I've been to India a couple times now. It is an interesting place -and full of contradictions. People are nice to you one minute and in a microsecond wil steal and do whatever else to make it so difficult. On my forst trip, I was inspired to  being a short story. Here is an excerpt ..

Marie Bal was rather tall for a woman with short frumpy hair of a mousey brown colour. Her ears protruded from about the right place. The lobes appeared to have been pierced crudely-perhaps by herself as they really weren’t quite in the same place on close examination. They were a bit on the large size, slightly inflamed, as if from long heavy bobbles made from base metal that had tried to poison her beauty. Marie’s eyes were slightly offset. Not too much mind you but just enough to make people look away at first_ and then take a second glance, which often could be seen to be an ogle!. You either thought she was a most attractive woman. Or you found her drab and an unapproachable. Dr. Bob was mesmerized.

Mie’s friends had always said she was more like her father it. It was he who had an unusual face for a Chinese general- having been born from the union between a Uighur father and Tibetan mother. Mie’s cheeks were slightly angular and she certainly did not have the flat pancake look.

When she smiled, which she seldom did, her lips pursed to reveal a splendid set of teeth_ totally unexpected, for most women from her generation by now had teeth that were deteriorating missing or sporting the bright-red stain of betel. Good oral hygiene not being a practice of the peasant class, which she had, just the evening before, told everyone where she was from.

Mie wore a loose-fitting top beneath which you could see the angular shape of an armor-plated bra, like the ones in those discos in China thought Dr. Bob, as he perused this newcomer to the guesthouse communal table.

“Where should I sit?”, she blurted out rather loudly in unmistakable Beijing Chinglesh.

Anywhere came a shout from the kitchen-the Chapattis will be ready soon.

"Anywhere but this chair," piped in Dr. Bob. Hi, my name’s Bill-but you can call me Doctor Bob. What’s your name; my dear? You look lovely this morning I might add". He noticed she wore no rings despite the noise from, he presumed, regional sexercise which had woken him a few hours before. Maybe she’s a possible candidate for physical inspection soon, he mused..

Mie looked at him silently for a moment as if she had heard his thoughts precisely.

“My name is Mie Ayam”, she replied, “and I know who you are! And what you do! You can tell us all about it after breakfast if you have time.”

He almost choked, then fussed

She sat.

Mei sat, choosing to sit as far away from him as possible, which in the tiny confines of the breakfast room, meant diagonally across atable for 6.

Dr. Bob continued reading the India news, as if it mattered, and as if he could really read Hindi.

The chipatis arrived- whisked in by a small boy wearing traditional garb with no shoes or sandals. He limped and had one missing tooth. Seems clean enough thought Mie.

Dropping the plate on the table he whirled around and went back into the kitchen. About the same time, Miss Renee burst into the room with two plates. One was piled high with toast; the other was a large bowl of scrambled eggs with something else. He couldn’t quite make it out.Maybe this is the dal I have heard about.

She beamed her smile at her guests as sheplopped herself down in the chair beside Mie Ayam.” I’ve got a surprise for breakfast! “

As it turns out -time to time blogs have a random way of appearing as a  necessity. A few days have passed since my last post -and a couple of projects in different parts of India spanning almost 18 months as well. Writing and analysis is the normal part of my work so it is really easy to get lazy and to forget there is a blog out there that might be historically significant once the grandchildren or God Daughters have their own.
This last month could be looked at as a significant turning point in the lives of the family, and a time for reflection and change.
Kim and Echo graduate - wow - how can this be - those two lovely people who begin the next step in their journey. How I love to see this event - it is such a signal of change fir all.

Echo, who when under two years of age loved to smear her face with bolognaise sauce, and now at almost 24, uses black and green dye to be disguised as a borg for Anime week, knowing full well that her black belt will enable her to keep control of even the odd cyclops who might wander in. I sense that this masquerade is exactly the right ticket to O=hio, Tokyo, Chicago, Me-o My-o. or even "Day- o, Day-o : Work all night to the morning sun...", Harry Belafonte comes fleeting;y into my mind with the thought why.
Anyway God's best to Echo for the next chapter.

