tales from the new beginnings....

Although I was supposed to stay for two years on this placement, I decided to leave after 6 months. It was a hard decision since it meant leaving wonderful friends and colleagues and a beautiful corner of the world but it was the right decision because it came from my heart.

I have had a fantastic time in Indonesia, and I will take great memories with me til the end.e

Thanks for reading.

When I think about Ende, I will remember the smiles!

A lovely day...

A few days ago I got home from work and felt really happy since the sky was blue and the sun was out. We have been going through rainy season in Ende where it is usually cloudy, although bright and ever humid.

I decided to take a walk to see the coconut juice man and enjoy a glass of my favourite thirst quencher. As I walked along my street, Radio Street, a neighbour I didn’t meet before stopped me to say hi. It turns out we had actually spoken in the supermarket the week before when I was cooing over his cute little baby! So that was cool, a new neighbour friend.

I continued on my walk down the hill, round the corner and along the street to the little coconut cart, just opposite the gravel football pitch. They open a young coconut with a small machete, pour the juice into a big plastic container, then half the coconut and use a beer bottle-top nailed to a piece of wood to scrape out the coconut flesh and throw that in with the liquid. In your glass you get ice, coconut, a little sugar water, a drop of condensed milk and a squeeze of lime, it is a delight!

On the football pitch, there was a game on which I was not expecting, but was pleased about since it gave me a reason to linger a little longer and enjoy the sun. I had a chat with the coconut man and told him I am going to Lombok island soon, which is where he is from, and he was very proud to think I would visit his home island, and I in turn felt happy for making him smile.

And then a friend from the office walked over and said he spotted me from the crowd. So we went over to watch the second half together. On the way, we bumped into another workmate and his girlfriend so stopped to say hello to them. We sat behind the away goals, in the shade of the park trees behind it and Willie tried to update me with the first half action. A voice from behind interrupted us and as I turned round I saw the friendly face of the policeman from the airport. Since I am there a lot we have spoken a little so it was very funny to see him out of work. He knew Willie too, who told him to come and join us.

In this moment, I felt really happy. I felt very settled in the town of Ende, and liked the homely feeling of bumping into people I know. Despite my minimal language ability and different lifestyle, I’ve turned a corner in Ende, with people getting used to me being there and starting to like it.

So I enjoyed the rest of the game with a smile on my face, not really watching it, but taking in everything that was around me – the mountains, the food stands, conversations with my friends, the people watching the game wearing their helmets, the group of policemen watching in their uniforms, the sea and the boats out fishing, aside from the litter, it is a pretty place.

The man standing with the mustard top is my workmate, Heri. He initiated this university league 3 years ago and now it is a highly anticipated competitive cup!

 Jogya, who made it to the final but were knocked out on penalties. This is the team I supported since my friend Arie went there, and Willie played for them as captian.

Enjoying local fruit and the game with Sebastian and Helima.

Little miss scatterbrain!

For those of you who know me well, you will know that I can be a tad forgetful. Well, Ive been going through a spate of this recently. A few days ago I left my purse at home but needed it for my lunch. I nipped out of the office to bike home for it quickly only to get to my house and realise I left my house keys at my desk - a double whammy! Luckily my neighbour has a spare key since she is also my landlord so I didn’t have to have the embarrassment of going back to the office unsuccessful.

So, when i packed the next day to go to Maumere, I spent some time looking at my rucksack and figuring out what needed to go in there. Sleeping clothes, toothbrush, always need a toothbrush, I will put the toothpaste on top of the bag so that in the morning I wont forget that it has to go in the bag, same for the malaria tablets....what else, oh yeah, blanket to protect me from the mosquitos Theresa warned me about. Haha, if Ive remembered something so luxury and smart as that then I am laughing. So, I felt good when Arie arrived to take me to the travel stand.

It wasn’t until one hour into the four hour journey when we stopped at the market to buy snacks and I opened my bag for my purse I realised noooooooo! What did I forget, what was the other thing I brought with me to the internet cafe the day before to book flights....only my passport!!!!! The very thing I had to deliver to the immigration office, and take the trip for was the thing I ended up forgetting!

So in a panic, I told the driver, who found it all very amusing. He stopped a bus heading back to ende and after taking full payment, sent me back home. So, take two and l got back on the road a few hours later, and made my way along the now familiar road. I had the front seat this time, in the people carrier but it wasn’t much of a benefit since the driver had mirrors and cuddly toys stuck to the windscreen blocking the view and the seat was so far forward I was sitting leaning forwards not back. I didn’t dare to adjust it though, since behind me was a women with a baby, next to a young girl and a tiny grandmother. Behind them were another three people. A while into the journey we stopped to pick up someone else and this meant that the drivers helper (I think he put peoples bags on the roof), had to come and share the front seat with me! So there we were, a can of sardines travelling far too fast through the Flores mountains on the windy road from South to North. I have to say I was relieved to arrive in Maumere!

Theresa, a fellow volunteer, met me at the stop, and we went to her house so I could dump my bag and have a cup of tea and relax after the journey. She knew the man from the immigration office so she called him round and  I was able to give him my passport. Theresa was able to help me ask about how and when I will get it back which was a relief because a passport is not something you want to give out without certainty of its return!

I had a lovely time exploring Maumere with friends who know it well, meeting some new people and seeing others I hadn’t seen for a long time. It is a nice feeling to come to a new place and have lots of people to visit! The two days flew in before I had to make the journey home, in which i met more friends one of who owns a warung which I visted last night and met the rest of Elizabeth’s family and enjoyed a very tasty cap cay (vegetables in a stock with fried egg, which I gave to my friend!)

