Honeymoon Redux I: Guatemala

Continuing in the vein of procrastinating on finishing the post I meant to work on, I figured it was about time to post better, edited photos from our honeymoon. I decided to work my way backwards, starting with Guatemala (our final destination) and ending, five posts later, with Panama (our first stop). I won't do all five posts at once, but will instead space them out over next week.

I also chose to do Guatemala first because while we were on the honeymoon itself, I posted updates with unedited photos from every country except that one, where between the ruins, paradisical turquoise pools and colonial grandeur of Antigua, we were just too busy.

We began in Guatemala with Tikal, which I believe is a legally mandated stop for all tourists to Guatemala. If you don't go, they cane you or something.

The fun thing about Tikal was that you can climb many of the temples via added staircases on the side, built out of the main range of vision so that they don't obstruct the view, and clamoring tourists won't wear down the stone steps.

As you can see, the temples at Tikal are massive, but also mostly unadorned. (This is a view of Temple V).

I strongly recommend, even if you stay in the nearby backpacker haven of Flores for part of your stop in Tikal (Flores is a lovely place to hang out for a day or two, by the way), that you spend at least one night near Tikal itself. There are cheap food options and you can stay rather affordably - if you're not a backpacker - at the Tikal Inn or other places.

Why do this? Well, if you buy a ticket for Tikal at 3:30pm, they won't punch it, so you can use it all day the next day. In the early hours of the morning, you wake up to the screams of howler monkeys (which is all cool and jungle-y and, despite it being primates rather than reptiles, sounds like something out of Jurassic Park). You can be at the park in the early morning and late evening, when there are fewer tourists. That's when you'll start seeing monkeys and coatimundi.
Here's an antiqued view of either Temple I or II from the top of Temple V.

On the way to the poetically named Temple of the Inscriptions (which is honestly something of a letdown - you can't get up close, there's really only one major engraving and it's in a greater state of ruin than the others) we walked along a quiet trail - famous for being a hangout for thugs before the site had adequate police protection, which was worrisome - and we saw many insects, butterflies and a coatimundi.
Leafcutter ants make for great photographs!

I love the gnarled roots in this faded-out photo of Semuc Champey, 60 kilometers from Coban (20 of those kilometers are pure hell on bumpy mud roads).

To get there from Tikal, we took a shared van - but the direct route from Sayaxche was flooded out, so we had to go south and west via Rio Dulce. Go plot Flores to Coban via Rio Dulce and you'll see how trying that was.

Semuc Champey is near the small town of Lanquin, which is both friendly and picturesque.

Semuc Champey is a series of pools of varying color filled with clear, swimmable water. It was made when a natural limestone bridge formed over a river, and more water cascaded over the stone. The color of the water varies in jewel tone from aquamarine to turquoise to emerald.

Every town in Guatemala has its church, and Lanquin is no exception.

I love this photo for its simplicity (for the record, I did ask and they were happy to pose).

We stayed at El Retiro - deservedly popular with backpackers, it's scenic, friendly and relaxing, and only a short walk from Lanquin town. It was definitely worth it to stay there, even though the culture there is more early-twenties and we were thirty year olds on a honeymoon (they do have private rooms).

From Lanquin, we took a charter van to Antigua (not wanting to stay in Guatemala City at all). We stayed at Casa Cristina, a charmingly cozy and affordable hotel near Iglesia de la Merced. I highly recommend it.

I'm a big fan of the giant rosaries draped on the front of some churches, and Iglesia de la Merced is no exception.

The Arco Santa Catalina - no pictoral of Antigua is complete without it, even though I didn't get a truly great picture. It was originally built so that nuns living in the monastery could cross the street to the other monastic building without being seen.

The fountain in the town square just after sunset - you can see a bit of the town cathetdral in the background in white plaster.

I'm not sure what I like more about this photo - the "Bronze" sign, the fairy light nativity scene or the overall composition.

Guatemala was hit by a devastating earthquake in the 1700s and some things were never rebuilt, including this Monstery of the Recollection on the edge of town.

