China and the Art of the Toilet

(Warning, these images may cause you to cringe or barf. Hey, sometimes Gal about the Globe has to give you the bad news too).

By Diana Renee Rodriguez at Nana's Breakfast

One of my fondest Chinese memories is squatting in a public restroom with no stalls for privacy, directly across from another squatter with a lit ciggie in her mouth, a strained wrinkle on her brow and grunts which bounced around the four walls we shared. Females going to the restroom together was taken to a completely different level. Or, merely the idea of going to the restroom was taken to a level in which a Westerner, such as myself, found it momentarily challenging to grasp. That mental book of socially acceptable restroom etiquette is meaningless the second you touch ground in China.


The Toilet Paper Mystery
The Chinese invented the toilet paper 1,422 years ago. After doing my business in a Chinese public restroom, I'm left squatting over a stainless steel hole with not a single square of toilet paper in sight. At this point, I don't care if my bottom isn't pampered by Charmin's Ultra Soft tissue; A leaf would suffice! One may think that those innovative ancient Chinese genes would carry down to today's Chinese minds. But all I see is a sad failure in the toilet department after their ground breaking toilet paper invention many, many years ago.

Although scarce, there are places where you can find a roll of toilet paper nearby. They tend to be in Western restaurants such as KFC and McDonalds, or fancy restaurants and hotels. Unfortunately the Chinese restroom patrons, not used to the comfort of a roll of tissue beside them, have crazy toilet paper parties while using the facilities. And there aren't enough fúwùyuán (服务员, attendant) ladies that are willing to clean a tissue mess each hour. In conclusion, I learned to take with me my own personal supply of tissue paper. I returned home with a greater understanding and appreciation of the value of the toilet paper.

Daphna's Adventures as a GATG

Hey there Gals about the Globe! I am extremely excited to be part of such an inspiring community. My name is Daphna Cuevas, and I would have to say I'm a late bloomer in traveling but leaving that for future posts. I currently find myself living back home in Guadalajaran Mexico, yep hecha en Mexico. However, I went to middle school, high school and college in the states, and lived in France and Europe for a year and a half.

This year has been full of ups and downs but I must admit its ending on a great note. Guadalajara just finished hosting the Pan/Parapan American games and I was fortunate enough to be a volunteer attachee, which is just a fancy name for assistant. Not getting paid was totally worth being part of such an important event to the country, meeting amazing people, forming new friendships along the way and even getting to meet Canada's own Minister of Sport and the Govornor General....aka the president of Canada!

When being a Gal about the Globe, you have to learn to take any opportunity that comes your way because you never know what it will lead to. Check out my pictures and contact me next time you're in Mexico. I hope this opportunity leads me to Canada and/or Europe, so you can visit me there as well!

Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Araceli

Over the holidays, I went to a beautiful photo exhibit dedicated to the one and only Audrey Hepburn. I didn’t realize that Audrey spent so much time in Rome throughout her career. Her photo display gave me the chance to truly appreciate and admire both her professional and personal life. Especially her goodwill efforts with UNICEF! Love one of her quotes, “For some trips all you need is one piece of luggage. Your heart.” Brava Audrey for continuing to inspire women today from all over the world with your style, grace and talent!

More New York Fashion: Chris Benz Spring 2012 Collection

Unless you’ve been living under a fashion rock, you’ve probably heard of American designer Chris Benz. He’s become pretty important in the fashion community—and at an early age too. Originally from Seattle, he went to New York’s prestigious Parsons School of Design at 17, and then worked for Marc Jacobs and J. Crew before launching his own ready-to-wear line in 2007. Among his classmates at Parsons, he studied with Jason Wu (the guy who is famous for designing one of Michelle Obama’s inauguration dresses, a white silk chiffon gown now displayed at the Smithsonian). Benz also went to school with Bradley Scott, another up-and-coming designer I had the opportunity to interview while in New York City for fashion week. During our interview, Scott informed me that Benz’s customer is more of a “fantasy customer,” as the price point for his lines tend to be just as loud and as outrageous as his colorful creations and pink hair.

Benz’s Spring 2012 collection is really girlie, fun, retro, and a bit untamed—like me! Hopefully he’ll take a cue from Wu and design another collection just for Target so I can actually wear it. In the meantime, I’ll be fondling the video that I took at Chris Benz’s Spring 2012 collection at New York Fashion Week. Check out the really shaky video above (they were keeping us pretty liquored up at Lincoln Center, my bad). Benz’s collection is really perfect for the sunny South Texas weather, as his dresses and ensembles consist of bright color blocking and fresh mod patterns, lots of whites, and they’re loose and light—sure to keep you cool. Also, I think it serves as a great inspiration for us to create a similar look with fashions from, say, Target. And you can bet that Chris Benz imitations are sure to follow at places most of us can actually afford anyway, like Forever 21.

I’ve also uploaded some old-fashioned photographs below in the event that you feel like throwing up while watching the trembling video. But if you don’t watch the video, then you won’t get to see the surprise: if you make it to about a minute and fifteen, you’ll get a glimpse of Chris Benz (the guy with the pink hair, duh), talking with domestic designer and Oprah-endorsed morning television god for stay-at-home moms and wannabe stay-at-home moms, Nate Berkus. He kept trying to make eye contact with me for an interview, because apparently Desiree Prieto at Fashionation has made some real waves up north in the fashion community. (No, not really, that’s how rumors get started, y’all.) I did get to chat with Nate Berkus for a moment after I took my video about an event I covered in Chicago that he emceed back when we both lived there. And guess what?! He remembered me! Well, not me, per se, but the event.