New Frames

Back from India

Actually we returned over a week ago... with intestinal parasites, so I wasn't up to writing much on this blog, especially because the kind of parasites I had (cryptosporidium) just have to run their course which is usually one to three weeks according to the CDC website and my doctor.  No matter how careful you are (brushing teeth with boiled water, etc.) those little devils manage to get into your system.  Luckily the worst of it happened after we returned so we were able to enjoy Mumbai and my husband's family while we were there.

Hopefully I can get caught up with all that has been going on in Oregon and get back into writing on this blog...  It'll be hit and miss around here for the next few weeks.

A note from India

I didn't have time to post an entry before I left to India to let the three of you who read my blog know that I would be gone for several weeks... that's why this blog has been dead for a while.

In any case, I'm in Bombay visiting family (in-laws) who have been very excited to take me to their shiny new shopping malls.  Yes, they are shiny, and they are big too.  They're are also filled with lots of middle class Indians who are thrilled about their new disposable income.

No doubt about it, the Indian economy is booming, big time.  It's totally blowing me away.  Even my Bombay born husband is nearly speechless about the changes he's noticing.  I've been reading newspapers and news magazines and I've discovered that competition from America doesn't seem to be of concern.  Rather the focus is on other Asian countries like China.  It almost feels like we're leaving ourselves behind.  While our middle class is shrinking, India's is growing and it's bringing the lower middle classes along.

Companies like Hyundai and Toyota have jumped into the Indian economy and are riding the wave with the kinds of small cars that Asians like while US auto companies are whining about health insurance costs and making cars that most people don't want.  Crocodile tears!
 

This is great for Indians, and when you're here you can't help but to feel excited for them, but you also can't help to think that in the US we need to get our act together and regain the optimism for our future that the Indians now have for theirs. 

Remains of the Berlin Wall

I'm just starting to get our photos organized from our trip.  Of course the first ones I'm attending to are the photos from Berlin because, well, I love that place.  I've created a small album here of the remains of the wall, which have been preserved as a reminder and appropriately turned into an open-air art gallery.

Although most of the wall has been knocked down, Berliners don't want us to forget where it once stood and how thriving businesses and life have now filled the spaces that were once covered with landmines, watchtowers and checkpoints.

Click to enlarge!

Back and jet lagged

After an 18-day whirlwind trip and a long flight we're home here in Portland.  Unfortunately I caught a cold the day before we left Europe and we're both jet lagged, or maybe we're just tired from all the traveling and site-seeing we did.  We visited many great museums, absorbed ourselves in the fascinating and disturbing history of Berlin, drank cheap excellent beer in Prague, spent hours staring at Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele paintings in Vienna, and breathed in the fresh air of the Swiss Alps (which was great after having to endure the smoky restaurants and cafes of Europe - gag.)

Berlin was my favorite due to its tragic history and its inspirational rebirth today.  Although its been nearly sixteen years since the wall came down, the city continues to wear its liberation on its shirtsleeve which makes it an exciting and unique big city in the world.  Berliners are continuing on their path of progressive liberalism, as they always have (close to 70% of them, the highest in Germany, opposed the Nazi regime as they came to power in the 1930s.)  Berliners came out in the hundreds of thousands in marches against the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq and continue to openly oppose the administration's destructive anti-terror policies that endanger us all.  As always they abhor absolute power, are extremely open minded, well informed and enjoy edgy creative endeavors that fill their art galleries, theaters and shops which have sprung up like wild flowers in the newly renovated East Berlin.

Due to Berlin's active progressivism many Jews, surprisingly or perhaps not, who are sick of living under the strains of conflict in Israel are moving to Berlin, back to the old Jewish Quarter where their parents, grandparents and ancestors once lived and thrived before the Nazis came to power.  The Jewish temples there have been reopened and beautifully renovated.  The Jews have a rich history in Berlin and were active participants in the city's contribution to the Enlightenment, workers' rights, science and the liberal arts.  Much of this history has been compiled at the architecturally inspiring Jewish Museum in Berlin (a must see if you go to Berlin.)

What I found refreshing was watching German news and political talk shows which have stayed away from special effects and flashy programs that spew infotainment rather than serious political talk and real news.  The BBC was also refreshing to watch, but it was disturbing to realize how poor US news reporting has become in comparison, and that includes NPR.

I haven't yet had the time to jump back into the US and Oregon news cycles, nothing that a quick peek over at Blue Oregon and Salon can't solve.

Former communist East-Berlin, OMIGOD

Finally I'm getting a chance to drop a quick note here on the blog.  I can't believe I'm in Berlin... I don't recognize it at all.  It's amazing how much East Berlin has changed.  It's majorly happin'en.  It's beautiful.  Every time I turn a corner I have to scrape my jaw off the ground.  Unfortunately, the city, and Germany, have nearly bankrupted themselves rebuilding the former communist Germany.  But, hey, for tourists it's great.  At least they're nearly bankrupting themselves on something that benefits its own citizens rather than on a reckless and tragic war/occupation.

The first thing we did when we got here was go to the Brandenburg Gate.  It used to be in  no-man's land, behind the wall surrounded by landmines.  Today it stands, in its glory, open for all to experience.  I remember standing near the west side of the wall in the late 80's where one could see the Brandenburg Gate in its solitary confinement in no-man's land.  It was depressing.  It demonstrated to me the ugly side of humanity.  But today it represents freedom, the real kind, not the faux-Bush kind.

Well, I'd love to write more because there's so much to write about, like the 'no' vote in France and what the Europeans are thinking about it... o.k. one quick note:  We were talking to this French guy the other night who is here for the same meeting the Husband is here for.  The French guy, Hugo, basically said the French were extremely confused about the EU Constitution.  For example, there is some clause in it regarding murder and some people believed it could be interpreted as banning abortion.  Other problems have to do with globalization and workers' rights.  I'm curious as to how the outcome is being presented in the US media... don't have time to research it right now.

Anyway, the question or thought I'll leave with for now has to do with the amazing change in Berlin:  Would have cut and dry, free market capitalism been able to transform East Berlin the way government investment here has?