One thing I loved about Antigua were all the oddball door knockers, including this one of a rodent of some sort - there were also upturned heads, hands, tigers, dogs, demons, old men and myriad other designs.

Parts of Antigua are still a bit untouched-up - it shows that this city was lifted out of disrepair by all that has still not been done. The city is full of Maya who come in to sell their wares to tourists.

Behind the white facade of the church above, you'll find the ruins of the old church with it's blown-out domes - when clouds float overhead through the openings it's magical. This is one ruin, like the Recollection, better left as is.

The skyline of Antigua is dominated by this volcano - this picture, by the way, was taken from our hotel room ($5 for a volcano view - totally worth it).

Another awesome door-knocker.

Guatemala City has such an awful reputation that we skipped it altogether, taking a shared van from Antigua straight to the airport when it was time to fly home. I've heard way too many sketchy and disturbing things about Guate to ever want to go there.

Turkey!

Hi all.

Still working on that cultural appropriation post - it's taking longer than I thought, because it's an extremely complex topic.

In the meantime, hey. News. We're officially going to Turkey! We have plane tickets and everything. We'll spend a month traveling around (we'll be sure to return to my maternal ancestral homeland in that time, as well as visiting Mount Ararat - a potent symbol of the Armenian people - and Izmir, the port from which my family escaped Turkey after the 1922 fire.

Then we'll head to Istanbul for a month to take a course before heading home to visit family for a few weeks, and returning to Taiwan from there. All in all we'll be gone for 2 1/2 months.

Woo!

Western Women and Weighty Issues of Weight in Taiwan

The working title of this post was "Weighty Western Women" but then I decided that set a very wrong tone indeed.

Anyway, Shu Flies recently published a great post about body issues and living in Taiwan, and covered the issue quite well from the perspective of a Taiwanese-American (although it could be extended to include East Asian women in general). She also noted the launch of a new site aimed at discussing body issues in the Asian female community - a site I'll definitely keep tabs on, but as a Western woman (OK, white - I'm just gonna say white. I'm so post politically correct - I also answer to "Wonderbread" and "Correction Fluid J") it's not really my community, y'know?

I thought I'd write this post as a rejoinder on what it's like living in Taiwan as a Woman of Curvature.

I do not often talk about appearance or body issues on this blog because I simply choose not to. No, I am not entirely pleased with my body as it is, but I've accepted it in the way one accepts flaws in the personality of one's cat (not that I'd know anything about that) - yeah, it can be annoying but you love it anyway, because it's yours. I also do feel that the Internet can be a hostile place for women, and don't wish to put my appearance out there too much for the potentially nasty comments of an anonymous public who don't know me and have no right to judge.

Egypt 2009 (I'm the same size as I was then) - I never felt as though I was/am unacceptably huge but, like most people, a few sizes down would be dandy

But here, I'll talk about it. And here's how it is: I go on and on about how Taiwan boasts a more egalitarian, female-friendly society than any other in Asia. I've mentioned that feminity garners respect, that female politicians are judged based on their competency, not their looks. I've noted that their maternity and child-raising culture is more professional-female friendly, and that issues surrounding marriage and low birth rates say just as much in favor of women's equality as they do against it. I've noted that key positions in some very high-profile companies are often held by women and that women are encouraged to be business owners, lawyers, doctors, politicians and generally high achievers by their parents (most of the time). The situation is generally pretty good. There's room for improvement, of course, but it's a damn sight more palatable than in any other Asian country.

But here? When it comes to weight, body acceptance and respect regardless of size and body type? I'm sorry, Taiwan, but you've got it wrong. When it comes to this, you are just as backward and misogynist as the rest of the continent can be.

I'm not saying that Taiwan is worse than Japan, Korea or China: when it comes to women and size acceptance, it's equally bad. That's a sad thing indeed, considering how not size-accepting those cultures are. The pain it clearly causes Asian women of any size other than the expected one (on the short side, slender to a fault, boyish hips, tiny butt, no boobs) - not to mention any skin color or eye shape - is a travesty. When salesladies act like your ass changes weather patterns, as Catherine wrote, something is very, very wrong.

