Trust on the Road

(Street view in Alfama district, Lisbon)

In “The Ministry of Fear,” a novel set in World War II England, the author Graham Greene wrote, “It is impossible to go through life without trust: That is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself.”

Unfortunately, most people are so concerned with protecting their fragile egos that they simply can’t get themselves to risk opening up in order to initiate genuine trust. In the bittersweet process of growing up, the innocent non-existing ego of an infant gradually becomes fragile under one after the other negative shocks, which could be betrayal, cheating, wrongdoing, or simply a broke-up relationship.

In the country level, see what happened in the world in the recent two months? The Orlando shooting, the Nice attack, the Turkish coup, an EU dissolving, a Middle East on fire... every morning some headline news shocked the world. I initially followed those reports and even comments till I was so sick and refused to read any hatred and hostility!

In such a turmoil world, I especially cherish the peace in my little office and the tranquility walking in Georgetown alleys. I also often recall the kindness and trust from strangers I deeply felt in my recent journey to Portugal.

(In a parking lot, Lisbon)

I went to Portugal for the FIRS conference. Since I had trips right before and after the conference which were also in Europe, I got some in-between free time to see Porto and Lisbon. Needless to say, I encountered all sorts of people.

(street performer, Lisbon)

(curious travelers)

(Old-fashioned photographer with his ad.)

I have one whole week in Lisbon, so I rented a 2-BR flat from Airbnb. It's an apartment in a historical building, with high ceilings, an iron-cast balcony, Rococo-style reliefs, and renovated with modern furniture and kitchen, even having a home theater. It is one of the best apartments I ever rented in Airbnb, but the total cost is still far lower than the conference hotel.

(homemade breakfast)

With more time on the road over years, I are inclined to make each visiting place a local 'home'. Living in an Airbnb is part of such experience. I enjoy going to local grocery stores, buying fresh vegetables, eggs, yogurt, fruits, and cooking myself a lovely breakfast. On a luminous morning after the conference, I carried with me from the farmers market the colorful beauty of the sun-- the shiny pink cherries full of juice under their transparent skins.

(in the harbor, Lisbon)

Continuing the shareconomy experience in Airbnb, I also used Uber for most transportation in Lisbon. Each driver has his/her own story.  I was quite surprised for the depth and diversity of the topic. Our dialogues usually started with "how do you like being a Uber driver?" Very often I found people have a strong willing of telling.

One told me that he was debating to wait for the public service in treating his disease, or paying 50,000 euros out of pocket for a private treatment, which was a lot of money for him. He was so glad to have the disease fixed sooner and then he drove Uber to partially cover the expense. We then had a discussion comparing the insurance system in Portugal and in USA.

The other straightly told me that he was in the process of fighting for skin cancer. He felt driving Uber and occasionaly talking to passengers with diverse backgrounds helped distract his intense attention, and he now had more optimism and confidence on life... Fortunately, the cancer was well under control and he was recovering.

(maybe talk to a dog?)

I always wonder why they could be so honest with me, a stranger? Yes, maybe because I am a stranger, risk is low that I can have any overlapping with their lives.

Fundamentally, we all have our own vulnerabilities and we need a listener, a role sometimes cannot be served by those intimate in our life like parents or partners.

For me, those Uber drivers and Airbnb hosts are also strangers. I think heavily of their trust. I am deeply indebted to them for hosting me with their own homes! I am grateful to their trust to take good care of their homes. I always do cleaning and restore the apartment in the same condition as I take it. I am also grateful to those who share with me their life stories. Their words resound in my heart and encourage me to embrace the world with more appreciation. Meanwhile, I also become a good listener. 

The world is full of disagreement, pain and error. I may not fix them, but I will always be a listener. Listen to the world, and listen to people whom I know and I don't. Most people are kind and inclined to trust strangers; the world is not only those negative news reported in the media. 

Being a listener. Being understanding. Being empathic. This is what I want to become in this world.