Out and about in Indonesia

Recently, I was in Makassar, a 5 million people strong city, mainly muslim, with a huge mix of rich, poor, local and other Indonesians all on top of each other on the island of Sulawesi. Its a very dense city, with rubbly shacks next to huge shopping malls! Its a coastal city, with a big active port from what I could see with a lot of cargo ships.  

I was there for another VSO workshop, with four other Government placed volunteers. Each volunteer was invited to bring two facilitators (people who’s job it is to get the views of the villagers and communicate them to the Government) from our regions and a co-worker from our office. The material was aimed at equipping them to represent the village further up the government chain than they usually manage to do today. It was run by a local NGO, which I thought was good because it meant the facilitators could relate to them and it showed VSO trust the ideas and thinking available locally.

I was really happy with the opportunity to catch up with volunteers on the Sulawesi island and was surprised at how different their social life was to mine in Ende. They were living city life, with Heinz baked beans in the supermarket, posh coffee houses and a MacDonald’s to fend off western food cravings we all have suffer from. In Ende, you will more likely finding me eating bbq’d sweetcorn sitting on the ground, in the dark with a circle of friends and a gas lantern or at the seafront market jumping over the fish water puddles trying to buy my fish and vegetables. It was great to experience the difference and really nice to see the sense of community between volunteers there.

I had a very fun experience while in Makassar, when I got to drive a baycek (pronounced bay check). These are bicycle taxis, not unlike the ones you can find in Edinburgh or India, with a 2 person seat at the front and a pedalist behind steering the three wheeled contraption. I was so excited when I was allowed to harness the hot seat and steer us shakily down a quiet street, I filled the street with laughter and us, with my zig zag driving! It was after 2 in the morning when we took the ride, and the streets of Makassar where serene and empty, allowing me to really see the city and its architecture away from the usual distractions of traffic chaos.

From Makassar I went straight to Bali for my first VIWG duties. We had a meeting with the VSO office and then organised the itinerary for new volunteers. It gave me time to get to know fellow volunteer Pete better and see returned volunteers Anouk and Mark again so it felt a bit like a holiday having spare time with friends and the Bali sunshine.  

We went to some places I spend a lot of time when I was new and studying language and I met some of the waiters that I used to talk to. This was really nice as they all mentioned with surprise at how good my Indonesian had gotten. They seemed genuinely impressed that I was able to hold a decent (chit-chat) conversation with them in their language, and I was genuinely pleased with myself for the first time being able to see a marked improvement in my language. I still say I am in the bottom quota of ability in comparison to the other volunteers, but in terms of personal achievement, its a big one!

It was great to meet the new volunteers, and see the excitement, enthusiasm, wonder and intrigue on their faces as they asked a million questions and tried to take in the huge change their life was about to take. We didn’t get very long with them though since their flights were delayed due to visa hold ups but I hope I represented volunteers well and gave them a friendly welcome!

***********

The funeral

This week (10th Jan) has been quite mixed. I have been chatting a lot more with the young staff at the office since our workload has cooled down from the mayhem of December budget submissions. It has been great to see them relax a lot more around me, knowing I can speak a little Indonesian with them or that I am willing to help them with their English. They have been telling me that I should take time to chat more, and work less and we have laughed at each other discovering they don’t like to disturb me when I am working, and I they, resulting in a polite standoff! We have a better balance now, although I notice when the boss is around, they never chat, or at least, they leave the room to do it.

However, on the low side, my neighbour who is also my landlord died. He was an older gentleman who had already suffered a stroke, which meant his youngest (I think) daughter came back from Java to look after him. He was a very nice man, very considerate, quiet, calm and intelligent man, who kept an ear out around my house to know that I was fine, who got up at 4:30 am to wash before prayer, who offered to keep my motorbike in his living room so I didn’t have to put it in the neighbours garden.

I had some friends round at mine for on Tuesday, when we saw a lot of bikes and people going into the neighbours house. It seemed odd as I’d never seen that before, and the next thing I knew, I was told he had died. I got a real shock, and my friend Arie said he would join me to visit and pay our respects to the daughter.

So, we sat in their garden, on plastic seats which were laid out as if there was a garden wedding going on. Plastic canopies were raised for the imminent rain, and outdoor lighting put up, it was all so efficient, I was shocked. Everyone was chipping in to pass round water, or trays of tobacco and people sat outside to give strength to the family, respectfully chatting in whispers.

At about 11pm we left, and I went home to have a good sleep.

The next day we attended again, this time in the afternoon, for the departure of the body to the tomb at the mosque. We had to sit three hours because the man’s wife was delayed in the air from Java. The family had to beg the ministers (not sure what you call a muslim religious leader), to allow them to keep the tomb open long enough for her to be there, and it wasn’t very pleasant to see a proud adult man pushing back tears begging some angry sounding elders to respect his family wishes.

They had to rewash the body during this wait, and the smell blew out to the garden where we sat and startled me. I found it a bit stressful, I didn’t really know what was going on, I hadn’t seen Yanti, the daughter I knew from the house and was worrying about her as she has been looking skinny and ill lately anyway, I didn’t understand why some people were sitting and others hanging around smoking on the street. The time to contemplate made me think about people from home, and generally I felt sad and unable to talk. It was therefore a long three hours.

When the wife finally arrived, things turned frenzied. The crowd stood from the chairs, oohing and gasping, peering over each other trying to get a view of the old lady struggling to get out of the van. Then she yelled and cried loudly as she was aided to walk into the house, past all the staring faces, and then it set others off. It was the first time I had seen anyone in the crowd show sorrow, and it confused me, death is a different thing here.