For a society that has done so well in accepting female equality and opportunity, I am still gobsmacked at how...how...downright medieval it all is. I'd say "patriarchal", and men of all races with unrealistic expectations do play a part, but let's be honest. Women bring this not upon themselves but they do so often foist it on others. Salesladies, Mean Girls, well-meaning elders who say exactly the wrong thing, frenemies - we do it to each other.

As a white woman living in Taiwan, I do have a "Get Out of Jail Free" card when it comes to body size. Being white means a certain expectation of being...ahem..."fat". It is true that the average Caucasian female can't hope, even through the unhealthiest dieting, to approach the size and body type of the 'ideal' Asian female - we simply have bigger hips, more boobage, wider ribcages and shoulders and we're taller and bigger in general. It wouldn't matter if I lost all the weight I'd like to lose - I'd still be "fat" in Taiwan. What can I say - I'm Polish and Armenian and built like I was meant to push a plow. Eastern European women just...are that way. At a weight I feel good about, I'm a 12. 12 is "fat" in Taiwan. At a weight that allows me to indulge in life's pleasures (if I want to be a 12 I have to never eat bread, drink beer or basically eat anything I like, ever, even if I exercise), I'm a 14.

At my thinnest, as in rib-countingly thinnest, I'm a size 10. I came back from India in 2000 after a bout of dysentery, six months as a vegetarian (my host family was veg, so by default so was I) and a month riding the trains and eating very little as a result. I was a 10. A 10 is "fat" here, too. This is one area where I'll disgree with Catherine - she said you can't shop in regular stores if you're above a 12. I have made Western friends in Taiwan who wore an 8 and they couldn't shop locally. "Normal" sizes stop at 8, but if you have the curves and height of the average white woman, that 8 is still going to pull in all the wrong places, strain at the seams around your womanly attributes, and probably be far too short.

The only upside to this is the fact that it's expected here: you're a Westerner, of course you're "fat". It's OK.

I've also got my height to my advantage. At 5'8", I'm tall for a woman even in the USA and, I swear, tall for a man in Taiwan. My Polish Brick Shithouse bone structure is good for one thing:

That's not to say that I don't occasionally get well-meaning but entirely irritating comments from Old Taiwanese Ladies - Old Wu, my favorite neighborhood ancient lady, once offered me some meat buns as I walked by. I said no, thanks, I just ate but thanks so much. Mmmm, she replied, "if you want to lose weight you should eat less and exercise more". Thanks, Old Wu. I totally didn't know that!

Another older woman - I don't know her name - likes to come up to me, smack me gently in the tummy, and give her sage crone's opinion on whether I've gained or lost weight. She does sometimes say "妳變瘦了呢!" but still...thanks, Old Taiwanese Lady. Thanks.

Over Chinese New Year, I got a Torture Lady massage out in Kaohsiung County. "You need this massage because your muscles are tired, because you're fat. You're fat because your qi is stuck," she said to me as she pounded away.

"Your qi is stuck. That's why you're fat." "Did she just call me fat?" "Yes. Sorry Jenna." "Argh.....OW!"

I will say that other than Old Taiwanese Ladies, though, I don't get judgemental comments, and those Old Taiwanese Ladies don't mean it the way a Westerner would take it: at least, I don't think they mean "you are unacceptable! You need to lose weight right now!" when they say "Oh, that's because you're fat" or "you've gained weight" - they mean exactly what they say without the catty undertones I might expect back home. (Catherine has a point that size acceptance has made great leaps in the USA, but the cattiness hasn't quite gone away. If you don't believe me, check Craigslist...pretty much anywhere).

I never have to deal with rude salesladies because I cannot shop in normal stores in Taiwan. Full stop. Not happening, ever. Even if I lose weight: I'd still have too-wide hips and be too tall. If it helps, I can't buy shoes, either, unless I go to Sandy Ho. I pretty much have to order my clothes from abroad, get them tailored or buy old lady clothes.

This makes me sad - I've lived here for years and met many Taiwanese women of varying sizes. They are not exactly a hidden subgroup, and while they may not be in the majority, they're certainly not such a minority that they deserve the retail treatment they get. This population deserves more than the teenybopper fashions at 5XL (what an offensive name, too), Crazy Dragon Lady Chinese outfits (which I totally wear) and the matronly clothes on offer at H&L (which is at least respectably named).

