Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Global Common 2 (America)

It is impossible to visit and to see everything in a day with regularly long queues of visitors outside the pavilions (and it's quite frustrating). There is a need to do more in order to improve on queue and crowd management. The United States of America and Canada pavilions proved a major attraction and the hottest among expo-visitors to the Global Common 2 Zone.
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We decided to see the Andean Amazonian Pavilion - Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
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On sale are art and craft objects such as various hand-woven goods (bottom picture), musical instruments, original photos and books related to the Andean Community.
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As part of the cultural activities, visitors can also enjoy the rythmn of the mystic sound from the Andes (quite happening as the live music got us dancing). The Andean music is based on wind instruments like Kena, Rondador and other bamboo flutes, accompanied by guitar and other instruments.
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More souvenirs and accessories of the Andean taste.
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Postcards and paintings from Bolivia.
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Inside the Mexico Pavilion, there is a showcase of traditional Mexican costumes. Huipil - a loose brocaded blouse worn by the Maya women in Mexico and Central America.
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Amber - a fossil resin found in some abundance in the southern of Mexico, was created over 40 million years, having collected as tree sap and been washed by rain and streams into the ocean where it was compressed and left embedded in layers of rock when the seas subsided. In the process, leaves, grasses, mosquitoes, scorpions and occasionally small vertebrates were trapped in the resin. These insects add considerable value to the price of amber. Their position in the gem and the clarity of the resin is also key (e.g. if you have a centipede or a tarantula in the middle of clear resin it will be much more expensive than if you have a fly in the corner that can hardly be seen).
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In Mexico, corn occupies half of the total land used for growing crop. Archaeologists believe that corn was eaten by ancient Mexicans for as long as since 5,000 B.C. Corn is ground into flour, mixed with water and made into tortillas. Not sure why these corn kernels are colored ?!?
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Other participating countries in the Global Common 2 Zone include Argentina, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Nicaragua) and four international organizations (United Nations, Red Cross and etc).

7 comments:

Primrose said...

I love craft markets anytime. Why this post, Patrick?

zbjernak said...

i would hav spend a fortune inside these booth...buying anything on sight

great place for shopping....
now thank god we dont hav it here...else i owuld have gone bankrupt

Eddie said...

amber is expensive...
Kinokuniya in KLCC is selling amber

Anonymous said...

Eik! jewelry! I love them. Spent a bomb on them in Turkey but I think they were worth it, hehe.
Love the pics, keep them coming.
Ai Ling

Primrose said...

Really eddie? Kinokuniya is selling amber? In what form? Jewellery? Amber is expensive here. Slightly cheaper in Bangkok and kinda cheap in London.

Patrick Leong said...

primrose : you mean why i didn't do the meme ? oppsss (lazy) .... the gemstone amber is believed to be a powerful shield for absorbing negative energy (bad luck), help to aid memory and heal wounds (physical ?). amber for men ? any ?

elisa : yea. i should have bought something from the andean pavilion. i did received a bamboo flute from a peruvian friend some two years back.

zbjernak : i bet you will spend more money in the african pavilions. all antiques and wood-craft stuffs from the african kingdom (including eqypt) !

eddie : i thought kinokuniya is supposed to sell books. amber ?!? you mean books - the great book of AMBER ? you mentioned about watching memoir of geisha ? in cinema ? count me in.

ailing : turkish jewelry ? what type of gemstone ? by the way, i have confirmed my beijing trip. i will be away from november 29th till december 4th. ticket from here is expensive (but ground tour plus accommodation plus meals is just rm500). did you have to pay cash for your airfare to turkey ? no. 1 travels ? and safe trip to fiji.

Eddie said...

Patrick: Kinokuniya sells real amber as well. Amber definition can be found here http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/amber.htm