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maddie-nanjingsemester · 6 years ago

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欢迎光临南京！Welcome to Nanjing!

你们好！Wow. Okay. How do I even start this blog post off? There’s so much that has happened within this past week since I’ve arrived that I almost don’t even know where to start – although I guess it makes sense to start at the beginning. So I’m assuming that if you’re reading this blog, you’re aware that I’m studying abroad in Nanjing, China for this whole semester. If so, great! If not, where have you been?? (Just kidding.) This first post is also probably going to be quite long because there’s a lot to talk about, but stay with me! Also, apologies for not posting this sooner – when our program advisors told us this semester was going to be busy, they weren’t lying!

What a whirlwind this first week was. (Oh and yes, technically I have been here for close to two weeks now, but I’m only going to be talking my impressions of Nanjing from the first week in this blog post, so we’ll stick with that.) I left Chicago on February 13 (Wednesday) around midnight, taking a direct flight to Incheon Airport in South Korea. I flew on Asiana Airlines, which, FYI, has great food. They served bibimbap for dinner and the meals came with little instructions on how to prepare it. 真可爱！So cute! Also super tasty.

After a 14-hour flight, during which I basically alternated sleeping and watching Netflix, we landed around 5am on Friday (Feb 15), so I pretty much lost all of Thursday (Valentine’s Day lol). Such a weird feeling to jump so far ahead in time without even really feeling like I lost any time at all. Then I had about an 8-hour layover in the airport, which normally would have been enough time to get out of the airport and see a bit of Seoul, but since we landed so early, hardly anything was even open inside the airport, let alone outside. On top of that, it was snowing and still dark out, so I elected to stay in and wander around for a while. I was also joined by my airplane seatmate, who was on her way to Thailand but wasn’t leaving until the evening. It was so nice having someone to chat with and explore the airport with.

Finally, following a slight delay, my plane to Nanjing took off a little after 1pm. By this point I was so ready to be done with plane rides that I had a bit of a hard time relaxing, but since we still had a 2.5-hour flight ahead of us, I tried to settle in and read my book nonetheless (The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling, if you’re interested). There was another girl from the program on my flight, and we found each other by the baggage claim after going through security/customs. Speaking of security, I didn’t know that you had to get fingerprinted when you went through customs in China! So I guess the government has my prints on file now. The guard was also definitely suspicious of me and kept looking at my passport photo to confirm that it was actually me (I don’t know, I guess my hair looks different now or something?), and even asked for my admission papers from Nanjing University (which, fortunately, I had with me).

After all this, thankfully there were Chinese students from the program waiting at the airport to meet us and help us get to the dorm. We got in a taxi and then had about an hour-long ride to our dorm, during which I had the chance to just sit and absorb the fact that I was actually in China for the very first time! After so much planning and worrying and traveling, I was finally here. Exhausted and ready to sleep, but here. However, because it was only around 5 or 6pm when we arrived, I didn’t want to go to bed right away because I wanted my body to start adjusting to the time difference right away. Another girl from the program who had already been here for a week offered to go walk around the neighborhood with me so I could stretch my legs some and get a first glimpse of the city. It was chilly and drizzling (it’s been raining quite a bit here), but I didn’t mind because I was just so excited to be in Nanjing! It was cool to get to see some of the nightlife on the very first night and get a feel for the neighborhood. It’s definitely a very walkable city.

The organization that I’m studying abroad with is called CIEE, partnered with Nanjing University (one of China’s top universities), and our program is called Intensive Language and Culture in Nanjing. Because it’s really focused on increase our language ability, we signed a language contract on the first day of classes saying that we would aim to speak only Chinese from Sunday-Friday 8am-8pm. In our Chinese classes, we’re basically covering two semesters-worth of material in just one semester. If you choose to live in the dorms, you also get to room with a Chinese student, which I was definitely nervous about, but so far it’s been wonderful! My roommate’s name is 源苑 (Yuányuàn) and she’s a fourth-year majoring in teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages, with plans to go on to graduate school.

The dorm we’re staying in is Nanjing University’s international students' dorm, so it’s been really cool to see all of the other foreign students here and hear a number of different languages being spoken in the elevators and hallways. The CIEE offices and classrooms are also in this building, so going to class in the mornings is incredibly convenient. (I’ve definitely almost been late to class a few times because I don’t have to leave the building, so I’ve cut it pretty close with leaving my room, taking the elevator, and getting to class with about a minute to spare.) I had originally been thinking about doing a homestay, which is the other housing option offered with this program, but ultimately I decided that I wanted to have a bit more freedom in making spontaneous plans and to be able to live more like a real Nanjing University student (体验学生的生活 – learn through the experience of living like a student). Most of the homestays are also about 30-40 minutes away by train or bus, and I was definitely worried about being late for class in the mornings. The trains and buses don’t run 24/7 either so I wouldn’t be able to stay out late with friends if I wanted to be able to get home without paying a lot of money for a taxi. Homecooked meals and getting to experience Chinese family life would be nice, but I do love the convenience of our dorm and its proximity to lots of great restaurants, as well as getting to hang out with my friends from the program whenever I want. Our dorm rooms are definitely pretty bare, but we do have our own private bathrooms! We’re also on the 10th floor, so the view ain’t half bad.

On Saturday at 9am, the day after we arrived, we started orientation, where we got to learn about Nanjing, Nanjing University, and our program. We also had the chance to go downtown, to get our metro cards and new SIM cards, and to get to know each other a little better. There are 14 of us American students in the program, mostly all from different colleges and different states. Then on Sunday, our roommates moved in! I didn’t know who my roommate was going to be until she moved in, so like I said before, I was definitely nervous, but also like I said before, 源苑 is so great. She’s very easygoing and funny, and even though we’re both busy students, we still get meals together a lot and love to chat about random things! We’ve already had some great conversations about the differences between Chinese and American schooling, culture, etc.

Here are some of my favorite things about being here so far:

The convenience store that’s literally right around the corner from our dorm

It’s the perfect place for school supplies, snacks, and basic school supplies or bathroom items, and I probably go there about once a day to pick up a snack or a notebook or something.

Learning more conversational/colloquial words and phrases

In school, we always learned the formal ways of saying things, and while these are all technically correct, they’re not how most people talk in normal conversation!

For example, I grew up learning that 对不起 (duìbuqǐ) was the best way to say “I’m sorry.” While 对不起 is correct, my roommate told me that this is actually a very formal way of saying sorry, so most Chinese say 不好意思 (bù hǎoyìsi), which is more casual. (The appropriate response, then, is 没事 – meí shì, “it’s nothing.”)

How helpful the Chinese professors and roommates are

I’m going to talk more about classes in another post, but my professors are fantastic and I’ve already learned so much. 源苑 is also so good at explaining things to me, from words or phrases that I don’t understand to items on a menu. Everyone in this program is just so willing to help us out with our Chinese!

The food, obviously!!

I’ve had a number of people ask me about all the dishes I’ve eaten, and honestly I can’t even tell you the names of everything I’ve eaten so far, but I can tell you that I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve never been a picky eater and I’ve always been somewhat adventurous when it comes to food, so I’ve pretty much been trying everything people give me.

How many trees there are everywhere!

I honestly did not expect a big Chinese city like Nanjing to be so full of trees and plants and other greenery! I’m definitely excited for it to start getting warmer out so that plants will be able to start blooming again because right now most are pretty bare. But it’s so cool to see trees basically everywhere you look, even lining the main streets.

Here are some of my not-so-favorite things:

Waiting forever for my VPN to connect so I can use the internet

I use Express VPN pretty much all the time now and overall it’s great! So far I’ve mostly been connecting to US locations (although Hong Kong works great for Netflix) and it’s nice to be able to use social media to keep up-to-date with things happening back home. But at certain times during the day, especially in the evening, I have a hard time getting a quick connection, and then websites take a long time to load. I also sometimes have a problem where my VPN is working fine on my computer but not at all on my phone, or vice versa. And then sometimes the servers just won’t connect at all.

Not having a kitchen!!

I love making my own food, and last semester I went down to a very small meal plan so I could make a lot of my own food. Senior year I’m also planning on going off meal plan completely. Here though, I either have to go out for every meal or make instant food in the microwave/with hot water. This can be hard when it’s cold out, or when I’m busy with homework, or when I don’t feel like spending another 30-40元 on a meal. Fortunately, the cafeteria is now open (even though it’s about a 20-minute walk away), and supposedly it’s pretty cheap, so that’ll definitely help.

Having to wait nearly an hour for water to heat up enough to take a shower

In our dorm, we don’t have instantaneous hot water like we do back in the US, so if we want to take a hot shower, we have to turn on the water heater at least an hour before we want to shower in order for it to heat up sufficiently. I don’t like showering at night because going to sleep when my hair is still damp does not do good things for my hair (I showered in the evening last week and then woke up in the morning with all of my hair standing up). If I want to shower before class, I have to wake up at 6 to turn the water on so then I can shower a little after 7. And for someone who takes 5-minute showers, 这是很不方便 (this is not very convenient)!

Not being able to use an American credit card at most stores and restaurants

This one has been quite surprising. I got a travel credit card before I came here for the perk of not having transaction fees, and I assumed that I’d probably be able to use it at most stores and restaurants. However, every place that I’ve been to so far (from Walmart to the convenience store) has only taken Chinese cards. I’m going to delve into this issue in a later post, but it’s for sure not the most convenient to use cash everywhere I go.

However, while these things are inconvenient, I’ve always been one to go with the flow, so I’m making adjustments in my expectations/normal ways of living in accordance with these (mostly) minor hassles. This whole trip is supposed to be a learning experience after all!

