Travels in the Riel World

It’s not every day that a big budget film is produced in a country where movie theaters are still considered illegal (because it promotes the mixing of the sexes).  But that is exactly what is happening in Saudi Arabia, with a new movie by Saudi producers examining the conflict within a family when a young girl is torn between career dreams and household expectations.  Prince Walid bin Talal, who owns the production company, says:

 ”I am correcting a big mistake, that is all,” said Prince Walid, sitting in his office high above Riyadh. “I want to tell Arab youth: You deserve to be entertained, you have the right to watch movies, you have the right to listen to music.”

And the cultural struggle that is depicted in the movie?

“The struggle within the different elements of Saudi society today is almost as strong as that between America and the Arab world,” said Ayman S. Halawani, the producer. “Many families have moderates and extremists. … And we want to show the struggle that happens within.”

The producers hope to show the movie to Saudis elsewhere in the Arab world, as well as in European film festivals.

The Middle East is an underappreciated travel destination.  The region gets a bad reputation because of Islamic radicals and the Israeli-Palestinian issue, among other things, and those realities do have to be considered when planning a trip.  But it’s also true that the people of the Middle East tend to be incredibly hospitable, the ancient attractions are numerous, and the prices are inexpensive.

At Hackwriters.com, writer Tariq Elkashef ruminates on his growing appreciation for Cairo, Egypt…

I used to think Cairo was a dump. A noisy, dusty, congested cesspit; where the touts, the traffic, and the tower blocks blend into one seething unremarkable mass around the river Nile. Those were the days when I didn’t really know Cairo. Now I go there every year. To relax, to contemplate, and to surround myself with history. To walk along the banks of the Nile, photograph its many mosques, admire the night time skyline, and to absorb the unmistakable buzz of Africa’s largest city.

At the end of the article, he describes a favorite place to watch the sunset, the 6th October bridge between Cairo and Zamalek…

It is from this bridge that one can really begin to take it all in. As the sun drops somewhere over the western desert and lights come on all around you, the Nile flows like a huge silent snake beneath you, reflecting a city skyline that ranks with London or Istanbul. And as you absorb this visual feast, the call to prayer begins in a mosque quietly in the distance, and then leaps across the city from mosque to mosque, from minaret to minaret. Until it too, is all around you, drowning out the sound of cars, and playing like an orchestra as you watch the lights dance around Africas largest city, the stars above and their reflection in the awesome river below.

Very sad news about the terrorist bombing yesterday in Dahab, Egypt.  Lisa and I were there last summer and had a great time in what was a peaceful, relaxed location on the Red Sea.  Dahab is an old Bedouin village that has been overtaken by tourism, but it’s still a small town and you can walk from one end to the other in about 20 minutes. 

Ironically, we were there just days after last year’s bombing at Sharm el Sheikh, which is one-and-a-half hours from Dahab.  We were actually on our way to the Sinai peninsula the day after that attack and had to deal with our own questions about whether or not to stay in Egypt.  One of the reasons we felt comfortable remaining in the country is that we never felt unsafe among the Egyptian people, who were friendly and hospitable.  It’s tragic that our world has descended into such madness and we feel for the Egyptian people who were so nice to us and who are now suffering from this insanity.

O.K., the gaffes at the White House ceremony are one thing.  Inadvertently giving press credentials to a protester and then using the wrong country name when introducing the Chinese national anthem are not very bright things to do when hosting the President of China, but nevertheless they were slip-ups.  What I really don’t understand is why the Bush administration was so opposed to giving a state dinner for President Hu Jintao.

By all accounts, what the Chinese really wanted was for Hu to be feted with a state dinner, as were his predecessors.  And what the U.S. really wanted was to make progress in trade and other negotiations with the Chinese.  Yet the U.S. steadfastly refused to give the Chinese the benefit of a state dinner and insisted on calling Hu’s visit an “official” one instead of a “state” visit. 

Now, I know some of Bush’s conservative base doesn’t approve of any concessions to the Chinese, and it’s well-known that Bush doesn’t particularly like formal state dinners that last late into the evening.  But when you’re trying to make headway in an important strategic relationship, it seems a bit stubborn to not give in on such simple matters as a dinner and the wording used to describe a visit.  Particularly when the people you’re trying to make headway with are the face-obsessed Chinese.