(Photo taken at a ruin site, Porto, Portugal)

More articles on trust:
                              Alone and Together

More articles on Portugal:
                               Lisbon
                              O Porto!
                              Azulejos: once upon a tile

Photographed by Jennie Bai.

Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.

Lisbon

The New York Times has a travel column called "36 Hours in XX." That is the exact description for my experience in Lisbon. Though having almost five days in the city, I rarely have time for its cafe culture or the soulful Fado music. Riding Tram 28 through the Alfama area, however, is the highlight of my stay. So is the visit to Museu Nacional do Azulejo, the tile museum, which I will introduce in a separate article (Azulejos: once upon a tile).

Riding the tram was such a great, leisurely way to familiarize yourself with the city, especially in the alleys of Alfama. For this article, I decide to use both real photos and postcards to show you the best of Lisbon. Can you tell which ones are postcards? :)

Colorful balconies.

Various windows with colorful tiles.

And doors.

Alfama is a Moorish district. The 1755 earthquake and tsunami razed most of Lisbon, but this Medieval district was left intact. It is a sharp reminder of the four centuries Lisbon spent under Moorish rule until captured by King Afonso I in 1147, with narrow, winding streets, frequent flights of stairs, and tall, white Arabian buildings.

The habitants mostly enjoy the Old Lisboa are probably the cats.

And beautiful women on the street

Lisbon is such a colorful city. If you have an afternoon, try the labyrinth of narrow cobblestone streets that wind their way up a steep hill overlooking the Rio Tejo. It feels like stepping back in time.

Photographed by Jennie Bai.

Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.

Encounter with Hermann Hesse in Lugano

Knowing Hermann ever living near Lugano makes the EFA trip a total meaningfulness. I didn't know this until randomly skimming over Lugano brochure while waiting for hotel check-in. Hermann spent most of his time and died in Montagnola, Ticino. It's there he wrote those books winning him the Nobel Prize but more exerting a long-run influence to numerous people including me.

In order to make the visit to Museo Hermann Hesse, I skipped conference lunch and one session. With a pilgrim's heart, I arrived in the quiet village in Montagnola, which Hermann ever described as:

"Here the sun shines more intensely, the mountains are rosier: wine, almonds, figs and chestnuts grow and the people are good, civilized, and friendly..."

The museum is a small two-storey brick building, next to the villa Hermann ever lived. The second floor hosts his manuscripts, scratches, postcards, letters, as well the chair and table he ever used. I cannot help put my hands touching the table, as if it could help me connecting to the scene when he wrote Siddhartha (1922). Contemplating the typewriter, I wonder what Hermann ever experienced in his own spiritual exploration.

(Hermann's typewriter, Smith Premier No. 4)

"When you throw a rock into the water, it will speed on the fastest course to the bottom of the water. This is how it is when Siddhartha has a goal, a resolution. Siddhartha does nothing, he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he passes through the things of the world like a rock through water, without doing anything, without stirring; he is drawn, he lets himself fall. "   

                                       --- Siddhartha (1922)

The nexus of Hermann's works to my life, heart and mind, is through a channel not so common to others, the Taoism, the philosophy of Lao-tze. In his autobiography, Childhood of the Magician, Hermann recalled the mixing influence of Western and Eastern culture on his family. His grandfather and his parents all ever served in India at a Protestant Christian mission society. His father introduced him to the thought of Lao-tze in his youth. Later on he himself also traveled to India, and other Asian countries in his thirties. 

这幢屋子里交错着许多世界的光芒。人们在这屋里祈祷和读《圣经》，研究和学习印度哲学，还演奏许多优美的音乐。这里有知道佛陀和老子的人，有来自许多不同国度的客人……这样美的家庭是我喜欢的，但是我希望的世界更美，我的梦想也更多。现实是从来不充足的，魔术是必要的。

                              ---《魔术师的童年》 赫尔曼·黑塞

Rays of light from many worlds intersected in this house. Here people prayed and read the Bible, here they studied and practiced Hindu philology, here much good music was played, here there was knowledge of Buddha and Lao-tse, guests came from many countries... It was beautiful and it pleased me, but more beautiful still was the world of my wishful thinking, richer still the play of my waking dreams. Reality was never enough, there was need of magic.

