In the land of little people

At the risk of stating the obvious and at the same time possibly over-generalizing, Asians are small people.

You'd think if I didn't get that when I was in Thailand, where I (a US size medium) was forced to purchase XL clothing and pray it fit, then I would certainly get it after Japan, where I pretty much did not buy any clothing at all, but somehow it still managed to sneak up on me. It's as if my mind just cannot wrap itself around the concept of how it can be normal for a population, the women in particular, to be so small.

Well, I was recently forced to revisit this issue because I desperately needed to purchase more shorts (they're really the only things comfortable to wear out and about in this incredible heat and humidity). Many (if not most of the stores) don't really sell anything larger than a US size small but there is no end to the extra-small or extra-extra-small sizes (which is really awesome because I think if I try real hard I can fit one thigh into something that size... maybe I could just buy two... you know, one for each leg... I'll start a new style). So, it becomes much more of a treasure hunt... where oh where is there clothing that will actually fit? and then of course, am I really willing to wear that or does it cross the line and make me look like my grandmother?

I suppose I can look at the bright side and say I have incentive to go to the gym regularly and eat super-healthy so that I can miraculously shrink to an extra-small but what really gets me is that it's not even that I eat a whole lot... just reasonable sizes of the recommended three square meals a day. If you really want to see eaters, just observe Singaporeans. I have no doubt that even the littlest young woman in any of my classes could probably eat twice as much as I can and does on a fairly regular basis. As an example, Taryn (my buddy assigned through the law student group at NUS) took Chris (the other BU exchange student) and I out for lunch at a local sushi place. She ate almost as much as I did but, this was her second lunch of the day. We commented on this to her and she couldn't really explain it... our best guess is that she sweats off the calories in the constant heat that is Singapore but honestly, I'm not buying it.

To make matters worse, I have freakishly large feet here. (Of course, there are some who may say that my feet are freakishly large anywhere but that's beside the point.) So freakishly large that the vast majority of shoe stores/departments simply do not carry my size at all (which is a European size 41... pretty much all the stores only carry up to size 40). Finally, at my wits end, I (just a tad bit desperately) ask a saleslady if she knew of any stores that carried my size... she knew one. On all of Orchard Road, she only knew of one! (To give you some sense of scope, Orchard Road is kinda like Newbury Street, except at least twice as long and instead of little boutiques lining the street, there are megamalls. Many, many megamalls. And when I say megamall, it's as though you combine the Copley & Pru and then double it and then you've got the smallest variant.) I don't care how large my feet may seem in the US, I rarely have problems finding shoes in my size... in fact my closet can attest to this fact. All in all, it makes for a relatively sad Roxie because it's no secret, I love to shop but this whole hard-to-find sizes thing is really not helping... not helping at all.

Welcome to Singapore!

Now that I’ve been in Singapore for a few days, it seems appropriate that I should write an entry at least touching on this big move. (It also helps that I need an excuse to stay up late b/c if I let my body have its way, I’d be asleep already and normally that wouldn’t be such a huge deal except I can’t say that I’m a fan of waking up at 4AM.)

Anyway, to state the obvious, it is hot here… and humid. Apparently, this is the rainy season but I have yet to see any rain and quite frankly I’d welcome some if it means that it would break the humidity. I’m beginning to think that I may never wear my hair down while I’m here – unless, of course, I’m going for the wild-crazy-mass-of-uncontrollable-curls look. The good news is that despite the fact that my tiny dorm room does not have a/c it does have a world’s fastest spinning ceiling fan which does a remarkably good job keeping the room cool… so long as I don’t think about the harm that fan might cause should it somehow break free of its base, I’ll be fine.

As to be expected, the country is very clean… a lot like Japan in that respect. And from what I can tell, the residents tend to follow the laws closely. (Then again, the government is not known for being all that lenient so I’m not about to try breaking any myself.) My first night in town I stayed in a hotel near Chinatown, where there is a fairly large night market, and ended up being convinced into getting a massage (granted it didn’t take that much convincing). And as the guy giving me the massage put it, the government acts as the father for all Singaporeans and Singaporeans are very good children. (He also said that I have a really stiff back – which is not good apparently but, more on that another time.)