In my next post, I’ll go into more detail about my weekly schedule and what my classes are like, and I’ll talk more about what it’s like to have to speak Chinese nearly all the time, so stay tuned!

xoxo 梅迪~

#nanjing #china #semester abroad #study abroad

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m1kemedeiros · 7 years ago

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STRAYA EAST COAST'N - Feb 1st 2018 (Australia ) After travelling to 10 different countries and living in Australia for 2 whole years I've finally set off today on an east coast adventure. I will be travelling almost 2000 kilometres from Cairns to Byron Bay with my gal pal Lauren. Island hopping, boat accommodations, beach exploring, cities and the surf are just a few things we'll be getting into. We took a bus 4 hours from Cairns to Townsville to meet the Sea Link Ferry in order to make it to Magnetic Island. With only half an hour to spare we ran around Townsville trying to get a few things before jumping on the Ferry. Finally "Maggie" Island, outlined in golden sandy beaches and national park. Magnetic Island is home to a small residential neighbourhood of locals, wild koalas and many more critters. It's a great tourist destination and if you're looking for a good time X-Base is where we set up camp amongst many other backpackers looking for a cheap/ fun accommodation. After a relaxed night at Base meeting new people and sipping goon(cheap nasty wine) at a sunset cliff, the next day we explored the island. We hired a convertible 4 wheeler to do some off-roading. We drove across the island to the Fort Walk, I'd say it's more of a hike than a walk but nonetheless it was stunning. Once used for military to store ammunition and camouflage themselves from enemy invaders the Fort is now a popular trek to spot wild koalas and capturing some epic shots of Radical Bay, Arthur Bay and Florence Bay. Including a 360 degree panoramic view of the coast when reached to the tip-top of the Fort. Later we did some SERIOUS off-roading. Lauren drove up and down an extremely steep road with potholes that were 2 feet deep and 1-6 feet wide. There were moments that I thought the vehicle would tip over but we had a cry-laugh about it and explored the 3 bays and national park. If you don't understand "cry-laugh" go slap your funny bone against something hard. After a swim in the ocean we drove to West Point the opposite side of the island, had some ice cream before heading back to base. That evening was well spent with a great couple of American girls, hostel games and loads of dancing. The staff lads at base were such great fellas to party with I felt like I had also worked there for ages. Fun times! The following day after pulling our lives together we headed back to Townsville from the island but had a bit of an expensive hiccup cause Lauren forgot her purse, but it could happen to anyone...all good👌🏼. We now are back on route, down the coast headed straight for the oh so majestic Whitsunday islands. Finally we made it to the small town of Airlie Beach, home to the Great Barrier Reef and gateway to the famous Whitsunday islands. After checking into our accommodation at Nomads hostel we took a stroll around this quiet beach town. I came here to visit exactly two years ago so it was nice to see what changes had been made to this small sleepy oasis. After stocking up on goon we met our new tour group at the marina. We spent 2 days on the Tongarra catamaran soaking up the sun and the sea. Unfortunately for the weather being slightly bipolar, causing major swells, it took ages to get anywhere. We took shelter in Nara Bay an enclosed bay hidden from the rough choppy water. The following day we made it over to the second nicest beach in the world- Whitehaven Beach. Pure beaming white silica sandy beaches, fringed in palm trees and surrounded by swirling blue water, just a few traits Whitehaven is famous for. A $10,000.00 fine goes to anyone caught taking sand from this national park but I couldn't help that a pound of it got caught up in my underwear and swim shorts. Felt lucky to have travelled to this heaven on earth twice ❤️. Riding the catamaran back to Nara Bay we met a hawk that flew down to the boat and we threw raw kangaroo meat in the air to feed it. That night was filled with lots of games, drinks and dancing as loud as we can in this secluded bay somewhere in the Whitsunday Islands. Before heading back to Airlie Beach we all took turns struggling to stay on a banana boat that was dragged around the bay of Nara. After the Tongarra after party, a night filled of dancing with new friends, we spent the following day laying by the gorgeous lagoon before heading to our next destination. After a 14 hour overnight bus we eventually made it to Rainbow Beach. Known for its beautiful multi-coloured sandy beaches and being the gateway to Fraser Island, Rainbow Beach is a small tiny town. We spent only one day here hanging out on the beach and bodysurfing before our next adventure to Fraser Island. The following day we met our new group of roughly 30 people that we would be driving up and down the 120 km long Island with. We were split into groups of 8 and in 4 separate vehicles that we had to drive on the beach along the coast of Fraser. Being very tropical, untouched and the largest sandy island in the world made it difficult to drive around but we all managed. Our first stop on the island was the stunning Lake McKenzie, this fresh water lake was so pure and clean with bright blue water and silica sands too... Like Whitehaven. After some group bonding on the beach we went to our camp off of Cathedral beach to set up where we will be spending a total of 3 days, 2 nights. Before dinner that evening we climbed these amazingly picturesque and extremely steep sand dunes through dingo territory. We climbed to the top of a hill overlooking a part of Fraser Island. The next morning we drove along the shore line to a cove that's called the Champagne Pools. This was a highlight for myself. The Champagne Pools are a series of natural lagoons enclosed by rocks and clusters of shell fish. As the massive swell from the ocean smash up against the cliffside, water rushes in causing bubbles to form all around us like a "champagne bubbly" sensation. Some jelly fish came through too but none were harmful, I picked a few of them up to show the others just how harmless these little jellyfish were. After lunch 7 of us arranged a cheap 15 minute scenic flight over Fraser Island. This was a very small aircraft that would dip and take sharp turns like a rollercoaster over top of Butterfly Lake and other sand dunes. The flight allowed us to see both ends of the island. Later we met with the rest of that gang at Eli Creek- a natural fresh water lazy river that we tubed down in the afternoon to cool off after all the excitement. To end our day of excursions we checked out a beached shipwreck from the 1900s that was one of the quickest boats in its time. Circling the world 5 times in use of medicine and shipping patients this ship was eventually beached and used in the war, later on in life weddings and other events were also held on it until it became what it is today due to corrosion from the sea. That evening myself and a fellow French-Canadian, named Simon teamed up as the "Canadian Connection" and made a big pasta dinner for all 30 of us. The evening was filled with great food and drinking games. Following day we headed over to TeaTree Lake for a dip before heading back. Tea trees outline this freshwater lake and the natural oils from the trees make the lake water an orange colour. The smell of the air and water was so fresh I swam for ages out to the middle of the lake. It was great, quiet and calm and my hair and skin felt great after too. I was randomly greeted by a duck out there. Later we made it back to rainbow beach where some people went their own way but some of us that got along stayed up played a couple rounds of cards against humanity (UK version). Off to the next place! A 2 hour bus ride later, we made it to the gorgeous Noosa. This wasn't very planned so we kinda spent the first day hopping from accommodation to accommodation until we found something available in this tropical surfers paradise. It was kind of love at first sight between Noosa and myself. Noosa is a small separated suburban area surrounded by dense national park full of wildlife. It has incredibly beautiful coastal views, upscale shops, restaurants, stunning beaches and three separate islands. It has a laid back hippie feel but is still clean and upscale.. Like a much larger Port Douglas. Lauren and I spent Valentine's Day together down by main beach. We treated ourselves to a fancy mimosa filled brunch, went on a 3 hour coastal hike through national park and later had an Italian dinner and movie with a few gals we re-met from Fraser Island. We spent our last day hanging out on sunshine beach. She went bodyboarding and I surfed, well attempted to surf. The swell was very large so I got kind thrown around but I'm glad I gave it my all and tried it out. Later we took a long walk into town for dinner and walked back to say our final goodbyes to our short stay in Noosa. I'll be back! *terminator voice*. I'm currently on route from Noosa, through Brisbane to the Gold Coast, the city on the beach. This "Miami" of Australia has tons of attractions to choose from so we decided to stay in the heart of it all, in Surfers Paradise. We lucked out with Happy Travels sorting us out with a free private accommodation at Bunks hostel, best hostel I've ever stayed at in Australia. Our first night out we met a group of travellers who brought us out to a karaoke bar. The night ended with a fat lip I got from swinging the microphone around during a Grease Lightening duet with Lauren. Slapping myself in the mouth with the mic I essentially gave myself a natural self inflicted lip filler (haha). The following day we just laid by the pool, took a long evening stroll along the oceanside and had a fancy dinner at the Hard Rock, well not so fancy and over priced. Sunday we walked one hour to Pacific Fair mall to do some shopping and it was a fantastic shopping centre that felt like it never ended. We later caught the tram, headed back to surfers and shopped around some more before having a late night burger by the beach at bar Cavil. That night we also pre-purchased tickets for the following day for....DREAM WOLRD!!! Dream World is the largest amusement park in all of Australia and Lauren and I had the chance to experience all of it. We went on a Monday, a working day and I'd suggest going on a week day because we had the amusement park and water park to ourselves practically. We even managed on going on the most popular coaster, the tower of terror a total of 3 times. Almost lost my voice by the end of the day. Our tickets included an entry to the observation deck at the Sky View tower back in Surfers Paradise too. We polished off our day at this observation deck, towering 77 stories over the Gold Coast at dusk made for some really spectacular views and great photos. It was a beautiful day and a phenomenal way to end our visit to Goldie, can't wait to revisit one day. FINALLY Byron Bay, the original reason why I left Canada to visit Australia was for this small hippie oasis. This true surfers paradise tucked away in the hills along the most easterly point of Australia. We took a 3 hour bus ride to the famous Byron Bay, a very popular Aussie vacation destination, home to celebrities and very wealthy locals. Shortly after arriving we did a two hour hike to the Cape Byron Lighthouse, the last of the great 19th-century Victorian era lighthouses. This walk has truly spectacular coastal views that wrap around the most easterly part of Byron bay. This was a must-do I'd recommend it to everyone, we even saw a pod of dolphins playing in the waves. Two of my great friends set me up with a two day progressive surf lesson with a company called Stoked, which was how I spent my Wednesday. I've been surfing in 5 different countries and I'm still not very good. This Stoked surf school taught me a few things I've been doing wrong and I eventually managed to ride a number of waves right to the shore. That night we met up with an old pal named Cheeseburger Charles and he took us on a wild night out to a small club called Woodys. Thursday was a hangover day. We spent the day being lazy but later in the evening we met with Charles and went to a really fancy Italian restaurant called Trattoria Basiloco. We ordered almost everything off the menu, calamari, pizza, lasagna, calzone, bruschetta and gnocchi. Unfortunately most of the time spent in Byron was rainy but the next day big, naughty Charles picked up Lauren and I and took us on a road trip for the day. He drove us up to Lennox head, Ballina, through Tweed and into the Gold Coast where we had a late afternoon at an enormous shopping centre. Saturday...our last day was still a wet and rainy one. I did my last class of surfing at Lennox Beach and it was much easier the second time around. The class and I got to relax in the fresh red waters of TeaTree Lake just opposite Lennox Beach after our 4 hour surf lesson, a great way to wind down after battling waves. We spent our last night out at a nice dinner in town. Miraculously on our last day the sun came through the dark cloud barrier that hung over Byron for days. I woke up the KRAKEN(Lauren) at 7am with good news about the weather. We ran down to the main beach of Byron and soaked up 4 hours of sun, I body surfed waves until it was time to pack our things and head home. We now both sit at the Gold Coast airport waiting to head back to Cairns. The east coast of Australia was an absolute blast, naturally stunning and I just had the best time with my gal pal venturing through the many different parts of Straya(Australia). Happy to call this country my home for the foreseeable future.