       --- Childhood of the Magician, by Hermann Hesse

The Eastern journey made a strong impression on Hermann's literary work. As he said, "Wisdom cannot be learned. That is an experience that I had to try to represent by poetical means. The result of that attempt is Siddhartha." "I am not Siddhartha, I am only always and again on my way to him ..."

The way Siddhartha achieving enlightening for me, is consistent with the Way of Lao-tze, summarized in the book of Tao Te Jing: that is No Action (无为). Be aware of whatever happening and fully accept it as it is.

From that hour Siddhartha ceased to fight against his destiny. There shone in his face the serenity of knowledge, of one who is no longer confronted with conflict of desires, who has found salvation, who is in harmony with the stream of events, with the stream of life, full of sympathy and compassion, surrendering himself to the stream, belonging to the unity of all things.       

                                                           -- Siddhartha (p.94)

For all these years, I increasingly find the Taoism to have the power to comfort me and to guide me! It was so resonating when seeing Hermann's words (in translation) exhibited in the museum that "I go to that corner of my library where the Chinese are -- a beautiful, a peaceful, a happy corner! In these ancient books there are such good and often such astonishingly pertinent things. Here, during the terrible war years, I often found thoughts to comfort me and put me back on my feet!" 



I didn't remember how I got back from the Montagnola village to the conference site, back to the secular world. The unexpected 'encounter' with Hermann Hesse transformed me into a spiritual excursion. That night, when we were cruising on Lake Lugano with hundreds of conference participants, my mind only echoed Hermann's words (see note) in a documentary film I watched as a solo audience in the museum that afternoon:

Let yourself fall

  Do not fight back

Die gladly

 Live gladly

(scenery from the boat while cruising at Lake Lugano)

Photographed by Jennie Bai.

Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.

Note:

"There was not a thing in the world that was not just as beautiful, just as desirable, just as joyous as it’s opposite. It was blissful to live, it was blissful to die, as soon as you hung suspended in space. Peace from without did not exist; there was no peace in the graveyard, no peace in God. No magic ever interrupted the eternal chain of births, the endless succession of God’s breaths. But there was another kind of peace, to be found within your own self. It’s name was: Let yourself fall! Do not fight back! Die gladly! Live Gladly!"

~  Klingsor’s Last Summer by Hermann Hesse  

Silhouette along the Rhine River in Basel

You could have missed Basel if not walking along the Rhine River... Any great city has its soul if it also has a river accompanying her. Paris is not Paris without Seine, neither London without Thames, nor NewYork without Hudson. The river defines the characteristics of the city; its people in turn redefine the river.

There is nothing more relaxing after an intellectual meeting than a carefree walk. Andrew, Itay, Wei, and I have the next-day flight, back to routine and busy world. The few hours break thus becomes so precious before a new journey. Under Anastasia's guide, we rambled through the old town and came to the Münsterplatz.

Walking down along the staircase, we took a ferry across the Rhine river. In this way we are getting closer to feel the river, its current gently up and down and soon bringing us to the other bank.

(the sculler) 

Basel is live in the summer with a special event called "The Rhine Swim". Only those that have ventured into the Rhine can truly understand the soul of the city.  Drifting on the current, and let your cares floating away with the water. 

(sparse people floating in the Rhine)

In the riverbank, there are culture exhibitions worth a stop even for the local people.

And more people choose to sit in the stairs of the riverbank, composing a live movie which has brought so much pleasure for an observer like me. What else could be more interesting to watch the lives of other people? Indeed, this is one of the strong motivations keeping me traveling all these years. I am full of curiosity for the external world. We are borne to see the world, to listen to the world, to touch the world, and to taste and feel the world, aren't we?

