Travels in the Riel World

Every year, the National Football League produces t-shirts and hats to commemorate the winning team in the Super Bowl. These items are, of course, passed out on the field immediately after the game finishes - leaving one to wonder what happens to the products that were made for the team that didn’t win. It seems they are distributed via charitable organizations to poor people in far-off rural communities, never to be seen again in the United States.

That means that somewhere on planet Earth are t-shirts made to commemorate the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl championship and perfect 19-0 season from a year ago. That title, as every fan knows (and as it pains me to write even now), slipped away with less than a minute to go in the champiosnship game when the New York Giants mounted a startling comeback on the game’s final drive. But Aaron Kaplowitz wanted to know where those Patriots t-shirts were, so he and a friend set off on an improbable quest to find them. And find them they did - in rural Nicaragua. Kaplowitz then penned an amusing article about the quest.

So when the 18-1 Patriots failed to live up to Reebok’s prophecy, World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, arranged to ship the memorabilia to people in need in nearly inaccessible places, ensuring that these treasured items would not see the light of day back in the States.

But with a trip to Panama and Costa Rica already in the offing, Ilan, my roommate at Boston University, and I, both lifelong Giants fans, decided that dipping into Nicaragua for a few days to try and get our hands on the rare collectors’ items was a necessary addition to our itinerary.

They found what they were looking for in the tiny town of San Gregorio.

…soon we were accosting villager after villager, receiving new information and hot leads each time. We snaked our way through the back roads and happened upon a young woman sitting at a rectangular entry carved into a chicken-wire fortress. Hannibal spoke to her, then waved Ilan and me inside, where I saw people standing around a circular pavilion, looking into a dirt pit enclosed by long wooden boards, and I heard a frantic cacophony of clawing, clucking, and banging. Only then did I realize that I was standing among roosters being trained for cockfights.

Walking past the furious birds, we made our way to a counter where a teenage girl was selling beer. Jessica told Hannibal she used to have a Patriots shirt but didn’t know where she had put it. Besides, she said, why would we want it? The XXL-sized shirts were too big for humans.

I glanced at my watch. It was 4:30 p.m. Hannibal told me the final bus out of San Gregorio left at 5.

Hannibal quickly led us to a row of one-room hovels, where we met a wrinkled woman sitting outside in a mint-green dress and a white apron. Her warm smile revealed a mouth lacking teeth. Hannibal and the woman talked for a few minutes. I reminded Hannibal that we were willing to pay money for a hat or shirt. The woman entered her shack and returned with a black plastic bag.

My fingers curled with anticipation as Ilan removed a fresh, clean shirt and a never-worn hat. This could have been Brady’s. This should have been Brady’s.

The woman couldn’t believe we were willing to pay money for these things. We gave her $5, a sizable amount in the area, and handed Hannibal an equal finder’s fee before sprinting down the road as the bus began to gain speed out of town. The driver slowed to let us on.

Interesting essay in the recent issue of Time Magazine. Carla Power examines a key difference between Western and Muslim societies, notably that Westerners are uncomfortable with public prayer while Muslims are uncomfortable seeing bare skin in public. She writes:

Reams have been written on the differences between Islamic and Western societies, but for sheer pithiness, it’s hard to beat a quip by my former colleague, a Pakistani scholar of Islamic studies. I’d strolled into his office one day to find him on the floor, at prayer. I left, shutting his door, mortified. Later he cheerfully batted my apologies away. “That’s the big difference between us,” he said with a shrug. “You Westerners make love in public and pray in private. We Muslims do exactly the reverse.”

At the nub of debates over Muslim integration in the West lies the question, What’s decent to do in public–display your sexuality or your faith? The French have no problem with bare breasts on billboards and TV but big problems with hijab-covered heads in public schools and government offices. Many Muslims feel just the opposite.

As my friend suggested, Westerners believe that prayer is something best done in private, a matter for individual souls rather than state institutions. In the Islamic world, religion is out of the closet: on the streets, chanted five times daily from minarets, enshrined in constitutions, party platforms and penal codes. Sexual matters are kept discreet…

So here is a sweeping generalization, but perhaps a useful one: Western societies are cultures of personal revelation and exposure, while Muslim cultures are traditionally structured around protecting honor and propriety. On our shrunken planet, the two codes bump up against each other, throwing the other into relief.