#backpackerlife #backpacking #aussielife #travelaustralia #australia #wanderlust #traveller #islands #beaches #surf #surflife #islandwildlife #nature hikes #getlost #world travel

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memorylang · 5 years ago

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Identity at the End | #34 | March 2020

With this last story, I share my journey crossing the States, having arrived from Mongolia beyond a blur evacuating around COVID-19.

With this to conclude my first nine months a Peace Corps Volunteer, I focus on identity. I share subtle moments from between hours of packing, farewells to Mongolian friends and the journey to Mongolia’s capital. I also share huge moments from my flights crossing Eurasia. By my stories’ end, you’ll know what’s next.

First, let’s pick up where we left off.

America Alone

Moments before, I said goodbye to the last Peace Corps Volunteer I’d see for a while. That late Thursday, March 5, I just had me now.

I stepped inside the Radisson JFK where I’d stay this night. I felt a little disappointed the receptionist said to take the 5:30 a.m. shuttle not the 6:30 (when I could’ve gotten breakfast). But I tried not to sweat it, knowing my backpack of food from Mongolia remained.

That night, I enjoyed a refreshing shower, rested four and a half hours and reorganized my packs to get off the many clothes layers I wouldn’t wear flying to Vegas. Then I headed forth before the crack of dawn.

Turns out my flight’s captain rode our shuttle, which felt neat. Being able to understand people’s small talk in English felt weird. Like a superpower.

The shuttle driver had us announce our airlines, then he dropped us off accordingly. Nice guy.

I wandered to find Delta in JFK’s big place. Bright lights contrasted outside’s darkness. American diversity caught my eye. I felt amazed, seeing so many different looking people. I felt as though in ‘another country’ in the Big Apple. Even when I lived in Nevada, visiting NYC felt like trips abroad.

I felt surprised to see almost no one wore masks to try mitigating Coronavirus spread. I heard New York had serious cases. So, I let my guard down a little, figuring on that Friday, March 6, I’d escaped global paranoia.

One Last Airport

Well, at my check-in desk, the woman told me to stand against a wall when I spoke of having returned from Mongolia. She added she was joking. I didn’t like her joke. Thus, I returned to limit mentioning I was in Mongolia (which, at that time, had no COVID-19 cases).

As I waited in lines, I checked my phone to see Peace Corps friends announcing in our group chat they were home. Others had stickier situations. My Catholic friend, for example, got stranded overnight in Berlin, since his group, scheduled to fly through Frankfurt, rescheduled. My friend sent me beautiful photos from his Berlin outing. I felt glad.

After clearing security, I felt convenience being able to prop my foot on a bench to tie my boot. To elevate feet is a bit taboo in Mongolia. So, American culture has its conveniences.

Aboard the shuttle to my gate, I noticed the time and saw I’d reach by 6:30 a.m., not even boarding till 7:30. I could’ve had time to grab breakfast at the hotel. But, then I remembered today’s the second Friday of Lent. So, a fasting day. Perhaps God did me a favor having me miss breakfast, hehe...

American Culture

In the West, I get few bonus points for adhering to culture norms. Especially in the States, many unremarkably expect others to know how things work.

I felt this at a water fountain near my JFK gate. A woman stood sort of behind a man refilling his bottle, but she was a bit to the left side. So I asked her, "Are you filling up, too?" She replied yes pleasantly. So I waited to refill my bottle after her.

Americans expect each other to wait their turns. We assume people who arrive first should go first. If we're not sure, we might ask. On the flip side, in the East, usually the most urgent people go, even if they’re not first.

I also liked how people in Asia felt more amazed when I followed cultural norms, for they often didn’t expect foreigners to know them. I received more forgiveness, too, for my Asian faux pas, too.

(Bonus points if you remembered I couldn’t find a drinking fountain in Amsterdam’s airport, the day before!)

Ready for Takeoff

I returned to my waiting area seat. Amusingly, I noticed my Delta flight marked, ‘DL’—It had my name on it! I shared. Peace Corps staff liked my joke.

When my Peace Corps cohort first met last May, we’d asked each other where in the States we came from. Fast-forward nine months to a couple days ago in Mongolia’s capital for evacuation, and we’d asked the reverse: where we’d fly home. Many felt surprised I’d fly to Vegas, for they say I don’t seem I’d be from there. I usually just added it’s where my family lives. I think my Midwestern childhood shaped me enough to still consider myself more ‘from’ the Midwest. Still, Vegas is alright.

We boarded, and I, having settled in, found myself with my last flight home. Outside, I saw personnel defrosting the wing. I remembered Ulaanbaatar the day before. This time, chemicals weren’t green, just misty.

As our plane climbed, I paused, pondering how to mark the occasion of my Peace Corps journey’s last leg. And so, identity resurfaced as what I sought to reevaluate. Now, I take you one last time down evacuation memory lane.

World Window—Change

Barely a week earlier than New York was Thursday, Feb. 27, and I needed a break. The night before, we Peace Corps Mongolia Volunteers learned we’d leave and had to pack up as fast as feasible. So in my apartment I pushed the night through day, finally sleeping that afternoon after receiving notice I wouldn’t leave till the coming Sunday, March 1.

I paused later that evening, taking another break from packing. A Peace Corps cohort friend called me. We sometimes chatted on slower evenings to check in, given our shared interests in anthropology, history, religions and the like.

Well, we wound up chatting a cathartic two hours (which wasn’t too uncommon). Since her province was near the capital, Peace Corps would collect Volunteers from her site over a day before mine. So she’d already arrive and could fill me in after I make it. I felt seeing each other again so soon since December would feel weird but cool!

As we talked, I’d paced into my bedroom, habitually gazing out my window.

The sun was setting. I’d only two sunsets left before leaving this city I loved. I longed to savor these moments. As the call progressed, a dark night bloomed with faraway lights seeming star-like.

My window overlooked both a nearby hill to my ger district on the left and faraway hills of another get district toward the center. In my right periphery, I saw a smidge of downtown’s few tall apartments, beside the two-lane main road. Few cars passed afar now, for cops enforced people remain at home to mitigate Coronavirus’ spread if it reached Mongolia.

World Window—Acceptance

I realized while chatting with my Peace Corps friend, when I first arrived in this city, I felt lonelier. This quarantine revived my August 2019 feeling of knowing people are out there but not knowing where to see them. At that time, I didn’t know who they were or what they were like.

So now, I realized, I’d really integrated, after all.

Integration wasn’t how I expected—Peace Corps life rarely is.

I worried, when Peace Corps Mongolia placed me at a site that’s known Volunteers for generations, I could have to live up to predecessors’ standards. But rather, locals seemed more interested in knowing me for me. I found adventure in uncovering past cohorts through locals’ fond memories.

In my city, I met so many talented people with huge dreams. And they wanted me to be part of those dreams (or I already was). I hoped in the days following to fit the few goodbyes I could.

For, I’ve loved being a Volunteer. To live as a servant feels liberating. I live to serve, and the world meets my needs. In whatever jobs I take after Peace Corps, I want to serve.

My friend and I’d later meet again Monday afternoon, March 2, when she caught me up in the capital. We drained our bank accounts together that Wednesday. And on Thursday, March 5, we coincidentally sat i n the same row for our flights to Moscow and Berlin.

Easier Being Me Overseas

Cultures sure reveal subjectivities.

Before Peace Corps, many people I knew, including my parents, didn’t like much my abnormally great willingness to let my joy be joy and show my enthusiasm as it is. Indeed, many preferred I be less ‘that.’ As I grew older, I learned to stifle these more regularly. I considered if I was blessed with great joy, then praying for temperance can help me balance it.

To my amazement, many Mongolians found my tendencies endearing. I loved how in Mongolia, many enjoyed my idle rhythmic movements, calling them, “dancing,” versus my dad’s more patronizing label of, “swaying in the breeze.” (Even Mom once asked a doctor if I’d something wrong with me…) So Mongolians were kinder.

On Sunday, March 1, while my Peace Corps group evacuated to the capital and our car met up with the van, I felt overjoyed seeing again Peace Corps friends.

I know expressiveness has its time and place—I did public relations and communications. But in interpersonal life, when we’re freer to be ourselves, I try to be myself. And, while people in the West tended to view my actions as ‘childish,’ those in the East tended to view the same as ‘cute.’ Mongolians (and Chinese, too) more often enjoyed my visible and verbal elation toward our world’s wonders. I felt relieved from greater acceptance.

But, I felt touched, too, by a Peace Corps friend who asked me to give her a moment for sorrow when she needed it. To voice our needs, I feel, is among the most powerful and difficult tasks in our lives. When she had that courage, I respected her wishes and returned to humble masking. Outside, I still felt awed to bask in snowy hills we Peace Corps Volunteers had to leave behind.

My friend and I reconnected the next day, after getting time in the capital to understand our evacuation. She was my senior cohort friend I enjoyed dinner with Monday night, alongside the anthro. friend from my cohort.

From Nine Months—Mongolian?