River seems for me to be a forever theme.  It is the Way in Lao-tze's Tao Te Jing , which I admire and aim to achieve throughout my life. 

上善若水。 

The highest goodness resembles water.

水善利萬物而不爭，處衆人之所惡，故幾於道。居善地，心善淵，與善仁，言善信，正善治，事善能，動善時。 

Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention. It stays in places that people dislike.Therefore it is similar to the Way (Tao), dwelling with the right location, feeling with great depth, giving with great kindness, speaking with great integrity, governing with great administration, handling with great capability, and moving with great timing.

夫唯不爭，故無尤。 

Because it does not contend, it is therefore beyond reproach.

Photographed by Jennie Bai
Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.

Intermission in Dutch Symphony

 7:20am Amsterdam Schinpol

The full moon, as bright as your smile, was profiled against the dark velvet sky. I have a few hours before transferring a train to Tilburg. Having checked luggage at the station, I got into a fine stride to -- van Gogh museum, THE place I want to go anytime in Amsterdam. Without the camera, the bag, even not the purse,  I brought with me cellphone, cash, a green pen and a scratch pad. Hands off, and I am as free as a morning jogger.

Even freer is my mind and imagination, especially immersed in paintings. I ever visited here five years ago, knowing little and wrote a wiki-style article afterwards (van Gogh). Three months later, I visited his paintings again at MOMA, NYC (Hi! Vincent) Ever since then Vincent and his paintings become an integral part of my life.

Now the museum is showing a special exhibition, Van Gogh at work. It fascinated me to see how a great painter 'stole' skills and inspirations from nature and fellows and eventually created his own style. Below are Van Gogh's reinterpretation on other people's paintings. As you can see, form and content are by other painters, but Van Gogh has added color.

Let there be light. Let there be color! Yet in all his paintings color equals energy and power and passion. Whenever I see his paintings I feel the pulsation in between the brushstrokes. That's my secret source of invigoration.

I was suddenly seized by a whim. We economists write black-white papers. Could we also add color to an academic paper? Beyond confirming an evidence or testing a hypothesis or showing how important our work could be, isn't it more fun to deliver a passionate believe behind words? Eventually, all time-tested good work -- painting, singing, music works -- seem to be "effortless," though after unknown and innumerable effort. Should not a real valuable paper at least try to achieve the 'effortless' state? 


I obviously has overthought, an integral mark of a pseudo-economist. I would better be stupid. Hasn't Gustave Flauber ever said that?

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost. --Gustave Flauber

=============================

4:30pm Tilburg University Train Station

A fruitful conference comes to the end. My presentation was the last one. I happened to be told in yesterday's dinner that Bosch's hometown was about 20min train from Tilburg. Oh, Bosch! Such a cliche to say how I admire his works. I love him. I won't miss this opportunity. So, here am I in the Tilburg University station, immediately after the conference.

This is a gamble. I jumped on the train to 's-Hertogenbosch (Bosch's town) and arrived there around 5pm. Grabbed a taxi yet I did not know how long the trip takes to Bosch museum. At every red light stop, I was praying yet I also told myself that even if I have missed, -- the Bosch museum closes at 5:30pm -- at least I have no regret. Mercy! The taxi stopped in front of the Bosch chapel at 5:19pm. The administrator initially refused to let me in, then she has pity on my effort saying, "ok, 10min!"

At the reprint of "The Garden of Earthly Delights," my tears held no longer... Rising in my heart then is Gabriel Faure's requiem, Pie Jesu.

Photographed by Jennie Bai.

       Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.

The Theatre of Venice

"

(Venezia by J.M.W. Turner. Source: Google image)

 

(Photos taken on the boat)

It's my first time in Venice. Before the visit, the city for me is nothing but Turner's painting and Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. Together, it's all the floating fabulousness, or "half fairy tale and half tourist trap," as Mann called.

To better understand this magnificent city, I should have done more research before the visit. But it's almost impossible given my tight schedule and short stay in Venice. However, without much ex-ante knowledge and opinions, I can touch Venice in a directly sensual way. My overall impression is that Venice is a grand theatre.   