So no sooner had she arrived then they had to get her husband to the tomb because the sun was starting to go down. I averted my eyes so as not to see the body being laid on the wooden bed, but looked back round in time to see that he was wrapped in white cloth, just as they covered him with the cradle and cloth cover. Then the men lifted him onto their shoulders and his grandchildren ran, crying, through the middle of them, underneath him. The crowd were really all over the place now, taking pictures, trying to get close, showing concern for the children and the body. One girl even fainted and collapsed on the floor. The neat lines of chairs were all squashed up or stacked to be out of the way of people who wanted to be up close and part of this tradition. Then they loaded him into a car and we all dispersed.

A lot of people were hanging out on my porch because the tradition is that people are there for three days. I tried to stay in my room with the curtains shut and no music on to be respectful, but it was an uneasy feeling because I wasn’t sure if I should be bringing them tea, chatting with them or what.

The next day, on my way home from a relaxing walk on the beach, to get some space, and give some space, I was invited to meet the wife. She was very proud to introduce me to all her children which was nice and I thought its probably the first time in years they have all been together and at least she could find comfort in that. I only met three of them before because the others live on Java island. Before I left, they invited me to join a service at their home the next night.

NOTE: if you are squeamish, stop reading here and scroll down a bit.

The family were given two goats and a chicken, who have been living in our shared back garden / drying green the last couple of days. However, as I made my peanut butter and jam sandwich this morning, I heard a very disturbing sound from a goat and wondered, did they just slit its throat? A lot of people were going back and fore past my kitchen window and I decided my instinct was right. I admit it crossed my mind to peep out of my toilet window to see, but then I decided I wouldn’t really like to see a bleeding animal so despite curiosity, I didn’t bother. When I left the house to head to work, I said morning to a few men sitting on the porch and saw behind them an almost fully skinned goat, hanging from the clothes pole with a bucket of blood below. I was glad to already be prepared for it by being aware of what was going on, and I was surprised at myself for not totally jumping or dropping the keys. I think I didn’t really look once I saw what it was, and just walked on, without chatting to the men. I’m not a vegetarian, and I eat meat, so I shouldn’t be upset by the scene. I’ve heard it’s a humane way to kill an animal, and I think if they are going to eat the animal then it’s just a fact of life....but I probably won’t hang my washing there for a while! 

**** Start reading again squeamish peeps!

After work I offered to help because about 20 people seemed to be busy with cooking duties in the garden, the drying green and in the house. One old lady decided to give me a tour and explain to me what all the food was, and asked me to try it all...which included the satayed goat, poor goat. It tasted like liver and was probably the freshest meat I’d ever eaten, but I couldn’t enjoy it. No-one would let me do anything though, so after the tour I just headed to the house.

I joined them later in the evening and was introduced to a grandchild of 14 who had very good English so passed some time talking to her, at first with an intrigued audience and much to the delight of her proud mother. She was a very bright kid with ambitions I am sure she will achieve to be a doctor. We ate the feast that had been prepared over the course of the day and then I went home. I wondered as I got ready to sleep where did they get all the plates from for all those people? And where did they get all the giant pots from? Did Yanti always have 3 ovens on that table in her kitchen? People in Indonesia are really self sufficient when it comes to food.

RIP old neighbour dude.

Peace.

My neighbour Yanti, her mother and one of her brothers, Erwan.

I want to be a tree!

The first time I hugged a tree was back when I lived in bridge of don, Aberdeen, and named all of the silver birches planted in a “grassy bit” just opposite our cul-de-sac.  I got a set of stickers, most likely from a magazine, and decided to use them on the trees. They were eyes, ears, noses and mouths so I made the trees into living things, with names and documented them in a table with names and distinguishable features. I did this one day on my own, when none of the others were playing football or hide and seek like we normally did, and went back out periodically to record anything of interest, but also to send good vibes to the trees of growth and health since at that time i had a fascination with the idea trees lived longer than people by potentially double or more, so they got to see the changes nature and evolution of man brought from a stand still point. I thought that therefore trees should be respected and admired because of their strength to live so long, because of all they have to endure and take in and because of their ability to give life. I loved those trees, since they were there every day reflecting the seasons, they were young like me and they had a future of enormous potential and probabilities just like me so they were inspiring.

But I cant remember that I actually hugged one of those trees, more like gave them a rub like a genes bottle or a good doggie or something. The first time I actually hugged a tree was on a camping trip with friends.

After hours of driving and an inability to find a campsite someone knew about we agreed to stop at Burghead nature reserve. It had a forest trail which gave a glimpse to a beautiful and vast area of pine trees which we veered off to find a clear area in which to pitch our tents. Some of us went exploring after that, and discovered over a ridge that the forest backed up to the beach. It was beautiful, two of natures most relaxing landscapes hand in hand with each other, giving us an idyllic spot to sip tenants, light fires, sing and be merry.

I must have been exclaiming as I often do about how beautiful it was, and how nice it felt to be around trees. We dont have many in my home town so its really something I notice and feel. One of my friends was laughing and calling me a tree hugger, when another asked had I ever. I said no and he said I should, his ex made him do it once and it was fun. So there we were, hugging trees in Burghead park. I feel really glad Gary got me to do that, because actually, I do love trees and it was nice to give a hug as a symbol of love!

All this reflection on trees is a result of finding myself sitting under the first coconut tree i noticed in Indonesia, 4 months ago. I really think the trees are the thing that makes Indonesia jaw droppingly gorgeous. There are so many, so deep green, so relaxing. They cut out the sound of the wind, provide shade from the suns heat and brightness and bear so much diverse and interesting fruit, I never cease to be amazed by them. They are nothing like you would find in Scotland, with huge green leaves to be found 365 days of the year, they really are cool.

amusing for all the wrong reasons....

Me: “I thought with all the trees that there are in Flores there would be a lot of birds, but I’ve hardly seen any!”

Friend: “Yeah! We shot them!”

Me: speechless.

Well first off, Happy New Year!!!!! 2011, wow, who can believe it?!