Kimbo, who has persuaded her man - the Salad Man- to travel all the way from Kiwiland to sweep her off her feet and take her away to wintertime and such an exciting future, and a birthday on the south side of everywhere almost. Hope they recall that things rotate the other way down there. Anyway, he has assured me that he will take very good care of my little girl - so God's best to them too.

That's not all - wait there is more.

T has moved to her new place, which I've only dreamed about seeing on the iPhone. She and her long-time best friend Ryan have splurged and into a new place, a new set of circumstances and some seriouos environmentally friendly farmer marketing, softballing, golfing and BeeMeWer trips. I think that those two have something special that is hard to find for lots of folks - so God's Best to them as well.

Now James - on to bigger and better things after an awakening of his super set of athletic skills - is getting tired of managing one of the country's busiest cappucino poring businesses in the country for part of every day, He's seeing the light at the end of this tunnel and working hard to see if he makes it into Pro baseball - too small  for the NHL, even though the skills are there -why I wonder was my Great Gandfather a tall Viking or Celt so we had some 6'8' weightlifters  in the family who could skate like Sonia Henning. Bit that's another stiry


So after this hectic week away- or perhapd it was a week at home, which are rarer by the decade - after the week it was back here to dusty, dirty, and now rainy rainy India. Dird I ever tell you about the time .....

Lost, but not forgotten

I wrote this a few weeks ago, now, and forgot to post it... Anyway, here it is.---

What a day this has been interesting to say the least – began with an annoying alarm on the phone – which was in the other room. Well, the sound is not annoying – the time was as it followed an evening, which itself was not entirely uneventful. It began with a (last night began with) a trip to the heliport to be told by the lazy security to come back tomorrow – but I persevered- and then lo and behold – the ticket man arrived – but he was outside a small sliding door in another office at the corner – and in between were some serious Bull Mastiffs – knee high looking tough but turned out they may have been color blind as I walked into the office –he took my money and gave me change for the most expensive short hop in the world –at least as far as I know -$80US for 7min 32seconds in an MI-8P – what a treat it turned out to be the next day –but I’ll be into that in a minute or so down the page.

After getting my ticket and giving this fellow his just rewards- 10,000 Leone – more than a day’s wages for most people, and escaping the potential fatal nip waist high by these four canines, I snapped a photo of the heliport just in case I was unable to see it in the dark tonight – Alas I did see it and went to check in – walked right through those bag handlers I did – not wanting to be ripped off by the touts disguised as employees with their fluorescent vets saying “UI Air”-God only knows what UI means, I don’t – perhaps Utterly Impossible, or, Unrecognized Imposter or ..as I said only God seems to know that one.

Anyway, smart as this move it was clearly an error on my part. I sensed something was wrong somehow and even though I put my bag in line with other 14 or 15 people for this flight- some guy on his way to Jakarta, some German bigot who refused to have someone pull his bag at the other end –an old bag religious zealot, who woke up to see her bag was gone and panicked because it had been moved to the baggage holding area- the wee kids wishing they did not have to leave- looking for a soother – or more likely a nipple to relieve their stress. And there clearly was some –the 35-ish bloke from UK who was so enamoured by his romp for the last few days seemed oblivious to all the rest of the waiters.

So the UI Air man walked by and said, “I need your ticket!” I said, “No you don’t”. He walked on to the other “room”, at least behind a pillar, waited an appropriate length of time and came back as I handed him my ticket, and quick as a wink said, “Yes, I do.” He smiled –not as much as later when I watched him seething for a 1000 Leone tip from some asshole, and I gave him 10,000 – clearly a happy man- which will be good for next time through. But that was before right now and after today’s events, which I have time to droll on about. Let’s go back a bit – to this morning after the snarly alarm attack.