Please take your seats. In this play, Venice assumes a dual role. There is Venice the city where people live and Venice the city tourists visit. "Lighting, sets, and costumes are so beautiful the heart aches, but the plot is full of confusion, the ending uncertain. One thing is certain: Everyone is madly in love with the title character." (Cathy Newman, National Geographic)

Really, it is a huge theater. The city is flooded with tourists. In 2007, the number of Venetian residents is 60,000 whereas the number of visitors is 21 million. I haven't seen such a high intensity of tourists in any other place. Demographers predict that by 2030, there won't be a single full-time Venetian resident left. The city that was once an anchor of the 19th-century Grand Tour is at serious risk of becoming an empty façade with as much life as a Venetian carnival mask.

So how do you avoid feeling ripped off?

Here are some quiet moments I want to share with you.

As well captured in Turner's paintings, Venice (Venezia) is a city with luminous atmosphere and dreamlike ambiance. The gondolas by the riverside, are young bridegrooms in the setting sun. Their reflections on the shimmering waves  always linger in my heart.

Venice has more than its fair share of world-class churches, squares and museums, and though St Mark's and the Doge's Palace et al are obviously worth a gander, for me the labyrinth of medieval alleyways and canals is what makes the city so special. Getting lost among it all (a small square here, another beautiful bridge there), and snatching the odd moment of solitude, is hopelessly romantic.

 

There are so many different ways to combine the details as to make infinite the possibilities of how to read one place, one floor, one palazzo...

你站在桥上看风景，
看风景人在楼上看你。

明月装饰了你的窗子，
你装饰了别人的梦。
--- 卞之琳·《断章》

When you watch the scenery from the bridge, the sightseer watches you from the balcony.

The bright moon adorns your window, while you adorn another’s dream.

So what role will you play in the theatre of Venice?

Photographed by Jennie Bai.

Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.

Lefkara Aria

像我这样的一个女人和这样的一个小孩，无知而无畏，行走在四面八方。带着东方的面孔，坦诚的微笑，和一颗童真的赤子之心。 －－  题记

(Cypriot woman making lace)

I hardly knew anything about Lefkara before my trip, except that it's located between Larnaca airport and the conference site, good for a one-day exploration. It's the idea of seeing genuine Cypriot village which leads me there; the village is famous for traditional folk art such as lace and silver making. Whenever having a choice, I prefer guest house/B&B to hotels. I by chance found the Iosiphis house, where I lived in Lefkara, from an argotourism website.  Without a car it'sdifficult to go there. Yet remember there is always a solution on the road! Everything ends up with a happy surprise. The house owner Efti and his wife Linda picked me up from the hotel with reasonable charge for gas only.

I rent a small studio, but since I was the only guest, I in fact possessed the whole stone villa! Me alone, without anyone else, have the kitchen, bedroom, the whole yard, etc. It was really like going home, -- you hold keys and remember to turn off light and shut the door; you have all the rights and the responsibility! 

It is a more than one-hundred-year old stone building, with beautiful antique wood bed and handmade lace curtains. All furniture in the room are from three generations earlier. Here is the framed photo of the hostess Linda at her childhood. I had my first sweet sleep in the past nine days, waking up in the song of birds and the fragrance of jasmine!

Linda kindly left me several pieces of bread, some cheese and butter. I bought a watermelon and picked up apricots from the tree (Yes, right from the tree!). Together with tomatoes, peaches and oranges from the farmer market I bought one day before, I made my supper.

(my supper)

After that, I happily left 'home' and joined a local cafe for the UEFA Euro football, sharing excitement with unknown people and purely enjoying the fun! This reminded me of the night at Colone, when I was drinking beers at a bar along the Rhein, celebrating the final of 2008 Euro Cup with enthusiastic strangers. Four years passed, I am still traveling...

