Absolutely amazing vacation

I am back from my trekking trip. I am tired but completely rejuvenated at a same time. I had an absolutely amazing time during my one week holiday. I don't know how to describe it, but I enjoyed magnificent views, beautiful temples, villages, delicious food and wonderful company!! (and some muscular pain, needless to say)

Three girls, my friend from Canada, German girlfriend and myself embarked on a 5 day trekking trip in the Annapurna region. We flew from KTM to a famous lakeside city, which is a gateway to this area's trekking routes.

Stayed one night in a trekking company owned guest house and took a small (and scary) plane to where we started off. We used sort of a social venture trekking company that promotes women's empowerment through sports, and the guide and the porter persons we got were great.

Our estimate is that we covered about 40 kilometers distance during the 5 days. The highest point we have reached was over 3800 kilometers, which is probably the highest that I have ever been. This trek is not about going up so high, and for the most part terrain was either more or less flat or gradual elevation. We did go up on a steep hill, which was struggle at a higher altitude.

Since it was a high altitude, the scenery was dry and not much vegetation and a desert like condition with magnificent views of snow capped mountains. It was dry, sunny, cool and windy.

Here is the overview of the itinerary

Day 1 Fly to Jomsom, Trek -> Marpha and Tuckche and stay overnight in Marpha

Day 2 Marpha -> Jomsom -> Eklebati -> Kagbani

Day 3 Kagbeni -> Kinga -> Jarkhot

Day 4 Jarkhot -> Muktinath -> Jarkhot

Day 5 Jarkhot -> Jomsom

疲れたけどすごくリフレッシュして帰ってきました。雪山の景色がすごく綺麗に見える中でのトレッキングはすごく楽しかったです。

Going on trekking

I am currently in P**a city and off to trekking with my 2 friends. Stay tuned for photos and stories when I am back!!

Spring Flowers

すっかり暖かくなって春（というか夏？）です。色々な花が咲き乱れています。

出張中

ただ今、出張先のホテルです。東側の平野部の街に20分ほどの飛行機でやってきました。（今日のフライトは40分遅れ）来ている街はヒンズー教の有名なお寺があり、同行している政府の人達と散歩がてら見学してきました。ここはラッシーというヨーグルトの飲み物も有名らしく、それもご馳走してもらった。かなり甘かったけど美味しかったです。今朝からめずらしく体調があまり良くないので、国連クリニックで今日処方された薬を飲んでもう早く寝ます。ルームサービスの焼きそばは今回はハズレ。

1週間後にカナダの友人が来るので、それを楽しみにそれまで頑張ろう。出張後の1週間は長いのです（なぜなら週末に十分休めないので）。現在、うちの上司は1ヶ月（！）の有休を取っていて、うちの部門のOIC．．さてなんの意味でしょうか？になっているため余計な仕事も増えるし。

答えは

オフィサー　イン　チャージ　でした。☆

Off to a short mession

I am going on a 2 day mission to a district in the East where I have never visited. I am not feeling 100%, but hopefully I will manage since it is a short visit this time. I am attending a orientation/ launch of a project for which I was recently asked to a coordinator. I guess I will be spending lots of time in the fiield again this year..

Need some time away!!

お友達にかりた数ヶ月前の日本のファッション雑誌を読んでいて、つくづく思った。なんて文明社会から離れているんだ！綺麗でおしゃれな洋服、靴、かばんを見ていて、私は本当に消費者社会からかけはなれて生活しているなと思った。お給料が出ても買い物に行く場所がない。雑誌をため息つきながらながめているだけ。

この前日本に帰ってからもう半年近く経つ。やっぱり最低6ヶ月に一度は外の空気を吸って、サプライ（化粧品や食べ物、洋服や本）を買い込みリチャージしないと持たないなと思う。あーどこかにパッと遊びに行きたい！半年が限界。Please, someone, take me to a vacation!!

Yoga in a garden

It is a festival of colors today, and advisable to stay in. I decided to come to work to tackle and reduce the big pile of pending work.

