Maybe it is just known as 'settling in' but I have come to accept that I can deal with living here, for now. This is because, in good time, the following have come to enter (and improve the quality of) my existence here:
~ Humour
Three weeks before I arrived, a trainee from another programme joined the response team. A Cambridge educated 28yr old Spanish-Scottish hybrid. As much of a natural genius as he is tall and thin, he has an infectious wit that meets even the most miserable situation (having to live in Bhubaneswar, in an office) with a witty yet aptly dry or cynical remark (what do you mean? This is every boy's wet dream...we're living in Fallout 3! Glad I didn't bring my Playstation after all...).
Lets call him J, because that's what people do in blogs isn't it? abbreviate names...I'm guessing for anonymity?
So J and I keep each other sane through tongue-in-cheek and occasionally (perhaps frequently) unpolitically correct comments which are inappropriately threaded throughout our days.
He takes the piss out of me for
- Being, so he argues, a tree-hugger. This especially applies when I wear a head wrap and/or baggy ali baba trousers, though simply walking about barefoot and eating with my hands counts. Morning Leah, I see you've gone native today.
- Caring about dogs more than people. ie. talking to/feeding/touching/photographing the dogs on my road. And not a care for the beneficiaries...rather ironic for a Humanitarian, isn't it?
- My distaste of excel/graphs/numbers. But weren't you a mathematician once?
- My exercise addiction. Because my BMI is clinically obese.
- For coming into a room and saying how hot I am, then switching on a fan. Oh, thanks for clearing that up for me, I was really confused for a minute until I realised you meant you're physically excited.
- Not wearing the Save the Children cap and T shirt at the same time, as he revels in doing. But they just look so cool and matching together.
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| J's staple India diet (guess that's anynonymity out of the window) |
I take the piss out of him for
- His thick Spanish accent. Having some more frozen piss (peas) for lunch again? Shall we wash our shits (sheets) today?
- Retaining the Scottish genes of his father's side and everything that comes with them. Are you coming round the corner to get dinner then...don't forget to put your SPF 50 on and to wear your mozzie net.
- Being totally afraid of spice and failing to ever trying anything new, unless alternating between Margarita Domino's take-away pizza and Chicken Feast Domino's take-away pizza counts. You're so adventurous J!
- For being a massive nerd and getting excited about excel and output trackers. Every day I wake up and wish I could be like you.
- The GAPING hole in his musical knowledge. I'm deadly serious, from Moby, the Kinks, Abba, Walk like an Egyptian, Hammertime, How Bizarre (de de dahe de de dah de de dah, how bizarre, how bizarre, how bizarre). In summary, he's not heard of a huge number of 'you just know them because how could you escape not?' type music. Does know who the Beatles are though, so I don't think he was reared in total isolation.
Favourite J references include: "conditions are perfect", "I hate gingers, they've got no soul", "as cunning as a small fox with many tails", "everybody hates the French".
He winds me up for being a hippy, I wind him up for being a geek -it's a happy compromise.
So, is it love? No. Someone I hope to fall madly in love with? Not at all. Someone I hope to know for the rest of time? Definitely.
~ The Flower Garden with a Lake
It's close enough to cycle to and big enough to run around in. The trees may still be dust-coated and air still particle-filled, but nonetheless I FOUND AN OPEN SPACE. Yippee!
~ The Juice Man
It's a mid-morning ritual that I now can't do without. It took us an age to find a vendor who understood our sign language and doesn't add salt/powder/sugar/ice to the blended fruit concoctions, so it's 70p a day well spent. Each morning we take an empty water bottle to The Juice Man's smiley round face and come away with a litre of fresh papaya, watermelon, orange, apple or pineapple juice, which I tend to swallow in two long gulps. Some people need coffee, but I need The Juice Man.
~ Kashmir
Without fail everyday J and I talk about Kashmir. We entertain lengthy scenario-based conversations which speculate the probability of us getting transferred to work in the Kashmiri office in early 2012. The outcomes of our speculative conclusions fluctuate depending on the optimism of our mood that day combined with the latest reaction of our boss when we flirt with the suggestion in work-related discussion. Who needs the tabloids or Hello! magazine when you've got Kashmir to gossip about. We absorb ourselves in the topic further by inventing picturesque images of us cruising the white slopes of Gulmarg, Kashmir's rustic ski resort and home to the highest gondola in the world. Oh the prospect of clean mountain air. Trekking in the snow. Take us to Kashmirrrrrr.
I'm also referred to simply as "Leh" (a town in Kashmir) to the Development Team in our office. I'm fond of it, because I've already over-romanticised anything and everything Kashmiri.
~ The Office Headphones
I was worried when, during my dark first weeks here I even lost the desire to listen to music. However, since adopting these gems from the office I've been wearing them so much that the cartilage in my outer right ear aches. Music sounds amAzing through them.
