Just loving the blog!

This so much nicer than I imagined... just really love reading about how everyone is doing and it is just crazy to think about how our lives can take us to all these different paths, full of challenging machinery and fluffy creatures :)

My updates for the week are:

• Gotta love Cambridge in the Summer! Just so awesome to see all the window boxes full of flowers, people dressed up everywhere for the May balls and the sun shining, just lovely!
• Work has been great, keeping me really busy (which works for me) and maybe taking multitasking to a different level. Iam off to Paris tomorrow for BBOP and really looking forward to it!
• I am also very excited to meet Noss when I get back from Paris and had some giggles with Lisa with a late plan of tricking Stuey in suggesting some very girly names for the dog, like: teacup or petal... but Lisa assured me that he would have seen through it (I bet!)
• Finally the sales are on (Oh dear!).... I have already hit the shops and my plan to do some saving went out of the window.... oh well!

Zo - we miss you loads hon! Can't believe you all this amazing wildlife at your feet, please post some pictures!

Look forward to hearing everyone else's news!

Lots of love

M xxxxxx

Space to think...

Hey lovelies,

How are you all?

I’m sorry it’s been ages since I wrote… it’s been weird, it was almost easier not to write as I have to get used to this world and putting my head back into my home world has almost made it a bit harder. I really thought women were meant to be good at multi-tasking, so where am I going wrong?! But then I realise that this week home sickness has really hit me hard, and even though things are busy here I have to get a better balance with the rest of my life. (…and I have to talk about something other than conservation which, bless her, Deb is not that good at!)

Things are going pretty well. I had my first meeting with nearly all members of the AKAR Network, with 11 representatives attending. 3 days. All in Bahasa Indonesia. Blimey… I’ve slept for most of today to recover! :o) 2 days of it was at a NP post about 12km away from Sungai Penuh, just inside the NP and just the most lovely views of forest. The altitude there must be about 1,300m I think and the cloud movements above the forest are quite dramatic. One morning we heard Siamang gibbons calling to each other, which was magical.

We had the most hilarious journey up there. I had a 5 minute lesson with Deb in her hardtop landrover - you should have heard her holler when I hung onto the clutch for too long and made the whole car stink of burning rubber….ooops. After that it was just me and the NGO folks, and I drove up to the ranger post on my own… hill starts in a cranky old machine with no functioning hand break were reasonably hair-raising, but I’m proud of myself for getting the hang of it (more or less!)

Anyway, in terms of results, I feel like I have a much better idea of what the NGOs want, what they need, and where I should be useful. I have a lot of proposals to write, and I’d better bloody find some money somewhere….!

The rest of life, at the moment, feels like just grabbing some moments of quiet time to recover from work. I’ve bought a guitar though (not that I can play it, yet), plus a Cambridge girl can’t be without a bike for too long, so I’m cruising about on my new steed – not a glorious Dutch creation I’m afraid, but something practical (and luminous yellow!) for the hills.

Please tell me your news! Lisa, Noss is a lovely lovely name for a puppy and I can’t wait to meet him. My sister seems to be getting on well with Milo no.2, in spite of minor panics about booked up puppy training classes… I spoke to her briefly yesterday and she was having lunch at home with the new love of her life… so many puppies! I am trying, and failing, to befriend some small fluffy creature here. It seems all dogs and cats are innately terrified of humans. Plus Deb has a theory that dogs here are very freaked out by bules (westerners) because they think they’re seeing a ghost! I told her that was clearly ridiculous, but it’s bizarre how the dogs, and even ox and buffalo, react much more nervously to me than to local people. Humph.

Ok, I’m now going to make some chips, and buy some yummy BBQ beef from the local warung (food place). Dinner beckons.

Take care guys, I miss you all. And please do the following for me if you can:

• Drink a latte
• Eat anything with parmesan cheese
• Get lots of hugs (real ones, in addition to the virtual ones from me)

Lots and lots of love,

Zo xxxxxxxxxxxxx

hello lovelies... second time lucky... can I master this 21st century technology???

Actually, you know, I'm enjoying the opportunity of getting a bit more practical these days... learning how to work the tiger team GPS units, attempting to mend the front door handle that is basically coming away from the door, and promise of lessons in ojek (motorbike) lessons from the tiger rangers... yes please! don't worry... i promise that, despite my less than celubrious history learning to drive a car, I think I'll be much better with this and I will be very very careful!

Cherry Chit Chat

Isn't it just so appropriate that all of this started sitting under the cherry tree and according to wikipedia:
In China the cherry blossom symbolizes feminine beauty, the feminine principle, or love in the language of flowers. In Japan cherry blossoms also symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life...

I like the concept that we are always changing, moving (sometimes literally) but can still be totally in touch! The cherry tree itself has also changed and is fulll of gorgeous red cherries that are being enjoyed by the black birds and the boys when they get a chance.