Yesterday was my regular weekly yoga day. However, the venue was little different this time. The teacher and my friend, three of us went to a park (used to be a palace and beautifully maintained) to do yoga there and take photos of different postures. It was so refreshing to be in the open air, see beautiful flowers and blue sky. We did the whole round of poses and took turns to take photos. My teacher will make this into a CD. I am no model for some of postures that I totally suck at, but it was fun to look at the pictures. Maybe, I will post some of them on this site. Or, you can purchase this "instruction CD"..... just kidding, not sure what she is going to do with it.

The residue of the catastrophe is still in the air today, but I invited my good friends over to my place for dinner last night as sort of "yakuyoke". I made takikomi gohan, tomato& egg soup, hijiki and vegetarian chicken nuggets, and it was fun!

Life goes on

I had some catastrophic thing happened recently. I get so fed up sometimes with cheap dramas that happen to my life. I have made enough inventories of various experiences, and I hope that by now I have already paid my dues. Anyway, I will be fine, and I am quite impressed with myself as to how I manage things.

Today, I had my performance evaluation by the head of agency (1 of my supervisors) for my 2009 work. In a nutshell, it was very good and encouraging. I was starting to think that I was not performing very well and maybe the UN work is not for me, so it just made my day. He said I work very well with national colleagues and sort of bridge the gap (often there is a tension between international and national staff due to many factors). He told me that he appreciates my enthusiasm and hard work and my analytical skills. He said it is good to see my “quiet style”, meaning that I am diplomatic and not pushy or aggressive. He was thankful for all the work that I have done and I was rated fully proficient in all areas of competencies and he agrees that I am exceptionally proficient (wow!) in emotional intelligence, conflict management, negotiation area, which, I have come to realize, is one of my strengths.
So, in summary, I started the day in a shitty (excuse my language) way, have 1 very visible pimple on my right cheek and got completely soaked in water when I tried to put a water bottle on a dispenser in the office and made a scene, but it was sunny out and there are people who appreciate me a lot and the life goes on. It all depends on me how I want to take things that happen to me.

Weekend Trip

Some pictures from my recent trip to a little place outside of the city where they have a fish farm (rainbow trout). Since this is a landlocked country, and fish is not easy to find (some fresh water fish is available but I don't like the taste so much). The trout was cooked in various ways, such as barbecued, stewed and fried, and they were all good.
They catch the fish and cook them on the spot, so it is very fresh.


It was good to get out of the city as well.




Just one more picture of me, I am doing fine, so don't worry!

Visits to look forward to

Hello my dear frineds,

I am not even sure if anyone still checks this site, since I have not been updating so frequently due to my IT challenge....

I have two recently confirmed visits, and I am gearing up for them. One is my girlfriend from Canada will visit me 2 week in late March, and another is my parents (yes! it is about time finally!!) will come for a week. I am so excited. I am now studying guidebooks to decide where to go. I will be taking 2 weeks off in total for 2 visits. Finally, I will visit 2 major tourist cities in this country, where I am ashamed to admit that I have not been.

My parents have never visited me during my internatinal postings before (though Guyana and Malawi are not exactly popular tourist destinations...), so this is going to be extra special.

My supervisor just started her 1 month holiday, so I am quite scared of the workload....

Already February!

Dear friends,

Yes, as you can guess my Internet is still down! I am keeping really busy lately. I had maybe two weeks (!) when I thought it was more or less quiet, and it picked up again quite a bit to the extent that it is almost making me think that there was no down time....

I recently purchased a bicycle, and I enjoy riding on weekends, going to my yoga, grocery shopping etc. I forgot how nice it is to ride a cycle and it just makes me smile and happy.

The infamous load shedding (blackout) is getting longer and longer, so it requires a real planning skill to decide when to shower! (So that I can blow-dry my hair).

I received so many wonderful replies to my e-greeting card, but I still haven't got around to respond to them. Sorry, but I am thinking of you...