Changing colour volcano lakes...torquiose turning green at the edges. Its so weird, cause it looks like thick water because the colour is so dense and its so quiet up there, its a very surreal place.

 Woo, tiny road obstruction there! I conquor the boulder and offer peace man!

My Flores house, on Radio Street! On the left is my mango tree (yet to bear fruit) and the mat at my door says "welcome"!

A beautiful view to the south sea from the mountains.

This time of year always makes me excited. I find time for reflection and to consider what the year ahead has in store. It does me good to have this annual landmark, as I find energy in wiping the slate clean and starting again. This year’s first big new thing is cutting down on carbs. Despite being in a poor country the last four and a half months, I have gained weight, which isn’t very good considering I deliberately allowed myself to gain weight before coming, just in case I got ill. So rice and bread will be shrunk in my diet and water added. I’ve certainly not been drinking enough considering how hot it is and the malaria medication I am taking, so its a win-win, replace the bad food with the good water...lets just see how long my will power holds up!

I’m feeling quite positive on my second day back to Flores, and have just done my first healthy shop at the market, fish, veg and fruit. No rice, no bread, no sweets, it’s a good start. I got up early enough to go to the market before work. I was nervous about it as I had forgotten words with being away and the last time I went it was very crowded. I am pleased to say, I am starting to know where to find what and I had a few decent conversations with the ever curious locals who like to crack the mystery of what on earth this white girl doing on their island, in their town! I think they can’t imagine why I would be here, and I have to admit, sometimes when they ask me like that, I question myself!

 I had time to clean up the house and was able to realise I feel quite comfortable in my little house, which was a nice feeling, because I was worried after coming back to it from all the luxury in Australia I wouldn’t like it as much as before, but I like it just as much. The only thing that was different is the water is even dirtier. My friend told me this is because of the heavy rain they have been having, which slides a lot of soil off the hills and into the river. It made me think the water processing facilities are not very good. This is not something I can do anything about, even though I am working in the Government, because the water department sets their own objectives and are a department out with the Bappeda where I work. What Bappeda can do is set them performance indicators on the budget they agree with the Bupati. I think it might be more effective to have my placement at the Bupati, but that’s not where it is.

Through the reflection, and time away I have discovered that the changes I can make here are limited. I am definitely making small changes, but they are within the box. If the Government hasn’t prioritised clean water, I’m not going to change that. What I can change is the measures that monitor performance of the water department, and try to make them focused on number of households with clean water for example, and find stats from other countries to compare standards, so they can see how behind they are in this area. This is the kind of change I can accomplish in this job.

I had a good first day in the office, and was happy to see everyone. I was welcomed with handshakes and wishes of “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”, which made me chuckle, because we drop the Christmas part at home after December 25^th, but its hardly a big deal. My friend Arie came back to my house after work to fix my garden fence that had been blown down by the rain, which is heavy most days as we are fully in the rain season now. It felt good to get things in shape and I cooked dinner for Arie in return. I thought I bought tuna, but on cooking it, Im not so sure. I also thought I bought salad leaves but found out when I tasted it that it was leaves to be cooked, they were really fiery raw.  We ate it then the kids arrived  in time to share the banana and pineapple.  Arie made a dash at the first rumble of thunder to get home before the storm and the kids went at nine like he made them promise.

The next day I was invited to visit a village, Wolojita, where the government were presenting rice farmers with new, motorised cutting equipment. There was a long ceremony and then about 30 of us went into the field to have a blessing of the field and cut a batch of rice each. We used the old method of the hooked, toothed knife to do this and then moved to the next section of rice to try out the motorised bad boy! The farmers seemed impressed with its speed and with no training took it in turns to chomp through the field. One of them had the thing above his head and everything, I was just imagining an accident. It was still a manual tool, much like a grass edge strimmer but with a real disc saw with big teeth. We ate lunch before driving back to Ende, and I enjoyed the view, the peanuts and the chatting.

The next few days were back in the office and I am pleased to have prepared a couple of work plans and got some meetings set up to take projects forward as well as get some good work done. I went home early on Friday, as people seem to be working less crazy hours than the run up to Christmas, and ended up dancing in the rain with the kids, with much hilarity, well, if you can’t beat the rain, enjoy it! I haven’t been able to go jogging because of it and my inability to get up at 05:30am when its not quite light.

I’m glad that without my hard drive full of movies and TV shows, I am still able to keep myself busy in the evenings, and am actually surprised at how much I find to do. Aerobics, yoga and, shh, don’t tell anyone, cross stitch are the big hobbies at the moment.

Here is to great year for all!

Cutting the rice. In black, the Head of the Bappeda where I work, Dr Domi and in the locally woven coloured shirt, the Head of the Agriculture Dept.

One of the farmers with the new rice cutter - it allows them to get the rice cut in waaaay less time!

Finding my Feet in Flores

Wow, tropical storms, plagues of insects and my first dose of running to the toliet! Last night I was awoken by my first proper tropical storm on Flores. It rained heavily, thunder rolled and flashes of lightening lit my dark house up as though I just put every light on for less than a split second. It was intense. I lay there, musty with sweat thinking about the roads we were driving a couple of days prior and wondering how many boulders might have been dislodged from the mountain sides and rolled onto them? How many trees may have fallen like the one I saw laying dead straight across a road in town that took the electricity wire with it just before I went back to Bali?

Yip rain here is more than just an inconvenience that means you have to wear less nice shoes. Speaking of shoes, Im not a fan of the feet fashion here! Everything else seems comparable, but shoes – I don’t know where they get the designs! I can’t even begin to start explaining, they are gaudy!