Throughout Lunar New Year’s /Tsagaan Sar/, I confused local children when they opened their family’s doors to me. Their parents would explain I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer from America who speaks English, to which the children would apologize to me thinking I was Mongolian!

I didn’t mind. I figured this mostly came from children’s lack of meeting foreigners.

Fast-forward a few days later, and my friends gathered in my apartment to see me off Saturday night, Feb. 29. While they relaxed in my living room thankfully enjoying my snacks, they asked what I'd do in the States and how I felt. I admitted worries that American anti-Asian sentiments grew, considering Coronavirus’ source as China.

But my friends looked shocked and insisted, no I don't look Chinese, I just look American.

I mentally pushed back, knowing I look to most Americans Chinese (but at least Asian). Still, I felt debating whether Americans think I look American felt trivial. I just chuckled, accepting my friends’ positive vibes. If only more Americans were as inclusive as these Mongolians...

During my sunset hike later that night, my high schooler friend added something else:

"You look like a Mongolian person!"

Having summited and taken our selfies, I sat nonchalantly on a rock. I wore my face mask, hats and all, plus the sky-blue jacket my colleagues gifted me. My friend insisted I looked Mongolian. I had him photograph me so I could share it with the others. To my amazement, my FLEX alumnus friend agreed with the teen! I hadn’t done anything outside my norm, so I felt amused that my mannerisms made me seem Mongolian to Mongolians.

Nine months seems enough time to be born again.

Flying Mongolian

Aboard my MIAT Mongolian Airlines flight from Thursday, March 5, identity confusion extended.

The experience led me to ponder, one does not often aspire to be a foreigner. People yearn to belong, to integrate.

Here’s the first part. As the flight attendant came down the aisle, she addressed passengers in either Mongolian and English (and maybe Russian, too). But when she reached me, she spoke straight Mongolian! I felt surprised but went with it. I replied, "цай" /tsahy/ (tea), followed by "хамаагүй" /ha-mah-gwee/ (doesn't matter) when she inquired which kind.

I felt shocked how smooth that went, too. It reminded me of flights to and from China, when attendants would sometimes address me in Chinese and I’d reply likewise.

Still, the next few times the attendants addressed me, they continued speaking to me exclusively in Mongolian, even after they spoke English to my Caucasian Peace Corps Volunteer friend seated across my row.

Eventually I reckoned flight staff thought I was Mongolian because I wore a face mask like Mongolian passengers.

Before long, I felt a moment's impostor situation. Flight staff came back down the aisle to ask about drinks again, after serving meals. I'd my mask off.

I feared, this is it. They'll see me as the foreigner I am and stop speaking to me in Mongolian. Well, I felt moved while it lasted.

Then God surprised me! The attendant asked in Mongolian what I’d drink. She didn't quite hear me a moment, though. I flinched—I thought, oh, she can see my lips, she’ll know I’m inauthentic.

I trooped on anyway and tried again, "ус" /ohs/ (water). She heard, provided and continued on—And that was that.

I felt stunned.

Ultimately, I felt so content Mongolians assumed me for Mongolian. I guess that's the ultimate step of belonging—being believed to be like anyone else.

Never in high school would I have guessed that the civilization I loved so much might one day assume I too came from their great nation Chinggis Khaan made.

Flying Ambiguity

I later felt disappointed when a flight attendant responded, "Water?" in response to something I asked in Mongolian.

So I wondered what factors influenced with which language flight attendants addressed me.

I wondered if my Asian features made me seem Mongolian. Or maybe the sky blue jacket my colleagues gifted. I suspected once I hid my mask and stowed my extra cold-weather sweater that I took on the more "foreign" look. Perhaps my mannerisms influenced, too. Maybe when I read English language books, I seemed better to speak English with.

But I acknowledged even on Chinese airlines, attendants consistently inconsistently chose in which language to address me. So, achieving similar cultural ambiguity for seeming as Mongolian to Mongolians as I seemed Chinese to Chinese felt the best of both worlds!

Further, as our flight was leaving Moscow for Berlin, I noticed attendants asked me in English, "Please stow your luggage under the seat," but in Mongolian said, "Please turn off your phone."

Originally I wondered if maybe some just didn't know English? But I heard them speak it. Maybe speaking English just took more mental energy? I hypothesized at last they spoke English when they suspected I wouldn’t understand the Mongolian, otherwise addressing me in Mongolian.

On an amusing note, I noticed on the flight, “бүсээ” /büsehh/ meant “belt,” which sounded similar to the word “бүс,” which Peace Corps Mongolia translated as “region.” I felt comforted by this simple connection I made in trying to get the language.

But my language musings fell away once we touched down in Berlin and made the many farewells. I transferred from the Mongolian airline to a Dutch one. European cultures drew my attention. Then at last I reached America.

Discerning Aspirations

As I flew alone above the States, I felt the hollowness of having made my last goodbyes to amazing Peace Corps people.

When I get the call back to Mongolia, I’ll go. If I can’t, I’ll find a new path.

In the meantime, I accepted my first nine Mongolian months had passed. Moments later, I felt the vibes of my past flights from New York home to Vegas. I tended to see in-flight films back then.

With hours left till Vegas, I relaxed, taking up my ol’ habit searching for either Chinese films or English ones subtitled in Chinese. “Frozen II” had subtitles. I’d passed it on flights before, so I decided I’d give it a try.

Then I felt moved. Seeing Anna’s self-giving love and Elsa’s identity bound seeking their late mother, “Frozen II” catalyzed my new start in America. I actually cried from its climax. (So, see “Frozen II” ahead of the story I’ll write this May, if you fear spoilers.) I’ll return to this in time for Mother’s Day.

The End

For now, this marks the finale to my Mongolian start as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Having returned home Friday, March 6, 2020 to an America just waking up to COVID-19, I’ve been stateside exactly eight weeks now.

Less than 10 days after my return home, Peace Corps would make international headlines, and my life flared up that Lent. Then came Easter, life’s renewal.

So something’s next—sweeping us through both March and April, 2020—my Easter epilogue.

Till then, thank you for joining me. I hope you learned something from these 34 stories—They were at least entertaining, right? Well, thanks for humoring me anyway. I look forward to sharing with you how I’ve spent my American quarantine and the hope in life to come.

Love, Daniel <3

You can read more from me here at DanielLang.me :)

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jessiewre · 5 years ago

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Day 37

Mon 10th Feb

Phil the crazy runner got up to his alarm ‪at 6:30am‬ and was out running by ‪7am leaving me with the double bed to myself instead of the‬ 10% of bed space I normally have.

He returned by ‪8:30am‬ with a half marathon under his belt and was feeling rather happy with himself. I was quite proud of myself too as I'd managed to press snooze on my alarm only twice.

We went to the little outdoor kitchen and actually felt all excited to be cooking our own food. Ok fine, we were literally boiling some eggs. It was good though. Eggs, avocado and sweet sweet toast 👌🏼

We got some worrying messages from Jimi though, so spoke to him on the phone. He told us he'd had some tragic news - a friend had been hit on their motorbike by a taxi and passed away from his head injuries. Really really sad. Jimi was upset but was able to get a lot of comfort from his belief in God which is something. A reminder of the fragility of life.

We sat down to do some research to work out our next move and decided on Lake Naivasha & Hells Gate national park as there was the option of cycling through it to spot the animals. No big carnivores there don't worry, more like giraffes and zebras and them chill animals that don’t eat humans 😝

It wasn't long before Phil got really hungry though and we agreed (I suggested) that he should pop out to the local market to get some food so we (he) could cook lunch and dinner. It would save us $50 if we avoided ordering from the hotel that day so it was a no brainer, especially for me, as I'd offered to keep an eye on things at the camp while Phil went off to do all the buying.

Phil went to the market on a hotel boda and returned about an hour later (bit slow but what can I do, I was busy minding camp) with a loot:

2 red onions

10 rather green looking tomatoes

Garlic clove

3 avocados

Spaghetti packet

8 carrots

We got to work cooking (I reluctantly agreed to get involved though I was sure the camp still needed my supervision) and to keep Phil's hunger under control, I cut a mango open and we attempted to bite at it. I'll tell you what, they are more hassle that they're worth. Phil looked at me with pure disgust and disdain as he bit into it, repeatedly getting mango strings stuck in his teeth. We gave up within 10 seconds and gave the half eaten mango to one of the staff guys to crack on with. Not sure anyone in the UK would have taken it, in fact they’d have been offended with the offer, but this guy was well happy with his new car crash of a mango 🥭

We made a pasta sauce with cubed carrots in (recipe available on demand) but made the mistake of cooking all the pasta in one go thinking we'd prep dinner at the same time.

As soon as it was done I realised it was a very bad shout. That cooked pasta was not going to improve throughout the afternoon. It wasn’t like a tasty sauce, getting better as the time passes. It was pasta for gods sake.

But it was too late, the stuff was cooked now, so we bunged half of it in a bowl for the evening, crossed our fingers, and ate the rest of it. Wasn't too bad! It wasn't amazing, but it wasn’t bad. Totally edible...

By the time we ate lunch, it was nearly ‪4pm (as I said Phil should have been quicker on the buying really but I let it go)‬.

Phil had made friends with his boda driver Edward, who also worked at our camp, and he sneakily arranged for us to visit Edward’s Masai village instead of doing the touristy one for $20. It wasn't just about the money but sometimes the touristy things are really contrived and feel like a performance. Walking round to Edwards village was totally impromptu so without expectation.

On the way, we walked from the road to the grass through a muddy ditch and despite my best efforts trying to avoid the bad patches, my trainers were getting muddy. Then I stood on a particularly soft sticky patch and my trainer went quite deep. As I pulled my foot out, it got totally stuck and then my foot flew up and the trainer CAME OFF in the mud while I hopped around like an idiot. That’s me, providing top quality entertainment in all its forms.

We narrowly avoided the hidden barbed wire in the grass as we walked through shrub land and over little streams that Edward put big rocks in to build us a bridge and arrived.

