I know I spend a lot of time talking about my observations of our host countries and my own experiences abroad, but I'm sure a lot of you are wondering, "How about the kids? She hardly ever talks about the kids!" Well, fear not, they are doing fine. But I thought I would expound on that a little since they are what some experts define as "Third Culture Kids", meaning they are being raised in a culture different than the one in which their parents were raised.
I remember back in Madrid a couple of years ago, I was sitting in one of those boring school orientation meetings and the principal recommended we all read a book called "Raising Global Nomads". "Because that's what you are all doing," she said, "You are raising global nomads." And I thought to myself, "No I'm not - we are doing one little stint here in Spain and then it's back home forever." So I certainly did not need any stinking books.
Well, here we are on our second assignment (and third continent) so I guess I can no longer deny that our lives are a bit out of the ordinary. Mostly they are very normal American kids - they have playdates and sleep-overs, they ride their bikes, go to Cub Scouts, watch cartoons. Yet every once in a while there are these moments, which are both strange and cool, when I realize they are not completely normal.
Sometimes it is something the kids say - and not what they say, but how they say it. It is not so unusual for Ian to make a sentence mixing 2 or 3 different languages. Since they are just starting to learn Chinese, he'll start out in Chinese, and when he hits a word he doesn't know, he'll say it in Spanish. We have some very surreal dinner conversations.
Tim has been somewhat resistent to learning other languages, so in his case he is influenced by the foreign English speakers, the British and Australians. He uses words like "quite", "indeed", and "properly" a little too often for a 6 year old. I hope it doesn't get him beat up back in the States.
Then there's the TV. Back in Spain, they were always walking around quoting their favorite Spanish commercials and here in Shanghai, for some reason Tim gets really annoyed with all the travel ads on CNN ("Not Malaysia again!"). Here we get a satellite feed out of the Philippines which has tons of US programming (more than we had in Spain, even) so they are watching a lot of the same cartoons they would watch in the States. But I had to laugh when, back in October, in between episodes of SpongeBob and Fairly Odd Parents, Nickolodean ran a segment called "How to Survive Ramadan" with the tagline "It's cool to fast!".
We constantly tell the kids that this is not a normal life and how very lucky and priviledged we are to have this experience. I do try to keep it real. I don't have a housekeeper like virtually all of the other expats do. The boys have to do chores and homework like we all had to do growing up. Then one day we were giving a ride home to Timmy's best friend (the most adorable little Japanese boy), who says something like, "If we had a race, my driver could beat your driver!" I had a sudden urge to go home and make them scrub toilets.
There are definitely times where I have to just give in to the fact that no matter what I do, these kids are being raised in a different environment that I was and there is only so much you can do - especially when they start to know more than you do. I make Ian present his homework to me every night to be checked. I was doing okay with the Chinese homework because I have been taking classes, too, and Ian usually just has to do some translation or draw pictures. Until one night when I look in the workbook to see an entire paragraph of just Chinese characters. I immediately closed the book, handed it back, and said "Looks good to me."
Although they are doing well and seem perfectly happy and well-adjusted, they are well aware that this is only temporary and they do look forward to being settled somewhere. Ian defintely wants to be back in America with family and our own house. I think Tim just wants to live any place where they only speak English and you get enough snow "to make a proper snowman" in the winter. I only hope that in the years to come when this is all a distant memory, they look back on this time and remember it fondly. By the way, I never did read that book.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Shanghai Marathon
It was race day today! It all went great, but I'm also very glad it's done. Russ had a great day in the half-marathon, finishing just seconds over the 2 hour mark which was better than he had even hoped for. My time for the full marathon was 3 hours and 50 minutes - not quite as good as I was shooting for, but I'm still happy with it.
The morning started out very cold (the race started at 7:30 and my teeth were chattering at the starting line), but the sky was sunny and clear and it warmed up to be the perfect day. I have to say, as disorderly as China can be in some aspects (particularly the insane driving), the race was well organized and the participants were very civil. Maybe the lines of uniformed military personnel surrounding the starting line had something to do with it.
