Our first Village Visit

So, you’re probably wondering when we’re going to start doing some learning around here. Fear not, the reason I’m so behind on the blog already is because our days are full (as is my brain!). As the week has progressed, I’ve gained a better understanding of the Jamkhed story and history so I’ll give you the two-cent version in instalments over the next few blogs.

Dr. Raj and Mabel Arole met at an Indian medical school and wanted to do something to change the dire health outcomes in rural India. Knowing a western stamp would help them gain acceptance from funders, they travelled to the US and studied public health at Hopkins (among other things) before returning to India and eventually settling on the current site for their visionary project, that of improving the health of the locals in rural India, receiving a land grant and funding from various NGO’s, many of them Christian, in line with their Christian faith. Btu they do not proselytise and they serve people of all faiths, rather their Christianity informs their strong values and sense of justice.

Originally they tried to get nurses to come to this remote area of Maharashtra. The nurses were afraid they would never find husbands if they came here, so the Arole’s even arranged marriages for them. But when the nurses started families, they didn’t want to stay to raise their children so they soon realised this model was unsustainable. Dr. Raj , when in a village and seeing how a woman was responsible for caring for the family and for handling the delivery of babies, realised that someone without a medical degree could meet many of the basic health needs of the village. This brainstorm led to the idea of engaging Village Health Workers; that is, local women from each village who would be trained by the Aroles to provide basic medical care. The idea for the project was born and over the next few blogs, you’ll learn, as I have, how this simple idea has changed over 200 communities and in addition to dealing with health issues, has addressed such issues as gender discrimination and caste-ism as well as economic sustainability.

For our part, we spent Tuesday morning on our first village visit, which meant that we drove about 30 minutes to a village and once there, divided into small groups, each with a translator, and had a walk around, with a chance to chat with the locals about their lives. We got to witness firsthand their infrastructure, including the large wells they had and a collection of toilets in the centre of town, just waiting to be installed somewhere. We saw the kinder, which provides protein formula for children up to age 6 and the school, which also has a lunch program. We saw the variety of houses in the village, from rudimentary huts a man told us he sleeps with his family and his 5 goats all in one room, to larger 2 and 3 room cement blocks with satellite dishes on top. We saw lots of healthy babies, smiling, shy girls and boys angling to have their picture taken.

We learned at the end of our visit that this is a village that is part of the CRHP, with a Village Health Worker. There is no TB and virtually no leprosy in the village and all of the children are well nourished. This doesn’t mean there is no poverty and we saw ourselves that there is still a discrepancy between the haves and have-nots in the village. We also saw women working very hard, cleaning, scrubbing, fetching water, carrying things on their head, while a large portion of the men were drinking tea in the town square.

It wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. The toilet blocks were a good example, as Dr. Arole told us one of his greatest failures is teaching people to use toilets, even if they have access to them, because defecating in the street is simply the cultural norm, and obviously, poses a great sanitation and hygiene risk. But the children are in school and the babies are fed and the Village Health worker told us no babies had died in her village in 6 years. That is a start.

I’ll leave you with a few photos of the village so you can see the happy children yourself!

These girls greeted us shortly after we arrived, when we were in a poorer section of the village. Then, their teacher came out to scold them for missing class!

This is the man who told us about his goats and explained he was worried about theft and predaotrs and thus, the livestock slept in the family home.

We saw this woman carrying these sun-dried Chilis. Before we could photograph her, she had to fix her dot, which demonstrates that she is married and her husband is alive.

These boys were all hanging out in the kinder-though some of them look a bit old for it. The teachers were proud to show us the protein/ grains that are part of a government scheme but promoted by the Village Health worker.

This was the youngest boy at the kinder and he kept getting pushed out of the way as the other kids jostled to have their photo taken. He was in tears before we left for the day- I think the excitement was a bit too much for him.

An Indian WEDDING!

So now that you have a vague idea of where I’m sleeping, I can tell you a little bit about our first days at Jamkhed. I know it seems like I’m posting a lot, but a lot is happening, so please, try to keep up. It’s only a three-week course and if you fall behind, you might not catch up. I won’t have a chance for private tutorials. The good news is that in a few more days, I’ll have to start studying and working on my group project and my short paper that is due before we leave so I’ll have to stop sharing so much with all of you. Can’t promise things will get any less exciting though.

On Monday, we had a tour of the compound, including the new hospital, which is about 2 years old. Most of my fellow students are staying in the old wards of the old hospital. We saw the surgical ward, children’s ward and labour and delivery unit. I haven’t spent that much time in Western hospitals but could tell that this was more rudimentary. However, it is comparable to something you’d find in Mumbai or Pune and considering how remote we are, that’s pretty impressive. It’s a 50-bed hospital with only 7 full time nurses because the philosophy is to train family members to care for patients in order to be able to send them home as quickly as possible. This is both for budgetary reasons and in line with Indian cultural norms. Every Thursday, an Ophthalmologist comes and offers free eye screenings and twice a month on weekends, they perform up to 200 free eye surgeries for cataracts, glaucoma and such for the surrounding villages. We’re allowed to witness the surgeries this weekend but I think I’ll pass…years of watching Hedy put in her contacts has convinced me that I am not up for watching a scalpel pass through a cornea!

In the afternoon, we went into Jamkhed town, about a 15-minute walk- or 5-minute drive- away. We went to check out town but also to buy some traditional outfits so we could go to villages dressed appropriately. There are 22 people on my program, 21 of whom are women. This is a shop that sells showra (the pant/long top/scarf combination- I'm sure I’m spelling it wrong) outfits starting at 450 Rps, which is about $10AUD. We went into the shop, up the stairs where they have literally hundreds of these outfits in packages and they start pulling them out and throwing them on the counter…it was like a Wal-Mart with the last Bratz doll the day after Thanksgiving.