Edward’s village was all about simplicity and necessity. He showed us where they kept the different animals (cows, goats, chickens), the separate buildings they had for kitchens and living spaces, and the fenced areas they grew vegetables in. I helped add a few more sticks to the fence on his vegetable patch as there was a pile that needed doing but after maybe 6 sticks, I thought I’d better stop incase he was being polite about my talent for it. There were 5 puppies wandering round doing cute yapping barks and we met Edwards mum & some of his young siblings as they went about her business.

He showed us the large pen they'd built for the cows to be in overnight and it was like a gladiator colosseum made of corrugated metal and wood, with churned up mud as the floor. I tried to walk over this mud to the other side of the doorway and what I didn't realise was this mud was actually PURE COW SHIT.

And obviously I stood in a giant pile of this shit that I thought was dry, and my foot broke the dry crust and went about 3 miles south into the pile of shit - did I mention it was shit? And for the second time in an hour, my trainer was fooked, but now it was covered in stinky cow dung.

Edward looked a little awkward but Phil was wetting himself laughing.

Edward kindly found me a cleaning brush and got a bucket of water for me to clean my shoes while the shite was fresh. It’s important to get it when its fresh like (top Masai tip that). So there I was, in a Masia village, scrubbing my shit stained trainers while everyone watched on at the silly muzungu👌🏼

A young boy about 7 years old (I think it was his brother) in purple wellies was told to herd up the goats that had naughtily crawled under the fence to outside the village and he casually got them together, carrying some of the smaller ones into their little pen. Skills.

Edward proudly showed us into his living room with his smart sofas he’d saved up for and after 25 mins of prep by his mother, he gave us hot chocolate powder with hot water to make. Phil poured it all out and definitely gave me the bigger one on purpose. I couldn’t quite hide my aversion to the 8 million flies in the room but tried to minimise my flapping around as much as I could. One of his little 2 year old relatives was hanging around staring at us which was so cute. She never smiled and never looked sad either. She was just staring at us, watching, working us out. She had about 10 flies round her face and mouth the whole time which definitely bothered me more than it bothered her.

One of the smallest puppies that looked on the verge of death was nearby and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t loving the hot chocolate, so without thinking I offered the puppy the remains of the drink. The lil pup enthusiastically drank away and I was so pleased to be able to give it some calories, but when I looked up at Phil his eyes were wide and he was giving me absolute daggers. He shook his head the tiniest amount as if to say JESS STOP FEEDING THE PUPPY EDWARD’S SPECIAL HOT CHOCOLATE and I suddenly became aware of my surroundings and tried to subtlety bring the chocolate back to me as if I was going to finish it. A few minutes later I went outside to see the sunset and lobbed the rest of the drink behind the hut.

After thanking his mum and waving goodbye to the people milking the cows and all kids who had gathered to say hi, we headed back to camp for dinner. Despite his reluctance, we gave Edward 500ksh to buy something to thank his mum for hosting us.

Unsurprisingly, our dinner of spaghetti-a-la-lunch-repeat was not amazing . Let’s call it Noodle Mush (recipe available on demand). Phil seemed more enthusiastic than me about the taste one again, I think buying the ingredients sometimes makes you like it more 😂

But the saving grace of the meal was my garlic bread. What a thing of beauty. Definitely worth burning my hand twice for.

We chatted to the family who’d returned from their 2nd safari day and they’d had a brilliant time seeing tons of stuff like leopards & a little cat that looks like a house cat called a servat. Would have been cool to see it, but we knew we would safari in other countries and you can’t do them all or we’d run out of cash in about a week.

Booked our transport for the morning journey back to Narok and went to bed.

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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years ago

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The Weekend Warrior Feb. 7, 2020 – BIRDS OF PREY: ETC. ETC.

Thank heavens that there’s only one new wide release this weekend, and just as thankfully, it’s a movie that could help revive an ailing box office that’s been all about Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, Universal’s 1917 and Dolittle for the past few weeks. I never got around to seeing last week’s Gretel and Hansel, and I might still if I have time, but The Rhythm Section wasn’t that bad, and it certainly shouldn’t have bombed as badly as it did, making less than $3 million in 3,000 theaters. Yup, last weekend wasn’t great, and it was only partially due to the Super Bowl.

Clearly, it’s time to move on to this week with the first “superhero” movie of the year, the follow-up to one of DC Entertainment’s biggest outings but also meant to be its own thing, which is BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF HARLEY QUINN (Warner Bros.). It stars recent Oscar nominee Margot Robbie reprising her role as Harley Quinn, the Joker’s girlfriend/therapist, who is branching out on her own with her own supergirl group, which includes Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winsted), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Renée Montoya (Rosie Perez) and Cassandra Cain (at one point, called Batgirl), played by Ella Jay Basco. Robbie first played the role in 2016’s Suicide Squad, which earned over $300 million domestic, which some might point to the popularity of Harley as a comic character, but you could also point to things like the fact it starred bonafide box office star Will Smith (whose most recent movie Bad Boys 2 is currently the biggest movie of the year. Birds of Prey also stars Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina, as two well-known Bat-villains, Black Mask and Victor Zsasz, making their big screen live action debuts.

Unlike Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey is Rated R as DC and Warner Bros. have seen the huge success of the recent Joker movie, as well as the two Deadpool movies as proof that R-rated comic book movies can still do well even without the teen and tween audiences that usually go to see them. Presumably, Birds of Prey will attract more women due to the characters, although I’m sure there will be some men who who are just as interested due to the connections to the DC Universe. I’m just not sure this will be as big a draw to men as some of those other movies. I’ll have my own review on the blog a little later today.

While I don’t think Birds of Prey will open as big as Joker– let’s face it, the characters therein just aren’t nearly as well known, even Harley – I do think it will do quite well, making somewhere in the $60 million range, maybe more if the reviews are as positive as the early raves that were posted last week. (Having seen the movie and with my review on the way, I don’t think it will fare that well among real critics. You can read my own REVIEW here.)

Either way, Birds of Prey will the weekend with relative ease, although we’ll have to see how Sunday’s Oscar celebration affects all the movies’ business towards the end of the weekend.

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Birds of Prey, Etc. Etc (Warner Bros.) - $64.5 million N/A (up $1.9 million)*

2. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $9.7 million –45%

3. 1917 (Universal) - $6.3 million -35%

4. Dolittle (Universal) - $4.7 million -40%

5. Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) - $3.7 million -38%

6. The Gentlemen (STXfilms) - $2.9 million -48%

7. Gretel and Hansel (U.A. Releasing) - $2.8 million -55%

8. Little Women (Sony) - $2 million -35%

9. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Lucasfilm/Disney) - $1.7 million -46%

10. The Turning (Universal) - $1.3 million -55%

* UPDATE: I lowered my prediction a bit after seeing the movie but seeing that reviews have mainly been positive, I think it will help the movie bring in more business before Sunday.

LIMITED RELEASES

Two genre films that have been playing on the genre festival for the last year or so will open in select cities, the first being COME TO DADDY (Saban Films), the directorial debut by horror producer Ant Timpson, who was responsible for horror anthologies, The ABCs of Death and The Field Guide to Evil, as well as popular genre flicks Turbo Kid and The Greasy Strangler. In the movie, Elijah Wood plays Norval Grenwood, a young man called to the remote cabin of his estranged father (Stephen McHattie) who he hasn’t seen in 30 years, since his father walked out on his mother when he was just five years old. Once he gets there, he learns that his father is an abusive alcoholic, and yet, nothing is really what it seems. I saw this at the Tribeca Film Festival and mostly enjoyed it, and I really like Timpsons’s sensibilities as a filmmaker but it really starts to go off the rails as it goes along. Some will definitely enjoy that.

Severin Fialla and Veronika Fanz, the Belgian filmmakers behind Goodnight Mommy, return with THE LODGE (NEON), a creepy thriller in which a couple kids (Lia McHugh, Jaeden Martell) go to a remote cabin near a lake for the Christmas holidays with their new stepmother (Riley Keough) after learning a lot more about her dark past before meeting their widowed father (Richard Armitage). There’s so much more to this movie than what you can see in the suitably eerie trailer, and I certainly will not spoiler any of the experience, although personally, I found this to be more of a downer than Hereditary, a movie that I absolutely loved. This one might take another viewing for me to really get behind it, but other than the performances, the overall look and eerie feel and the twists, it’s pretty dark and depressing, so I’m not 100% sure I’d really want to see it again or can recommend it wholeheartedly. Either way, both of these movies are opening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn as well as other select cities.

Ben Cookson’s Waiting for Anya (Vertical), adapted from the novel by the same name from the author of War Horse, stars Noah Schnapp as Jo Lalande, a 13-yearold sheperd boy who joins with a reclusive widow (the amazing Anjelica Huston) to help smuggle Jewish children into Spain during World War II.

From Yash Raj Films comes this week’s Bollywood selection Mohit Suri’s Malang, starring Aditya Roy Kapoor as the introverted Advit, who visits Goa where he meets a free-spirited girl from London named Sara (Disha Patani), who has come to India to live like a vagabond or “Malang.” Something happens that changes as five years later, we meet a vigilante killer cop (Anil Kapoor) and a righteous cop (Kunal Kemmu)… And suddenly, I feel like I need to see this movie. It will probably open in 100 theaters or more.

STREAMING AND CABLE

Let’s start out with the Netflix offerings, beginning with the recent Sundance premiere, HORSE GIRL, the new film from Jeff Baena (The Little Hours, Life after Beth), co-written and starring Alison Brie as a socially awkward woman into horses and supernatural crime whose lucid dreams start infiltrating into her waking life. I haven’t seen it yet but I’m definitely interested in the premise, and I generally like Brie’s work.

I never really got into Joe Hill’s books/comics, but I’ll probably give the series LOCKE AND KEY a look when it debuts its first season on Friday. It involves three kids who move with their Mom to an ancestral estate where a series of keys unlock secrets and powers.

On Wednesday debuts the Netflix docuseries They’ve Gotta Have Us from Simon Frederick and Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY will premiere, looking at some of the important and iconic voices in Black Cinema.