Almost one-quarter of U.S. businesses offer some form of paid or unpaid sabbaticals to their employees, and many companies are finding that it can be a valuable tool for both rewarding loyalty and helping employees to recharge.

I can personally attest that sabbaticals are a great idea. Lisa and I took our first round-the-world trip because she was able to get a sabbatical approved by her employer in Massachusetts. When it was over, she returned to her job and was a happy and productive employee for several more years, finally changing jobs only because she had a chance to move back to her home state.  Our experience was so positive, in fact, that when we found ourselves with another window of opportunity during a cross-country move in 2005, we decided to travel for several more months.  You can read about our 2005 journey in a blog I published during the trip.

U.S. News and World Report this week takes a look at small firms that do business in Mexico.  The article provides several ideas for business assistance, as well as these cultural tips:

No doubt, face time is a must for potential exporters. “You really need to get a feel for what the environment is like,” Duncan says. Selling that pricey printer took Bittner about a dozen trips. He learned that Mexicans “negotiate very differently,” he says. “Whereas Americans are very strong and say, ‘I want this or that,’ Mexicans are very quiet.” So leave the Donald Trump tactics at home.

 

Tensions continue between Israel and the Palestinians, particularly in light of this past week’s suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.  However, that doesn’t mean tourists are staying away from Israel.  The NY Times just did a feature travel story on the lure of Jerusalem.

It’s always good to see news like this – the University of Tennessee has introduced an initiative to encourage international and intercultural awareness among its students.

Interesting story on relationships in China and how the concept of “face” turns up even in the selection of marriage partners.

Chinese women like their male partner to emphasize the value of their “face.” This value is determined by society and many of its cultural practices relate to this concept.  For a woman her “face” is often judged … by whom she marries, while for a man society asks what official positions he holds or how much money he makes. For this reason it is not difficult to understand why a girl with a college degree is very unlikely to marry a high school graduate. To enhance their “face” women will often ask their boyfriend or prospective husband to do things for her parents.

 

Do you watch the Amazing Race?  Michael Yessis and Jim Benning, co-editors of World Hum, debate whether the show is worthwhile television (Michael) or a lame depiction of travel (Jim).  I’m on Michael’s side.  I watch the show, and any program that shows the world to Americans has to have value.

Michael and Jim do agree on the value of another travel television show, Globe Trekker, which does a great job of showing independent travelers in action around the globe.  Unfortunately, since it is on public television and doesn’t involve a race for a million dollars, it draws a decidedly smaller audience.

Interesting piece by Roger Cohen in the Sunday NY Times that discusses some of the cultural differences between the U.S. and Europe.  Cohen begins by talking about an Italian architect who was recently wounded while working in Afghanistan:

… his presence in the western city of Herat was somehow comforting, even if what had happened to him was not. Each country has its talents; Italy has a talent for beauty. This attribute is not easily measurable: no online graphic can illustrate it. Still, it is palpable, and an architect’s cultural work in an ancient Afghan town seemed to me part of a particular Italian disposition.

After that opening, the article goes on to both lament that these “particularities” of culture are becoming less important in the modern world, and at the same time to suggest that European nations need to be better prepared to deal with change.

French youth … spent weeks in the street to protest and ultimately overturn a law that would have given them jobs at the price of losing existing guarantees against the abrupt termination of employment.  The proposal smacked too much of “precariousness” for the French. … They opted, in short, for security over risk, a choice many Americans find puzzling.

Italians, too, are unhappy with the advance of “precariousness.” This is still a society where a central goal is to be “sistemato” — secured in a paid position, preferably not too labor intensive, that can be held for life and, if possible, passed on to the children.

Such stasis is anathema to Americans, for whom risk, movement and personal ambition are fundamental. … The United States is about the endless possibility of self-reinvention through hard work. It is inseparable from change.

Cohen’s back-and-forth essay is understandable.  Change is inevitable, globalization is here to stay, and the cultural tendency of Americans to move, strive, and take chances is in synch with these times.  But still.  Anyone who has ever enjoyed a meal in a French bistro or whiled away an afternoon in a sunny Italian cafe knows the appreciation that those cultures have for life’s little pleasures and likely understands their reluctance to give up even some of their security or pace of life in the name of economic efficiency.  Is there a happy medium?

 

What cities in the world offer the highest “quality of living?” Mercer Human Resource Consulting recently released its annual quality of living survey of 215 cities worldwide.  The report is meant to help HR executives determine whether expatriates are entitiled to a hardship allowance for an international assignment.