Internet down

My Internet has been down at home, and I am unable to update my blog... (yes me and technology..sigh) I will try to fix by the end of this weekend. I am totally fine otherwise, and I had a great refreshing end of the year-new year trip and now back to the routine (though I am trying to make a few changes in life). I recently bought a bicycle. I will write more once my Internet is up& running again!!

Happy 1 year anniversary!

I just passed one year mark of being in this country. I arrived on the 18th of December and started the job on the 19th. It feels just like yesterday, when I was staying in a hotel and being totally disoriented about everything.

A lot has happened this year both sad and happy things, but it was probably one of the most exciting and enriching years of my life, and I am really lucky to be able to feel that way.

After a year, I feel much more confident about my work and hopefully a little bit about myself, too. There is still so much to learn at work, but I feel I have come a long way (reading my entry on Dec 22, 2008!!). I feel that I made myself an important part of the team and I am actively involved in planning activities for 2010. I managed to build relatively good working relationships with partner organizations that I work with. Based on lessons learned, I will try to improve my work next year.

I will be sending e-mail greeting cards to my friends, but I just want to thank all my close friends and family for your support and keeping in touch. Having you really gives me a sense of stability (when I am everywhere and nowhere). I am usually better at writing e-mails, but this year for sure I was slacking.... Hope you know that I am still thinking of you, though!

Wishing you all happy holidays. I will probably have more postings before the end of the year.

こちらに来てからもう１年って早いなー。去年、来たばかりの頃、何も分からなくて不安だったことを思い出すと何だか感慨深いです。今年は悲しいことも大変だったこともあったけど、総合して色々な経験もできたし、楽しくてすごく充実した１年だったと思う。来年もはもっと良くなるように、ポジティブシンキングで頑張ろう。

デリーの写真

ドサという南インドの食べ物。米粉でできたパリパリのクレープに潰したジャガイモを入れて食べる。スナックセットなるものを頼んだので、パラオライスやらココナツのチェトニーソースやら食べきれないほどついてきた。これで２００円くらい？美味しかった。
India Gate 独立の印の門。パリの凱旋門みたい。国会議事堂からの大きくて真っすぐの道にあります。

Delhi Trip

I am back from Delhi and had a fantastic time!

It was good to see my friend. It turned out that we haven't seen each other almost 9 years, but again it just felt so natural and did not feel the gap of the time at all. It was such a short visit (my flight was delayed by 3 hours by an unprecedented fog!!), but we did a lot. We of course focused on chatting, gossiping, catching up and analyzing the UN work etc. We slept on a same bed and stayed up late to talk until one fell sleep and woke up and talked again. I hang out with her children who are both teenagers and enjoyed my friend's great home Indian cooking. We talked while she was cooking and talked some more in a coffee shop and restaurants.

I did some shopping as well. We went to a craft/ artisan market where you can find crafts from all over India. It really shows the diversity of the country, and it was just full of beautiful things. I bought some inexpensive earrings made of clay and a small painting of lotus (I love lotus motif anything). We also went to a night market near her apartment where they sell incredibly cheap things. I bought a set of 6 coffee cups that cost something like 2 dollars....

Not so much on a sightseeing, but I at least saw the India Gate and the parliament building as well as some old victorian buildings from the colonial time (2nd photo). I will post more photos. I just had such a good time and already am planning a next trip. Delhi is large, has wide roads and seem very organized (at least the area that I saw).

リチャージ

今週は遊んでばかり。

家でご飯食べたかな〜。残業をあまりしなかったため、仕事がかなりビハインドになってしまったような気がする。しかも月曜は有休を取るため、来週はちょっと心配。仕事を休むベストなタイミングってなかなかないですね。そのせいでデリー行きも決めるまで１年もかかってしまい、あげくの果てに３日のみの旅程になってしまった。上司に良いわね〜と心底羨ましそうに言われた。

明日からデリーに行ってきます。初めてのインドなので、しかも大都会なので楽しみ。リチャージしてきます。

Making decisions in life

I had a chance to speak to my sister over the weekend. She was trying to make up her mind on a career change and going back to school. Life is full of difficult decisions. If you choose one, you have to give up or discard something else. That something could be what you are used to, is within the comfort zone or feel too scared to lose. There are certain things that you could redo or correct a path if the decision was not right, and there are others can't be undone unfortunately. We never know until we make the decision and live that life, but that decision could come with pain or certain costs as well. Life is just a series of small decisions as well as big life choices that could totally change our life. We have to be responsible and own up to what you decide.... I (and we all) face this challenge many times, and it is never easy. At the end of the day, we have to follow what makes us happy, which requires knowing ourselves well.