Only in Japan would a dress resembling a vending machine be able to double as anti-crime camouflage. The Japanese have a proliferation of vending machines on street corners, as well as a penchant for funky and innovative inventions. Hence, a dress that unfolds into a full-length sheet and enables the wearer to hide behind a replica of a vending machine — and, presumably, to elude a would-be robber. The International Herald Tribune has the story:

On a narrow Tokyo street, near a beef bowl restaurant and a pachinko parlor, Aya Tsukioka demonstrated new clothing designs that she hoped would ease Japan’s growing fears of crime.

With a deft motion, Tsukioka, a 29-year-old fashion designer, lifted a flap on the front of her skirt to reveal a large sheet of cloth printed in bright red with a soft drink logo partly visible. By holding the sheet fully open and stepping to the side of the road, she showed how a woman walking alone could elude pursuers - by disguising herself as a vending machine.

The wearer hides behind the sheet, which is printed with a life-size photo of a vending machine. Tsukioka’s clothing is still in the developmental stage, but she has already created several versions, including one that unfolds from a kimono, and a deluxe model with four sides for more complete camouflaging.

Observers acknowledge that street crime is still a rare occurrence in Japan, but the fear of crime is growing nevertheless because of media coverage of those incidents that do occur. Even more interestingly, the article notes that these designs are a uniquely Japanese approach to battling crime and is influenced by the country’s culture.

…Japanese ideas about crime prevention are the product of deeper cultural differences. While Americans want to protect themselves from criminals, or even strike back, the creators say many Japanese favor camouflage and deception, reflecting a culture that abhors self-assertion, even in self-defense.

“It is just easier for Japanese to hide,” Tsukioka said. “Making a scene would be too embarrassing.” She said her idea of the vending machine disguise was inspired by a trick used by Japan’s ancient ninja, who cloaked themselves at night under black blankets.

Most images of Vietnam center around a Communist government, a developing economy or faded memories of a long ago war. Few people associate Vietnam with a high-end consumer economy or think of the Vietnamese as purchasers of luxury goods. But that is, in fact, the new reality in this country, at least among a well-heeled segment of the younger generation. The Associated Press has the story:

In a country whose peasant army once marched on flip-flops cut from old tires, Gucci beach sandals priced at $365 can come as a shock.

But the luxury market is booming in Vietnam, where Ho Chi Minh’s communist revolution exalted equality and the common man just a generation ago.

As the country begins to embrace private enterprise, its nouveaux riches are snapping up shoes at Gucci, handbags at Louis Vuitton and watches at Cartier, showing how much the country has changed after decades of war…

Not long ago, displays of wealth were frowned upon in Vietnam. Those tire-sandaled troops who bested the French colonial army and outlasted the Americans embodied frugality and egalitarianism. The revolutionary government snatched up the assets of the wealthy and redistributed them to the poor.

But since the late 1980s, a government that once micromanaged all economic affairs has been introducing free-market reforms and courting foreign investors. With them have come Western styles and attitudes.

“Members of the new generation want to enjoy life and pamper themselves with luxurious things,” said Nguyen Thi Cam Van, 39, who has purchased five $1,000 handbags at Louis Vuitton.

For many people, there is no more potent symbol of Japanese culture than the kimono.  It has been immortalized in the popular imagination, and in numerous movies and books, such as Memoirs of a Geisha.  However, there is now a story in the Washington Post about the declining importance of the kimono in modern Japanese culture.

Few garments are as tied to a nation as the kimono is to Japan. In a society that values the unspoken, its colors and patterns have for centuries served as an alternative form of speech. … the kimono long remained the vanity garment of choice for major events in Japanese life. But now, the country’s own demographics are working against it.

Fewer Japanese are marrying today than ever, and those who do largely shun traditional white wedding kimonos in favor of Western-style dresses. A declining birthrate, meanwhile, has meant fewer babies, which in turn has meant fewer sales of kimonos for children’s coming-of-age rites. Nationwide, kimono sales have more than halved in the past decade.

The article is an interesting read.  It provides a look into how the Japanese culture is changing, and it also provides a glimpse into the fading art of kimono weaving.

His fingers muscled from almost a century of weaving, Yasujiro Yamaguchi worked the humming loom in his private workshop. Patiently lacing golden threads through a warp of auburn silk, he fashioned a bolt of kimono fabric blooming with an autumn garden in shades of tea green, ginger and plum.

But Yamaguchi, like Japan’s signature kimono, is slipping into winter. At 102, he is among the last master weavers of Nishijin, the country’s most celebrated kimono district, and his pace has slowed. He rubbed the morning chill from his knuckles, fitted his hunched shoulders deeper inside his indigo jacket and resolutely pushed on.

