Am I in India?

I have been in New Delhi for almost four days but it really doesn't feel like it, or at least not like the India I experienced six years ago. Granted that was budget travel in the very, very south and this is a work trip in the north. But still, one would think when you are in a foreign country it would feel like it.

Since arriving, albeit exhausted from a painfully long flight after spending five whirlwind days in Boston, I observed a refresher course for diabetes educator master trainers. It was interesting for sure, however I quickly removed myself from sitting at the front of the room, as I was falling asleep and having a terrible time appearing engaged. The women attending are nurses and dietitians from health centers through out India. They have been trained to train other allied health care professionals to be diabetes educators. Globally, India has the leading number of adults with diabetes yet, they are only now developing the diabetes educator role.

Saturday evening, we attending a lighting ceremony, where 50 monuments through New Delhi will be caste in blue light as a symbol of joining together to fight diabetes - blue is the official color of World Diabetes Day. Various who's-who were there including the new Danish Ambassador to India and his wife and daughter. After this event, we went to the Russian Center for the premier of a movie about three children coping with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Despite it being almost entirely in Hindi it was very easy to follow. It was a very late evening since everyone was given a chance to speak. After 10p we finally had the buffet meal. Unfortunately, I tried the desserts because early Sunday morning I awoke with that telltale feeling of food poisoning. I blame the tepid custard. So that meant I missed all the World Diabetes Day activities this morning and the follow-on Child Congress meeting (Nov. 14th is both WDD and Child Day in India).

Over the next two days we will visit our Delhi office, and meet with a few donors. And I will be meeting up with a friend from graduate school who now lives here with her husband and newborn. While I dread the long trip back, I am very much looking forward to getting home after this long trip.

Zebras, giraffes and elephants, oh my! And guinea fowl, wart hogs and rhinos as well!

Today we sort of took the day off, or perhaps were having "team building", and drove 2 hrs away to a local game reserve called Pilanesburg National Park to see some animals. Visitors can drive their own cars, and it ended up being me, Stefan and his son Sam who went. We braved the hot, dry day and were rewarded with sightings (as the title would imply) of: zebras, wart hogs, rhinos, elephants, kudu, eland, guinea fowl, and giraffes. There is a group called the Big Five and we saw two of them today (rhino and elephants). No lions this time and we returned home exhausted but fairly pleased with what we saw.

Touring Johannesburg

After yet another night of insomnia - at this rate I won't have to worry about getting back on EST because I'll have never left it - I decided that Sunday would be a day for touring Johannesburg. Seeing as I am not centrally located at a hotel, my only option for getting out and about was to hire a driver - the one the American woman recommended last week. After another hearty British breakfast and chatting with fellow guests and our hostess, the driver Terrance picked me up and we were off to the Apartheid Museum. They aren't kidding when estimated time for completion is 2 1/2 hrs...and I didn't read/watch everything that was there. Such a complicated history and I'm not sure how I missed the goings-on of South Africa, especially given the very violent portion that occurred while I've been alive. It is a really good museum and I highly recommend it. In fact, it should do a touring exhibit.

Afterwards, Terrance who is a native of Soweto and speaks English, Afrikans, Zulu and three other African languages, drove me through the township of Soweto. We stopped briefly at the Nelson Mandela House for a photo op, and then proceeded to a restaurant with a buffet lunch of traditional foods. Not sure if I've had tripe before, but I have now. Everything was very good and it was obvious that this somewhat non-descript location was the stop for many tour guides and their clients.

This adventure took about five hours and it was very nice to exchange information with Terrance about our home countries. But it was a long day and I was so eager to get back to the guesthouse that I unfortunately forgot to take a photo of Terrance. However, should you find yourself in Johannesburg and need a driver (for transport, airport transfers or touring), I have his card and can highly recommend him.

Just Another Saturday in JoBurg

Originally the plan was, Stefan would pick me up early from the hotel and I would join his family on an outing to a nearby animal reserve. As if often the case, plans change and you go with it. His wife, needing to now lift a very tall 4 year old with a full leg cast, had thrown her back out. And so he needed to take her to the doctors this morning. The new plan was, I offered to stay with Sam while they went to her appointment taking their daughter along too. Instead of outdoor animals, we watch Ice Age 3 and got our fill of mammoths, saber tooth tigers and dinosaurs.

Afterward, Stefan and I went out to lunch and to the grocery store, which for me, in a new country, is always very interesting. Since I am staying at the isolated guesthouse this weekend and only provided breakfast, I needed a few instant dinner options. Experiencing everyday life can be far more interesting than being in a hotel and at tourist locations. Stefan pointed out that life in JoBurg revolves around shopping malls...not terribly different from life in an American suburb. In the mall and grocery store, there were similarities but there are just enough differences that you can't escape the feeling of being in a decidedly different culture.