I am so proud that she is doing what she thinks right for her and I admire her courage.

Planning for holidays

I have been feeling a bit down lately. BUT today I got a visa to India (after 30 mins at a travel agency when they tried to use the manual credit card machine... don't think you have seen this low tech credit card hand swipe thingy...). Yes, I am going to Delhi this weekend to see a dear friend of mine that I have not seen for about 5-6 years. We planned our 3 days for eating, shopping and gossiping. That's all what girls need, isn't it?! ;) I am so excited. I have never been to India, so it will be great. She is cooking my favorite Indian dishes and we will go shopping for cute kuruti (Indian female shirt).

I am also planning a short trip over the new year probably within the country. I just need to fill my life with good happy things and wait till a storm pass....sigh. Dear friends, I will be here only another year, so you better start planning your trip!

現地ファッション事情 Fashion File

注文していたお洋服達ができてきたのでお披露目します。ピンクのは冬用のクルタスルワール。

胸の刺繍がきれいで、足首にも刺繍が使ってある。ウエストもゴムでパジャマみたいで快適な服です。体型が出ないようにできているのです。

出張の時や外部での会議があるときに着ていくと、ナショナルドレスは好評。上だけジーンズの上に着ても可愛い。

２枚目は元々持っているブラウスをまねて作ったもの。柄の入り方がいまいち均等じゃないけど良しとしよう。

他にスカートもできてきました。こんなの欲しい方は安く作れるので、言ってくれたら注文してさしあげますよ。

These two items are among several things that I have tailored made locally.

Gourmet from the field 2

シリーズ第２弾のフィールドグルメです。

道中のレストランで朝ご飯を食べた時。なぜかうちのドライバーさんが手伝っている。作っているのは豆を香ばしく炒めて野菜、ショウガ、ニンニクを入れたものとサモサを同時に温めている。このサモサに激辛チリが入っていてひどい目にあった（涙）。

道ばたで落花生を煎っているところ。あつあつを同僚が買ってくれて、胡椒入りのお茶と頂きました。殻を割って食べるのが楽しんだよね。

焼きそばと並んで私のフィールド食おなじみのチャーハン。野菜がたくさん入っていてまあまあのお味でした。

衛生が思わしくないものも食べたけど一度もお腹こわさなかった！

Field mission report

I had a fantastic time!!

My flight was delayed on the first day, so I could not reach the final destination. We (me and the driver) stayed in a small town on the way. The district where I went is some 4.5 hours drive from the nearest airport. I wa

s able to monitor the GBV training. It was good to get to talk to the facilitators and get their views on how the overall training (this was the 4th one) has been going. Every time I go to the field I learned new things. I was (almost) clueless when I came here for the first time, but I feel that I have come a long way. The participants of the workshop were sharing some cultural practices (harmful and considered as gender based violence) in the far west area. For instance, it is still quite preval

ent to send women who are menstruatin

g or after a child birth to a cowshed, as they are regarded "polluted". Some communities practice "bride price" (yes take out your cultural anthropology 101 textbook), which promotes a child marriage. Girls are kidnaped to be married off etc etc. It is really infuriating to see women are treated in so many many dehumanizing ways.

Anyhow, I really appreciate such an opportunity to interact with people and observe workshops etc.

