Travelogue, day 7
Seriously, though, just jotting some notes down, because I am flat-on-my-face tired after having had an adventure in a Chinese police outpost. Really. Camera business, you know, had to get papers for the insurance people. What the insurance people are going to do with papers in Chinese is so far beyond me it may as well be back in Israel. But I digress.
Cold, cold day. Deigned to leave my bed only around two PM because I was comfy, and had finished a huge and excellent book the night before so had much to think about. Turned out to be a very good decision: was able to stretch my activity hours long past six and thus get in more nighttime photography. Started my day in the beautiful and depressing African Joint Pavilion, where nations such as Uganda and Eritrea scrambled to convince me that they had infinite potential for tourism. Sometimes the Expo's focus on development and a brighter future really breaks your heart.
Moved back out into the cold and shuffled my feet over to the Europe Square with my mind set on pictures and food. Had delicious soup in a restaurant in the German Pavilion, and a Belgian waffle. Visited a bunch of European pavilions, all of them splendid, with special marks going to the archeological exhibition in the Turkey Pavilion with its freakish Mother Goddess statues. The best of today's Europe adventure, though, and top marks at large out of the entire Expo, goes to the Iceland Pavilion, outside of which I had a moment of profound terror as a small child ran past me wearing what appeared to be a cape made out of the flayed pelt of Expo-tan. They were selling them in those little stalls, you see. Because it was cold. Anyway, the Iceland Pavilion had a line outside of it: I was as confused as you must be now, until I walked in and realized that the Icelanders had, very wisely, chosen not to aim for what they couldn't achieve and display their country as something it isn't, like, for once, populated. The pavilion is entirely one big space, lined walls-and-ceiling with screens, showing phenomenal views of Iceland's starkly beautiful nature. You really can ask for nothing more.
On the advice of a nice Chinese-speaking Norwegian guy, ambled on to the Americas zone to have a look at the Chile Pavilion, which was quite fantastic in its thought-provoking display on isolation and community involvement in big cities. Thought-provoking mostly in the sense that it got you to think of how much so many pavilions in the Expo were harping on the issue of community involvement and forming relationships - the best part of the Chile display, in my opinion, was the screen full of windows with people randomly doing things in their home, with a voice repeating, in English and Chinese, "what is your neighbor's name?" - and you get to wonder if no one lives in the city exactly because they want to get away from a pressing close community and prefer the alienation, read privacy and independence, of city living. But if I start writing on this subject, I will not sleep tonight, and I like sleep.
Concluded the day in the Expo Axis, photographing the China Pavilion until my fingers were numb and buying a few gifts. I am frankly at a loss on what to bring back: everything on sale is either pure garbage or prohibitively expensive. But then again I bring enough photos to redecorate several buildings, so if someone needs a wallpaper, let me know.
Tomorrow is the last day. I'm not yet sure how I feel about that.