Today I have arrived in the office with a tummy full of fried banana the neighbour kindly brought round for me for breakfast and I am reading about Indonesia’s cocoa industry. Tomorrow I will be visiting a trader for Mars so I am looking forward to that...don’t think there will be any tastings however as they are not producing here, it’s just beans at the moment... maybe I could ask them about the cloned trees they are engineering!  

The way they farm here is lots and lots and lots of farmers have little pieces of land and they have trees with lots of different things – coconuts, coffee, bananas, mangoes, cocoa they are all mixed in around each other. Its beautiful because it looks wild however most of those plants are not native (coconut and banana are), and I’m not sure its the most efficient way to farm, judging only from what I know a farm is from home – square fields with one product. Luckily, they didn’t hire me for my knowledge of farming! I have however, just been to another meeting about self-sustaining farming, or, farming for local consumption and they talked about focusing on indigenous plants and capturing traditional techniques which I think sounds good because native plants have more nutritional content than the rice they fill themselves up with three times a day here.

They have a big problem here in Flores of diabetes or high blood sugar, and it is mainly caused by a diet of rice, fried foods and a lot of sugar intake. People are not fat but I guess they are not free from health problems either...I was wondering how they could do it! I enjoyed the meeting but I did start to think, what exactly do they need me for here, the room was full of university graduates and experts. I was also wondering how after being here for 3 weeks did I manage to ask such key questions and why were they only asking them to themselves now?? I think I am going through a questioning phase!

There is still so much to learn, which includes language. I’m defiantly not a natural at language and it isn’t fun or something I enjoy, studying is a chore for sure, but I will make myself do it and keep at it because I am improving, albeit slowly.

I made a great effort with the cleaning on Sunday, its my only day off and i spent a full 7 hours properly scrubbing and washing and bleaching, and mopping everything except the bathroom so the kitchen which was in the worst state is now 90% livable, I just need a fridge and then I will be set!

I am suffereing from a slight bought of homesickness right now because its coming up to Christmas, I miss my nana and I’m wishing I could be home to enjoy all the Christmas parties with my friends! I am however only 9 days away from going to Perth for Christmas and New Year with my mum, dad, Scott and Linzi, so that will be brilliant as we can celebrate properly together.

Love to you all - I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season and I wish you all the best for the New Year!

PS Having problems uploading pics but will get them up when I can.

First week in Flores

Well, wow! I just don’t know where to start! This is what the last few months have been about, I’m in a new country, tackling the language, making headway in a new job, manoeuvring a bike horribly, cleaning up a new house, figuring out where to buy things, talking with locals.... it’s all going on!

Ende is at the top of a peninsular, on the south coast of the island. The first thing I saw when I came out of the plane was a huge volcano, totally covered in green plants, and with a flat top. There is another one knitting the town in between the two volcanoes and the two seas nicely...well, as far as active volcanoes can be nice.

Everything is different, different to Bali and a world away from Scotland! Let’s start in the office. I am in a room with 7 others. We sit on wooden chairs, at wooden desks. There is one landline, which is attached to the fax machine. The printers are like ones you would have at home, but ones that are slow and don’t scan or do anything other than guzzle ink. Most people have laptops but there are a couple of computers. There is one internet connection per room. They sometimes use a typewriter! A little mouse ran past me the other day... I didn’t gasp or scream, I just lifted my feet pretty fast and was spotted much to the amusement of my colleagues. There is no electronic diary, if you want to see the regional head, you sit outside his office and wait in line, its work Jim, but not as we know it!

Somehow it works. I have been reading some huge documents, full of stats about the country, attended workshops, lasting 9 hours, watched a room full of 20 people whittle down, priorities and allocate responsibility of the budget request list, in a single day! No-one can accuse these people for not having drive! It’s been great and eye opening. Google translate is my new best friend...looking up every word in the dictionary is unproductive, though since I moved out of the hotel getting access to it is not easy. I’ve been able to feel productive making little graphs of data and jotting down ideas, questions and issues for later, whilst getting my bearings.

Using the language every day is tiring. But good tiring, because I know I am learning. Being immersed like this, with the basics to keep me afloat is definitely the way to make leaps of progress. My brain is working really hard translating questions and figuring out how to answer them with the little vocabulary I have at hand! I’m learning new words every day. I feel like I’m moving in the right direction. I have an agreement with the head of our office I talk in Indonesian and he talks in English so we can both practice, which has made me feel relaxed and welcomed in the office. It all helps!

I spent my first four nights in a hotel, while we found, contracted, painted and furnished the house. I was in there faster than Clark Kent becomes superman! On the day I saw and picked the house, a call was made to get the contract drawn up. The next day, that was done and the following it was painted. The very same day we picked the bed and wardrobe, it was delivered and constructed with no extra charge!  

Speaking about my house......ooooooh its so cute!!!! But the kitchen and bathroom are soooooo dirty, and Im already in there! Wait until the new year, you are going to be impressed! It’s a small house that feels spacious, with a corrugated zinc roof  and a little garden.  I bought all the cleaning products (which was a bit of adventure in itself) and am tackling it bit by bit. I really wish I brought a pair of trusty marigolds! I don’t think I will find them anywhere and the dirt in this place, eurgh, i will be glad once the job is done, put it that way.

During this first week I had my first pets, let’s start outside, I have some chickens who have decided to visit my garden regularly...and leave their mess just incase their clucking wasn’t enough, then there are a couple of cats that skulk around, and sometimes I hear fighting. Inside, a few cute little geckos, always welcome, 8 cockroaches (I may not have marigolds but sweet relief I had roach spray, the stuff is amazing!) and a spider as big as my hand. The neighbours kids (about 8 of them) were in to save me from that one, one girl went out and got a leaf (from my mango tree i might add) and just picked it off the wall, and threw it out the door! Brave!