Waking up – about 415, I think it was. Relieved the bladder to start the netbook and look at email – nothing exciting except a joke to offend everyone, sent to me by friend Peter from Vientiane Taipan –a surprise, a couple of Skype texting sessions – Graeme, Doc and the Princess – then to some serious business of report writing which did not materialize as I tried to get some things ready for Realini, the local partner, who may pull this off –again they may not.

At 7 – I go to the usual “buffet” – a sorry thing it is – lots of breads – no bacon – eggs maybe ok but not really – I am tired of it. Eat, get ready get in car and head out. Up to the crossroads- the straight up streambed or the real road –in reality they are both in rough shape – there is no such thing as an easy ride in this country except for the chopper I guess. It is awful.

So I opt for the smoother but more congested – it takes us 23 minutes to the junction – sometimes the rougher way has taken the same time. Around the junction (really a round about) and we start on the downhill side –as soon as it gets the smallest degree of downhill the driver puts in neutral and begins to coast – I wonder if anyone ever told him that there is some braking power in the transmission. More than that I wonder if anyone ever told him to pump the breaks – he does exactly opposite of what common sense says. SO=o down the hill – over the regular – oops irregular speed bumps to the level and there is a lot of traffic for a Friday – more so than what there was last Friday for sure. We slowly go down the roads –making the left and immediate right to get on another stream bed, then back up to the other street – then we are in luck – an ambulance full of family members and someone injured or even worse –siren wailing away. The driver seizes the moment –puts the flashers on – and sticks like glue to the careening ambulance – and I mean careening – a Toyota troop carrier with a serious lean as the driver zigged his way through the traffic, past the cars stopped by the local police (I assume there are no international ones here as well -although later I noticed a Mongolian troop contingent –what on earth are they doing here? –

Anyway like glue we stuck to the ambulance and transitted the most congested stretch in less than 5 minutes, not the usual 30 – I would have –no should have said stop – but what the heck – it was nice to bypass this stretch of chaos. Breaking out into the 4-lane stretch, Driver Rambo saw his chance to turn the flashers off and become invisible again, turn right and get to the office in 58 minutes – God knows how long it might have taken otherwise.

Passed the morning alright- then the afternoon with the local consultant- Othman Solomon Jawara –a jovial character with those large Egyptian-style eyes – a man past his prime (perhaps like I will be in a few years. He’s not smoking though – in fact, the only smoking I have seen here besides the brakes on the car I use and the garbage fires most mornings comes from the hukah smoking Lebanese – men and women who seem to relish the waterpipe (Clouseau would have sed waterpeep – perhaps even Peter offstage would say waterpeep- God only knows).

Anyway Othman is tuned into what might be a possibility but fails in understanding the first steps to take –so we go over this for a couple of hours. Oops being paged to BMI checkin I think – better shut down for now and not lumber on about the evening after the 10,000 tip…. More next time

Loss of Shopping Interest

So today was the day before Christmas eve, which if course is two days before the Boxing Week Sale week - something unique to Canada in North America I believe. Americans don't celebrate Boxing Day -so many don't know about it anyway.

There used to be a door opener special on big ticket items for boxing day -I remember going to get a big TV at 6AM to get a good price - good price - but it was sure cold waiting to get in. I recall a lot of other people waiting in line too. God knows what time those in front got there - maybe camped all night to save $200 if lucky - $50 more likely. Anyway my question is- does this mean that there is a looming disinterest for pre-Boxing Day Week sales?

Perhaps it does. I was hooked into buying a dishwasher 10 days ago which was tagged with "Boxing Week Special" - it wasn't boxing week. It seems that the plan is to get people to buy after Christmas, which means the accountants and bookeepers get to work harder to get things entered before New Years Day, when the January sales begin. Seems to me its a faulty plan or an attempt by the higher religious orders to get folks back to the real meaning of Christmas, and in the process get more focus on the good samaratan deeds and help for the less fortunate -and there are so many of those - I've seen it. I sure feel lucky to have been born here - can't imagine really growing upo in most of the places I work these days.

