland, North Holland, travel, Travel and Tourism, travel tips

Traveling in India: Bribes and Baksheesh

From: http://acgpglobal.org/blog/2011/07/06...

India's massive corruption in government has come to a head with Anna Hazare's hunger strike. However, corruption is not exclusive to India, nor is it new in that country. But India may have made it a fine art.

When I traveled to India, lo these many years ago, I was aware of the bribery (or baksheesh as they call it) before I went. However, due to an ingenuous blend of naiveté and stubbornness I managed not to pay a single rupee. I probably extended my waiting, boredom and frustration but I made it through with the limited funds I had. Mostly, I imagine they left tourists alone who might not know the system or understand what one had to do. There are only two incidences that I think involved a try for a bribe.

When I left the tribal state of Meghalaya, I had to make sure I had a transit paper or visa that showed I was allowed in the state, where foreigners could only enter with a special permit. Because I was traveling into Assam, the neighboring state, I needed to show I was allowed to travel between states. The border was closed at the time because the Khasis and Assamese were fighting with each other (they're traditional tribal enemies). It was a very long, hot and thirsty bus ride to the Assam airport and then, typical of Indian time, a three-hour wait for the late plane.

I'd probably been sitting there two hours when three men came rushing over, in three different colored suit jackets asking to see my passport. At first I was confused because there was nothing that indicated that they were official in any capacity. And for all I know two of them might not have been. Then I was taken into a back office where they poured over my passport and the papers and wrote everything out, in painstakingly slooooow handwriting. I believe they were trying to intimidate or scare me into paying but I wasn't sure so I just sat there and let the guy write out everything. After all, I had time to kill until the plane arrived.

The second time was as I was returning from Nepal into India, where you must go through a double border check. Due to the fact that Indians will give you directions even if they don't know the right directions, I had been told to wait for my connecting bus from the border town of Gorakhpur (near enough to be a major outpost) at the wrong spot and therefore missed it. This meant that I had to take a later bus not meant for tourists. So I was the only white person and only woman on the bus that drove off into the dark of night. Everything was fine and I was sleeping when the bus was pulled over and two men in nondescript jackets boarded and demanded to see my documents and what was in my bag. Note that in India (at least the areas I was in) men and women do not touch in public at all. This doesn't mean they won't try to sneak a fondle at a tourist's expense but it means that a male border inspector won't search a woman.

I showed them my papers and one bag and then they said, get off the bus. It was not just dark outside but pitch black, barely any lights to indicate a city and nothing but fields around. So I asked them to get my pack off the roof (where bags were stored) and which direction was the closest city. All I could think to do so late at night was walk. They looked at me and said, "What are you doing? Get back on the bus." So I did, wondering if they had wanted me to pay baksheesh but too bewildered to know it.

The saddest example of seeing what bribery was doing to India, was when I was in Shillong, Meghalaya. I was talking to these bright young men, some in university. They were already defeated because they said that there was little chance of getting a good job without paying baksheesh. They saw no future for themselves and it was such a waste of brilliant minds. Now this was before Microsoft and the IT industry started outsourcing so maybe it got a bit better, but obviously one of the biggest epidemics in a country 1 billion strong, is the rampant bribery that still affects them.

For a bit of fun, here is an artist's image of Baksheesh Boy.

Filed under: Culture, life, memories, people, politics, security Tagged: Anna Havare, baksheesh, bribery, bribes, government corruption, India, Meghalaya, travel