Here is the first bunch of photos. More to come; they are in the
other camera. The tour folks have been taking us around to different
shopping centers to try to give us an idea of what to expect if we were
to live here. Not really fascinating stuff, but at least an interesting
ethnography. I will try to post more soon. Photo quality is limited, as
many were taken out of moving vehicles, or dirty hi-rise windows.
Yesterday was very hazy, but today is much clearer. Weather is in the
high 80s and humid. Stand by for more.
Jeff reports that the most interesting thing here is the chaos of
traffic. They have different rules somehow. The concept of right of way
does not seem to exist here. It is ok to drive in the oncoming lanes,
park on the sidewalk, honk at pedestrians etc. There is also a wider
range of vehicles here than we are used to, ranging from motorized 3
wheeled bicycles to a brand new Rolls Royce. S600 Mercedes are fairly
common, as are cars smaller than anything on the American market.
I am most amazed by the sheer volume of construction underway here. I
have seen literally a hundred high-rise buildings under various stages
of construction, each with its own crane. Sometimes the buildings are
close enough to other buildings under construction that the cranes
cannot rotate all the way around without hitting each other. I'm glad
that I have not seen this happen.
|
