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
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
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)
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