The water is sporadic so I’m going to have to get used to that, and there is no rubbish day like at home but if you put it out, it gets taken away! Colleagues from the office have just been out of this world helpful. They have led me home, so I don’t get lost, helped me fix my bed, put up my mosquito net, lent me plates and furniture, brought spare desk from the office, helped get my electric fixed when it went out, they have really been super. Even when I tried to go my motorbike (I was appalling) they were there trying to support me, explaining the function and going along the road with me, I won’t ever be stuck here which is a really big deal.  

I went to the market which was quite something. There were loads of stalls with fish and vegetables, all really fresh so that is exciting. Although I did (Sarah Dee, look away now), get offered a dolphins head, which still makes me feel queasy at the mention of it. I don’t know what I will buy to cook here aside from fish, veg, rice and fruit....the shops just have packets of stock, instant noodles, biscuits and nuts. Im not sure what I am looking for, bread, milk, mince, cereal, cold meats, tinned tuna, mars bars!!! My cooking utensils are different here too. I have a gas stove, a wok and a couple of pots, a chopping board and a  kitchen knife. Oh and spoons and forks, because they don’t use knife and fork here. When we went shopping I was surprised to see pretty much the same thing in every shop, and all very much the same as in Bali. Lots of things are plastic or aluminium, I don’t see anyone with nice wooden furniture which was a surprise because they have a lot of wood here, but I guess it like everything else all gets exported. Its very odd to be living in the place where all our stuff comes from and see they have none of it themselves!

As well as visiting markets and shops, I visited the police station, which was a lot more fun than it sounds. I went from the Government office I work, where everyone wears uniforms that are similar to a security guard outfit in an American movie, to the station where they were sitting around in jeans, chain smoking and eating snacks and fizzy drinks! I was surprised and a bit intimidated by such a macho environment but when we started talking, (I talked to about 5 of them), they were all really nice, helpful and enthusiastic. Got my fingerprints taken again which is quite an amusing experience, and then sat watching them study the prints through a magnifying glass...can he see my future?! I guess its a good sign when the police aren’t overrun with criminals! One of them asked to have his picture take with me. Some school girls did the same the other day. Apparently a lady at my work told her daughter a Scottish girl was working with her and she wouldn’t believe her mother, so she brought her in to show her I was real! There are one or two tourists here, but its more of a base to see the Kelimutu  coloured lakes, where I am going tomorrow.

All in all I think I have had a successful first week. I feel like i have done a lot already, long may it continue like this!

Missoin Impossible complete!

I have a slight feeling of contentment as I sit here and type because I have just successfully repacked my – I’m embarrassed to say it - three bags that I brought with me to Indonesia.  During my 6 weeks here I have accumulated a decent amount of books, papers and one or two items of clothing and knick-knacks but it all went in...just call me Mary Poppins! It never fails to surprise me how much stuff can be squeezed into a little pocket or a discovered nook of an already full looking suitcase!

But I only feel slightly content as I can’t quite believe I am leaving Bali. I was just starting to settle in here, add things I want to do to my list, and woosh, its time to go! It has me wondering, what will Flores be like? The answer is; I have absolutely no idea. This realisation incites an anxious feeling in my stomach, and on further contemplation, Ive put it down to the fact I haven’t given myself enough time to think that I am leaving. I don’t yet leave for another 4 days, its not on my radar, there are things to do, people to see before I worry about all that!

Tomorrow I move into a hotel for a 2.5 day workshop with my and the other volunteers partner organisations. I will go to the office tomorrow for a final training session in which they will explain to us the agenda, but as yet I have no idea what the workshop will be about or what it could be. I think its a big ask of partner organisations to take time out to do this for a volunteer, so I’m curious to see what I will make of it. But for now I must remember, open mind, open mind, open mind, so I have no expectations and am doing my best to keep scepticism at bay, this is new to me so I am looking forward to learning.

On another level, I’m anxious about it. It will be conducted in two languages (the only question I have asked about it) and I will have my first chance to talk in Indonesia with colleagues. I feel as though I don’t have the right words to do this so I am a little worried about how I will come across. My admiration for my ex French colleagues has grown again...I always was and will continue to be impressed by anyone able to work in two languages.

So, to put things in perspective, I turn my attention to the volcano. 150 people have died, many of them being people who have tried to return into the danger zone from safe areas, in order to feed their cattle or get their dogs. I wonder about the government, I wonder about education and I wonder about how it seems to vary hugely even upon Bali, so what are other islands like? I mean, we watched the coverage of the Obama visit last night, and Asih told me the Indonesian president didn’t mention the volcano once! Incidentally, it was the first thing Obama did, although it was a flimsy, “America will do all they can to support” type line, but still, its this guys country!

 Java is the second biggest island but the most populated, with over 100 million residents. The volcano has mostly affected rural villages, but it has started to impact a big city, Jogjakarta. Lots of people here have family there and its a real worry. One friend has a friend who has ash on his roof, so that makes it feel very real. People here are doingn fund raising events, and one of our teachers is auctioning off a print of a photo he took at a refugee camp in 1982 in order to raise some funds for it. I’m still trying to learn how things are here, and I’m seeing positives and negatives just like home.

* * * *

I made a new friend in the last week, a man chest deep in water, down a 60cm x 40cm hole in the ground, which he dug with a spade, during a daily 9 hour shift. I was cycling down the road to school and saw some holes by the side of the road. After passing may be 4 of them, curiosity got the better of me so I stopped to chat with a guy who seemed to welcome the break and find my broken Bahasa Indonesia amusing.

He told me that they were putting in pipes for telecoms. I counted 30 of these holes, all along my street, and then next day, all but 2 were covered up and finished with. At home this would be done with diggers, and probably take a good week (? ), but here it was so quick, with minimal road interference. They all had little wooden hand painted signs saying “take care ....” propped up against them, but other than that, the traffic was flying by as normal.

