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