Javan and I are back from vacation and finally back on LA time. It took me a full 2 weeks to recover from jet lag. For at least a week I was falling asleep at 2pm, sleeping until 7pm, going back to sleep at 11 and waking up at 2am ready for the day to start. It was not pretty. In the midst of our attempts to recover from jet lag, the Spring Quarter started and everything got real. Spring Quarter always feels the busiest, for some reason. Maybe it’s because people have been putting off meetings, presentations, projects for two quarters and they’re rushing to get everything done before the summer. Or maybe because quarters just suck in general. Or both. Definitely both.
I wanted to share some pictures, thoughts, and highlights from our trip.
Short recap: We visited Hong Kong for a week, then Phuket for a week, and finally Qingdao for a long 12-hour layover before coming back to LA. The week in Hong Kong was actually finals week so I was working on a paper and studying for a biostatistics exam for the first 3 days. what can I say? I enjoy doing the most!
Hong Kong Sites
Thanks to our most gracious hosts, Chautney and Wayne, we didn't have to do a single bit of planning in HK. Chautney gave us locations, directions, acted as our personal ATM. It was amazing. On the first day, we went on a hike up Dragon's Back Mountain. Javan was really excited about being active. I...was not. But! The view (and the Thai food we had afterward) was worth it! We visited Wong Tai Sin Temple where worshippers pray for good fortune.
The best part of every vacation: food!
Everyone who told us to try dim sum was 100% right. It's delicious. Thought I didn't venture out and try to eat "exotic" food (I had a situation in Cuba that I was not trying to repeat!), I thought the food was great. I was especially in love with the fruit in Thailand. The pineapples were so sweet that we were eating the core!
White Supremacy and American Privilege
Of course, as someone who studies racism, I'm fascinated with seeing if and how racism operates in other countries. And while I didn't personally feel racial animosity (except for this one incident at the Nike store where a woman literally screamed, jumped and ran out of the store after seeing me...no lie), it was pretty obvious that whiteness is a beauty ideal in China. Nearly every ad in their train stations featured a pale Chinese woman -- and most were selling skin lightening products and services. Similarly, every store that sold beauty products stocked a variety of topical skin-lightening creams and toners. I didn't notice this as much in Thailand, partly because there were very few ads where we were, and because I was really in vacation mode. Nevertheless, it reminds me that white supremacy is global and racist idea(l)s have no borders.
Related, I always feel like an American when I'm in a different country. In the States, I'm a Black woman first. And I feel all that comes only with that identity. I especially feel it in hyper white spaces like Westwood, CA. Like my Americaness is only valued to the extent that I can deny my Blackwomaness. I have long stopped being "proud" of the U.S. but it's hard to deny the privileges that come along with that passport. In Phuket, we stayed at a beautiful resort where the staff were so accommodating. We first arrived, sweaty and tired after walking to the resort from our other hotel (long story). As we waited for our room to be prepared, the front desk staff explained all the amenities to us: the pool, the gym, the spa, the restaurant, the beach, everything. He told us that since we have a late flight out, we could leave our bags at the front desk until we'll ready to head to the airport. He said "we also have showers that you can use in case you want to freshen up before you go to the airport. The showers in the lobby don't have hot water because..." he paused, "we're a third world country." He cracked a smile. I was immediately embarrassed. It reminded of our position in the global hierarchy. I felt like we deserved this vacation but I wondered what if Thailand's economy wasn't dependent on tourism. I don't have the answers. This is a balance I'm still working through.
Phi Phi Island(s), Phuket, Thailand
One of the beautiful conveniences of our hotel was the ease of booking trips all around Phuket. One morning we went down to look at our options and the travel agent told us, "There's room for two for Phi Phi Island...today!" So, being the spontaneous people we are, we went! The trip was about 6 hours and we visited two islands and went snorkeling. I hadn't gone snorkeling in such a long time. And I was actually considering not doing it. You see one fish, you see them all, right? Well, no! These fish were so beautiful. They were colorful and playful (probably because they thought we had food). Snorkeling made me feel like a kid again. It was short-lived but it reminded me how much I love the ocean. We don't go to the beach often in LA and when we do, we certainly don't get in the water (it's too cold!). But this experience had Javan and I talking about surfing and scuba diving lessons. We'll see! Sidenote: We also sailed by Monkey Beach where we actually saw two monkeys having sex -- it was hilarious and mortifying at the same time.
Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, Phuket, Thailand
So, the best part of the trip was playing with elephants! I learned that riding them damages their spines and shortens their life expectancies by up to 60 years. They can normally live up to 110 years old. In some of the images you'll see that some of the elephants have tears on their ears. That is from years of "working." Prior owners pierced their ears and tied ropes to them to guide them while walking or logging. After constant tugging, the holes tore completely and the owners would pierce in a new location. I also learned that they eat all day. Watermelon, bananas, sugarcane. All the sweets. That's really all they do. Eat, walk around, eat, play, eat, and poop. The simplicity of their lives in the sanctuary is what made this excursion so much fun. They didn't perform, they weren't seeking human validation. They were just allowed to be elephants.
The Best (and Weirdest) Layover Ever, Qingdao, China
Finally, one of the highlights of the trip was having a long layover in Qingdao, China. We had an interesting experience in Qingdao at first. When we landed, we realized we didn't have any money and all the taxis only accepted cash. The nearest ATM machine rejected not 1, not 2 but ALL of our cards and the woman at the currency exchange window told us that was the only ATM in the airport. After drowning in our sorrows a bit, we found an ATM and were able to leave the airport to explore. Little did we know that Qingdao would not be as English-friendly as Hong Kong. I was warned that people don't see very many Black folks in mainland China so we were expecting some stares but in actuality, people were not only staring but taking pictures with and without our consent. Cognitively, I was ready for that but it made me extremely uncomfortable. Despite all that, we had the opportunity to visit with Dr. Vicari - one of the best educators I've ever had (no exaggeration). He was my 11th grade IB English teacher (He taught my older sister, Frances, two years before me). He's currently the superintendent of a school district in Qingdao. We didn't have much time but he showed us his school and we enjoyed a beautiful dinner where we caught up on life. It was a perfect ending to a perfect trip.