We started out in a nice spot: the first bit of the race was on a pedestrian road in the heart of one of Shanghai's touristy areas (Nanjing road) and went past the Jing'an Temple. But it didn't last - most of the race was on the highways or through some of the decidedly less scenic parts of town. But the locals more than made up for it by turning out in droves to cheer the racers on. There were numerous groups throughout the course: women in matching track suits or Chinese outfits chanting and banging drums or sticks, waving red scarves or Chinese fans, banging cymbals, and lots of people with those little plastic hand clappers. Some people even took it upon themselves to hand out water or candy or cookies. I couldn't understand what they kept chanting at us, but it was still really great.
I hit the wall somewhere around mile 20 (I think that's when most people start to fall apart). I worked through it somehow without walking too much at all, but by the time I finished I felt pretty ill - I didn't even want to wait in line to get my results certificate. I did, however, get my medal and goody bag as I crossed the finish. It's always fun to see what's in the bag - usually a bottle of water, an orange or a banana, and some promotional give-aways. In Madrid I got a beer, here in China it was a bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce, which is kind of strange because I've noticed they don't actually use soy sauce in China (at least not in Shanghai). I guess that's why it's a promotion.
I told Russ he can do the full marathon next year 'cause I'm done for a while. I figure that since I did one in Europe and one in Asia, maybe I can do one in the U.S. when I get home and then I'll quit (maybe)....
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The Lanes of Old Shanghai
Hi Everyone!
Just wanted to share with you my latest outing to take a walk through the old Shanghai lane homes. The "lanes" refer to alleys of the city where many of the poor live. Why go there? Well, they are a small piece of history in this town that doesn't really have much history left and it is also a revealing look into its current culture.
Our tour guide was Gang Feng Wang, a rather successful photographer who was raised in the lanes of Shanghai. The lane houses were built around the 1920's and are of European design as this was when many westerners were settling in the town. Originally the houses were built and occupied by only the weathliest families, both Chinese and Western. They have mulitple stories with many rooms big enough to house a family which may have had multiple wives, children, and several servants.
But in 1949 when the Communists took over, the wealthy families fled China, taking only what few valuables they could carry. Even if they did stay and managed to avoid imprisonment (or worse), their houses became the property of the state who divided up the property among multple families so that now they had to share their big luxury home. In many cases, families were alotted just a single room to live and sleep in and they shared the kitchen and bathroom with their "neighbors".
Inevitably, these lanes became the cramped slums we see today. We actually walked into some of the homes (friends of our tour guide) to have a look around and it was shocking how cluttered they were as each family has so little space. Even though they didn't have much, there was hardly any room to put the things they did have. One house we went into was obviously once very grand with a huge foyer and big fancy staircase. But at the top of the staircase, the big landing overlooking the entryway was a turned into a make-shift panty and kitchen with rickety tables to hold all of the families' food and hot plates for cooking. The years of accumulated grease from frying had blackened the beautiful carved cieling.
There is hope for the people living there today thanks to the rapid development of Shanghai. Big developers are buying up property around the city and tearing down these old lane homes to make room for high-rise office buildings, hotels, and other commerical money-makers. A large part of the investment the developers put into these ventures is in buying out the current residents that are being displaced. They get 350,000RMB (about $50,000) per person to vacate - that is a huge windfall for these people who have never seen that much money in their entire lives. It is their ticket out of this life in the lanes, and those that haven't been bought out already are anxiously waiting for their salvation.
The only people who seem to care that a huge piece of history is being systematically demolished are the western expats and tourists. We are dismayed that nothing is being done to try to preserve and restore these architectual monuments. But the Shanghaiese seem to have no sentimentality for old things and there is no money to be had in restoration. Shanghai prides itself on being modern and progressive and so it is a case of go see it now before it is gone.
There is at least one lane that has been designated a heritage site and will not be sold for demolition. You can't help but feel a little conflicted about that - yes, we are saving a piece of history for generations to come, but it is just a building after all, and now the people living there have no hope of ever getting out.
Just wanted to share with you my latest outing to take a walk through the old Shanghai lane homes. The "lanes" refer to alleys of the city where many of the poor live. Why go there? Well, they are a small piece of history in this town that doesn't really have much history left and it is also a revealing look into its current culture.
Our tour guide was Gang Feng Wang, a rather successful photographer who was raised in the lanes of Shanghai. The lane houses were built around the 1920's and are of European design as this was when many westerners were settling in the town. Originally the houses were built and occupied by only the weathliest families, both Chinese and Western. They have mulitple stories with many rooms big enough to house a family which may have had multiple wives, children, and several servants.