According to the rankings, Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver, Vienna and Auckland are the highest ranking cities in the world for quality of living.  In the U.S., Honolulu is the highest rated city, in 27th place.  In the continental U.S., San Francisco and  Boston rate highest, in 28th and 36th place.  In Asia, Singapore and Tokyo top the rankings in 34th and 35th place.

Mercer does note in its report that …

A city with a high Quality of Living index is a safe and stable one, but it may be lacking the dynamic je ne sais quoi that makes people want to live in world-renowned cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London or New York. Sometimes you need a little spice to make a city exciting. But that “spice” may also give a city a lower ranking. What makes one person’s quality of life better or worse cannot be quantified in an objective index. Therefore, Mercer’s Quality of Living report reflects only the tangible aspects of living in a city on expatriate assignments, and leaves the question of the quality of one’s life to those living it!

So, the real key, apparently, is to be able to combine quality of living with quality of life!

Singapore is making a concerted effort to attract foreign scientists, and is beginning to have some success with U.S. stem cell researchers.  The Southeast Asian city-state is trying to grow its biotechnology sector in an effort to become the “Boston of the East.”

Singapore’s siren song is growing increasingly more irresistible for scientists, especially stem cell researchers who feel stifled by the U.S. government’s restrictions on their field. … what sets Singapore apart is the shear size of its effort to become the “Boston of the east” — along with its promise to limit government meddling. …

“I am offering them academic freedom,” Yeo said, adding that recruits typically get sizable five-year government grants with few strings attached. “They don’t need to spend their time writing grant applications. We are much more efficient.”

The lure of Singapore, though, comes with other questions, as noted later in the article:

Freedom from paperwork is one thing, but some question whether some of Singapore’s harsh social policies, which include punishing political dissent, can attract and retain enough top scientists.

That, of course, has always been the trade-off in Singapore, which is a remarkably well-run and attractive place to live.  But Singaporeans have essentially accepted a restriction on some political and personal freedoms in exchange for a secure and affluent society.  One can argue the pros and cons of that trade-off all day, but it does seem a bit ironic for Singapore to be criticized for restricting political freedoms, while the U.S. is at the same time restricting the research freedom of some of its scientists.  An argument can be made for or against either policy, but in the end, each government is making decisions based on its own values.

In China, the times they are a changing.  More American business executives are drawn to the lure of a work assignment in China, according to this report.  Meanwhile, IKEA is moving quickly into the China market, opening the company’s second biggest store in the world in Beijing.  Perhaps most significant, though, is the slow emergence of a civil society in China, with citizens, lawyers and NGO’s all more engaged in a society that has long been under the control of a strong central government.

Looking for a cheap beach vacation in a developing Asian country?  The Sunday NY Times has articles on Sihanoukville, Cambodia (”the next Phuket?”) and Goa, India (where “a new generation of pilgrims hits India’s hippie trail”).

 

In March, Chile made Michelle Bachelet the first female president in South America who was democratically elected in her own right.  A few months before that, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia became the first woman to be elected president of an African nation.  Is France now ready to go down that same road?  Possibly, as evidenced by this NY Times profile of Ségolène Royal, who is flying high in some polls as a potential contender for France’s highest office in next year’s election. 

What are the most endangered wonders of the world?  And what is threatening them?  Newsweek International tackles that question this week, looking at such sites as Venice, Italy; Macchu Picchu in Peru, the Great Wall of China, and the tombs and monuments of Luxor, Egypt.  The magazine also looks at new wonders, from the iconic Sydney Opera House to the (almost) unreachable International Space Station.

Travel writer Rolf Potts has for several years now been running monthly interviews with fellow writers on his website.  This month’s segment is with Amanda Jones.  A sample:

What is the biggest reward of life as a travel writer? 

I am one of the richest people I know in experience (with the exception of my other travel writer friends). What I have not earned by way of money is more than compensated for by wealth of experience. It has shaped me as a person in a way no office job could. I am braver, calmer, wiser, more tolerant, more competent, more interesting, more amused and possibly more amusing than I would be if I were not a traveler. The road teaches many things.

But perhaps the best thing is that my two daughters have been raised traveling themselves. They have seen incredible poverty and great riches; and they know the rest of the world’s people do not think or look or live like Americans. Because of this they are wonderful little human beings. That alone makes it all worthwhile.