Happy Teej

This country has so many festivals. People are quite religious and really respect their traditions and customs. The past Sunday was what is called "Teej". It is a festival for women to wish their husband's long life. Why they wish only their husband's long life is another subject to be discussed at a different occasion. But, anyway women (especially married) dress all in red and go to one particular temple. It is in a way women's day and they all get a day off to dance and feast (after fasting). You see waves of women in red sari and Kurta.

Most of the local holidays, we as UN employes do not get time off. So, this was a rare occasion to go see the festival, which I enjoyed very much.

These beads necklaces are also for married women. At the temple, there were many vendors selling flowers for rituals and bangles and many many other colorful things.

YEAH~

My leave was approved!! I will be leaving for Japan on 24th of September and will stay there until Oct. 5. I am so looking forward to it and already started counting down. I have not been back almost for a year, so it is about time.

My family has already planned a short trip to an island where we can enjoy Onsen (hot spring) and seafood which I am quite deprived of here...

Today and tomorrow I am in a workshop on a financial issue with my colleagues and implementing partners. I am recognizing more and more the importance of knowing financial issues as they are inseparable from the programme side. Numbers and math are definitely not my strength, but I have to try to learn as much as I can.

Monsoon Pic

My favorite motif- leaves, taken at a resort on a weekend getaway

Color Palette

また買い物三昧。週末はクルタスツワールというサリーよりお手軽に着られるこちらの民族衣装みたいなものの布を買いに出掛けました。

布好きの私としては見てるだけで楽しくて。これで何を作ろうとか考えるの楽しみである。クルタはなかなか、これっと思える物がなかったのだけど、最期に色合いもどぎつくもなく刺繍も可愛い布のセットが見つかり、早速テーラーで注文してきた。２着違うデザインでお願いしてきたのでどんな風になるのか興味深い。１０日後に出来上がるらしい。あとはグレーの絹の布を買って、これは私のお気に入りのシルクシャツをコピーしてもらおうと思っている。そしてちょっと変った模様のコットンの生地を見つけて、これは３姉妹用にお揃いで”あるもの”に作ってもらうことにした。

出来上がりが楽しみだなー。できたら写真アップします。

Three poisons

I took Monday off and I just rested at home. I was not particularly sick, but I was both physically and emotionally exhausted. I took time to think about what was wrong with my life and what I needed to change. I can't change people around me and I can't change my workload. The only thing that I have more or less control over is myself. So, I needed making cognitive changes.

I have read almost a year ago somewhere about eliminating three poisons from your life, anger, jealousy and complaining (if I try to translate it in English). It is impossible to eliminate these negative feelings completely. But I think negativity calls for more negativity. Being conscious of these things will make you think constructively. So, I decided to follow this for a while (at least attempt to do so) and see if this will lessen my stress level and I could feel better. I will test if this approach is better than having a bitching session with friends and letting off steam.

If there are some somewhat upsetting things, I take a deep breath and tell myself to calm down. I am not sure how long I will last, but let's see! This is sort of an experiment.

By the way, I have booked my flight to Japan to the end of September!! Maybe this was the reason to feel better...... I am so happy!!! I normally don't get homesick much, but once I get the idea (of possibility of going home) there is no turning back. Today I looked at the calendar so many times just thinking about my trip home. あー日本に帰るの楽しみ。これで後２ヶ月は仕事が大変でも乗り切れそうかな。

Monsoon and food shortage

雨が特別好きな訳でもないし、洗濯物も乾かないし雨期は鬱陶しい季節。でも、今年はモンスーンの遅れで田植えがなかなかできなくて、この国の８０パーセントの人口が生活の糧にしている農業、特に米作への影響が懸念されていた。でもここ１週間で急に雨が降り出して、ホッとした。これで食料危機を間逃れれば良いのだが。（地域によっては慢性的な食料不足で、最近は食料の価格もかなり高騰している。）

View from the flight/ frustration

This was the view from the plane on the way back from my field mission. Please take a close look and see the mountain range behind the cloud. Absolutely beautiful.

My trip was not as picture perfect as this unfortunately this time. Our session in the workshop was cut short with a very short notice due to the potential road blockage. Participants seemed a bit restless on the third day of the training. There was no sufficient time to go over all the materials that we have prepared in our curriculum. It left me (and my colleagues too I hope) a sense of frustration, that we were not able to impart knowledge to the participants. But, I will keep this as a lesson learnt for future planning. This road block/ strike is a weekly or daily occurrence in this country. It is called "bandha" literally meaning closing. Everything has to come to halt when this is happening. No vehicles are allowed and shops are prohibited from opening. It is really slowing down the productivity of this country, and it is unfortunate.

I realized that I have been increasingly feeling tired physically and mentally and bogged down lately. I am becoming more easily irritable, which is not my usual self (at least that what I like to believe). This is really not healthy. I will try to do more exercise and manage my stress. I need a better strategy to deal with the issue. I previously thought I was quite good at handling difficult situations, but it is coming down hard this time. I feel that I need a rather major change in my life or ways of thinking, which I have not figured out yet.

最近は特に疲れが溜まっていて、仕事中でもイライラしたり急に倦怠感におそわれたりする。仕事がストレスフルで、遅々として進まないプロジェクトや職場での人間関係でうんざりすることも多くなってきた。半年以上経って、ある意味の中だるみなのか、今までのストレスが蓄積されてきたのか、どちらにしてもどうにかしないとと思う。昨日はアーエルベーダのマッサージに行って、少しは癒された。もっと生活の中や仕事への考え方で何かを変えないといけないなと思うけど、それはまだ模索中。