But in 1949 when the Communists took over, the wealthy families fled China, taking only what few valuables they could carry. Even if they did stay and managed to avoid imprisonment (or worse), their houses became the property of the state who divided up the property among multple families so that now they had to share their big luxury home. In many cases, families were alotted just a single room to live and sleep in and they shared the kitchen and bathroom with their "neighbors".
Inevitably, these lanes became the cramped slums we see today. We actually walked into some of the homes (friends of our tour guide) to have a look around and it was shocking how cluttered they were as each family has so little space. Even though they didn't have much, there was hardly any room to put the things they did have. One house we went into was obviously once very grand with a huge foyer and big fancy staircase. But at the top of the staircase, the big landing overlooking the entryway was a turned into a make-shift panty and kitchen with rickety tables to hold all of the families' food and hot plates for cooking. The years of accumulated grease from frying had blackened the beautiful carved cieling.
There is hope for the people living there today thanks to the rapid development of Shanghai. Big developers are buying up property around the city and tearing down these old lane homes to make room for high-rise office buildings, hotels, and other commerical money-makers. A large part of the investment the developers put into these ventures is in buying out the current residents that are being displaced. They get 350,000RMB (about $50,000) per person to vacate - that is a huge windfall for these people who have never seen that much money in their entire lives. It is their ticket out of this life in the lanes, and those that haven't been bought out already are anxiously waiting for their salvation.
The only people who seem to care that a huge piece of history is being systematically demolished are the western expats and tourists. We are dismayed that nothing is being done to try to preserve and restore these architectual monuments. But the Shanghaiese seem to have no sentimentality for old things and there is no money to be had in restoration. Shanghai prides itself on being modern and progressive and so it is a case of go see it now before it is gone.
There is at least one lane that has been designated a heritage site and will not be sold for demolition. You can't help but feel a little conflicted about that - yes, we are saving a piece of history for generations to come, but it is just a building after all, and now the people living there have no hope of ever getting out.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
What can I say?
Although much of the time I feel like I'm safe in my little expat bubble over here in China, it is impossible to avoid certain disruptions to a "normal" life. I'm not just talking about tring to find decent napkins or having to pay $7 for a box of American cereal. There are much bigger issues that you run into and make you think "Whoa, I'm in China."
The whole milk catastrophe was one. We had not been drinking the Chinese milk to begin with, but now that the affected brands have disappeared from the shelves, all of the other brands have been bought up, too, and there is no more milk in the supply line to restock the shelves with. The stores are down to soy milk and fresh milk only. Ironically, we had been warned off of the fresh milk when we first got here because it has too many hormones in it. Oh well. I don't know what the hormones do to you, but I hope it's not worse than kidney stones.
I could go on about the health and ethical issues here, but I'm a little nervous about another issue: government censorship. As you may have heard, I cannot view my own website here. I can update it, but I'm not able to go directly to the website to view it like you can back home. We've discovered this is a China problem because whenever Russ travels on business outside the country, he is able to view it. The last couple days we were not able to view this blog, either. It's cleared up today, but we'll see for how long.
Another example came up with our TV channels. Our neighborhood sources its programming from the Phillipines and basically the only channels in English worth watching are International CNN and BBC news, Discovery, Nat Geo, HBO, and Star Movies. We also used to get Nickolodeon (cartoons) and Star World (sitcoms, etc.), but in the last few weeks, these last two channels went black. Then a few days ago we received a notice that these channels are illegal in China and will not be turned back on.
I don't know why it took this long to discover this or why it's happening now. Russ theorizes that they are gradually and methodically closing things down now that the Olympics are over and they don't have to keep up appearances of "openness" anymore.
It is pretty amazing how much the government can control information and make everyone believe what they want them to believe. This is not a very extreme example, but one day a while back, I ran into a Chinese woman who was looking for the bus stop. She had just come from giving a private Chinese lesson at someone's house in our neighborhood so I walked her over to the bus stop and we got to chatting a bit. I mentioned that my kids go to the American School and what a good school it was, etc. She asked if there were many Chinese students there. I told her that only expats can go there - you can only attend if you have a foreign passport. I also mentioned that the school is sponsored by the US State Department and she said (rather indignantly) "Oh, it must be that your government does not want to help the Chinese people so they don't let us go there." Then I gently explained that it was actually the policy of Chinese goverment keeping the locals out. She just said "Oh" with a very pensive, confused look on her face. I could tell she was going to be mulling over that one for a while because, of course, the Chinese are lead to believe that China is always good and right and America is the bad guy.