 Yesterday,  I was cycling along another street, when I got a wave from a hole and there he was again! I stopped to say hi and shake his hand, and he even went to wipe his hand to shake mine. This is the thing, even though we couldn’t speak well to each other, and even though he was standing in a hole, and I was squatting on the sidewalk, he made the situation feel comfortable and fun, not awkward or self conscious. So, this is how I want my relations to be going forward, fun, respectful and honest. If a man in a hole can do it, so can a man at a desk, cant he?!

I guess all this culture talk and awareness raising makes me wonder, how do you get a balance between respecting different cultures, and the extremes of putting on a front or just not caring?  It is a delicate act and one that is important for being accepted but one that is easy to get wrong. I guess I just have to go back to reminding myself, one day at a time Gemma.

Another thing this man made me think about was the poverty here. There are people here with very little. I’ve seen old men, like hitting 70, pulling carts along the street or walking to work with a shovel in their hand. I’ve seen big open top trucks loaded up with young men ready for a hard day of labour. There are some people who try to sell papers, or toys on the road at traffic lights, along with disabled people who have just a bucket for coins. And Bali is wealthy compared to Flores!

I said I have a couple of new tops, well they are vintage new! The only place I felt I could afford clothes from. I don’t understand why clothes are so expensive here, don’t they make clothes here? Apparently in Ende its even more expensive. So, how do locals with even less of no money then I have get clothes?! I’m planning on getting things sent from home, because even then despite postage it is cheaper. It really doesn’t make sense, and is something I would like to try to understand better.

Flores. Yip, its just around the corner now! I am looking forward to settling into my new place, buying Tupperware, plates, linen and so on just so I can create a place I will call home to settle into. It is a bit like being in limbo at the moment, but I’ve been so well looked after, it will be quite an adjustment to go back to being independent!

I want to give a big thanks to Asih, my host mother. I will miss the fun and chaos of the kids, and the nice morning chats with Asih. Im sure we will keep in touch for years to come and I am already looking forward to being able to welcome them in Scotland one day in return.

I tried to take some pictures of Bali life, so I hope you enjoy them.

Local workers in a rice paddy...it was really hot!

My friend in the hole, he is standing on a ledge which he jumped down from after I took the pick so his head was level with the ground.

Some kids in a warung (cafe).

A shop selling grass baskets which are used everywhere in Bali for so many different things.

This is a typical sweeping brush and pan. The handle is short, like not even waist height.

A Bakso man (soup with noodles and meatballs) ... the Bali equivalent of an ice-cream van, they walk up and down the streets looking for hungry punters. These guys are usually from Java.

Nope, its not a dodgy brewery, but instead a dodgy gas station! Loads of racks like these are dotted around for scooters to nip up, get the funnel and load up on gas. It is absolut vodka bottles on the top row...which Ive never seen in a bar!

Fish at the morning market, no ice and hot weather so you have to go early! They are really fresh and tasty if you do!

This is the Balinese flower - they smell gorgeous!

...and they dont look real. I hope we get them in Flores because they make me feel really happeeeee!

Sarah Dee, especially for you, I tried my best to get some pics of animals, because you are right, they are very much a part of Bali life too! The only thing is they are quite camera shy so it was tricky! And my only rule was no photos of sad animals in cages...so that ruled out the beautiful fruitbat and sad monkey I've seen at places my friends were staying.

A mother hen and some chicks, just strolling around the street. Ive seen ducks too.

A cute kitten, (but not the pic of the tinest kittens in the whole world...I will try to get the photo from Paul and show you)

A typical Balinese dog, pretty butch and scruffy but not rabid and viscious as I first feared.

Next post from Ende!!! xx

I’m a Celebrity get me out of here....

...the TV programme with its jungle creepies and haircurling shrieks were what came to mind as I reached my arm into the thicket of the mangrove undergrowth. What was lurking in there to make me scream and jump a mile??? Today, I joined my family to a community conservation effort to clean up a mangrove forest that is in out neighbourhood. The mangrove is on the estuary flood plane, and when the river runs high, it brings with it a torrent of rubbish -  straws, sweet wrappers, plastic food wrappers, plastic bags.. not very nice at all. Apparently people here think throwing rubbish in the river or sea is a good way to get rid of it. The sea was full of plastic bobbing about, the sides of the roads have piles of litter, its really a problem. However, a good 600 people must not agree with this because that is how many people turned up to pitch in with the clean up! I was expecting, maybe 20 – 40, but 600! I could never imagine that happening at home, and I was really impressed. And they didn’t just turn up, they really went to town! I have some before and after pictures, but within two hours, you were looking at a natural scene of beauty!

Its quite a change to how I spent my Sunday last week, when I was a guest at a Hindu ceremony. One of the girls from the office invited us to attend a ceremony of her family temple, it was a special day for their temple and family gathered to mark the occasion. By family that is extended family, including relations so far off they were too hard to explain the connection. It was very beautiful to watch, if a little confusing to understand what was going on. I was happy to get dressed up for the occasion, although I was sweaty because we cycled there and had to change before we cooled down, but still, everyone else was sweaty too! We had a seat near the spiritual leader, and I was watching him bless the water, which was then splashed individually on everyone there, and put on rice and flowers which were worn by the family to bring wellbeing. The thing that is hard to get past is all the food which is offered, lots of fruit, corn, rice, meat...once the ceremony is over, it is put in the temple and locked up. Its hard to understand when you leave the family grounds to see someone going through the garbage looking for plastic to hand in for a few rupiah.  