If you haven’t had a chance to see DGA winner Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy, starring Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe, based on Shia’s semi-autobiographical screenplay, then it will premiere on Amazon Prime this Friday.

Premiering on Hulu this Friday is Into the Dark: My Valentine, the latest horror feature from Blumhouse as part of this ongoing horror series, this one written and directed by Maggie Levin, who has directed a bunch of shorts. It involves a pop singer whose songs and identity are stolen by her manager ex-boyfriend and pasted on his new girlfriend, which comes to a head when they’re locked up in a small concert venue and things get violence.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

If you went out to see Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering with You and enjoyed it but haven’t seen his previous movie Your Name (which is just as excellent) then you’re in luck cause the Metrograph is showing it a number of times starting Friday. Thursday might be your last chance to see the new 35mm print of Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film New York, New York unless it’s extended, but the Hal Hartley serieshas been extended through the weekend with reruns of Trust (1990), Simple Men (1992) and Amateur (1994), all good, but Trust is my favorite of those three. This week’s Welcome To Metrograph: Redux is a good one, Lars von Trier’s 1996 film Breaking the Waves, which will screen Saturday and Sunday nights.This week’s Late Nites at Metrograph is Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai (1947), while the Playtime: Family Matinee sselection is Amy Heckerling’s classic Clueless (1995).

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Wednesday might you can maybe get tickets for the “Weird Wednesday,” the Lone Wolf and Cub movie Shogun Assassin (1980) – I’ll be there for the 7pm screening. Thursday night is a screening of the 1932 Dorothy Arzner film Merrily We Go to Hell. On Monday, Video Vortex presents a J-Horror Bloodbath double feature of Demon Within and Biotherapy, both from 1985. ($5 admittance!) Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is 1980’s Terror Train, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, and then next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is 1990’s White Palace, starring Susan Sarandon and James Spader, picked by Alamo programmer Christina Cacioppo, so you know it’s gotta be very weird! J

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

The Weds matinee is the musical The King and I (1956), starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr. Weds. and Thurs. night are double features of the Safdies’ Uncut Gems with The Object of Beauty (1991), starring John Malkovich and Andie McDowell with the Safdies doing a QnA on Thursday. Friday’s matinee is the 1982 Paul Schrader Cat People remake, while that Friday’s midnight is True Romance, while Saturday’s midnight movie is 1975’s Aloha, Bobby and Rose. This weekend’s Kiddee Matinee is 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, continuing that series, as well as there being a Cartoon Club on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Monday’s matinee is Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ’66while the Monday night double feature is Fear is the Key (1972) and Villain(1971). Tuesday’s Grindhouse double is Hot Potato (1976) and Golden Needles (1974)..

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Mostly taking a break this week to air the Oscar-nominated shorts but Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1950 classic All About Eve will screen in 35mm as part of the “Sunday Print Edition.”

AERO (LA):

Elliot Gould will be on hand Friday to discuss M*A*S*H* airing as part of the “Antiwar Cinema,” then Friday, there will be a double feature of Grand Illusion(1937) and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983). On Friday, Aero will screen Masaki Kobayashi’s “The Human Condition” trilogy, three movies from 1959 through 1961, airing as a triple feature.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC): This Friday, the Quad begins screening Albert E. Lewin’s 1951 film Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, starring Ava Gardner and James Mason, restored from Martin Scorsese’s own 35mm print. Also starting Friday, the Quad will also be screening a series of Man Ray shorts from 1926 to 1929.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The “Black Women” series continues this week with The Omega Man and Strange Days on Wednesday, Set It Off, Bright Road and Poetic Justice on Thursday and more over the weekend. It continues through Thursday, February 13. This weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is the recent movie-musicalDreamgirls.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Jack Lemmon continues this week on Weds with 1951’s Kotch, Thursday with Robert Altman’s 1993classic Short Cuts, and then on Friday, another screening of the 1960 Oscar winner The Apartment co-starring Shirley MacLaine.

FILM AT LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

On Friday, FilmLinc starts a new one-week series called “Dreamed Paths: The Films of Angela Shanelec,” and I honestly have no idea who that is. It’s a pretty comprehensive retrospective of the German filmmaker’s work, so I’m shocked that I’ve never seen a single one of her movies. Besides her work, the filmmaker will also be showing a few hand-selected films like Manoel de Oliveira’s I’m Going Home (2001), the Korean film The Day After and Maurice Pialat’s 1972 film We Won’t Grow Old (1972).

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES (NYC):

The Anthology’s “The Devil Probably: A Century of Satanic Panic” continues this weekend with Edgar J. Ulmer’s The Black Cat (1934) on Wednesday, Sidney Hayers’ Burn Witch Burn (1962), Terence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out (1968), Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and more screening over the next week.

NITEHAWK CINEMA (NYC):

Not to be outdown by the Roxy, Brooklyn’s Nitehawk is getting on the Nicolas Cage love-a-thon with the Williamsburg doing an “Uncaged” series starting with Cage’s latest Color Out of Spaceat midnight on Friday, and then Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) on Tuesday. (The latter is sold out.) Williamsburg is also screening Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993) on Saturday afternoon.Prospect Park is showing Barry Jenkins’ Schmoonlight Saturday to kick off its Valentine’s Day series.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuel is taking another weekend off for no obvious reason – it’ll be back next week -- but Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s will screen the 1973 sci-fi classic Soylent Green and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020 is going with the 4k restoration of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Starting Friday at BAM is Horace Jenkins 1982 film Cane River, starring Richard Romain and Tommye Myrick (both doing QnAs over the weekend), and the actors and relatives of Jenkins will be appearing at a number of screenings this weekend.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

2001: A Space Odyssey will once again screen as a Saturday matinee in conjunction with MOMI’s exhibit.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

The Nicolas Cage love continues with two of his movies from 2003: Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation (2003) on Wednesday and Disney’s National Treasure on Thursday.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Not to be outdown by the IFC Center, the Nuart’s Friday midnight movie is Dario Argento’s Suspiriafrom 1977.

Next week is Presidents Day weekend, another four-day holiday weekend, but it’s also Valentine’s Day Friday, so we’ll get kiddie movies like Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount), romantic movies like The Photograph (Universal) and horror movies like Fantasy Island (Sony).

#TheWeekendWarrior ComeToDaddy BirdsOfPrey TheLodge BirdsOfPrey Movies Reviews

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daddyconfessions · 5 years ago

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daddy’s journal: 3/3/16

journal entry 2/26 journal entry 2/17

Monday Feb 22 Bubbles text me first thing that morning. She wanted to see if I was available Wednesday afternoon. I was :) She told me we could have a late lunch wherever I wanted and of course we could have some fun afterwards. I picked one of the most happening spots in town and the date was set.

I like that about Bubbles. She has no problem being seeing out with me. No place is off limits. The restaurant I picked is one I’d tried to take Firecracker, but she had respectfully declined. She’s scared who’d see her. “I know a lot of people and it could hurt my reputation,” or some bullshit like that she had said. We’ve been together almost 7 months now and it’s still a problem.

Not Bubbles though. She was down for whatever. If things worked out, I would reward her for it. But not yet. It was still too early. We’ve only been at this barely a month. I’d give it another month and then see where we were. I plan on keeping FC. She depends on my allowance to pay her rent and other miscellaneous bills so I can’t just cut her off. I do still care for her. But there will be no more Louis bags and shoes and definitely no more Celine bags. I had tried to get her out of town but I wasn’t really interested any more in taking her. I’m putting all that on Bubbles if she stays consistent. We’ll see.

Tuesday Feb 23 It was almost close to noon when Firecracker sent me a text wanting to reschedule our meet. She wanted to move it to Thursday. Also, she hadn’t gotten dressed yet. Something about oversleeping and wouldn’t have enough time to get ready. It was cool. She’s my princess. She can do no wrong. That’s one of the handicaps with dating a 22 year old. They always sleep to noon. 1pm. I’m used to it.

Late afternoon I hit up my contact at the museum. Wanted to see if I had landed the contract. She came back after an hour and told me I had lost out on the bid. Damn. I could have really used their business. Then I started ticking off in my mind all the reasons why I might have lost out on the deal. Everything from logo design, stationary to bidding too low. I probably was overreacting so I shrugged it off. Deals come and go. One thing I know is I need to find me a new assistant. Even with my job situation being shaky, I still need a soldier to carry out my bidding. I think I’ll start looking for one next week.

I was feeling a little down since I hadn’t seen Firecracker and had lost out on the contract. Rough start for the week. I picked up the phone and texted Kim. Her pic she’d sent was still in my mind. She answered right away. We did the usual back and forth before setting up a time and place. Then I decided to turn up the heat a bit. I told her I wanted to be her SD. She took several minutes to respond. “Yes baby sounds good.” I told her she was just saying that. But she replied, “No, I would like to.” I was just doing it for sport.

Its hard enough turning a stripper into a girlfriend or SB, but add in a pimp and its almost impossible. Beyond the money you have to break the hold her pimp has on her. Unless you’re another pimp good luck. You have to restore her self-worth. Restore her self esteem. Show her that she deserves to keep the money she makes and not give it to a man. I could go on and on. But I painted a pic of how she wouldn’t have to work as hard, etc., Kim didn’t really respond. Just said “Ok.” She told me she definitely wanted to see me and that I should text her when I get the room.

The problem with seeing escorts is the only want to come after you’ve gotten the room. A bloke could be sitting in the room for an hour or more waiting. I told her to just start heading my way and by the time she got close I’d have the room and stuff. Kim said she would but I knew she wouldn’t.

I left work and headed to the hotel. I was kind of excited to see Kim. It had been almost two weeks. I got the room, went inside and flopped down behind my laptop to kept working. Well actually I was sending out resumes. My job situation had me shaky. I figured she’d be at least 30 minutes later. But I was wrong. About 40 minutes later she texted and said traffic was bad. She even sent a pic of the bumper to bumper traffic.

That was the last I ever heard from her. About 20 minutes after her last text which put me at an hour of waiting, I sent her a text asking where she was. No answer. I waited another 10 minutes and texted again. Nothing. Fuck it. Tuesday’s just not my day. Surely the sugar gods have come to collect on the successful weeks were there was a different girl every day. I packed up my laptop and bounced.

