Our first workshop in India is complete and a total success.Despite our concerns, the group really opened up to us and we had a great time. They really seemed to appreciate the training World Vision offered them and took advantage of it. They had great questions and really put a lot of time and effort into their CVs and skills assessments. We played game in between the training sessions, one in particular was called "This or That". In the game Nicola shouts out two items--the first is this--and the second is that. They choose one by heading to the 'this' side or 'that' side. It was so interesting to see the group's interests. When Nicola shouted 'monsoon or sun' they all chose monsoon!

After our workshop we headed to AVM, a film studio close to our hotel. It's not bollywood, but it's the next best thing. To our luck they were shooting the last day of a film when we were there. Nicola had the guts to talk to the actor between takes (yes they just let us walk around like it's no big deal) and he told her he was famous and in many magazines...I found him on wikipedia. We got his picture and asked around at the second workshop and they knew exactly who he was--I guess he is famous! He said the movie is an action romance with lots of dancing. Sounds interesting--too bad it's in Tamil (their local language). The movie will be out in two weeks--pretty fast! We didn't get a photo with the actor, but did manage to get the director in a pic with us. He asked Christina where she was from. She said Atlanta and he asked if that was near Chicago. Given that we're in India...sure...Atlanta is near Chicago.

After our brush with fame we decided to do some shopping and headed to Spencer Plaza where I had been the other day with Joseph. I brought Christina and Nicola to my favorite pashmina shop where we did some damage...to the store and to our wallets. Joseph was a great sport and acted as our pashmina model. The owner had to call in backup to help him fold all the pashminas we looked at. Despite the condition of his store he was a happy shop owner as we left with over 25 pashminas and 3 shirts between us. Guess what you'll be getting for Christmas?

Now I have to admit that India is one of the few places I've never really had a desire to go to. Maybe it was because of the food...many of you know what a picky eater I am....or maybe it's the mass chaos I expected on the streets. I've never been a big city person--too many people walking down crowded streets and noisy cars stuck in traffic. Well i've been here for three days now and while there is mass chaos in the streets....especially in the market area...the people individually are quite reserved.

Saturday Joseph (a Singaporean World Vision co-worker) and I took to the streets of Chennai in search of Indian bargains. Unfortunately our non-Indian looks were met with much attention and shopkeepers yelled at us from left and right to take a look at their goods. "Looking is free madam!" We didn't spend much time at T. Nagar the local street market area as it was mostly local home goods...plasticwear, bangles, etc. We requested the driver take us to the local mall, which ended up being our 'jackpot' of sorts. Spencer mall was called a mall and it had many shops like a mall would, but generally they weren't name brand stores they were souvenier or fabric or jewelry shops, all local. This was the perfect place for some Indian shopping, but it was also going to require some bargaining. Fortunately the Indians didn't quote the astronomical first prices I have experienced in Africa and sometimes Asia. They were pretty fair and bargaining wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be. Was I getting better at this, were they just bad at it, or was I just clueless as to how much over cost I was really paying?? Either way I left the mall with a bag in each hand--so now I just have to figure out how to get it all home.

NOTE: Unfortunately I have run out of space on my website so it will be a few weeks until I can get more photos up. Bear with me!

Travel schedule update:

Until August 24th I will be around Phuket, Thailand (Phang Nga, Krabi)

August 24th - 25th - Bangkok, Thailand

August 25th - September 1st - Chennai, India

September 2nd - September 10th- Singapore

September 11th- September 21st - Aceh, Indonesia

September 22nd - Singapore

September 23rd - 24 stopover in Dubai

September 24th - NYC!

John flew down to Phuket on Friday and we spent Saturday on a boat tour of the Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee) Islands. It's the rainy season here so the waters were a bit rough in the morning from the previous night's storm, but we were very lucky to get a sun-filled day. Our boat had about 50 people from all over the world...russia....morocco....australia...the middle east....it was quite a diverse group. We hit up all the major attractions around phi phi...phi phi ley where the movie "the beach" with leo dicaprio was filmed, monkey bay (although it was high tide so there wasno beach for the monkeys to hang around on), and phi phi don (the largest of the islands). We had two chances for snorkeling and then lunch. After that we headed to a beautiful little island where we could relax, swim, snorkel,and get some ice cream for a couple of hours.

Sunday John and I headed back to Bangkok. He was on his way to Hong Kong and I was there to get my visa for India at the Indian embassy. John ended up getting bumped from his flight, which turned out to be perfect. I was happy we got to spend an extra night together in Bangkok and he was thrilled because they have him an upgrade to business class for his 16 hour flight from Hong Kong to NYC. Longest flight of his life and he'll be doing it in style. I took John to Suam Lum Night Bazaar, which he enjoyed because we got two gyros, a soda, a water, and a beer for $5....not bad.

After Bali it was time to head back to work. Though I thought I was leaving Banda Aceh for good when I said my goodbyes two weeks prior, I was back for a short three day trip. ADP hired a photojournalist to take pictures of some of the work we've done on three projects currently in Indonesia (World Vision and Oxfam in Banda Aceh and UNICEF in Jakarta) and I was in charge of showing her around at World Vision.. Although it was a bit awkward at first to have the photojournalist (Morag) shadow me taking pictures all the while, I eventually got comfortable with it. We decided to take a trip to a World Vision warehouse and a shelter site for pictures outside of the office. While I don't work at those locations we wanted to show the results of our work. The procurement and logistics team obtain the materials used to build the houses for the beneficaries and our work has helped improve that process. The photo op turned into a great chance to meet tsunami survivors and hear their stories.