On the 2nd day, I tag along with my colleague to monitor some activities in villages. We drove about 40 mins and got off the car. I was told "we will be walking for 30 mins or so" which was fine with me until finding out later that I had to cross a river on bare feet! I realized that my colleague was not joking when him and other man (chairperson of a NGO) started taking off their shoes.... The water came up to my knee on some spots and the water was chilly!! I had to say "this was not on the ToR!!!"

We arrived in the village and I was welcome by a group of people with marigold flower garlands. I felt so out of place as I had no idea that this was such a big deal. I was in jeans that were wet and had dirt marks all over. We interacted with women who are taking part in reproductive health class (learning about pregnancies, HIV/AIDs, personal hygiene among other things) watched a street drama on HIV/AIDs. Another village visited was a dalit (low caste and so-called "untouchables") community.

Of course, I always enjoyed other aspects of going to the field. I had no shower for 3 long days, was too cold (ah~!), seretly wearing my pajama pants under my jeans, had tea with black pepper, was invited for breakfast at my colleague's, bought local walnuts and oranges, took an evening walk and finally had a small accident with a samosa which had a big chunk of chilly!*! Many small adventures....

Mission to the Far West

I am going on a field trip tomorrow for four days. This is the area that I visited in April, which was my first field trip. I have already gone on 6 trips so far (other than international trip). It will be much higher altitude than the capital, so it will be probably much colder. I am going to bring a sleeping bag this time, and one of my colleagues kindly offered me her electronic kettle to bring along.

It is almost harder to find a person who is not sick in the office at the moment. It has gotten much colder in the past few weeks, and a flu is going around. I have to be careful as we are approaching the busiest time of the year (apparently....)!

Will be back on Sunday! 行ってきまーす！

FNVC

最近、毎週のように同僚の女の子達と４人で、金曜の夜（FN）ウオッカクラブ（VC）と称して、モモ（餃子のこと）と野菜焼きそばを食べつつ飲みながら憂さ晴らししている。ナショナルスタッフの子二人ともう一人外国人スタッフと私。お酒が弱い私は、皆にからかわれながらごく少量のウオッカとグヮバジュース。愚痴を言いつつも（三毒追放はどこにいってしまったのだろう？笑）歳の近い同僚達と悩みを話し合ったりするのはかなり楽しい。週末へのdecompressingプロセスには不可欠。

今、事務所内で大きな動きがあり、皆の心配と不満とがかなり渦巻いている。私も取り敢えずのところは後１年の職はほぼ保証されているのだけど、そろそろ次のステップについて考えないといけないと思い始めた。今日の朝は海の中、高い波がいっぱいきてるところを必死で泳いでいる夢を見てしまった。はて、私の心理状況を反映しているるのか？

今日の土曜日はお休みだけど、コンピュータの前に座り、レジュメの更新をしてみた。ここ２年ほどは珍しく（！）職探ししていないので、この前の仕事と今の仕事の項目を書き込んだり、新たに志望動機書を書くのにすごーく時間がかかってしまった。今の仕事の状況に甘んじているだけではなくて、この先のこと真剣に考えないとなと身にしみて思う。

来週は忙しくなりそう。木曜日に前にも行った山の方の郡にモニタリングに行ってきます。その前に面接官もしないといけないし会議も詰まっている。人の面接術盗んで自分のときの為に備えなければ！

Work Life Balance

is an eternal theme for the working life in the UN.

I left the work almost on time today! I am working on it.

I went to a classic music concert. I didn't realize how much I missed going to classic music concerts, which I used to do a lot.

This is what I can see

almost every day these days. I really feel lucky to be in this country when I can see this. They were taken from the hotel where we held the strategic meeting last week. Is this convincing enough for you guys to come for a visit?? ;)

Shopping

I went textile shopping today, which is one of my most favorite activities in this country. There are not many stores where we can buy pret-a-porte clothes, so buying materials and custom ordering is better and more fun option. Previously I made 2 sets of traditional south asian outfit, silk blouse and 3 pajama pants (for me and my sisters), and they all turned out very nice.