Diabetes - take two

Despite the pain of a head cold, tortured feet, and a late night, it was back into the suit and heels and back to sitting for hours listening to more talking. Today's talks seemed a bit more interesting as they focused on action versus redundantly discussing the problem. Everyone would agree that a) diabetes is a major health issue; and b) something needs to be done. The problem is readily recognized that there are no people stepping up to take charge of getting it done. This is coupled by the fact that diabetes and its related friends hypertension, heart disease, cancer etc., are not eliciting the same response as more acute, emotional issues such as AIDS, or as was pointed out in several talks, civil rights, have done in the past. As of yet, there are no faces to go with the issue, in the media for example to garner the attention and ultimately, policy and monetary response.

I should also mention that this was a bilingual forum - mostly in English but often in French with people switching back and forth to use headphones to receive simultaneous translation. Indeed, the headsets were part of our gala table centerpieces the night before.

As the second and last night, we were bussed over to a restaurant for an evening of chatting, music, good food, and face painting (pic). It was a nice way to end the two very packed days. I definitely came away with a better understanding of the issues surrounding diabetes in developing countries and ideas for funding, partnering and projects. We'll have to see how transferable this information will be back at headquarters.

Diabetes - take one.

Sufficiently gussied up in my new suit and old, yet rarely worn heels, it was time to find out what this forum was all about. And what it was became all about was talks, the organizers madly trying to keep to the schedule, and eating. Apparently the strategy for getting (pushing) attendees through the 9a-6p first day was to pile on the food and snacks. And when I say snacks I mean three tea breaks with doughnuts, ice cream bars and a new treat at our place when we returned from the tea breaks. We also had a gala dinner that night which dragged on so long, with more talks, that the entree was not served until 10p.

You can tell where my attention to details lies. They probably did not think they would be so critiqued on the food. Still, the talks were alright...except I can't remember what any of them were about. There were government ministers, physicians, academics/researchers, a diabetic local celebrity, and pharma/diagnostic and food industry representatives. Indeed, it was a veritable who's-who of the diabetes and related health world. And since many of the sponsors are companies based in Denmark, I was surrounded by Danes, which was really quite nice (and brushed off/dug out a bit of Danish on occasion).

Tonight's hotel room turn-down consisted of the TV tuned into a ambient music radio station, the most amazing filled dark chocolates I think I have ever had the pleasure to eat, and a plastic vuvuzela - the noise makers of World Cup. Just hoping I can get into my carry-on. I know a certain 4 year old who might like it.

Moving, Meetings and Milk (& cookies)

This morning (Wednesday) shined brightly on Jubilee Guesthouse and while the head cold had not been vanquished, it was no more than a disgruntled murmur. I was treated to a nice British breakfast in the dining room, had a chat with a lady from New Jersey who gave me the contact info for her driver and then talked with my hostess Elsa. There are so many accents and languages here. She explained that she is “Afrikans speaking” and her husband (who I met the night before) is “British speaking”. She went on to say that two of her maids are Zulu and her gardener was something else (I’ve forgotten). I’ll be back at this guesthouse for two more nights later and look forward to it.

Next stop was our country “office”. It is an 8x8 room connected to our country director’s house. He and his Pfizer Fellow share it and I squeezed in for the morning. But it does have all the office amenities like wi-fi. I will spend my last two nights as the guest of Stefan and his wife and two small children ages four years and 16 months. The four year old is extremely entertaining and recently broke his leg. He has figured out how to scoot around on the floor with his full cast and doesn’t seem to mind. He showed me his trucks and we talked movies. Apparently I am thoroughly missing out because I have not seen any of the Ice Age films. After all, the third one has DINOSAURS!

Then it was off to check into the hotel for the diabetes forum to be held over the next couple of days. This afternoon, in the lobby, I finally had my much anticipated meeting with a potential donor. It actually went well and since he is Danish we spent quite a while talking about Denmark including the EuroCup victory of 1992 (which we both remember vividly). Apparently discussing sports is a requisite of any business meeting.

I have just come back to my room from dinner to find a small bottle of cold milk and a cookie and my bed turned down.

Four grey walls and four grey towers...

I arrived under the clouds and dusk of nightfall and so my introduction to Johannesburg so far has been minimal. What struck me as interesting is that once again I am in a city confining residents behind walls. Unlike AFG where it is to protect expats from targeted violence, here it is to protect everyone from random crimes. I was met at the airport by our country director who transported me to the lovely little Jubilee Guesthouse. With chicken take-away dinner in hand, I felt very secure behind two gates and a door requiring a remote control and two sets of keys for entry. After eating my dinner, having some rooibos tea and catching up on internet, it was time for sleep and try to keep this headcold under control.

Onward Adventures

It seems time to resurrect this dusty blog which got bogged down in the trials and tribulations of life in Afghanistan. And really how much can one write about when confined to house and office most of the time? Back on the outside since March, life has been humming along. It is amazing how much change there can be in the course of a year. From US to Kabul to US with a bit of ricocheting in between for good measure. But as fall rolls in, I am newly settled in Virginia with travel on the horizon. This begs the question whether this blog's title is still fits. I think it does. I will always be a Pacific Northwesterner at heart and changing it to Virginia Vagrant, though it has the necessary alliteration, just doesn't quite work. And perhaps Virginia is just one more stop - a career oasis, if you will. And so let's get back on board the proverbial caravan. Glad you've decided to come along.