The first shelter location had a family already living in a completed house. They were so accomodating and invited us in. There was a wedding photo of the two of them in the bedroom which is where we learned that they were just married three months prior. The man had lost his wife and children in the tsunami and had remarried a woman from Meulaboh (a different area also hit by the tsunami).

The second shelter location brought us by a house where a young boy shouted (bowle! bowle!). I was informed that he was actually yelling at me and the photojournalist saying foreigner! foreigner! as a tease. When we walked up to the boy he became much shyer, hiding behind his dad. His dad thought it was amusing to see his confident little boy yelling at the foreigner now hiding behind him. The dad spoke to us about his house that had been destroyed and pointed out the watermark still present on the outside of the house that showed how high the water from the tsunami had been. He had lost his wife, two children, and his in-laws in the tsunami as three children had survived. The father asked his son where his mom was and the boy said in Indonesian "mom died, tsunami". It was so sad and difficult to keep your emotions in check. The father then invited us into his house where he showed us the work he had done to repair the damage of the tsunami. Morag noticed they had no family photos as everything had been washed away. She took a picture of the man and his three boys and got their address so she can send them the photo. I thought that was such a great idea.

After that we headed to a house with a boat on top of it. We spoke with the neighbor who told us the story of how she had been saved from the tsunami. The boat fell on top of the house next door to her and she and 51 others jumped in to avoid the powerful waters. All 52 of them survived and the woman praised the gods for bringing her the boat.

I also heard the story of a man who works at World Vision. He took his truck after the earthquake to get to his family. While on the way he passed so many people desperate for help. He couldn't live with himself passing these people by and so he picked them up. He never made it to his family and all of them died, but he unselfishly saved so many others.

I could go on and on about the amazing people I have met and their touching stories. While it makes this work feel so rewarding, it also makes me realize how you can't give back the things people really want....their families. I can't imagine having half or all of my family wiped out.and maybe never even being able to give them a proper burial, but the people of Indonesia are resiliant and grateful for what the many citizens of the world have given them...the opportunity to rebuild for their future, hope.

After Ubud we headed for total relaxation to Nusa Dua, an area created by the UN to minimize the impact of tourism on Bali and is used solely for resorts. We had to go through three security checks just to get the reception desk. The hotel was so beautiful that John and I couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces. This was going to be great. This is where all the hotel stays on my past projects finally paid off as my points were able to cover our stay. It was a big change from my accomodations in Banda Aceh and very well received!

Mostly John and I lounged around the pool and at the beach. I would say the hotel was half full as there were plenty of people around, but not so many that the hotel seemed too busy or crowded. There were always plenty of chairs available on the beach and walking around in the evening you could have the entire stretch of beach to yourself.

To add a little adventure into our stay we decided to stay surfing lessons...both of us for the first time. A company from Kuta picked us up at our hotel and brought us back to our intial destination of Kuta where the best surfing was. We were given a practical lesson in a pool and then sent to the ocean. Unfortunately the current was too strong and they asked us to come back the next morning for safety reasons. We did and although the water wasn't much better we took the plunge. I was an utter disgrace and almost took them up on their 'if you don't stand in your first lesson the next one is free'. I did manage to pull out a few standing runs at the end when they brought me a longer board. John on the other hand did great...you would have thought he was from California.

Ubud is where John and I spent our next two days and is the cultural epicenter in Bali. I had so many favorites here...monkey forest where monkeys WILL attack if they smell bananas on you. I could spend hours just watching the monkeys big and small play and eat and run around. Monkey forest also has some beautiful monuments and statues. My second favorite thing in Ubud was Casa Luna. John and I had an amazing meal...5 star restaurant quality with a Bali uniqueness for only $20. The woman who owns the restaurant is Australian and her husband is Balinese. She teaches cooking classes and is also part of the Ubud Writers Association. My third favorite thing in Ubud was the Keycak dance. This isn't particular to Ubud, but we did get to see a great show there. Over 100 men sitting in a circle chant while women and masked men dance around a candle lit area. Ubud is so great I even have a fourth favorite thing--the shopping. Bali is filled with art shops, jewelry shops, and bag shops and even just window shopping is fun! Our hotel was surrounded by rice fields, which was really tranquil.

Finally.....vacation! I landed in Bali on Saturday and managed to scope out the area of Kuta before John arrived on Sunday. While Kuta does have a great beach, it's also fairly crowded with many hawkers and is a difficult place to enjoy some peace and quiet. On the upside there was great shopping if you really know how to bargain and John and I both exceeded our limit of things to easily carry home.

John and I were both really interested in seeing the memorial that was erected for those who lost their lives in the Bali nightclub bombings. It was a beautiful hard to miss memorial, which was next door to where the clubs were. It was very moving as families of the victims had left pictures and notes on the memorial.

I was really pleased with the food in Kuta....so cheap....and still good quality. Unfortunately overall I would give Kuta a thumbs down for anyone traveling to Bali on vacation unless you're desperate for a beach near nightclubs and are on a student budget.