Before I went to Vietnam, the Consular officer in Chile warned me about how tough it would be. For example, I was told, the staff in the Embassy had to sleep on the table otherwise the rats would eat their hair. The rats were as big as cats. The only thing humans could eat was chooks and these had run the length and breadth the country and they were so tough and wiry there … [Read more...]
My 30th Birthday, Ruth’s farewell from Hanoi
Or why I went to my 30th birthday party twenty years ago dressed as a railway line. It was my 30th and Ruth’s Hanoi leaving party and somehow she & I thought it was a good idea if theme of our joint party was ‘Structural Realism’. The vague idea that I had was that structural realism was an art genre. Vietnamese currency – the Dong - throughout the 1990s had pictures … [Read more...]
Agatha Iron Guts
In which I talk about my experiences at local markets in Mongolia, France, Vietnam and Chile. Also my views on hygiene at markets, how much to pay and if there are any issues of personal safety. Recently at the recommendation of a friend of a friend, my niece and I jumped on a local bus and travelled for an hour to get to Chazelles sur Lyon. As the name suggests it is … [Read more...]
Against ‘La Rage’ – or About Vaccines
Last week I went to get a rabies vaccination. My sister, the public health specialist (1) recommended it because I’m going to India for a couple of months. In Australia I went to the travel doctor and had a gazillion vaccinations to bring everything up to date. But before I could complete the course of rabies injections I had to leave the country. The only possibility for … [Read more...]
