Tour de El Camino Stage 2: South Hayward

On Sunday I had a free hour or two and decided to check out the part of Hayward that has a local concentration of South Asian shops. This section is on Mission Boulevard in the south part of town. On my way there I got my first look in several months at Hayward's auto row, and I was astonished to see that many of the dealerships had closed. I can see Hayward's economy taking a big hit from the loss of the dealerships.

I found a clothes store in a little strip mall, next to an Indian food market and an Indian music store, and again walked right in and started talking to the shopkeepers. We talked about different styles he had in stock, and why he orders what items at what times of the year. It turns out that the rich dark colored shirts I like do not sell so fast, and he orders mostly blacks, whites, and tans. He recommended I check out another store further down the road, and to check out University Avenue in Berkeley too.

The second store was almost next door to a mosque, and a service must have just let out as I got there. A couple of people from the mosque made it to the store about the same time I did, and I looked around while the others said their hellos. They did not have a big selection of shirts, but I did get to chat with the shopkeeper about our trip. He thought the more time we spent up north, the better. This made sense since I think there are many Afghans in this south Hayward community. I remember that several years ago, when the US first got involved in Afganistan, there was an Afghan with ties to this community that went to Afghanistan to try to help set up a new government. He died there, and I think his funeral was at this mosque.

I decided to try the Berkeley district, and found a concentration of perhaps 10 stores on University around San Pablo Avenue. I only had time to check out one, so visited an imported goods store. There was a ton of fascinating things to look at, including comic books telling some of the classic tales of Indian mythology. I didn't buy anything, but I will come back to this district before the trip starts.

Tour de El Camino Stage 1: Santa Clara

On Saturday Hing and I decided to travel the Santa Clara portion of the El Camino Real, looking for a rumored cluster of Indian markets. On our way down 880 we stopped in Fremont and checked out one of the stores I had visited the previous week. This time, I knew what clothes I wanted to look at, and I knew what size I needed too, so I was able to walk right in to the store and start shopping. I looked and felt like a paying customer, and that made it easier for me to chat with the shopkeepers about what I was looking for and why. I was no longer a tourist.

I didn't find any shirts there in my size and favorite colors, so we moved on to a Pakistani/Indian lunch place in the Irvington district of Fremont. Hing knew what to order and how, since he has been to this lunch place and others in the chain several times. The food was great. I am looking forward to more rich spicy sauces over rice. We shared the restaurant with several cricket teams.

Finally we made our way to the El Camino Real, starting at the center of Santa Clara. We saw and stopped at a few Indian food markets, but it wasn't really much fun to visit without a shopping list. The markets were busy and lively, and had great spice sections, but I won't visit another one until I am ready to try cooking an Indian meal and need specific ingredients that I can only get at an Indian market.

We traveled along El Camino Real until we noticed we were seeing more Korean shops than Indian shops, and we started to think that we had seen all there was to see. We turned back home right as we got to the border of Sunnyvale, which I am now told is the true beginning of the Indian section of the El Camino Real. I will check that part out this week.

Movie Review 1: The Story of India

I finished watching the PBS documentary "The Story of India" over the weekend. The show reminded me how little I know about India, and also reminded me how Eurocentric I am. Everything in The Story of India was new to me, but an equivalent length documentary on Europe would not have been able to cover anything I did not already know. Knowing that Indian history is longer by half than European history, the fact that almost everything in the documentary was new tells me that I have a lot of fascinating history and culture to discover.

To partially remedy the situation, I quickly ran to the nearby Barnes & Noble and spent $125 on history, tour, literature, and language books. I have a lot of reading ahead of me, and that is not including forums on the internet about how to beat the heat, repel mosquitos, and avoid getting stomach aches.

Preparation: W-Week minus Seven

I am sure to get more out of this trip by learning as much as I can about the country in advance of the trip. The subjects I am most interested in, after Planning, are History, Art, and Cuisine. Once there, I expect that the best way to learn about these topics will be by talking to the Indians themselves. Therefore, I also want to practice speaking to Indians in context, and would also like to at least say 'hello' and 'thank you' in a language other than English. To accomplish this, I will spend the next seven weeks before the trip getting in touch with the local Indian community and culture.

As a first step in this process, I took a tour of the local ethnic Indian food markets in the Tri-City area (Fremont, Newark, and Union City) last weekend. The markets were easy to find, but difficult to navigate. Only the vegetables were recognizable. Packaged goods were as good as a grab bag surprise to me. Often the food markets were partnered with a clothing store, and that section of the store was even more impenetrable. I could not ever be sure that the shirts I saw were for men instead of women, and most of the time it was clear that these stores were mostly for women. The shopkeepers could tell right away I was not likely to buy anything, and didn't fall all over themselves trying to explain Indian culture to me. I can't blame them: they are businessmen, not tour guides.

Next week I will travel El Camino Real, and stop in every store I see until I become so familiar with the people, customs, and products that I start to feel like a regular instead of like a tourist. That should give me a head start when actually in India.

The NorCal APA Urban Planning Tour of India

In Fall 2009 several planners and those related by profession, interest, or kinship will be taking an Urban Planning Tour of India organized by (take a deep breath) the International Committee of the Northern Section of the California Chapter of the American Planning Association. The tour will start in Delhi on October 25th, will end in Bombay on November 14, and will visit points in between including the Taj Mahal, a city designed by Le Corbusier, and the colorful cities of Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur. In each place along the way, tour events will include meetings with local planning professionals, tours of districts and sites of special interest to those with a planning background, and of course, a healthy share of pure tourism and cultural discovery.

This tour of India is a sequel to a very successful Spring 2007 tour of China organized by the same group. Almost half the people going on the tour of India are graduates of the 2007 tour of China.