I nearly took a job in Lima when I was setting out on my teaching career twenty years ago. Much as I would have loved to see Machu Picchu and the Andes, I was severely put off by everything I read about Lima. Apparently, the climate there is just awful - humid, overcast, drizzly, polluted. One former resident I consulted about the 'attractions' went through a long, pained pause, and then said, "The museum's not bad."
I'm thinking Santiago or Buenos Aires for my next adventure.
A leading presenter on China Central Television's English-language channel has revealed himself to be a xenophobic hate-monger. WHY does he still have a job? Lobby for his dismissal - by any and all means.
Days Ai Weiwei was detained
80
With ironic, sinister symmetry, the celebrity artist/activist was incarcerated on the same day that my friend Wu Yuren was finally released from 10 months' detention.
Now, like Wu, he's been released on extremely restrictive 'bail' terms - but could face re-arrest at any moment. He was detained incommunicado from April 3rd to June 22nd 2011.
Days Wu Yuren was in prison
307
"Released on parole" after 10 months; "parole" lifted another year later. The original charges against him were apparently dropped without his trial ever being formally concluded.
Froog is an escaped lawyer - but there is no need for alarm; he is only a danger to himself, not to the general public. An eternal wanderer, he now lives in an exotic city somewhere in the 'Third World' *, where he is held prisoner by an unfinished novel (or, more precisely, an unstarted novel). He spends a lot of time running, writing, taking photographs, and falling in love with women who fail to appreciate him. He also spends a lot of time in bars.
[* OK, I'll come clean: I've been living in Beijing since summer '02.]
2 comments:
I really should've tried harder to convince my wife to move to Peru. I'm sure they could use qualified English and Chinese teachers there.
I nearly took a job in Lima when I was setting out on my teaching career twenty years ago. Much as I would have loved to see Machu Picchu and the Andes, I was severely put off by everything I read about Lima. Apparently, the climate there is just awful - humid, overcast, drizzly, polluted. One former resident I consulted about the 'attractions' went through a long, pained pause, and then said, "The museum's not bad."
I'm thinking Santiago or Buenos Aires for my next adventure.
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