This kimono — for the role of a willowy beauty in a classical Noh play, withering from the loss of her lover — will take him a full year to make.  If Yamaguchi doesn’t finish it, there are few weavers left in Japan skilled enough to take over.

The Asian Games are currently being held in the Muslim nation of Qatar.  By all accounts, the games are a success and the capital city of Doha has spent billions of dollars on facilities and infrastructure upgrades in hopes of attracting future sporting events, perhaps even a Summer Olympics.  But one thing money cannot buy is a change in sporting attire, such as the tiny bikinis worn by female beach volleyball players that are now opening eyes in Qatar.

When Salim Al-Nabit and his friends went to see beach volleyball for the first time, they left their wives home.

Al-Nabit said he would watch the bikini-clad women, but he certainly wouldn’t want his wife to do so. He was there, he added, because it was a matter of national honor.

“We don’t see this a lot in Qatar,” Al-Nabit said. “I think most people think it is outrageous. But we accept it because it is important for our country. We want others to see us as a generous and hospitable people, willing to accept their ways, even if we don’t agree.”

Among the 16 Muslim nations represented at the Asian Games, only one has a team entered in the beach volleyball competition - Iraq, who is represented by two Christian sisters attired in somewhat more conservative shorts and tops.

The Qatari women are sitting out the event, though Qatar has teams for everything from archery to skeet shooting.

“It’s not good,” said Parvana Khoory, who watched from the almost-empty stands around the 1,500-seat center court dressed in black from head to toe. “We want a woman to cover all of her body. I think this discourages Muslim women from playing this sport.”

It can be risky to show too much skin in India, even for a model.  According to this recent story, Indian police have begun monitoring fashion shows to make sure that models are appropriately covered up.

Indian police have an unusual undercover surveillance job this week: scanning the ramps and observing models at a top fashion show to check that no one intentionally displays too much flesh.

Police in plain clothes mingled with India’s cigar-chomping, crystal-clinking class at the Lakme Fashion Week, after busting zippers and slipping bustiers at the show’s last edition sparked a morality debate in the conservative country. …

In March, a series of “wardrobe malfunctions” at the show saw models exposing their breasts and buttocks, sending newspapers and television channels into a frenzy of excitement.

Why is this public display of flesh causing such an outcry?  The article notes that:

Talk of sex in public is considered rude in India, while even holding hands or kissing in public is frowned upon and can draw jeers.

It’s commonly assumed among Westerners that residents of Islamic countries uniformly support the veiling of women.  However, as the Christian Science Monitor reports, some of the most vigorous debates on this issue occur not between the West and Islam, but between different factions inside Islamic countries.  Interestingly, the debate over the veil is as intense within Islam as it is outside the faith.

When former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw insisted last month that female Muslim constituents show their faces when meeting with him, he set off a fiery debate about whether the face-covering niqab should be allowed in Britain’s multicultural society.

But often forgotten amid such controversies in Europe - which tend to center on allegations of “Islamophobia” or the desire of Western nations to control a minority community - is the fact that nowhere is the debate over the Islamic veil older or more heated than in Muslim societies themselves.

From Morocco and Tunisia, to Turkey and Iran, majority Muslim states have at various times restricted, and in some cases banned, women’s head coverings. To varying degrees, such restrictions stem from a view that public exhibitions of religious commitment are a political, not a personal, act - and hence a potential threat to the government.

One of the differences commonly used to differentiate between cultures is the degree of formality or informality exhibited by people in their speech, dress, etc.  There was an interesting article this week in the NY Times that discussed how an Iraqi Olympic official took on some of the informal traits of the U.S. culture during a recent exchange stint in this country - and how, in a strange twist of fate, his newfound informality may have saved his life.

Emad Nasser Hussein began dressing more casually during the three months he spent working with the U.S. Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs.  Back in Iraq, he went to work one day without a suit on, which he never would have done previously, and was in a meeting when gunmen stormed in and took numerous officials hostage.  Because he was dressed informally, though, it was assumed he was a less important employee.  As he reported:

“I was wearing a red and white T-shirt I bought in California. The gunmen just wanted the guys in suits. I guess they thought I cleaned the place.’ ”

The design of most modern sportswear puts many Muslim women athletes in a curious bind: adhere to their faith and have their motions hampered or compromise their beliefs in the name of athletic performance?

This is obviously a conundrum for Muslim female athletes.  However, as National Geographic recently reported, a few companies have broken new ground by developing sportswear that covers the body, thus providing a more practical way for Islamic females to engage in athletics.  The article points out that this is not only a topic of interest in Muslim countries, but also in the growing Islamic communities in Europe and North America.