 

Lefkara is a beautiful beautiful village, with well-preserved and rich cultural and architectural heritage. Lefkara, meaning "White Mounts", took its name from the limestone rocks of the region. The houses, built in traditional architectural style, were plastered with white loan or whitewash internally, while externally, they were left visibly whitewashed.

Walking in the alleys, I was stunned by the colorful beauty of the village. I suddenly realized that the beauty indeed comes from the contrast against the plain white stone wall. This reminds me what Laozi  said in Tao Te Jing more than two thousands years ago.

三十辐 ，共一毂 ，当其无 ，有车之用。
埏埴以为器 ，当其无 ，有器之用。
凿户牖以为室 ，当其无 ，有室之用 。

故有之以为利 ，无之以为用 。

"The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends.
Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.
The door and windows are cut out (from the walls) to form an apartment; but it is on the empty space (within), that its use depends.

The potential utility resides in the tangible.

But true usefulness is a manifestation of the intangible."

Photographed by Jennie Bai.

Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.

，

Cyprus Cantata

Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. I have been pursuing love and beauty all these year. Unexpectedly and coincidentally I now have come to the island where Aphrodite was born, the goddess of love and beauty.

(Photo taken from the Medieval Museum in the Lemesos Castle)

Limassol

The conference was held in a beach resort with a full schedule. Yet I still managed to squeeze some time to walk around. I am an economist, ---staying in hotel helps nothing to know the local economy. I spent two early mornings in the old town and city center of Limassol. I chose bus instead of taxi to know the transportation fare and to observe the local people. I went to grocery stores and farmer market to buy fruit and check the local living cost. I window-visited several real estate agencies to collect a sense of house price. I am always curious about: What brand is locally brewed beer? How much does it cost for one pound of egg/tomato/banana? What is local people's income and tax rate? What makes this place so unique?

(from a farmer market in the old town)

What are my findings? (Skip this paragraph if you are not interested in economics or numbers.) The GDP of Cyprus in 2011 is 0.5%, after growing an average 4.2% from 2004 - 2008. The banking sector has a strong linkage  to Greek sovereign and private sector. As the saying goes, "one honors all; one damns all." The close relation which used to promote Cypriot economy now has brought them vast risk exposure. The second day of my returning to NYC, news came out that Cyprus asked for 1.8billion euro bailout! I surveyed people and collected the following numbers.  A local university professor earns about 40,000 euro per year. The average income is about 15,000 euro per year. All income is before tax and the tax rate is about 20%. If you earn above 60,000 per year, you can live as a King. The unemployment rate is about 25%. In the village where I lived, I hardly can see any young people since no job is available.

 (Argia Napa in the old town) 

It's said that Richard the Lionheart married his fiancée Berengaria in Limassol.

 

(Rainbow in a church)

Limassol is much like other medium cities in Europe, but she is also flirtatious. Look at these murals on the street!

Amathus

The conference is hosted in Amathus area. The area used to be an ancient royal city of Cyprus, now has clustered luxury hotels right on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. 

The weather was gorgeous! I was so tempted to change bikini and jump into the sea!

Economists are a little serious species -- surely with a few exceptions. I flew to Cyprus right after the WFA conference in Las Vegas (Gee, a hectic long flight with multiple stops!) There in the dissipated city, most economists maintain their 'rationality'. I did a random survey. Almost nine out of ten people I run across told me that they chose not to gamble. Now on the Mediterranean beach, similar things happened again! 

So what's the purpose to spend two thousand dollars flying all the hectic way to Cyprus while doing similar thing as in any domestic cities like Miami or New York? After all, life is composed of  unforgettable moments, isn't it? What that cliche says, "life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"(Hilary Cooper). Even staying one more day could make a big difference and you may encounter such beautiful moments in life! It's not guaranteed to happen. But at least it's worth a trial! I luckily and happily gained such moment by going to a mountain village, Lefkara.


Next Stop: Lefkara

Photographed by Jennie Bai.

Copyright ©Jennie Bai. All Rights Reserved.