Birthday Time in Ahmedabad!

Today (Nov. 12) is my birthday.

We all secretly know that the best part of birthdays is getting small gifts from friends and family. And since I'm traveling, that's not really possible.

So I know what you're thinking: what am I getting for myself?

A: A new passport.

This is because life's birthday gift to me was to wake up this morning to find that my passport went through the wash.

It's technically undamaged in the sense that all the information is readable. And it will be OK for countries that do visa-on-arrival (i.e. Thailand, Cambodia, Laos), but probably won't pass muster in countries that require a more formal process (i.e. Vietnam, China).

But this isn't a complete tragedy. First, my passport was already badly beaten from normal wear and tear, and would not have lasted long anyway. Second, I ran out of visa pages (again). Third, I can now return to Syria/Lebanon/Iraq/Iran without fear of them noticing that I have been to Israel. And finally, because my passport is still intact I only have to 'renew' it (costing $75 instead of the usual $100) and my Indian visa is still readable, so I shouldn't have headaches at the border.

So all things considered, it only hastens what would have otherwise been the inevitable.

That aside, my current host is a wonderful person who is taking me out for a 'lounge movie' and a really nice dinner to celebrate tonight. She is a marketing professor at a local university, and the that company that she works for on the side sends a car to chauffeur us everywhere we want to go. So I'm living it up in style, in a very wealthy part of the city.

Oh, and you're probably thinking one more thing: As a traveling 23-year old guy, am I going to a bar or club tonight to celebrate?

A: Nope. All alcohol is banned in this province.

UPDATE: Well life threw me another birthday present today, this time a good one.

As a foreign affairs analyst back in the US, I predicted in August that the Chinese government would abruptly change its long-standing policy and take steps to raise the value of the yuan soon after the US economy experienced a quarter of GDP growth (for reasons too complex to detail here).

I expected this raise to be announced sometime in the first quarter of 2009, and the corresponding policy to be slowly implemented roughly one quarter thereafter.

I make many political and economic predictions, but this one I backed up by converting some of my (very limited) capital holdings into yuan denominations.

And it just so happens that today I read in India's Economic Times that China has hinted the yuan may begin 'liberalization' as early as later this month, coinciding of course with Mr. Obama's visit to Beijing. If past experience is any indication, they will probably allow it to rise a total of roughly 15% (give or take 5%) over the next two quarters.

Even so, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and traveling has instilled in me a profound conservatism (not to be confused with the word's modern political context), so we'll see what happens.

But still-- this is excellent news!