That’s the end for Kim.

I wasn’t looking forward to my date with Bubbles the next day. I was still tired and feeling some type of way with these chicks cancelling on me. Plus I was tired from working all weekend closing one of our business locations. Still I managed to pop by the barber to get my hair right. Get the scraggy hair off my face and trim the goatee. Popped by the cleaners before it closed to pick up my clothes. My assistant used to pick it up for me but sans assistant I had to do it myself. I went home and exfoliated the face with some peach scrub. By 11pm that night, I was ready for my date with Bubbles despite the probability she might cancel. I didn’t feel like blogging on tumblr either. Too tired. I wanted to do my journal entry (February 2/24) but I was beat.

Wednesday Feb 24 I jumped up and got dressed in some Polo jeans and sweater, Polo shirt, nice shirt underneath. My wife was combing my daughter’s hair in our room. “You look nice dad,” my daughter told me. Means a lot coming from her. She’s 12 and has no filter. She’s had me changing clothes more than once. By the time I finished getting dressed, my daughter had left the room.

“When am I going to get some dick,” my wife asked. I was like uhhhh. “You been slacking lately.” Damn I probably ain’t hit in almost 2 months. And she won’t be getting any this week either. “Soon baby,” I said. “Soon.”

I’d been at work a couple of hours when Bubbles texted me. She confirmed our date. An hour before I was about to leave the CEO and CFO invited me into a conference call with some Russians. I was thinking they were just some Russians as in living in the United States. But no, we were doing a video conference with some chaps in St. Petersburg. With business so shoddy in the states, the big boys were turning to Russia for opportunities. I kind of liked it, but I also knew that could possibly mean a trip to Russia in the future for me. An hour later the call was still going. Now I’m starting to sweat bullets. I have to meet Bubbles in 30 minutes or so. Looks like I was going to have push things to 2pm with her. I hoped my rescheduling didn’t kill things. But the sugar gods decided to redeem themselves from the day before. Bubbles texted me before I could text her, telling me she was running late. She’d got out of class late and was on her way to her car.

Thirty minutes later she text again to say she would need an additional 15 minutes. So we ended up pushing the whole thing to 2pm anyway.

When the meeting was over, the big boys wanted to talk. Fuck! After 15 minutes they dismissed us and we all left. I went and locked up my office and hit the parking garage. Half hour later I pulled up to the restaurant. Even though it was after lunch, there were Range Rovers, couple of Rolls Royce’s, and a Aston Martin in the valet section. I went in and she was there sitting on a bench. Looking pretty af. Even better, waiting for me daddy : )

Instinctively I walked up and when she looked up and bent over and gave her a full kiss on the lips. She gave a little tongue back. The hostesses, 3 of them actually, were looking like WTF? I love this life sometimes. They came alive too and hurried up and found us a table.

It was nice walking into the restaurant with Bubbles. She was completely unbothered by being seen with me which somehow validated how I felt about myself at the moment. I was Polo’d down, feeling dapper. The waitress showed us to a cozy table. Part of me wanted to sit right next to B, but I sat across from her instead so I could stare into those pretty brown eyes.

Lunch was fabulous. We talked about everything seemingly. You know you’re into someone when the world around you ceases to exist and you’re both leaning forward looking into each others eyes about to kiss. By the end of the date she was touching my hand again. Laughing up every other thing I said. She was either genuinely into me or this girl had some helluva game. Girls like bubbles bring the best out of me. I already wanted to take her shopping. That little beat up car she had I wanted to replace. I want to spoil her rotten. She’s the kind of girl you just want to be with. Hang out with. Sex is secondary. When you see her you just want to hug and kiss on her. Hang out her place, when she’s in sweats and no makeup and just watch TV and eat Cheetos and shit. I’m rambling. Either way I was on her hook and I planned on staying there for the foreseeable future.

We both realized it was time to head to the hotel. Half hour later we were kissing in the hotel room. I love the way Bubbles kisses. She likes to suck my tongue when she kisses. She also likes to try and shove her tongue down my throat too. I don’t know why but I love that shit. Bubbles barely got off her shoes pants and underwear before I pushed her onto the desk in the room. She looked at me with the quizzical look as I sat down in the desk chair in front of her. I grabbed both legs and lifted them up, spreading her wide, until her feet were resting on desk. I dove right into that pretty pink muff, assaulting the clit with my tongue. I rotated between sucking it and licking it. Bubbles fell back onto the wall behind the desk and grabbed my head. She looked down at me with this mean look on her face. I couldn’t quite decipher it but it didn’t matter. I was licking that kitty like it was no tomorrow. I took two fingers and slid them in. It took a bit of effort since that kitty’s so tight. I lifted my fingers up and went back and forth firmly as I kept thrashing the clit with my tongue. Suddenly her hand fell off my head and she grabbed my ear. “Eat my fucking pussy” she demanded. I looked up and her head fell back on the wall and her eye closed. Her stomach bounced up/down rapidly and she twitched a little. Babygirl had cum.

Bubbles was multi-orgasmic so I just kept on going repeating what I’d done to make her cum. Her legs got tired of being on the desk, so one fell off. I took my hand out of the kitty and lifted her leg so that it was resting on my shoulder. I moved in closer to make it more comfortable. I took her other foot and moved it so that it could rest on my other shoulder. Then I slid my fingers back and went to work again. She came once more and slumped down on the desk. She nearly fell off too. Time to move to the bed.

Bubbles has a female roommate who she fucks from time to time. I usually take whatever a SB says and multiply it by two to get the real story which means they’re probably tribbing quite often. Or, she’s has another female she’s seeing regularly. And girls make the best kitty lickers. So…I had to show out. As I said in my last journal entry, winning over Bubbles would take more than just money. In the end its all for sport. Even if I fail, I would have had fun trying.

We started kissing when we got to the bed. Bubbles was licking my face and lips, trying to taste that kitty. She’s so nasty. As she laid back and went at that kitty again. I couldn’t tell if my face was wet from her kitty or from all the saliva she’d left trying to taste it.

After one more nut, I slapped on a condom. I got the tip in before she started wincing and moving back. She just couldn’t take the dick. I took my time, roughly a few minutes before I was able to get it in and get a decent motion. “God your dick is so fucking fat…” she said. I noticed Bubbles likes to get vulgar when I with her. Kind of like it. We tried intercourse but after a few minutes she asked if I could finish in her mouth. I said yes but I kept on stroking. I shifted angles and was able to get further inside. She seemed to like it. “Just keep on fucking me like that…” she said. And I did, trying to get more of me in her. But still she threw in the towel and we switched. She got on her knees in between my legs and shared her knowledge. I came in less than a minute. This girl’s enlightened I tell you.

She sat back and rubbed both my legs and asked, “Was that good baby.” I looked up just in time to see a drop of cum slide down the side of her mouth. She chuckled and swiped it up with a finger. She put it in her mouth and smiled. “I never lose drop.”

God I love this girl.

That night Firecracker hit me up. We exchanged about 2 or 3 text before we set up a time for Thursday. I was looking forward to it actually. Firecracker’s got some good pussy for a 22 year old. I can’t wait to see my princess.

Bubbles texted too. Thank me for a wonderful date. I thanked her for making an old man feel special. Making me feel good. She told me I wasn’t old and that age was just a number. She said I was very handsome and that she was glad she’d met me. “And you got some good oral skills too,” she added. Not sure if she gassing me up or not, but I liked it.

Thursday Feb. 25. More bullshit from Firecracker. She hit me up around noon asking if she could be a little late to the meeting. She had to do some school stuff. 2 hours later she just cancelled altogether. WTF? I’m sure what happened is she slept until noon instead of getting up and running her errands. When I said a few things about it she was like, “Its not big deal. We still have Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”

Then I got upset. She’s being disrespectful. Well I should say she’s not respecting my time. I do a lot to juggle things so that I can be with her. Princess is a priority. So for her to just minimize my shit to “it’s no big deal” had me feeling some type of way.

And no we didn’t have Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I was hooking up with Bubbles again. Sunday was family day.

No tumblr blogging tonight.

Friday Feb 26th Around noon Firecracker knocks on the hotel room door. I let her in…She’s a trainwreck. Eyes watery, makeup done enough just to be ok for our meet. She tells me how her cycle is coming and she’s been crying all day over little shit. I sat on the bed and pulled her to me. I told her “You is fine and You is beautiful and You is Smart and You is having a bad day…” we both laughed. I told her we could cancel but she said she didn’t want to. “You can’t be rough today,” she smiled.

Lately I had turned it up a bit with her. Hair pulling, choking, spanking. In the 6 months I’ve known her she’s matured a lot both mentally, physically and sexually. I picked up on the fact that her fuckboy’s were weak. The latest had been scared to really fuck her because she was so pretty. He treated her like a precious gift, but really she wanted to be manhandled. She wanted a man to run that pussy. I lowkey accepted the new requirement and had stepped up my game.

But today, she just needed to be loved. I ate the kitty and usually after two orgasms she tries to scoot away. I had my hands around her legs and stomach. When the third one was near I clamped down. As anticipated she tried to run, but she could go nowhere. “Baby I can’t take anymore….” But I was merciless. “Baby baby stop,” but I refused. I told her if she felt like peeing to go ahead. She looked up and gave me that “how do you know look”. Then she said, “No. I’m not doing that. No.”

I set her free she scattered across the bed from me like she was scared suddenly. I coaxed her back over to me then I spent a few minutes kissing and rubbing her body all over. I sucked where appropriate – neck, breast, earlobes. Then went inside her and I stayed there for a good 20 mintes. Just fucking her and fucking her and fucking her. Its like her body was calling me. She came twice before I finally did. Afterwards I lay beside her, sweating profusely from all the work. FC did something surprising; she rolled over and laid on me. She’s never done that. I took her in my arms and held her tight. After a few moments, probably minutes, I could tell she was crying still. I took her by the chin and raised her head up. “Are you crying?” I asked. She nodded.