~ The Temperature Drop
From the 10th December something dramatic happened, and I cannot begin to describe the difference it made. The temperature dropped by a few degrees and it has continued to do so, to the point where you can even wear long sleeves at night. By far the best thing about this has been the transformation in the thickness of the air; the dust seems to be less air-bourne, the smog less stifling, the air less gross. I go out on my bicycle more and don't come back feeling quite as filthy, and sometimes the sky is even blue! I can see the sky!
J tells me I've got Stokholm Syndrome, and it's true, on the days where I go as far to say "it's actually quite a nice day today", both of us know the extent to which standards that qualify as 'nice' have plummeted since we started living here. Still, the climatic change brought on by winter here is one of the things I'm most grateful for of all the silver linings listed in this post.
~ The Work
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| Taking a MUAC (Middle Upper Arm Measurement)
to calculate BMI/malnutrition
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| Village Committee meeting - an opportunity for discussion |
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| Health Camp in progress in affected villages |
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| Village distribution |
With some time, and much support and intelligence from J, I have come to have a far greater understanding of the relief work we are doing here in response to the Orissa floods of September. I am now responsible for coordinating the $300,000 OFDA/USAID grant. It is funding the purchase and delivery of hygiene kits, floor mats and tarpaulins to 5000 families across three districts in Orissa to reach the most vulnerable households who were affected by the flooding. It is my job to ensure that our partners (three local NGOs) are implementing the project appropriately and in a timely fashion. India Time has hampered this somewhat and the word 'deadline' seems to have dramatically loosened its connection to the standard dictionary definition, but I've been trying my best.
Every so often we conduct village field visits to monitor cash for work programmes/item distributions/committee meetings/awareness raising & capacity building workshops. In spite of the frustrating language barrier, it is these days that tend to be the most rewarding because, aside from seeing those we are actually helping (which is easy to forget from the confines of Bhubaneswar) the photography opportunities offered in the field are unbeatable.
I include some pleasing portrait shots below.
Along with a back-up generator, I'm thankful the office has it. It's so wide and worldly.
~ The Dogs
Especially during my early days, the sole endearing asset of Bhubaneswar that I could identify was the inhabited dog population. In spite of their injuries, mange, thinness, worms, scabs and general hardships, there is something loveable them. Something endearing about the way they sleep through the noise of traffic all day, snoozing on piles of sand at the roadside with nose tucked under tail, curled up like cats. I like watching them trot around at night, alert and bright eyed with a spring in their step -snuffling their way through rubbish heaps, playfighting with their pups, bearing warnings to potential canine territory invaders. There's something to be respected in the street-wise air about them, and I have a great fondness for their sweet, sweet nature.
It was inevitable that I was going to try to befriend those dogs living on my road. Once more, it's puppy season here. Every bitch has saggy boobs and on every street corner a litter of pups reside. Within a 30 second radius of my house/office lives three separate canine families. Mummadog (pictured in the last post with dead pup) had a litter which shrunk from 12 pups to just 3 in the space of ten days. However I'm happy to report that the remaining trio are fighting fit, tremendously mischievous and considerably healthy for the average Bhub pooch.
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| Mummadog and offspring |
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| Skinnydog's unhealthy pup |
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| My favourite of Silverdog's troupe |
Luckily for them however, part of our flood response includes the distribution of 'Chhatua', the locally made high-nutrition ultra calorific food supplement. It's a little like cereal powder and is made into a tasty paste when mixed with water. No I am not redirecting the nutritional deliverables from flood affected children in order to feed the street dogs of Bhubaneswar, but a couple of Chhatua bags sit around spare in my office, and there's no use in it going to waste, is there? Using what else I buy/find in the kitchen -bread, rice, glucose powder, sugar, ghee, oil, biscuits and oats- I blend up a delicious looking slop which I dish out once a day in a surrounded-by-puppies-crazy-bag-lady like fashion. Yes, you may call me Mother Teresa.