I also have to mention the food because I’m floored at how cheap it is yet still be so tasty. All over the city, there are hawker centers, which are essentially food courts, where you can get an incredibly low cost meal. About 4-6 SGD should do the trick and even in today’s market where the USD trades at approx. 1.5 SGD (apparently in the days of old, it used to be 1 USD = 2 SGD) that’s still cheap. There are also a number of other restaurants that charge much more. One night I ventured down to Clarke Quay (pronounced “key”), where there is a remarkable array of bars, restaurants and clubs, to have dinner and paid the equivalent of what a moderate to inexpensive dinner in Boston would cost but that was a splurge (despite the fact that there are far more expensive restaurants to be had) and my plan is to keep meals like that to a minimum.

Right now, things are fairly quiet in my residence. Classes do not begin until next week and most students won’t check in until this weekend at the earliest. I suppose it is good that I arrived early so I don’t have to deal with the chaos of thousands of others checking in with me along with settling in but the quietness tends to lead to a bit of boredom, particularly because it’s a bit of an undertaking to get from the residence into town. Nonetheless, I’m planning, now that my room is in order, to use these few days before classes begin to play tourist. My cab driver recommended the Night Safari and Sentosa Island is supposed to be enjoyable as well.

Until next time…

80 degrees and sunny

After enduring two snowstorms in the span of four days, saying I was eager to head to home to the Bahamas might be a little of an understatement. So at long last, I have arrived Nassau and am looking forward to mass consumption of conch.

When I was in town for the holidays last year, my mom was renting a one bedroom apartment that we all agreed was all around unpleasant. That living situation, in part, gave her incentive to build a new home here in Nassau and now it's almost all done save for a few details.

All in all, the place is spectacular! She has without a doubt one of the best views ever and what makes it all the better is that the house is designed to maximize this particular asset so not only can you enjoy a beautiful view but the house is comfortably cool.

Now that I'm relaxing in this wonderful little slice of heaven I'm off in search of a tropical drink. :)

The Root of All Evil

My friend Nancy posted this link in her gchat profile today. After reading the article and watching the video I am outraged, disgusted, furious and I could go on!

How the HELL do these people live with themselves?!

How can they possibly be so ignorant as to believe a "pastor" who drives an Audi or a Mercedes in the midst of their incredibly poor villages? One opportunistic S.O.B., who can just say on sight that a person's young child is a witch and then turn around and expect the parents to pay exorbitant amounts of money so that the child can be "delivered" from the witchcraft... which, mind you, could take more than one session.

For children whose parents can't afford the price, their best hope is that they're just abandoned but the vast majority are horrifically abused... anything from being burned with boiling water to having a nail hammered into their head - yes, a NAIL!! All because some person dressed in a spiffy suit claiming to be a prophet says that the child is a witch! Idiots! Gullible idiots!!

I can only pray that God rescues those children from that absolute hell... no child deserves to be treated like that... I don't care how bad they may be.

Ouch!!

I've been putting it off for some time now but with less than one month until the big trip, I had to bite the bullet and trudge to SHS for "travel medicine" - a nice way of saying "crap-load of needles" - otherwise all sort of disease hell just might break loose.

So... I compiled a list of everything I'd need... Hep A, Typhoid, Japanese Encephalitis, and Rabies. Not to mention, I still haven't gotten my Tetanus booster plus, if I'm gonna be living in a dorm, Meningitis would also probably be good. Six????
It gets worse, Hep A is a two-step vaccine and JE is a three-step... I'm going to cry... really.
Nine needles. NINE!!!

Maybe it's not worth it. Or maybe I'll just take a gamble and never touch any animals and always always wear super-duty insect repellent and only drink bottled water and just never be around people in general... umm... maybe this plan wouldn't work.

Ok, new tack, how many of these can be taken orally?
One. Typhoid. Damn!
Except, the current antibiotic I'm taking for derm reasons might affect absorption, rendering the oral vaccine less useful. Shit!

Ok, let's try to get some perspective, I only need one Hep A shot before I leave. I can deal with the anxiety of the second shot six months from now.
Fab, down to eight.

Also, JE is delivered sub-cutaneously vs. intra-muscularly so those three should hurt a whole lot less especially if I'm not paying attention.
I can do that I suppose.

Rabies is debatable it seems and since I have to go to a different travel medicine clinic for that and JE, I'll ask those docs what they think before committing.
So, let's call it seven and a half.

Ah, who am I kidding, that's still a crap load but, I'm not going to cry (at least I hope not). I might faint though... oooh, that wouldn't be good either.
Ok, be sure to request to lie down before getting any shots.
Yeah, lying down would be a good thing.