This time I bought nice wool (sort of mixture of gray and dark blue) to be made into a skirt and white with grey subtle flower print silk and synthetic mix into a blouse. I also ordered another material which is transparent and will look really nice as a blouse as well. This one, I could choose a color and the store will dye it to the color of my selection (navy blue)! I already took the materials to a tailor today and can't wait to see them done in a week! Photos to come,

What I am holding is a shawl made of yak wool. It is so soft and warm. I saw it at a street vendor in a market and I had to "shoudou Gai"get it. It was only about 7 dollars!!

Me and my girlfriend walked around and ended our shopping with green tea smoothie. A fun day likes this truly makes a difference in my busy life and I feel ready for the new week!! Last week was tough, as we had a three day strategic workshop. For the first time, I had an opportunity to make a presentation in a large internal meeting (that went quite fine). Many of the topics discussed at the meeting were difficult and I was absolutely exhausted at the end. Now I feel refreshed as well as rested.

プレゼン

今日で３日間の戦略計画会議（とも訳すべきか？）が終わって、ホッと一息。郊外にあるホテルへ通いだったので毎日朝が早かった。

この仕事ももうすぐ１年。今まで２回、内部の大きな全体会議があってこれで3回目。今回初めて、内部の大きい会議、と言っても参加者は５０人位、でプレゼンをする機会があった。テーマは人権に基づく開発のアプローチについて。何となくしか理解していない分野だったので、これを機会に自分で口頭で基本的なことは説明できるようになった。これでもっと深めて勉強したいと思うし、事務所内で私のnicheとして取り組んで行けたらと思う。

これはジェンダーの仕事ではなく、在駐代表の特別アシスタントとしてのアサインメントだった。今までこちらの仕事はどちらかと言うと地味な裏方の仕事（スピーチを書いたり、ブリーフィング文書を書いたり等）が多かった。今回、Repにこれについて短いプレゼンをしてくれと言われて、やっと少し前進したような、大事な仕事を任せてもらえたような気がして嬉しかった。他の仕事が忙しくて準備が充分にできなかったけど、前の晩には練習してメモなしでも発表できるように内容を理解して覚えるられるようにした。結果、少したどたどしい所はあったし言い忘れたこともあるけどまあまあ満足のいくできだった。私の１５分程度のプレゼンとロールプレイエクササイズ、そしてディスカッションで構成された私の人権のセッションだった。終わってから、数人の人に良くやったwell doneとか good jobと言ってもらえて嬉しかった。 もっとpublic speaking を場数を踏んで向上しないとなと思うし、自分の専門分野をの伸ばさないとな。

外部external でのプレゼンはどうともないのに、内部の方が気合いが入ってしまう。何かおかしいとは思うけど、スタッフの多い事務所では、少しでも自分をアピールしなければいけない。超競争主義の国連の文化に迎合するつもりではない、でも少しでも面白い責任のある仕事を任せてもらうには、色々な形で自分を認めてもらえるようにしないといけない。特に日本人はアピールが下手。こつこつ地味に頑張る努力を評価してもらえるという側面もあるけど、それだけでは駄目な部分もある。これはどんな仕事にでも当てはまることだとは思うけど、これをしんどいと思うか、チャレンジとして頑張るかは自分次第だな。

Did you know

that there is a rule as to how you place logos of different organizations? I have designed a certificate quickly for training that we are implementing. One of the secretaries told me "M, you have put the logos wrong. You first put the government logo on the top left, then the funder (us) then finally the NGO."

I had no idea! I specifically instructed to put the logo of the government in the centre thinking it will make them look the most important.

We always learn a new thing everyday, don't we? I have gotten a bit smarter. :)

Tihar

One of the major festivals in this country- Tihar. It is also called Diwali, which I also experienced when I was in Guyana. It is a festival of lights. People decorate the ground in front of their house like this by drawing a path leading to a little shrine in the house in order to invite Laximi goddess. She brings fortune to houses. There are various patterns and colors, and it was fun to talk a stroll in the neighborhood.

