following
on pulau penang now, georgetown.
out of the rain and into the sun.
i've begun partially stalking and partially running away from an old man clad in bright orange robe. i first saw him sitting near a guan yin temple, looking at a tree filled with tiny shrines. then i saw him outside of the hindu temple, both of us called by the clanging bell. he prayed outside and did not go in. he is frighteningly intense looking. i'm afraid he has noticed me peering at him and then running into bushes. he has an orange cloth wrapped around his head going up in a cone. underneath is a huge mass of dreadlocked hair. it is about a foot high.
my boots broke yesterday. tomorrow will now be spent looking for a cobbler.
we went to a snake temple near georgetown. it tried its hardest to persuade me that there is no magic left in the world. originally, the temple was said to have filled miraculously with pit vipers who became its guardians. now the snakes are wrapped around a few frames near the altars. the biggest ones are kept in tiny glass cages with rocks weighing down the lids. there are many pictures of smiling white people with snakes wrapped around their heads. at the guan yin altar a young woman tried to sell me rhinestone santa claus trinkets. the gift shop is bigger than the temple. connected to this whole monstrosity is a snake farm. the wild snakes have left, scared off by increasing people and the massive industrial development in the area. the ones left are nothing but slaves to the tourist trade.
from there we went to an organic tropical fruit farm. we met mimosa (shy) grass- you touch it and it curls in like a blushing debutant! we learned all about fruits- common and exotic. we got to eat the miracle fruit that makes water sweet and crap apples taste like candy. we ate egg yolk fruit! i decided that despite the snake temple, there may still be magic in the world. we still search for the elusive durian.
so so- here for a little longer. we're still not sure what all the flooding means for our entry into thailand. georgetown is interesting but it gives me a funny feeling that i can't put my finger on. there are many things to like about it but for some reason it makes me uneasy...
out of the rain and into the sun.
i've begun partially stalking and partially running away from an old man clad in bright orange robe. i first saw him sitting near a guan yin temple, looking at a tree filled with tiny shrines. then i saw him outside of the hindu temple, both of us called by the clanging bell. he prayed outside and did not go in. he is frighteningly intense looking. i'm afraid he has noticed me peering at him and then running into bushes. he has an orange cloth wrapped around his head going up in a cone. underneath is a huge mass of dreadlocked hair. it is about a foot high.
my boots broke yesterday. tomorrow will now be spent looking for a cobbler.
we went to a snake temple near georgetown. it tried its hardest to persuade me that there is no magic left in the world. originally, the temple was said to have filled miraculously with pit vipers who became its guardians. now the snakes are wrapped around a few frames near the altars. the biggest ones are kept in tiny glass cages with rocks weighing down the lids. there are many pictures of smiling white people with snakes wrapped around their heads. at the guan yin altar a young woman tried to sell me rhinestone santa claus trinkets. the gift shop is bigger than the temple. connected to this whole monstrosity is a snake farm. the wild snakes have left, scared off by increasing people and the massive industrial development in the area. the ones left are nothing but slaves to the tourist trade.
from there we went to an organic tropical fruit farm. we met mimosa (shy) grass- you touch it and it curls in like a blushing debutant! we learned all about fruits- common and exotic. we got to eat the miracle fruit that makes water sweet and crap apples taste like candy. we ate egg yolk fruit! i decided that despite the snake temple, there may still be magic in the world. we still search for the elusive durian.
so so- here for a little longer. we're still not sure what all the flooding means for our entry into thailand. georgetown is interesting but it gives me a funny feeling that i can't put my finger on. there are many things to like about it but for some reason it makes me uneasy...
posted by natalie at 6:54 AM
1 Comments:
Hello you two! Sounds like you are having a great time. I got your postcard just before I left France, and it is on my fridge now. Yay!!
I must say Natalie, your blog is much more artistic than mine... much more poetic. I'm enjoying it.
Merry holidays to you two. Love ya.
Vanessa
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