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Antar, Cuba, De Soto, Ear East, home, New York, not at home, powerlines, Rarasaur, travel, weird things abroad
I got into a minor squabble the other day with Rarasaur and a couple of others over on http://rarasaur.wordpress.com/ about how being away from home was like being at home but with different buildings. I took exception to this, so here’s a brief list of things that I’ve seen or done or been involved in on my travels that made me go, ‘Hmmmm, there’s a surprise. Didn’t see that coming.’ It’s not the things that are the biggest, or oldest, or fastest, that make me stop in my tracks. It’s the little things.
Vegetation I go abroad, even to other bits of Europe, see woodlands and forests, and think ‘We don’t get those shrubs and plants at home.’
Power pylons Nowhere in the world do they look like the ones in the UK. I’m not saying they ‘re worse or better, just vaguely alien.
Who are these people? I’ll give you thirty seconds to read this list of names and tell me what they all have in common. Ready? Go.
Donald, Martha, their sons Godwin and Jason. Charlie, Elzira, their children Sandra, Joan, and Davis. Rocky, his brother John, and his sons Lawrence, Balthazar, and Joseph. Two of the sons have spouses, Maria and Patsy. Alex and Raquel. Walter and Sally. Marvin and Celine. Elvis and his son Elwin.
Give in? They’re all Indian, from a village called Bogmalo. So next time somebody makes a joke about how all Indians are called Gupta, set them straight, eh? I even met someone out there called Helicopter.
I’ve seen a one-armed orang-utan swing through the rainforest.
I once won a blowpipe competition in a bar in Borneo.
I’ve been in the dispensary of a traditional medicine hospital in a town called Changzhou in China.
I’ve been mugged for $10 in Havana, but the guy gave me a bunch of bananas and a vinyl album he’d recorded with his band.
I’ve been mugged twice in New York, once for 10 cents for a phone call, and once for a needle and thread.
Also in New York, when asked if I could take a picture of him for my Nana, a patrolman took me into the station, stood me up against the height bars with a false arrest number round my neck, and stood next to me while the official police photographer took a photo. He even signed it ‘With love to Nana from Officer da Silva.’ Cool, or what?
In Cairo, a bunch of strangers pushed my wife into a terminally crowded tube train, then held the doors and pushed me in too. They smiled and waved at us as the train pulled out, and waited for the next one.
In Turkey, while a barber was blow-drying my hair, the hairdryer over heated and cut out. He got the junior to blow into it till it cooled down enough to function again.
I’ve eaten snake.
I’ve been to a wedding where my wife had been accepted as a token man for the stag night. When we arrived at the wedding reception the next day, the band were playing Roll out the barrel, and followed this with Praise my soul the king of heaven.
The politest drug dealers in the world are in Kerala. If you say, ‘No thank you,’ they apologise for taking up your time.
The politest pickpockets in the world are in Zanzibar. They apologise if you catch them at it, which is very easy as they’re the most inept in the world too.
I’ve gone by raft through a sea cave into the middle of a mountainous island where there’s a concealed mangrove swamp.
In Sri Lanka, if you buy a 2l bottle of mineral water from a small shop, it costs about 50p the first time you go there. If you go there every day, the price drops to about 10p.
In Kuala Lumpur, three baseball capped youths with no English serenaded my wife and me with ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ by Oasis.
In Nairobi, there was an Internet café in the basement furniture department of a department store
I’ve been inside a pyramid in Egypt
I’ve hitched a lift in a government-owned Antar earthmover in Cuba. And a privately owned 1955 De Soto.
I’ve ridden a bicycle over there too
I found that the only way to get to the observation deck of the Komtar Tower in Georgetown in Malaysia is through the staff locker room
So, what do you think Rara? Everywhere’s the same? I don’t think so, but I may be wrong.
rarasaur said:
Haha! I love this list– so charming and wonderful. 😀
But…
I still think most of this can be summed up with “People can surprise you”… and people can surprise you anywhere in the world. Is finding an Indian family named Peter & Mary really any so different than finding an American family named after mass-produced candy? To me… not really.
