To the site

I might as well start finishing this unending series of stories about my trip to China. So, the last day, after visiting the western end of the Great Wall, we went back to the hotel; the ones who had to leave on that day, such as me, checked out; we had lunch; and boarded the buses to go to Jinta, the place where we had the permits to see the eclipse. We were asked for our papers a couple of times the days before, I guess to write down our names in the list of people who could enter the site. The so-called security. GPS devices were not allowed and we were repeatedly asked the question if we had any GPS gadget. My answer was always the same: the more advanced thing I have on me is my (analog) watch.

The bus ride through almost completely desertic places, specially in the last part, was another show of the condition of the roads (not so bad as one could imagine) and the general driving style. Chaotic.



We were stopped for a long time in a road control before reaching Jinta. There were many buses, full of tourists, and somebody from each had to go to some tables set under some parasols, where policemen checked all the permits. Everything went ok until we reached Jinta, where it looked like, for some reason, they didn't want to let our bus through, when the other bus of our group had just gone by without any problem. After a while, a policewoman arrived with a car, did something and we went on some 500 m, where another control did not want to let us go into the parking zone. Immediately, the same policewoman arrived and they let us through. I asked some of the taiwanese what had happened, specially because of their comments only in mainland China, because I could not understand anything that was said, of course. It looks like the first control found that even if our bus had a permit to go to the site, it didn't have a parking permit. In the second one, they complained that there was a stamp missing in the paper we had been given two minutes before. Oh, well.


As soon as the bus stopped, people started setting up the telescopes and the supports for the cameras

and we prepared ourselves to wait a couple of hours before the eclipse began. Meanwhile, well, time to take pictures, to go up and down —I was not allowed to go to see a small reservoir that was nearby; I think I was to western-looking for my own good— and to hide from the scorching Sun of that afternoon. Fortunately, we had some food and drinks (cans of chinese stout beer?) and between jokes and stories it wasn't too bad.

Anybody out there?

These things happen to me sometimes, but I think never so much as this week. It sounds worse than what it really was, because it's not been bad at all, but since saturday night, when I came back from Jiufen, until yesterday evening, I did not have a conversation longer than 5 or 10 seconds with anybody. That's almost five days. Ordering lunch, using a few more or less mispronounced words, or exchanging a couple of sentences with a rushing-by student, do not count as real talk. I am alone in my office and the routine turns out to be going to work and coming back home, specially when there was not any interesting activiy at the IAA.

That does not mean that I was completely isolated from the rest of the world. The possibilities of computing allow me to be in touch with people far away, but in any case, it's not a feat I should try to exceed. Yeah, you know what happens with records.

Air raid drill

What can I tell today?. Well, this afternoon, between 14:30 and 15:00, there was an air raid drill on this side of Taiwan. At least, in Taipei, because I saw it. It's not really funny, if I think about it, specially coming from a continent with a penchant for dropping all kinds of stuff on the heads of people, but it must be an unpleasant sign of how things are. The funny thing is that when I heard the sirens, I realized that I had misunderstood the mail that I got yesterday or the day before. Is that why nobody came to my office for the weekly meeting?. I wouldn't be surprised, because I am always the last to know.

As soon as the sirens started, they stopped the traffic and told people to get into the nearest buildings. There were policemen riding scooters or bikes, goind around to make sure that there weren't any cars moving or any people walking around (knowing them, that's hard work, as I could observe). I could also see from the windows of my floor, how there wasn't anything moving in Roosevelt Rd, nor in any of the elevated lanes of the freeway that surround us. Even the bridge that crosses the river was completely empty. For half an hour.


It is weird to see such a big city so empty, as in a 70s disaster movie. All in all, disturbing.

Smokers

I saw them the first time I passed through the Hong Kong airport, but I didn't take any picture. Three months later, when I was going to China, I did.

I saw them too in Taipei's airport, and they look even more futuristic. Like something out of a space movie.

What are they?. Smokers' cabins. It's not allowed to smoke in the airport or, at least, in the boarding zones. So, to smoke, you must go into one of these cabins. The first time I saw them, I thought they were mini-bars, because I saw people crowding inside, smoking like there was no tomorrow, while seating in one of the couches or bar-like stools, and watching the flat screens. Umm, maybe the idea of a bar is not that bad.

There are some windows to look outside, but it seemed more to me like a place where the vicious components of society are shown to the rest to make an example. They really looked like caged animals. Maybe we will get there seeing how things are going. And it will be difficult to argue that they did not earn it.