So a toast to changes, cherries and chit-chats! Miss you all, xxxx

hello / hola / ciao / bonjour / selamat xxx

Hey lovely Cherry Tree ladies,

Apa kabar (how are you)? I’m sitting in my big purple tent dress with an instant coffee and a bowl of mashed fruit… a good start to my 5-a-day. I’ve been meaning to write for ages, and now I’m going to make sure send a missive as often as possible…I miss you guys!!! You have all featured in at least one of the amazingly vivid dreams I’ve had since I got here….honestly, is it the food, or the anti-malarials, or the midges I’m probably inhaling while I sleep? ;o)

Things are fine here. I feel like ‘my feet are under the table’ now, but they’re not quite touching the ground… does that make sense? I’ve met with three of the eight NGOs in the Network, and should be seeing another two tomorrow. The contextual knowledge that they have and their ideas are awesome… for me it’s working out where best to place myself in this matrix to provide support in the right places and not interfere where no help is needed… and also try to understand what is actually possible here. Oh my God… Deb is brilliant at explaining the perversities of Indonesian legislation and employment law, but some things just make my eyes pop out because they are completely counter-productive for conservation. Is that, perhaps, the point?

Anyway, too much talk about work. Other things are good too. I wouldn’t say I’ve made ‘friends’ yet… the language is still coming on, and I’ve been working a fair bit. But the members of Deb’s tiger team seem really nice, and the NGOs I’ve met will be good contacts. It’s lucky Deb and I get on well, else there really would be no one else to speak English with here… but that’s definitely a good way to help with the language, so I’m not stressed about that at all. I always have Skype, and you can call me when I’m not online and it should go to my mobile, which is cool J I also have a cheap mobile now, so I can call you, yay!

The haircut was hilarious… I knew I wanted to go shorter because the long hair was way too hot…Deb’s cleaner (Ibu Pembantu, who is tiny and very very sweet) recommended a salon and I tried to get there early in case I needed an appt. No such thing…I was about half a foot in the door before I was swept into a chair and a very sweet but feisty lady asked me what I was after… I indicated a rough amount…she pointed at a picture of some model that had just walked off the ‘scary-haircut catwalk’ and went ‘Nooo!!!!!!’ So she set to with a slightly less scary version, and loads of choppy layers. But she cut it dry, and then washed and dried it afterwards…so bizarre!

Well, I’m rambling. Lisa… how was your holiday?? Were you able to see the puppy? My sister got a puppy yesterday! There must be something in the air J It’s a bichon frize / miniature dachshund called Milo (Kristin, I can’t believe there are two canine Milo’s in my life since January!) She seems very happy, though a little nervous about her new responsibility… I’ve bought her a puppy training book, hopefully that will be helpful!

I guess I should go and get ready for the day. Deb has just mentioned that 5 new road proposals through Kerinci-Seblat have gone to Jakarta in that last week or so. Gees. I am having to learn to multi-task a little better, since I’m working on one thing and Deb pipes up with x urgent issues to absorb and understand. Yikes.

Lisa, I hope the treatment has been going ok... I hope it’s not draining you too much and that you are feeling ok. Thinking of you loads, and also wearing your good luck beads all the time. One of the NGOs asked me wear my bracelet came from, and were very impressed when I explained the beads used to be glass bottles!! Conrad is coming to the UK this week for the TEEB workshop…not sure if all of the days or just one or two towards the end of the week. If you see him, go have an Earl Grey together if you get a moment… he’s an Earl Grey obsessive too :o)

Ok, miss you guys… speak / write soon!!!

Lots of love,

Zo xxx

PS Kristin, if you work out a way to teleport your cookies to Kerinci, let me know! The thought makes my mouth water :o)

A Reasonable Dew Point, At Last

I echo Lisa: well done for setting this up, Mon. I'm starting to understand how the 'blogosphere' - while of course not the same as all being together again - can definitely help keep community going.

I've just returned home from a weekend in New York, and am feeling pretty comfortable back in DC this Sunday evening. This hasn't always been the case these past few months; I suppose I should have been better prepared for the 're-entry shock,' but it still takes me by surprise how strange and unsettling DC feels sometimes (even though I lived here for so long). Funny how life goes.

But there have been some lovely moments, too, including last weekend spent camping out at the Delaware Bay. I have also tested some bold new cookie recipes - although I miss having people to share them with!

Miss Zoe, are you out there? Any reports from Indonesia?

Well done, Mon, for setting this up. Just having a lazy saturday morning sorting out admin and setting up facebook. It's amazing how therapeutic organising yourself can be!! It's gorgeous weather, I'm feeling supercharged after my 4th does of chemo (only two more to go if nothing changes!) so life is good. And we're going to check out the new puppy tomorrow morning. I really can't wait....hope all is good wiht you guys. What are you up to? xx