So take a moment to appreciate our freedom of speech next time you listen to world news or watch something smutty on TV and know that by the time you read this entry, billions of Chinese people may not be able to.
The whole milk catastrophe was one. We had not been drinking the Chinese milk to begin with, but now that the affected brands have disappeared from the shelves, all of the other brands have been bought up, too, and there is no more milk in the supply line to restock the shelves with. The stores are down to soy milk and fresh milk only. Ironically, we had been warned off of the fresh milk when we first got here because it has too many hormones in it. Oh well. I don't know what the hormones do to you, but I hope it's not worse than kidney stones.
I could go on about the health and ethical issues here, but I'm a little nervous about another issue: government censorship. As you may have heard, I cannot view my own website here. I can update it, but I'm not able to go directly to the website to view it like you can back home. We've discovered this is a China problem because whenever Russ travels on business outside the country, he is able to view it. The last couple days we were not able to view this blog, either. It's cleared up today, but we'll see for how long.
Another example came up with our TV channels. Our neighborhood sources its programming from the Phillipines and basically the only channels in English worth watching are International CNN and BBC news, Discovery, Nat Geo, HBO, and Star Movies. We also used to get Nickolodeon (cartoons) and Star World (sitcoms, etc.), but in the last few weeks, these last two channels went black. Then a few days ago we received a notice that these channels are illegal in China and will not be turned back on.
I don't know why it took this long to discover this or why it's happening now. Russ theorizes that they are gradually and methodically closing things down now that the Olympics are over and they don't have to keep up appearances of "openness" anymore.
It is pretty amazing how much the government can control information and make everyone believe what they want them to believe. This is not a very extreme example, but one day a while back, I ran into a Chinese woman who was looking for the bus stop. She had just come from giving a private Chinese lesson at someone's house in our neighborhood so I walked her over to the bus stop and we got to chatting a bit. I mentioned that my kids go to the American School and what a good school it was, etc. She asked if there were many Chinese students there. I told her that only expats can go there - you can only attend if you have a foreign passport. I also mentioned that the school is sponsored by the US State Department and she said (rather indignantly) "Oh, it must be that your government does not want to help the Chinese people so they don't let us go there." Then I gently explained that it was actually the policy of Chinese goverment keeping the locals out. She just said "Oh" with a very pensive, confused look on her face. I could tell she was going to be mulling over that one for a while because, of course, the Chinese are lead to believe that China is always good and right and America is the bad guy.
So take a moment to appreciate our freedom of speech next time you listen to world news or watch something smutty on TV and know that by the time you read this entry, billions of Chinese people may not be able to.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Running in Shanghai
My apologies to anyone who is tired of hearing about my running activities - I try to resist brining it up because I'm aware it can be very boring for non-runners, but this is about my life and with the exception of grocery shopping, it's what I do most often. Running is also (with the exception of grocery shopping) one thing that I do out with the local population.
I also want to set the record straight in case I've given anyone the wrong impression about the running culture here in China in my previous writings. I know I've poked fun in my description of the unique exercise practices here: the walking backwards, the clapping and slapping, the shuffling joggers (and, hey, I give them credit for getting out there!).
But there are some really serious runners here - great big groups and clubs which convene regularly to do laps around the park. And they are not wearing PJ's and bobo sneakers, they are in real running gear and have a station set up where they drop their bottles of water, gatorade, or tea. I'm tempted to bring my own water bottle and see if they notice. We've been here long enough that by now they all recognize Russ and I and they are generally quite friendly. When I pass by this one group in particular, I always get some kind of greeting. I've recently been upgraded from a Chinese shout which sounds something like "Hey!" to a "Good Morning!" followed by lots of laughter.
There are even a couple women runners, but it's still mostly men. And they won't let you pass them. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a woman or a Westerner or just a cultural thing, but it's taken some getting used to. Let me start off by saying I don't pass a lot of people because the serious runners are really serious. And they are not all young jocks. There is this one little old man who looks like he's about 80 years old and hasn't eaten since last Tuesday, but his legs are pure muscle and he really cooks!