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| Busy saving children |
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| snooping around for snacks |
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| Skinnydog with a pup from each litter |
~ Orientation
The trouble with this city is that it is so flat, sightless, motorway-based and grid-like in its design that you just can't work out where you are, nor can you create a mental image of the city (unless a dirty sprawling mass of half finished fly-overs count). Particularly because there's no real city centre or high street, there's no starting point to work from. It's taken almost two months but I am finally getting to grips with the orientation of the place, and it makes me feel far more physically able and less confined than before. Someone told me the key to road use out here is never to look either side of you, never to look when pulling out, never to look behind. Just look ahead. It's how everyone drives here and it more or less kind of works. Yes sure I've had some close calls in the saddle, but this blinkered road etiquette has given me confidence and i'm pretty much a native behind the handlebars now. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
The trouble with this city is that it is so flat, sightless, motorway-based and grid-like in its design that you just can't work out where you are, nor can you create a mental image of the city (unless a dirty sprawling mass of half finished fly-overs count). Particularly because there's no real city centre or high street, there's no starting point to work from. It's taken almost two months but I am finally getting to grips with the orientation of the place, and it makes me feel far more physically able and less confined than before. Someone told me the key to road use out here is never to look either side of you, never to look when pulling out, never to look behind. Just look ahead. It's how everyone drives here and it more or less kind of works. Yes sure I've had some close calls in the saddle, but this blinkered road etiquette has given me confidence and i'm pretty much a native behind the handlebars now. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Although I've been stopped on my bike to be told that "at night -it's not safety", it's so nice to head out late on two wheels when the traffic is so much less. It is also prime dog-watching time...I find it quite fascinating them seeing them interact with each other at this hour, when the streets are theirs.
There is a small group of people who play a serious game of frisbee on a dusty football pitch every Thursday. It's exhausting so I love it, in spite of the following 24hrs I spend with a persistent cough and runny nose.
~ The Sea/Places New Puri beach is only 2 hours away. Turn left down the beach and it's an open toilet, turn right up the beach and jump over the river of scrum and eventually you get to a swimmable, visitable beach. The sea is a little rough (15 locals drowned in the last month!) but getting scared by the intensity of the waves is all part of the sensation seeking. The cafes also sell amazing muesli breakfasts and chocolate pancakes. We like it here!
On weekends where we've been able to get Saturdays off J and I have enjoyed other areas of exploration too -national parks and such. I even went to Calcutta for Christmas (note to self: avoid staying somewhere called 'Hotel Shams').
So what I mean to say is: it turns out Bhubaneswar isn't so infinite after all.
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| Puri beach = best breakfasts ever |
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| Sunrise at Satkosia Gorge |
~ Language and Indish
J and I find light relief in the pesky text messages regularly sent to us, adverts and such. Our personal favourite: 'Children are like wet cement, whatever falls on them leaves an impression. Happy national children day'.
A key part of delivering an emergency response programme is the collection of beneficiary lists -a list of names of the most needy people from the villages we are targeting. It is these people/families who will receive the supplies and support services that our programme is providing. However, because we only implement through local partner NGOs in India, it is they who are responsible for compiling these lists. How do you react when under the selection criteria of 'disabilities in the family?' one of the partners writes 'mental'....though fair enough, I can relate to that.
Receiving another beneficiary list (below) also brightened our day...how do you spell yours?
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| Malnaoutriatan |
A few weeks back we enjoyed attending a junior Para-Olympics held by one of partners. We enjoyed it even more so when getting out of the car one of our colleagues said "it's good to come along and support the special children". To top it off we were given a yellow T-shirt with 'Special Olympics' printed on the crest. I wear it all the time to go running in. But you are special. Thanks J.
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| Sporting our 'Special Olympics' souvenirs |
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| did you get a shit seat? |
~ The Swimming Pool
The Special Olympics was held at the local stadium, which we'd never visited before. During our snoop around the place J and I not only stumbled across the inviting seating of the place (left) but also a huge, clean, empty, amazing, so-glad-I-found-this 50m Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool. You should have seen my excitement when I saw the place! Ever since I have splashed out on entry once a week and the pool is usually entirely mine. An hour of deep water escapism. J came along once, but the fact you can't fill your lungs properly when coming up for air has never tempted him back since. Something about shortening your life expectancy outweighing the benefits to be had from the swim, he says.
The Special Olympics was held at the local stadium, which we'd never visited before. During our snoop around the place J and I not only stumbled across the inviting seating of the place (left) but also a huge, clean, empty, amazing, so-glad-I-found-this 50m Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool. You should have seen my excitement when I saw the place! Ever since I have splashed out on entry once a week and the pool is usually entirely mine. An hour of deep water escapism. J came along once, but the fact you can't fill your lungs properly when coming up for air has never tempted him back since. Something about shortening your life expectancy outweighing the benefits to be had from the swim, he says.
For me though Tuesdays in Bhubs are forever swim days.
~ Sharing
J and I share loads of things together and that's really nice, because when you break down all the complicated stuff, us humans are all social creatures at the core. Whilst it sounds terribly cheesy we often find ourselves reciting poems to each other when they spring to mind (thank you GCSE English/Ms Latif). When we remember, we email each other a self-selected 'Poem of the Day'.
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| Sharing is caring! |
I offer a listening ear when he's had yet another sleepless night owing to the deafening snoring of his roommate/fellow colleague, before telling him that he's so camp he almost warrants having his own room like myself. Then grinning, I remind him "sharing is caring!" ...and eat another square of his Dairy Milk before returning to my private little den. Sometimes you come up trumps, being female. Night x
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