So in this way, Taiwan still has a long way to go until it can claim to truly be woman-friendly - as unfortunate as it is, size still is primarily a female issue, and greater expectations regarding i are heaped on women by their parents, magazine and newspaper pieces and ads, each other, men in their dating spheres and society at large.

Now, unlike Catherine, I have never suffered from depression, and while I'm not entirely satisfied with my body as it is, it's never been something I fretted too much over. I won't hide it, though - or rather, I will reveal here what I do hide: my insecurity is such that when it comes to photos, I apply the same old tricks to hide a size that I don't like being. I do the whole "lean into husband" thing:

Or the "cut off at the edge of the picture thing:

Or the "you may photograph my entire body but only in this outfit which is flattering" thing:

I will say that the expectation that I be "fat" is freeing in a way: if it's an issue of "oh, you're white, so it's fine", then it's racist, sure, but the attitude of "it's normal for you" makes me feel like, well, yes, I am built like Peasant Magda and so I'm never going to be thin, so in a way it is normal for me. Back home, there seems to be this idea that if I shed a ton of weight that it might be possible to actually look like those girls on magazine covers. At least here, everybody knows that's ludicrous.

One thing I do have to my advantage beyond height: I have more boob-tacular boobaliciousness than my Asian sisters. So hey, in at least one case, Polish genes for the win?

I'm not talking about accepting poor health, by the way. I simply believe that healthy women come in all sizes, including those not represented by models and actresses. I believe in accepting a range of natural sizes and shapes in women. Yes, obesity is a health issue and should be treated as such, but we're not talking obesity here. We're simply talking differently-sized women.

And when it comes to differently-sized women, Taiwan, like its East Asian neighbors, needs to buck up and get with the program. It is absolutely not acceptable to insist on such an unhealthy standard for women here.

So where do they get it right? Where, besides America, has size acceptance really worked for a culture? Most of Sub-Saharan Africa (and even North Africa to an extent - there is no shame in being curvy in Morocco or Egypt) for one, and to an extent, India. Yes, India. I know, I know, the matrimonial ads (don't even get me started on those: foreign graduated fine-featured male seeks wife with wheatish complexion, willing to move abroad, medical degree preferred, slim, healthy, caste no bar) are full of weight-hatin' nonsense, but there is an undercurrent, culturally, in accepting that beauty comes in different forms and a curvier Indian woman will be accepted for who she is. It's almost expected that after marriage she'll put on weight, and certainly expected after childbirth - motherhood in all its manifestations is celebrated, including the addition of a little extra padding.

Author's note:

This post is not about accepting and celebrating obesity (as I did mention above, but maybe I need to say it twice). It is not even about being "overweight" or "fat", although weight is a factor. It is simply about being differently shaped and sized than the average woman in the country in which I live, and "differently shaped and sized" does not necessarily mean overweight...and overweight does not automatically equate to obese. This post is for Western women who are taller, curvier or simply have a larger bone structure than the average Taiwanese woman: that means, basically, almost all of us.

This post is also not about bashing slender or petite women. I don't do woman-bashing. There's enough of that on the Internet - I believe in support, kindness and acceptance. I have nothing against naturally slender Asian women. Hey, good for them! I cannot, however, condone diet pills and unhealthy levels of dieting. I cannot condone the size-based judgement and contempt with which women scare each other every day. I cannot condone "underweight" as something desireable, and you know (yes, you do) that this happens all the time in Taiwan.

Normally, I am happy to allow comments with dissenting views and even a bit of snark - I'm all about having tough conversations on certain topics. This post, however, has the potential to generate a lot of invective and as it does deal with some personal (and flash-fight-friendly) issues, I'm controlling comments with an iron fist. Your comment will not be published - and possibly not even read in its entirety - if it:

1.) Assumes that overweight=obese

2.) Has any hate-filled, sanctimonious, prejudiced or condescending language

3.) Takes any sort of sexist or misogynist stance towards women and weight

4.) Takes any sort of racist stance towards women and weight

5.) Assumes (wrongly) that this post is about accepting or celebrating obesity

6.) Assumes (wrongly) that this post is simply about being "overweight" and not about fundamentally different sizes and shapes in Taiwan.