Now I’m worried. I’ve been around lots of women. So I’ve seen the symptoms of being on period. But my princess was crying a little too much. I’m suspecting something else is going on. But now is not the time to talk about it.

About 30 minutes later FC was getting dressed. She was happy. Bouncing around the room, talking shit about this and that. Back to her old self. No tears. All the shit she said she wouldn’t be doing that night, had changed to I’m going here. Then me and my girls are going there. Then we’ll probably end up over there.

That’s my baby.

Before she left I pulled her to me. I asked her if anyone had hurt her. She shrugged and said no. Then I dug deeper. I asked if any fuckboy had hurt her. Or, had her ex-boyfriend come back and hurt her?

But she said it was nothing. Blamed it all on her period. We said our goodbyes. She made it to her car before I did mine. She backed out and peeled off. Suddenly she was on a mission. I was really confused now.

That night I hooked up with some of the recently laid off co-workers. One of them was the Oracle. She said she would get there early if I wanted to go ahead and come. So I took the opportunity. I needed to run this Firecracker stuff by her.

We ended up meeting at the same place I’d taken Bubbles on our first date. Crazy. Me and the Oracle were the only ones there. After a brief catchup I asked her about FC. Told her the whole story about missing our dates and including her crying in the room.

The Oracle was like, “Three things likely happened. Her boyfriend managed to get back in with her and hurt her. Or she met some new dude that hurt her feelings or, it really was her period. I mean I been cranky and tearful before when I was on my period. Not wanting to leave the house. Just sitting around crying. Or, it could be a combination of 2 of the three. My gut tells me she’s having some man problems.”

I raised my margarita glass. The Oracle raised hers. We clicked them and I said, “I got to talk to you more often.” She smiled. “Yes you do! But I wouldn’t worry about her. Sounds like you got her mind right. Got her feeling good about herself. That’s what you’re there for big Daddy.” We both chuckled.

Saturday Feb 27th Bubbles text and cancelled our date for that afternoon. It was cool. I was still a little hung over from the night before. And after working all last weekend I just wanted to lie around the house and do nothing. By this point I was used to being cancelled on.

I ended up sleeping all day. My wife came home that afternoon and got in the bed with me and went to sleep as well. I don’t think I’ve laid around the house all day in almost a year. Felt good. Then I got a weird text. It ended up being one of my other co-workers. My plug! My Cohibas had come in. He sent a pic too

Just in time too. I was down to my last 2. Fresh

Not a bad end to a rough week…..

#sugar tales #daddy's journal

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gordonwilliamsweb · 5 years ago

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Fox News’ Jesse Watters Said Travel Bans ‘More Critical In Saving Lives’ Than COVID Testing. He’s Wrong.

“We were slow with the testing, but very quick with the travel ban. And that’s been much more critical in saving lives.”

Jesse Watters, a Fox News Channel commentator, during a March 31 episode of “The Five”

This story was produced in partnership with PolitiFact.

This story can be republished for free (details).

Defending President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response, Fox News commentator Jesse Watters highlighted federal efforts to restrict international travelers who may be infected — a ban he claimed mattered more than diagnostic testing.

“We were slow with the testing, but very quick with the travel ban. And that’s been much more critical in saving lives,” Watters said during a March 31 episode of “The Five.”

The administration has attracted stinging criticism from public health experts and state officials, who say the dearth of COVID-19 tests has made it impossible to get a handle on the disease’s spread. But the impact of the restrictions Trump imposed ― on people traveling from China and, by March, Europe — is another story.

So we decided to dig in. We contacted Fox News to find out the evidence on which Watters based his comment but did not hear back.

Early on, those restrictions won plaudits. After the March restrictions were announced, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said there was “compelling evidence” to justify restricting travel from those high-infection areas.

But the implementation is another story. Global health specialists told us there is little to no evidence that Trump’s restrictions have restrained COVID-19 ― they came too late and didn’t have the follow-up necessary to make a real dent. By contrast, they said, better and earlier testing could have saved countless lives.

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The Wrong Approach At The Wrong Time

Targeted, quick travel restrictions can be part of the public health arsenal to control the spread of an illness such as COVID-19.

The idea is to stop people in hot spots from carrying the virus to uninfected areas. The restrictions also tamp down the risk that an infected traveler will expose others in the closed quarters of an airport, airplane or other mode of transportation.

But the experts we spoke to made clear that these restrictions can work only as one (smaller) part of a comprehensive strategy. Without other aggressive public health measures, they would have little value. The timing of American restrictions — and how they interacted with other domestic efforts ― rendered them ineffective.

The administration’s first coronavirus-related travel restrictions took effect Feb. 2, targeting noncitizens who had recently traveled to or from China. On Feb. 29, it took similar steps with people who had traveled to or from Iran.

For context, the incidence of a severe respiratory illness began to emerge in China late last year. These cases were confirmed to be a novel coronavirus by Jan. 7, and the first American case was reported Jan. 20 — almost two weeks before any travel restrictions were in effect.

Expanded travel restrictions took effect March 13 and 16 to include people in Europe, including the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Experts told us those measures represented the wrong approach at the wrong time.

“When the travel ban was put in place, the risk of importation from China was quite small,” said William Hanage, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

For one thing, China had also put in place its own limitations on travel ― limiting travel to and from Wuhan starting Jan. 23. And, by then, there were already several cases of COVID-19 across the United States and in other countries that had not been targeted by restrictions.

And while European cases shot up in early March — particularly in Italy ― even those travel restrictions were misplaced, Hanage said. At that point, Americans already faced a domestic threat from the virus.

So was the administration “very quick” with a travel ban? Not really.

If anything, the travel limitations gave people “a false sense that something with a big impact was being done,” said Jennifer Kates, a vice president and global health expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation.)

That false security, others said, distracted from the reality that more essential precautions weren’t in place.

Limited Effectiveness Without Widespread Testing

Well-implemented travel restrictions can buy time on the margins, research suggests. But that time has to be used effectively — to ramp up emergency preparedness and bolster activities like testing and isolating people who may have been exposed.

And there is no way to know if the administration’s initial travel restriction ― barring people who had been to China — reduced the spread of the coronavirus.

That’s because the administration limited testing for the virus to people who were sick enough to be hospitalized or who had been to Wuhan recently. Those are people with a heightened risk of exposure and not representative of the broader swath of people affected by the travel limitations, said Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

“Had we expanded testing during this time and still found few cases, I would be more convinced that the travel ban had an impact. But we didn’t.”

Available research on travel bans isn’t promising, either.

A March 20 analysis run by Think Global Health, a project of the Council on Foreign Relations, compared countries that did and didn’t restrict travel with China. The researchers found no correlation between travel restrictions and preventing a pandemic outbreak.

“The combination of the travel restrictions within China and international travel restrictions against China may have delayed the spread of COVID-19, but more so in nations that used that time to reduce community spread of the virus,” the researchers wrote.

That last part is crucial ― travel restrictions may have bought time, but that mattered only if countries actively fought domestic spread.

Other research backs that up. A paper published in Science last month found that when China imposed its own travel restrictions, it made only a modest difference in curbing the spread of the coronavirus, both domestically and to other countries — at most, buying a few days’ time. And, this paper also notes, travel restrictions were effective only when coupled with other efforts to halt transmission.

Sources:

Fox News’ “The Five,” remarks by Jesse Watters, March 31, 2020

Email interview with Lawrence Gostin, law professor at Georgetown University, April 1, 2020

Email interview with William Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, April 1, 2020

Email interview with Jennifer Kates, senior vice president and director of Global Health & HIV Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, April 1, 2020

Email interview with Jennifer Nuzzo, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, April 1, 2020

Email interview with Jeffrey Shaman, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University, April 1, 2020

New England Journal of Medicine, “First Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United States,” March 5, 2020

Science, “The Effect of Travel Restrictions on the Spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak,” March 6, 2020

Think Global Health, “Tracking Coronavirus in Countries With and Without Travel Bans,” March 20, 2020

The New York Times, “What You Need to Know About Trump’s European Travel Ban,” March 14, 2020

White House, “Press Briefing by Members of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force,” Jan. 31, 2020

World Health Organization, “Updated WHO recommendations for international traffic in relation to COVID-19 outbreak,” Feb. 29, 2020

By contrast, researchers were unanimous in noting the effectiveness of robust testing of people who may have been exposed — and then isolating those who test positive for the virus. This test-and-quarantine approach has been proven effective in South Korea, which experienced its first case on the same day as in the U.S. but where the number of new COVID-19 cases is now on a dramatic decline.

If you could pick only one strategy ― travel bans or testing — the choice is clear, Nuzzo argued.

“We don’t have any evidence that travel bans did much to stop or slow the spread,” she said. “Conversely, testing is essential. Had we been better able to find and isolate cases and traced their contacts, we could have kept case numbers down.”

The World Health Organization makes a similar point: It says temporary restrictions are justified only in narrow circumstances and as a way to buy time. But that time, the organization says, must be used to “rapidly implement effective preparedness measures” ― like testing.

Another point that supports this position: the real-world experience unfolding in the United States.

The “travel ban didn’t work,” said Lawrence Gostin, a university professor at Georgetown Law who specializes in global health law. “This is self-evident, because the U.S. is now the global epicenter.”

Our Ruling

Arguing in support of the White House coronavirus response, Watters said the United States was “very quick with the travel ban” and that was “much more critical in saving lives.”

This is incorrect. Travel restrictions could have bought a bit of time. But they were instituted after the coronavirus had already entered the United States.

And the evidence at hand suggests travel restrictions are most effective in combating viral spread if they are accompanied by targeted, robust testing and quarantining, which are the areas in which the administration stumbled. If you were to pick only one area to excel in — testing people for the coronavirus, or travel restrictions ― experts told us the research clearly supports testing, even without travel bans.

Watters’ claim has no factual basis and misrepresents real-world evidence on multiple levels. We rate it False.

Fox News’ Jesse Watters Said Travel Bans ‘More Critical In Saving Lives’ Than COVID Testing. He’s Wrong. published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

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stephenmccull · 5 years ago