Deep breathe 深呼吸

先週、仲良くさせて頂いている方のご両親が遊びに来られていて、私も１泊旅行に便乗させてもらった。私のいる首都からはたったの１時間で、静かで空気のきれいな、こんな棚田の広がる風景に囲まれた山間の村に行ける。乾期の今は天気が良くて運が良い日はヒマラヤ山脈が見える。生憎、今回はすべての山は見えなかったけど、雲が晴れると遠くの雪山が見えて美しかった。写真だときれいに見えないのが残念だけど、もし遊びに来てくれたら見えるよ！！

翌日は１０キロ少しのミニトレッキングで山を下り、執着地点の街にある山の中腹のお寺にお参りした。階段が長くて次の日はもちろん筋肉痛．．．．．。
もっとお休みをちゃんととって、こういう所に頻繁にこなければとしみじみ思った連休だった。最近、健康の為にマッサージに通い始めて、またそのことにも書きます！
Photos from the trip last weekend. Just 1 hour hour from the capital, you can get to a small village surrounded by rice paddies and fields and gorgeous scenery.

４連休

で、お友達と１泊旅行に行ってきます！今日は晴天で絶好の遠足日和。出張以外で初の国内旅行かも。

Perfect holiday

I had an absolutely fantastic time in Japan. I am almost hesitant to write about it, because remembering it would make me feel more home sick.

It was a perfect holiday. I spent lots of quality time with my family. My parents took me and my youngest sister (middle one was working) to Awaji Island to enjoy good seafood

and onsen (hot spring). We also visited a botanical garden. On the way back, I saw my gr

andmother that I did not see for nearly 2 years. Home was just too comfortable. I can't get enough of my family, so I stayed up late almost every night to talk with them and followed them everywhere. I cooked dinner a couple

of time, took a walk in the neighborhood, including the little mountain behind the house that my late Canadian mother Lynda liked when she visited my family. I took a nap on tatami in the afternoon, fulfilled my cravings for many things, such as takoyaki, variety of fish, my father's speciality dish, shrim

p burger. Of course I shopped despite the expensive yen.

I bought at least 80$ worth of japanese ingredients which filled my huge duffle bag in addition to some clothing, books, medication and cosmetics. As a good big sister, I took my sisters out for shopping, went to visit my youngest sister's apartment for the first time. It was my parents 36th wedding anniversary in September, and we went to a very nice restaurant that specializes in Tofu.

I always feel a bit inadequate when I go home. I don't know what year we are in in terms of the japanese calender, everyone is so well dressed and made up, feel awkward to go to a hair salon as they always without exception ask my hair care method which is not up to a standard in Japan etc. This time, just like a regular grown-up adult, I tried to open an bank account. The bank made me wait more than 1 and a half hours, and I ended up not being able to use most of their services for the reason of not permanently living in Japan, not having a japanese mobile phone and working for the UN (non japanese company I guess). This was the only time when I was frustrated by the inflexibility of the system not to be able to deal with diversity in Japan. This reminded me what I liked about Canada a lot. In any case, it made me realize how strange of a creature I have become by living in different countries.

I saw a few of really good friends that I have known for many many years (since the kindergarden time!!). I finally went to a craft market (?) where my friend very creatively makes and sells cute adorable little things. I even went to a Ninja house which is like a maze (some sort of a little adventure game). Unfortunately, I could not go to Tokyo this time, but I was able to catch up with more friends over telephone, one of which I have not spoken for close to 4 years.

It was a good break from the life in a developing country. Clean water from the tap, clean streets with no garbage, don't have to worry about not having smaller bills when taking a taxi among others. Everything is so organized, clean and shiny. People are overly polite to the extent that puzzles me a bit (the cashier at a 100yen shop bowed deepest!).

My family was very kind and cheerful as ever and showered me with attention and gifts. I feel sad to live so far from my family, but then again I am lucky to have them. We started devising a special plan for my grandmother to make her life more comfortable.

The whole holiday was relaxing and I was almost able to not to think about work, which is quite something. Some photos attached. I am posting the pic of me and my youngest sister without her approval (hope she doesn't mind....) I will post more when I obtain a proper permission from others.