I’ll give you the vegetation thing, though– animal life, as well. We have zoos and arboretums, but seeing something in it’s natural habitat is entirely different.
I enjoyed every line of this post — I feel like it unlocked a little piece of the “What makes Duncan tick” puzzle. 😀
nobodysreadingme said:
If I met an American family named after a type of candy I’d be just as gobsmacked as finding an Indian called Marvin. I truly would; it wouldn’t happen in the UK.
Glad you liked the post. Puzzle? Maybe…
😉
unfetteredbs said:
Someone is cranky today fluffster
nobodysreadingme said:
Did this come across as cranky? It wasn’t meant to. Now tomorrow’s blog… I’m going to really really annoy some people.
😀
unfetteredbs said:
I’m just teasing you. I agree with R– it gives us more insight into what makes you tick.
nobodysreadingme said:
😀
But tomorrow’s is still a killer….
unfetteredbs said:
And I look forward to reading it
nobodysreadingme said:
It mightmake you cross, or cranky as you would have it
Heather said:
This was awesome Duncan. I wish I could say I have seen and done half as much. Tomorrow should be fun…. 🙂
nobodysreadingme said:
Glad you enjoyed it.
And tomorrow will have a lot of people up in arms. i hope so, anyway
elainesostrange said:
You’re a trip, Duncan.
nobodysreadingme said:
I take that as a compliment, and treasure it. Nice to see you back. I’ve missed you.
elainesostrange said:
I never left. I just go through quiet times when I don’t have much to say, and keep my mouth shut until things come flooding back in an overwhelming wave of sarcasm and wit. And occassionally endearing things as well, but somewhat less often than the rest.
And it was definitely meant as a compliment.
GrowlTigger said:
A great list of experiences and your are right, and I have only been to a few European countries, but have observed the same kinds of differences. You might not know it, but you used the same words as a character in the film Pulp Fiction, when describing how Europe is different to the USA. “…it’s the little differences…” he tells his friend, before describing how you can buy a beer, served in a glass, in a “movie theatre” in Amsterdam, something that isn’t available in America, and he goes on to list several other differences. The clip is called Royale With Cheese, and is available on YouTube, if you don’t already know it.
nobodysreadingme said:
Pulp Fiction is one of my favourite films! ‘I didn’t go in no Burger King…’ Thank you for taking the time and effort to read me, and to comment. Cheers. ‘Le BigMac.’ Deathless.
Shards Of DuBois said:
thats a list of some pretty cool shit! How did you get into a pyramid??? and what in the world is a power pylon??? just curious! 😉
nobodysreadingme said:
You get into a pyramid via the front door. It’s been bricked up for several thousand years.
Power pylons? Sorry, there’s a bit of a culture gap here, and it’s my fault for not recognising it. They’re the structures that carry electric power cables across the countryside
Shards Of DuBois said:
oh, sorry, we just call them power lines…hehehe I guess the pylon is the huge towers?? and yea, I figured the pyramid had a fkn door….lol…just didn’t think it was OPEN!!! lol 😉
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dawnhosking said:
So, wow! You sure have had some experiences to write about 😉
nobodysreadingme said:
I have indeed. I think the one armed orang utan gets the prize though
dawnhosking said:
Indeed 🙂
Limp Cabbage and Soggy Chips said:
What a wonderful world we live in. And how often we forget it.
nobodysreadingme said:
My world is rather limited now Limp, for various medical reasons, but the only country I’ve not been to, and wish I had, is Bolivia. Highest navigable lake in the world, highest capital city in the world, and shedloads of cocaine to help stave off the effects of oxygen being in short supply. 🙂
Limp Cabbage and Soggy Chips said:
You’ve had an exciting life. I am sorry you are unable to travel now.
I have a Bolivian friend, who settled in America. She often wonders why she chose to do that.
nobodysreadingme said:
Everybody has to be somewhere, as they say. 😉