I was also treated to some five start luxury this week when we were invited to attend a tourism and catering college in the neighbouring town. We were asked to eat in their practice restaurant so they could have a real “bole” (foreigner, or white skin – the term they like to shout at us on the street, or joke with us over prices in the market) experience! It was a real treat however I am unsure just how much I helped their English by saying, “that was lovely” after every course! Meeting the heads of the college was interesting though, and again, I saw just how much work these teens put into school, with the dream of working on a cruise ship or on one of the presetiege hotels around the island. It made me think I take a lot for granted, because these are jobs I don’t even highly value and here are people spending four years at school to compete for!

We have been learning work words this week at school, so I can now tell you that I will be an Pernasihat Pembanguan Ekonomi! Sounds cool eh!? It feels good to be able to talk about work and makes me feel reassured I will have some ability to communicate with my partner organisation when they visit soon.

Life in Bali can be very hard or an absolute paradise. Differences in wealth are complex and unfair, just as everywhere else. There is a lot of goodwill around to create change however there is alot of pride in status and job segregation as well. No one here wants to be an electrician or plumber, you have to go to Java to obtain that qualification, however there are works being done everywhere. The people pouring your cocktails have more training than the one who wired your deluxe suite flat screen TV! Someone told me the ability to say “I talked to bole’s today” is something to be more proud of than, “I can fit a bathroom”. For some reason, I find this sad.

But, to finish on a positive note, Sarah and I cycled all the way to Legain, just north of Kuta, to spend the day under an umberella watching the surfers and playing in the sea. It was bliss!, its so beautiful. Bobbing up and down like corks on the huge waves that crashed over us never got boring and the velvet sands beneath our feet on the way to our loungers surmounts to a memory I will surely recall in my top ten moments ever!

And now for the best bit..

Offerings and blessings during the Hindu ceremony

Yuli and me at the ceremony in full tradional dress

Legain beach....soooooo beautiful and great fun :)

the floor of the Mangrove forest - YUK!

Faiz and the info about why we should be more environmentally aware

The big clean....this is the same spot as above just about an hour later, 600 people work fast!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!

Oh I do like to be beside the sea!

No fish and chips at the beach here, we have satay skewers amongst many synthetically colourful drinks and snacks

This is my school!

On the right, is our teacher, Pa Nyoman....always smiling. (and on the left is fellow volunteer Bob, getting tucked into some bakso soup)

Cheers for reading, it feels nice to share!

This week all thoughts are with Petra, who had to go back home for a short time...looking forward to having you back soon Petra! X

It’s been another hard week at school. I am continuing to practice with local’s, who, as our vocabulary grows, take it upon themselves to develop our speaking skills - in other words, everyone is a teacher! I think this is really cool because it means they are proud of their language and they are happy for foreigners to become more a part of their community. I hope I pick up the same vibe on Flores, and my colleagues at work want to talk to me as much!

I have started a list of interesting things I have seen people on motorbikes carry. I wish i had pictures but I only see these people when I am travelling on my bike so never get to my camera quickly enough. You can get whole shops on bikes, we have even seen one with a frame attached to the back dangling little bags of water with fish in them going around! But to make the list, it requires one handed driving - one driver, and something in their hand. So, the last one I saw was a guy pulling a wheelie bin along beside him. Before that it was a guy with a steel pipe and my favourite, and the one that inspired the list was a guy, already in a wetsuit travelling up a street near where I stay carrying a harpoon! How do they change gear? Or accelerate?!?!?! Are they riding automatics to be able to do this? And in the traffic?? I never fail to be surprised here!

We attended a music event showcasing young alternative talent which was interesting. IT was organised by a friend of the manager at VSO, who set up a charity to help kids find opportunities in music. There was no lack of talent, some good voices and guitarists, however there was a shortage of originality...think Jack Johnston or his female equivalent. They all looked the part, with very cool haircuts, skinny jeans, lumberjack shirts!

Yesterday, Paul, Sarah and I took a boat trip to neighbouring Lombogan Island. Unfortunately, our rainy season has started (hope this helps those in Aberdeen surprised by snow earlier in the week feel a bit consoled!) so the sea was a little choppy and most people got pretty sea sick. Disaster! Glad to say I didn’t have the problem of puking my way across the Indian Ocean however, it made it a bit of a quiet affair. When we got there we did a bit of snorkelling, watched some surfing, played in a pool with the fastest slide ever and took a glass bottom boat. It was a really nice day and nice to see another place. Exploring my new home and its culture really is one of the reasons I came here so I’m squeezing in as much as I can..... (does looking at fish count as culture?)

And I’ve started my yoga, which is brilliant. I brought my Bikram yoga book and when I’ve had a bit of time on my hands I do that. No need for a heated room here as I sweat like crazy even when its evening here so it’s ideal to get the best out of that yoga! It takes an hour and a half and I’m planning to do it regularly in Flores.  

We are over the half way mark in Bali and my thoughts are turning to work. I am really excited about starting up, especially after a really positive meeting with VSO to get an update on my role. But for now, I will channel this motivation for language school!!!

A baby monkey at the Monkey Temple, Ubud

Me deep in the jungle....or rather in the Monkey Temple

Some girls getting dressed in traditional Balinese costume for their equivalent of Guiness World Records. They were part of the 1,500 who gathered to take the top spot for most Balinese Women in tradional dress at the same place. Makes me remember how much I wanted to be in that Glasgow can can!

Cute wee dancers on stage at the Nusa Dua festival

2 seconds before a baby was lying underneath the raised foot - too slow!

Nusa Dua beach, so gorgeous I didnt notice until we walked back the way there was another beach to my right!

The stairs to a Hindu monument...I ran all the way up!

The prize at the top, a pretty huge statue!

Our yaht for the day, ah bliss!

Can you make out the coral through the window of the glass bottomed boat? AMAaaaaazing!

You really need to click on this one to make it big, but its one of the beaches on Lombogan Island

All aboard! My shipmates for the trip to Lombongan

Til next posting, take care! xx