When it rains, it reeks

As mentioned before, Afghanistan is having an unseasonably dry and warm. Which, while more comfortable for this fair-weather expat, is not good for water supplies later this year. Last night however, rain dances were answered and a deluge of rain fell upon Kabul. And rain in Kabul means snow in the mountains. Unfortunately, along with this favorable weather event, comes a slightly inconvenient living event.

At 1am last night I awoke to a really, really unpleasant smell. It smelled mostly of gas fuel which is always alarming. Out in the hall the smell was worse, and it was also downstairs making me wonder if it was coming from the oven. It was not fortunately. I ventured out into the rain, woke the guard up and we investigated the three floors of the guesthouse but couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from. So we opened doors and windows and I went back to bed. In the morning, the smell was less but still there - however my trip to the bathroom made the source clear. The rain had obviously backed up the sewer system at some stage and this gas was coming up through the drains and toilet. The peculiar thing is that it did not have the normal (thank goodness) sewage smell but truly more of a natural gas smell.

At any rate, the plumber has been called and fortunately, the bathroom still work okay and it's warm enough to keep the windows open. So with any luck, we'll be back normal atmospheric order soon.

Pulikhumri revisited

I have spent the last week up in Pulikhumri in Baghlan. This is the city reached from Kabul by way of the Salang Pass. Fortunately for us, there is no snow currently in the pass, and strangely hardly any traffic the morning we came up. However, this lack of snow could mean very bad things for agriculture, livestock and the general water supply. This winter has been unseasonably warm and dry. Generally in January, it is very cold and even Kabul gets a lot of snow. Instead, it has been about 20 degrees above average, and far warmer and drier than it was in November.

One of the reasons we made the journey up to Pulikhumri is that in our two larger program provinces we are implementing a winter feeding project where a one month ration of concentrate feed and de-worming services will be provided to livestock most at risk during the later winter months. The thought is, if the snows don't come, spring will be a very difficult time for livestock as well, because lack of water means lack of grazing land, so this additional feed will be beneficial no matter what the weather brings.

While we've been here, we've had a chance to go out and see a few projects around town. It is a nice change from Kabul where we hardly get out at all. However, much like Kabul our presence receives a lot of attention, though in this case it's more from curiosity than any negative interest - or at least that's what I tell myself.

Tomorrow we drive back to Kabul. And while it has been very nice to have a break from the big city (and fortunately missing the unrest), it will be good to return to my little piece of space and my routine. Stay tuned! Next stop is Jalalabad for a program quarterly meeting next weekend.

Afghan weddings

So I've had a few conversations with Afghan male colleagues about weddings. Many of our staff are of the marrying age, this coupled with the amazing number of huge, glassy, gaudy wedding halls that line the main roads of Kabul, make it a fascinating topic.

Weddings in Afghanistan are a huge, expensive affair. And I'm guessing when cost of living conversions are used, they are far more expensive than American weddings. Just now, I have learned that my guard (who is also a program staff employee) is saving money to be married in four months around the time of the Afghan new year. He says that it will cost him $12,000. His engagement party cost $6,000. However, the thing to remember here is they have to invite everyone, because everyone has some family connection to each other. And in this country, your relationships mean and influence every part of life. As he said, for everyone one person he invites, four people show up. He estimates that at his wedding will be 700 from his side and he guesses that his fiancee will have about 300 people. And that is normal from what I've been told.

Re-entry

I've been slacking heavily on the blog entries. I guess the longer you are somewhere, the less it seems like there is to report. Two weeks away on Christmas vacation was good but also surreal. Despite 30hrs of travel in each direction to help adjust to the change in...everything...bouncing between Kabul and Portland was a hard transition. The two places are different in every way imaginable. I think going to Virginia and back was easier because VA was unfamiliar whereas I know Oregon inside and out. At any rate, with sinus infection firmly in place, it took a good three days and many hours of sleep for me to get "used" to being back here.

So, since I'm coming up with less to write about, I figured it's time to get down to the nitty-gritty details. What is a day like in Kabul. Well, today is the weekend (Friday) and it is a quiet day at that. In some ways I was looking forward to it, because I've noticed the downside of having one's office in one's living area, is that you have even less alone time. I live for 4:30p when everyone: colleagues, office staff and the cleaner, go home and I have the place to myself again. As it is, people are coming and going all the time and even my room has frequent visitors as the cleaner goes in to clean and get laundry and the guards enter in the afternoon to fill and light my heater. It has been an adjustment.

Today has so far consisted of, brace yourself, doing yoga, eating breakfast, talking to David, having him help fix the internet connection so I can do email and post this blog entry, go to the grocery store...and here I am. I have nothing else planned for today except more internet, watching TV, and maybe read. I may even break out some real live, with cards, solitaire. And I will eat meals and go to bed. Wow. Tomorrow, minus the grocery store and internet fixing, will be pretty much the same with some work thrown in to shake things up. I'm alone at the guesthouse this weekend which is good but also exacerbates the lack of things to do.

And that is the exciting existence in Kabul. Fortunately, this coming week, those colleagues who went home for the holidays will start trickling back into town so chances are things will pick up.