Meeting

So much writing about my trip to China and not even a comment about why I did go there?. 2008 EAYAM. I went really unconvinced and, as I said, to see the eclipse. Once there, the truth is that it was much better than I expected. Maybe it's because I had a different attitude, but it was interesting to follow most of the talks. Of course, some were unbearable and/or boring, but many more were very interesting. Usually, there was an initial extended talk by a "senior", followed by 15-minute talks given by all, or almost all, the participants all along the five days of the meeting. It was probably the first time for some of the people, you could tell, but they must begin somewhere, musn't they?


It was also a chance to see a meeting were I was the only westerner. When moving through the worlds of Astronomy, you get used to see all kinds of odd people, and it is not really surprising to meet stuck-up, anti-social or simply unpleasant or rude people. Most of the asian people in other meetings seem to be in a secondary plane, if they do not have a name. I am sure that there are many misunderstandings between the East and the West, when it is only due to a mix of cultural shyness and limited abilities using English. I could see in this meeting how, in general because not all were like that, people were shy at first, but as they gradually knew each other better, more and more people were getting together and better vibes were spreading around, inside and outside the meeting room (of course, the nights spent drinking beer and playing games helped a lot). In fact, and taking into account the age difference between most of them and me, but then I go back to other times, I don't think I have ever seen a better atmosphere in a meeting like this.

I have been thinking about that for weeks now, and I am beginning to reach the conclusion that it's not that people here are less strange (I mean, scientists), but their kindness is more obvious and things are more pleasant, even in some uncomfortable situations. I don't know, I need more time to observe it before I can make up my mind about it.

Finished

After complaining, or commenting, about the state of my street with the work they were doing there, I did not show how it all finished. They started working again on it about ten days ago, and it seemed that it was more difficult to get in or out of my building every day. After seeing how they finished it, it's not bad at all. Simple and nice. They even put some pots with plants. It was very clean during the first couple of days. Unavoidably, they had to park scooters again. Very annoying.

(Back from the Past) Rice, rice

(from 27/05/2008)
Of course, I studied, in those early times of school and/or high-school, how the dominant type of cereal was different in the main different regions of the world. If it was corn in America, it was wheat or rye in Europe, millet in Africa, and rice in Asia. Oh, rice. Two crops per year and all that allowed a lot of people to be fed and so they explained the great eastern agglomerations (source of many epidemics according to some, maybe the plague, or the flu, blah, blah, blah).

I think I have never eaten so much rice in my life. And I have only been here four weeks. Fortunately, I like it. It's not that I am unfamiliar with eating it as we eat breed in Europe —it's part of the menu in a japanese restaurant in Barcelona that I used to visit, the same menu that includes the fabulous aubergines (who knows if I will find somebody that will teach me how to cook them). But it is everywhere, here. Almost always, just plain rice, from a kind slightly different from ours. If you want it mixed with something else, you probably must go to thai or indian dishes. So, you end up eating loads of rice, all inside their little bowls. It's good to practice with the chopsticks and I think I eat much more rice than I used to eat bread.

There is one thing good about so much rice (I couldn't help it). It must be good for your bowels. It probably cleans everything.

The First Beacon Tower

The same day of the eclipse, in the morning, the day after the talks finished, we visited what was the western end of the Great Wall, or the beginning, depending on your point of view. This place is known as the first beacon tower of the Great Wall. It's located seven or eight km away from the JiaYuGuan fort, which can be distinguished at the horizon if one follows the wall. Beyond the end, there are the cliffs over the Taolai river that constitute a natural wall very difficult to pass.



Here, and I guess in order to impress the tourists, there is a model of how could be the last defense garrison, with hanging bridge included.


To increase the tourist attractions, there is a cable that spans both sides of the river, and you can just let yourself drop along it and cross to the other side. A very impressive trip. I guess, because I didn't bother to make the queue and headed to the little fort that lies next to the bridge. Next to the cable, there is a transparent balcony that enhances the effect ot the cliff drop onto the river.

All this is in a place that begins to be really desertic, even if we could see some sheep or maybe goats on the other side —they were too far away to tell. The morning was relatively cool and the sky completely blue except over the high mountains at the back. We were at the end of a plain between mountains and all was dominated by the brown colors of the earth and the river, creating a strangely beautiful setting. I felt a little bit restless; I guess the end of the stay was getting to me. Fortunately, there is always a small beautiful flower to cheer up the day... or more than one.