When it comes to passing someone, there are two reactions: 1) the guy being passed is obviously insulted or at least shamed into running faster and guns it past me to get way ahead, and 2) the guy who decides this would be a good opportunity for a running buddy, so he speeds up just enough to run right next to me - sometimes for miles.
This last one really threw me at first - maybe it's just because I'm used to running alone on deserted streets and this is really quite normal among runners. I thought maybe they were trying to annoy me by tail-gaiting or just couldn't quite get up the speed to pass me. But then I started to realize what they must have already known: that running with a partner, even a total stranger, helps break up the monotony a bit and gets you to run just that tiny bit quicker or better. And even if we can't have a conversation, we still share an interest so why not share and a few miles along the way?
I also want to set the record straight in case I've given anyone the wrong impression about the running culture here in China in my previous writings. I know I've poked fun in my description of the unique exercise practices here: the walking backwards, the clapping and slapping, the shuffling joggers (and, hey, I give them credit for getting out there!).
But there are some really serious runners here - great big groups and clubs which convene regularly to do laps around the park. And they are not wearing PJ's and bobo sneakers, they are in real running gear and have a station set up where they drop their bottles of water, gatorade, or tea. I'm tempted to bring my own water bottle and see if they notice. We've been here long enough that by now they all recognize Russ and I and they are generally quite friendly. When I pass by this one group in particular, I always get some kind of greeting. I've recently been upgraded from a Chinese shout which sounds something like "Hey!" to a "Good Morning!" followed by lots of laughter.
There are even a couple women runners, but it's still mostly men. And they won't let you pass them. I'm not sure if it's because I'm a woman or a Westerner or just a cultural thing, but it's taken some getting used to. Let me start off by saying I don't pass a lot of people because the serious runners are really serious. And they are not all young jocks. There is this one little old man who looks like he's about 80 years old and hasn't eaten since last Tuesday, but his legs are pure muscle and he really cooks!
When it comes to passing someone, there are two reactions: 1) the guy being passed is obviously insulted or at least shamed into running faster and guns it past me to get way ahead, and 2) the guy who decides this would be a good opportunity for a running buddy, so he speeds up just enough to run right next to me - sometimes for miles.
This last one really threw me at first - maybe it's just because I'm used to running alone on deserted streets and this is really quite normal among runners. I thought maybe they were trying to annoy me by tail-gaiting or just couldn't quite get up the speed to pass me. But then I started to realize what they must have already known: that running with a partner, even a total stranger, helps break up the monotony a bit and gets you to run just that tiny bit quicker or better. And even if we can't have a conversation, we still share an interest so why not share and a few miles along the way?
Friday, October 3, 2008
Month Two In Shanghai
Welcome to my new blog!
Most of you reading this have been receiving notes from me with updates on our family's move to Shanghai, and if you haven't, well, I don't think I could do an adequate recap. But I hope you'll enjoy reading about our travel adventures and quirky stories about daily life for an American family in China.
I'll try to do regular updates as often as I can even if it's just a short observation or random thought of the day. My latest tribulations have to do with trying to learn Mandarin. I know, I said I wasn't going to bother, that my brain was too exhausted from struggling to learn Spanish in Madrid, but I signed up for lessons anyway. It would be nice to be able to talk to my driver - besides being a fabulous employee, he seems like a really nice guy but I can't even comment on the weather, let alone explain any plans beyond my next trip to the grocery store.
I'm also spending some time taking tours around the city and other day trips to try and get to know the area and see more of the "real" China outside of our little expat bubble. Now, I was impressed with the amount of Old World sights to see in Europe, not just the historic structures (the castles, the cathedrals, etc), but also in the quaint ways some people still lived their day to day lives. Well...it still is the old world in China.
Yes, Shanghai has it's big, modern skyscrapers and lots of business people occupying them, but down at street-level, many of the people still live as you would expect they lived a century ago - and not in a quaint way, they are just poor. Although it's kind of sad, it's really fascinating and I'm really in no position to judge if they are unhappy or feel deprived - it could be a case of you don't miss what you never had and they just don't know anything different.