Anyway the whole exercise of present purchasing is too chaotic, so I am glad to have opted out early. Now to wrap or not to wrap.... any thoughts?

Dec 21 - Rain Rain Rain and More Rain

Yes, believe it or not it is raining again - all day - the clouds are down so low that you can't see the mountains at all - you'd never know there were any. Reminds me of 30 or more years ago when inlaws visited the apartment which had fantastic views on the days when there was no rain - you could see for 30 miles unobstructed -same problem today in any direction. But in the other world ...

In Aceh the rains are very different than in other parts of the archipelago - they come strong downpours for long times - the monsoons - and they also come quietly as drizzle for long periods. In Jakarta the rains were almost angry coming so intensely starting almost at the same time in the afternoon every day.

In Surabaya the roads were (and the golf course was) prone to flooding when the skies belched. One day Bob and Ronnie - my Aussie friends and I were stranded almost and had to walk back down the fairway during a severe thunderstorm which swooped in and spoiled our round in many ways - had to drink beer waiting for the traffic to let up - left my shoes and lost them to some caddy who is probably still wearing them 5 years later - no 9 years later. They were good Footjoys too -anyway he needed them more than I - otherewise I would still have them I guess.

In Dili, there are no golf courses - but there is rain occasionally. Itso torrential - people - everyone comes to wash and the river which is normally dry can almost reach the bridge level - people drown in that stuff - a 4 to 5 meter rise inside of about an hour sometimes.

But that's the other world.

Annual Christmas Routine

So today it was on - the long awaited Cousin's Christmas Bash - this time a little different as it was really at a cousin's place - not a sibling's hacienda. I missed last year, as did Echo, as she was studying in Japan and I being more than slightly selfish decided not to come back to North America but to go to Japan- have a nice visit with Number 3 daughter (Echo) - and then go on to (return to) Thailand to do some golfing with my good golfing bud, Bill - aka doctor bill - before back to work in Aceh. ANyway, the recounting of those events are to be topics of another post -assuming I can remember to do that - which I may not be able to based on memory issues.

Back to today...

Picture this -a 3-story condo (or as James corrected me - a townhouse) - a row house which seemed more or less ok - not on the end but close to it -so lots of climate cooling opportunities (made up for by the neighbours who heat their places to more than ambient temp. -Clearly in the interests of climate stasis we must all learn to live like without using energy to keep ourselves warm - anyway, I digress.

We all gather in the middle of this house - i.e. on the second floor where the action is -certainly where the refrigerator is and where the stove is - so we (all 20-odd of us- and some of we seem odd for sure) are able to get our designer beers, red vino collapso and purple potato pizza with baqlsamic vinagrette sauce, nanaimo bars, samosa (oops -I mean spanokapita - I never knew the Greeks and the Indians were related - except the DNA record might prove it- if we're lucky and there's no NHL game on, we might ewven be able to watch an authentic TV blurb on this -who knows - I certainly do not. Sorry, I digress again.

Back to the gathering- the old folks go through a ritualistic hugging ceremony -the cousins also hug one another and seem to enjoy being together again. Moi - I am happy to see this -but I am not so excited about being this far away from home, and having to drive the boat back to the son's house in the rain and in the dark - although I suspect this will be easier than if it were snowing as it was last week.

I think to myself - thank goodness this is only once a year or once every two years. Next year I are going to be away again -for sure. Planning is underway as I write - more on that next time or soon, whichever comes first or second..

A Blog At Last

For some time now - months, more likely years as time is going past so quickly- I have wanted to get a Blog up and running! There are a lot of stories to tell about the work I do, and the people I have met and are yet to meet - on the projects in unusual places faraway where I work and near at hand where I get ready to go back to the chaos.

At last the milestone has been reached and voila un Blogue!

Who knows what the results will be and who knows what these "memoirs" will spark - so let's begin