This is my holiday in a nutshell in a very incoherent way.

Back safely

昨日の午後無事に戻りました。

日本は本当に文句なしに楽しかった。淡路島に旅行に行ったり、近所を散歩して、畳の上でお昼寝したり。美味しいものもたっぷり食べて、家族とゆっくりできたのが良かった。会ったお友達や電話で話したお友達、それから家族のみんなありがとうございました。

日本はあまりにも楽しくて、家は快適過ぎて帰るのが悲しかったけど今日からまた仕事頑張ります。これから写真も載せます。

I will upload some photos from Japan.

Off to Japan

Off to Japan today with an early afternoon flight. I got up at 6 to finish some pending work....

I will upload photos once I come back!!

Count down to JPN

Can't wait, but I don't know how& where to tackle the huge pile of work (which even more accumulated while I was sick in bed the last 2 days...).

Gourmet from the field

Chow-mein- fried noodle, I eat this a lot when I go on a mission, if available, for a change from dal-vaat. Safer option usually for hygiene and taste. This one was quite good.

Breakfast served at the training. Bean curry, Puri (deep fried chapati) and geli (deep fried donut type thing dipped in syrup) Yes pretty greasy to eat first thing in a morning..

Normally I have a series of super sweet cha (tea) everywhere I go. Sometimes, it's milk tea, other time lemon or ginger but ALWAYS lots of sugar!! It gets too much after a few cups, but I at least have sips to be polite.

Again

I am writing this as I wait for my room service dinner. This sounds like I am staying in a five star hotel but actually not. This is the high life of a UN worker.

I just made my bed by piling a comforter on a rock hard bed and putting my own bed sheet on a questionable surface. I have two mosquito killing devices running simultaneously plus my own effort to eliminate as many as possible to ensure good night sleep. The bathroom is very simple and got no sink.... (at least it doesn't stink this time) Yes, I am on another filed mission.

We finished a very time-consuming and energy-sucking campaign launch and a visit of celebrity yesterday, and then I was off to another field visit this morning. The district where I am visiting this time is quite far from the airport. It is about 30 mins flight from KTM and then more than 4 hour drive to the final destination. I am here to monitor and observe GBV training, which is one of my projects. The training is all in local language, but I feel it is important to come, show support and try to understand the programme and have as much inputs as possible.

The NGO who is implementing this project has a shelter in this area. I went to visit them this evening after the workshop. I went to another shelter last week on a different field mission, but every time I am so horrified to hear about the plight that women go through. Torture, rape, domestic violence, trafficking, the list goes on..... Some stories are just not easily digestable. I have to remind myself that this is the reason why I am doing this work. It is so easy to get carried away in a day to day work, going from meeting to meeting and reading plicy documents etc...

Gatta go now. My fried rice and mineral water have come!!

(I can access Internet thanks to satellite connection. Technology!!! This is so cool.)

セレブの要人来る

最近仕事がてんてこ舞いなのはこのせい。たった数日の滞在なのに、かなりの準備を要し、週末も返上。私ともっと大変な広報担当の同僚はへとへとです。これに加えて、この国の首相を交えたGBVのキャンペーンまですることになり、その他の通常の仕事も遅れがち。先週の出張もこの為のリハーサルでした。また報告します。

Turned 33!!

I have turned 33 on September 1st! It was a super busy day at work but I made it to a dinner party at a nearby restaurant.

Many of my friends and colleagues came to celebrate my birthday and I got many presents. I had a huge lemon cake as a birthday care (which I shared with others off course.)

I got a "happy birthday" phone call from Canada. One of my colleagues at work brought a big bouquet to the office. The day after my birthday I had to go on a 2 day field mission (which I will write about). I came back to the office yesterday and found more flowers (thank you so very much, Martin for this!!). I haven't had chance to write back to everyone, but thank you all for very nice birthday wishes. I am away from home(s) but so lucky to have met many nice people here and even more fortunate that I have people who care about me a lot even though I am so far far away from them. I am sending lots of love.

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。