7.) Automatically assumes that thin=healthy

The Internet can be a hostile place for women generally and there is a lot of anonymous hate out there. I will not contribute to that.

I like to give my opinion.

Hey all. Go buy a Taipei Times tomorrow (Sunday) and check the opinion page. Thanks!

Bobblehead

My husband just put up a post from our trip to Kaohsiung about the preponderance of Chen Chu...for lack of a better word...cartoons. He noted that it's a huge political difference from the USA, where this sort of marketing of a political leader in Chen Chu's position (or any position really) would simply not be accepted by the public - at least not if the toys were churned out by a governor's office or worse, the White House.

Official Chen Chu toys (I bought the cell phone charm)

I agree, but take it one step further: this is a peculiarity of southern Taiwan - yes, you can buy Ma Ying-jiu bobbleheads, Chiang Kai-shek bobbleheads (which make him look like a kindly old grandfather, which is so deeply inappropriate), Chen Shui-bian and even Mao Zedong bobbleheads. In fact, one of my favorite things to do whenever I visit the Chinese Handicraft Mart on Zhongshan S. Road is to go to the Politician Bobblehead display and make it so Bobblhead Ma and Bobblehead Chiang Kai-shek are making out.

I know, I'm immature. Whatevs. :)

It's worth it to note that politicians don't always directly resemble their cartoons:

From the Taipei Times: what I love about Chen Chu is that she always looks like she's having fun. Ma - not getting into how I disagree with his policies - always looks like an annoyed zombie.

I would like to point out here that Chen is the poster girl - literally - for a major cultural difference between Taiwan and the USA. Chen is not a beautiful woman, but she is a fiercely competent one. In America, a Chen-equivalent female politician would be the object of invective-filled debate and comments regarding her appearance. American female politicians can't win: either you're a MILF, you're an outdated, unfashionable old pensioner (despite being the most prominent female public figure we have who actually has a job she can do!) or, even worse, you are a woman with a "fat ****" - despite the fact that Michelle Obama is not, technically, a "politician".

Correct me if I am wrong - in fact, if I am wrong I'd love to hear it in the comments - but this just doesn't happen with Chen Chu despite her being one of the most prominent female public figures in Taiwan next to Tsai Ying-wen, former Vice President Annette Lu and of course a small gaggle of former presidents' wives.

The worst I've heard is a student who said that it's "hard to recognize her from her cartoon because the cartoon is cute...at least the hair is the same". Maybe a little unfair, but hardly scathing. In general, I've found people take or leave Chen based on her politics and her record, not her looks. This is a cultural tic that I certainly hope the USA can acquire.

Anyway.

There's a key difference between Taipei and Kaohsiung here: in Taipei, the politician toys and cartoons stay in a few souvenir shops and only come out en force around election time, when they're everywhere. Otherwise, I don't know about you, but I don't see Cartoon Ma Avatars, or even Hau Lung-bin ones, all over Taipei or any other city in the north. Chen Chu has really spearheaded this effort to get her "face" - her cartoon face, at least - out there to the point where you can't not notice. I have to wonder if there's something of a cultural difference between northern and southern Taiwan here, or if it really is just Chen Chu doing her Chen Chu thing (I think she's awesome, for the record).

I also can't help but remember this piece from the New York Times, which I read back when it came out. Outside Kaohsiung and with no elections looming, Taiwan may not have that many politician cartoon avatars. Like Japan, however, Taiwan has cartoon policemen, cartoon military officers and cartoon postal workers. It seems to be a fairly clear cultural influence, at least to me.

Postal Worker Bobbleheads on sale at the Taiwan Post Office, from Dave Espionage

And, as I link to below in the caption, using cartoons to "cute-ify" authority is fairly popular in China, too.

Police Cartoons from Global Voices - the article is worth reading

But you know? I won't lie. I totally bought a Chen Chu cell phone charm.