I'll try to remember to put some pictures on the website of the lanes of Shanghai. That's what they call the alleyways where the really old homes are. I only wish I had a camera with me when I'm out running in the morning - I typically see people pass me on their bicycles carrying live chickens or slaughtered pigs, then there are the old folks out "exercising" in their pajamas and the construction workers squatting on the sidewalks eating their breakfast they bought from vendors who cook on carts right on the street. They do a lot of squatting - the Chinese must have quads of steel. I'll tell you about the public bathrooms sometime.
So then the rest of my time is taken up with the kids and their school activities (I'm the room Mom for both their classes) and marathon training. Now that the weather has FINALLY cooled off, my running all of a sudden feels really great. I had my first 20 mile run this past Saturday and it went really well, so that was very encouraging. Now as long as I don't contract any more diseases, I'll be good to go (pneumonia kept me from running the Barcelona marathon last spring). I find it shocking that we've been here for over two months and the only sickness so far was Ian's sniffle a few weeks ago. I've been real fanatical about hand-washing since we've been here.
Russ's job is going well over all, though not without it's headaches, of course. He's been doing lots of traveling - Korea last month, he's in Singapore now, and is heading to Australia next month. And in between all his work trips, I'm busy booking holiday travel plans so the poor guy is going to feel like he spends half his life in airports.
I'll wrap up this entry with my thought of the day. This morning I took a tour of the markets downtown and wound up wandering down several of these lanes and their old, run-down houses and you can't help but reflect and ask yourself: how much stuff do I really need?
Most of you reading this have been receiving notes from me with updates on our family's move to Shanghai, and if you haven't, well, I don't think I could do an adequate recap. But I hope you'll enjoy reading about our travel adventures and quirky stories about daily life for an American family in China.
I'll try to do regular updates as often as I can even if it's just a short observation or random thought of the day. My latest tribulations have to do with trying to learn Mandarin. I know, I said I wasn't going to bother, that my brain was too exhausted from struggling to learn Spanish in Madrid, but I signed up for lessons anyway. It would be nice to be able to talk to my driver - besides being a fabulous employee, he seems like a really nice guy but I can't even comment on the weather, let alone explain any plans beyond my next trip to the grocery store.
I'm also spending some time taking tours around the city and other day trips to try and get to know the area and see more of the "real" China outside of our little expat bubble. Now, I was impressed with the amount of Old World sights to see in Europe, not just the historic structures (the castles, the cathedrals, etc), but also in the quaint ways some people still lived their day to day lives. Well...it still is the old world in China.
Yes, Shanghai has it's big, modern skyscrapers and lots of business people occupying them, but down at street-level, many of the people still live as you would expect they lived a century ago - and not in a quaint way, they are just poor. Although it's kind of sad, it's really fascinating and I'm really in no position to judge if they are unhappy or feel deprived - it could be a case of you don't miss what you never had and they just don't know anything different.
I'll try to remember to put some pictures on the website of the lanes of Shanghai. That's what they call the alleyways where the really old homes are. I only wish I had a camera with me when I'm out running in the morning - I typically see people pass me on their bicycles carrying live chickens or slaughtered pigs, then there are the old folks out "exercising" in their pajamas and the construction workers squatting on the sidewalks eating their breakfast they bought from vendors who cook on carts right on the street. They do a lot of squatting - the Chinese must have quads of steel. I'll tell you about the public bathrooms sometime.
So then the rest of my time is taken up with the kids and their school activities (I'm the room Mom for both their classes) and marathon training. Now that the weather has FINALLY cooled off, my running all of a sudden feels really great. I had my first 20 mile run this past Saturday and it went really well, so that was very encouraging. Now as long as I don't contract any more diseases, I'll be good to go (pneumonia kept me from running the Barcelona marathon last spring). I find it shocking that we've been here for over two months and the only sickness so far was Ian's sniffle a few weeks ago. I've been real fanatical about hand-washing since we've been here.
Russ's job is going well over all, though not without it's headaches, of course. He's been doing lots of traveling - Korea last month, he's in Singapore now, and is heading to Australia next month. And in between all his work trips, I'm busy booking holiday travel plans so the poor guy is going to feel like he spends half his life in airports.
I'll wrap up this entry with my thought of the day. This morning I took a tour of the markets downtown and wound up wandering down several of these lanes and their old, run-down houses and you can't help but reflect and ask yourself: how much stuff do I really need?
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