If Chen Chu finds that this kind of exposure helps her, then more power to her. We need more competent female politicians in Taiwan and abroad, and we certainly need more beloved and competent politicians from the DPP these days.

I mean, hey, who can fault the woman? She's certainly accomplished. She's an experienced rabbit hunter:

She's an airline pilot:

She's a farmer:

And she's...a Broadway dancer? A character from Mad Men? A Vaudeville scheister? A member of the Rat Pack?

It's Biriyani-Pilaf Fusion Night!

I'm working on two fairly long posts on two tough topics: cultural appropriation and sexism in the workplace for female expats - but it's going to be another week at least before either is published. I'm thinkin' I might actually do a 2nd draft of each, which will be a big change from my usual habit of "blurble on and on following my thoughts and hit 'Publish'." :)

In the meantime, enjoy this awesome recipe for fusion brown rice biriyani-pilaf - one of the many foreign dishes I routinely cook in Taipei with ingredients available locally.

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:

1.5 cups brown rice, pref. organic
6 dates, pitted if possible
A cup of nuts (cashews are best but almonds or peanuts would do)
One large carrot
Small chunks or slivers of pre-cooked meat (cured pepper beef or ham, pre-cooked beef liver or pan-cooked mutton or chicken in spices would all do - I totally used the last nub of cured pepper ham in our fridge) - optional
2 heaping teaspoons ground flaxseed
Finely sliced and grated orange peel
1 tbsp ginger, cut into coins or crushed
As much garlic as you can stand
olive oil
Sesame oil (optional)
salt
ground cumin, black pepper, turmeric, coriander seed, paprika, allspice (about 1 tsp each, give or take for taste and freshness) - all available at Trinity Superstores near City Hall MRT or at Jason's or even Wellcome - you don't need all of these spices, it's really to your taste. You only really need the cumin, pepper and turmeric
Salt to taste
A dash of cinnamon (optional)
cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
lemon juice to taste (about 1/5 cup for me)
2 tablespoons butter (optional)

Method:

Begin the cooking of your brown rice (this takes time - for every cup of rice use 2.5 cups water and a dash of salt) - You can use white or basmati rice but I try to be healthy with the brown

Julienne your carrot - I have a julienne peeler that I got as a Christmas gift and love so YAY - including the skin
Chop up your dates
Chop up your optional meat
Put nuts, dates, carrot and meat (already cooked if not cured) into a bowl and set aside

Sliver or crush your garlic
Measure out your spices
Coin or crush your ginger
Sliver or grind your orange peel

Put as much olive oil as you think you'll need into your pan - I use a wok because I'm awesome. You don't need extra virgin olive oil as the flavors in that cook off most of the time - but you can drizzle a little extra virgin over it when it's done.

Add dry spices, ginger, garlic, orange peel, turn on low heat and cook until lightly roasted and it smells awesome.

Add lemon juice, allow to heat up a bit and then dump in the carrot/nut/meat/date mixture, cook gently on low-medium heat until it smells good and looks just lightly cooked (you don't want it getting too soggy)

Add brown rice which should have already been cooked and mix together stir-fry style. When everything is well mixed and colored with the spices (should be yellow from the turmeric), add a tiny bit of sesame oil (good for you!) and monter a buerre (bad for you but oh so good) with the butter. Mix in flaxseed quickly (very very good for you) and serve hot.

If you want to do even better, substitute 1/3 of the rice with cooked yellow lentils, mixed right in (or just add lentils) - don't overcook them to soup consistency; you want them cooked so that they retain some structure and cohesion but of course soft enough that they are pleasant to eat, and lentils taste great with the spices in this recipe!

You can also customize this recipe with vegetables you like by adding or substituting: bell peppers, tomatoes, well-chopped spinach, cauliflower, onions and mushrooms all work a treat.

Oh, hey.

I know I wrote awhile back to mention that our wedding was featured on Brave Bride (which has been retired).

Well, just as awesomely, we've now been featured on Offbeat Bride!

Go us.

:)

On there you can read the profile and see our 50 (or so - I think it was 53 in total) favorite photos from the day.