I grabbed a few I liked but as most Indian women don’t have the same body type as me, I didn’t expect them to fit across the hips. I had a bit of a struggle in the dressing room and never got to find out if they fit across the hips since I couldn’t get them past the boobs. Instead, I went for the custom-made look where I got to select my fabric and I go back in a couple of days to pick up my finished product. I was a little disappointed to not have immediate gratification like most of the other folks, but I haven’t had a made-to-measure outfit since September, 09 and that one cost a little more than the $30 I spent on this one…plus I think I’ll wear this one more than once!

One of the reasons most people were so anxious to find the perfect outfit was because we had been given THE MOST EXCITING NEWS that afternoon. The grand-daughter of one of CRHP’s benefactors—the man who donated all the land that the compound is built on- was getting married…and WE WERE ALL INVITED TO THE WEDDING! THAT NIGHT!

I can only imagine how thrilled my mum would have been had someone from Dad’s office called 3 hours before my wedding to say there were 25 folks from another hemisphere who wanted to stop by the wedding, was that okay? I’m sure she’d have been as enthusiastic about our attendance as this person was. To be fair, the guest list for this wedding was over 1000 so what’s another 25 guests?

We returned from our shopping trip and changed into our outfits- luckily I had a nice (Indian, no less) dress I’d brought with me- and were on the bus by 5:30 as the wedding was about 90 minutes on the same bumpy dirt road away. But it was worth every bump in the road.

We arrived in perfect timing, just as the groom was doing his procession into the reception. There was a huge band playing Indian music you could hear in all directions. Young people had candelabras atop their heads to light the path and the groom was literally perched atop a white stallion.

As we entered the outdoor reception grounds, it felt like we were going to a festival. Everywhere we looked was another catering station. We were with Dr. Arole, the founder and director of the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP) whom I’ll be talking about a lot in the coming blogs. After we greeted a gaggle of relatives with “Namaste” and smiles, we stood and stared in awe at the sheer enormity of what lay before us. Soon, Dr. Arole ushered us from station to station, letting our plates be filled again and again with dahl, paneer, various curries, dosa, pakora, and a bunch of things I can’t even name, each more delicious than the next. We had fried to order naan thrown onto our plates, roti, pappadam, and more and then we were led to the sweets table where there was a delectable dessert that was a sweet apple custard of some sort, basically sweetened condensed milk with some fruit in it that was AWESOME!! Had I known my fellow students better, I would definitely have had seconds of that one! Alas, I had to show restraint. There was a popcorn machine and cotton candy (aka fairy floss for you Aussies) for the kids and we barely scratched the surface. I thought Jews knew how to eat at wedding…and they were catering for over 1000!!!

Then it was time for the ceremonial part, so Dr. Arole instructed us all to the seating area and the bride and groom went up onto a huge stage where bride and groom each had a floral lei-type thing in their hands. They walked out onto the front of the stage, which then rose up about 20 meters high so everyone could see them as they wrapped the lei’s around each other’s necks. The bride’s sari was so sparkly and shimmery, it was like she had diamonds all over her. She looked like a bedazzled disco ball and I wanted to see it up close…and it was as if Dr. Arole knew my wish because as soon as the ceremony was over, we were all ushered up to the front and brought up onstage where we were posed for a photo with the bride and groom! (We don't have a copy of the photo of all of us with them, but this is a photo one of my colleagues took of them when we were onstage)

Apparently, it is a sign of status if you have westerners at your wedding so we made them look good, even as we stood with our mouths agape at the whole process.

As we were leaving, a guest asked us where we were from. When we replied “Australia”, he said, “oh, so this is like, all EXOTIC for you and stuff, right?” and we all laughed.

It was a great night, one that put every Indian wedding I’d seen on film (Monsoon Wedding, Bend it like Beckham, etc.) to shame. The ride home didn’t seem nearly as bumpy, perhaps because we were all floating from the unique cultural experience.

Life at the CRHP compound

It’s only Tuesday and already my brain is overflowing and I am exhausted. I thought I’d post a quick update about the living arrangements before I get to the meatier stuff so here goes….

Our days have been so full we didn’t have a chance to have our introductory administration meeting until this evening and we arrived on Sunday afternoon.

But I’ll back up. Sunday we all met at the Pune train station to take the 4+-hour drive on bouncy rutted dirt roads to the Jamkhed Compound. There are 22 students and our two tutors (who are married) plus their two children. Of the students I’m the third oldest, which is a strange place to be. Especially when I learned that two of our group are undergraduates, one of who is turning 21 next week! That makes her younger than the kids I took to Israel!! But how refreshing to be in a vehicle that was older than me! Luckily there was none of that new-fangled air conditioning to chill my old brittle bones on the drive and we bounced and bounded along on road only slightly wider than the bus, with oncoming traffic and cars passing on either side the whole time. The experience was good since I hadn’t had time for a cardio workout in the morning.

Upon arrival we were shown our rooms. Because of my advanced standing in a community that still respects the elderly, I’ve been given one of the luxury rooms. I’d been expecting to share with as many as 3 other people but instead, I’m in a suite with just one of the other oldies, Karin, and we are next door to the tutors and their family. We have two bedrooms and 2 bathrooms as well as a lounge room with a television and a fridge! It’s quite odd as some of the others are4 to a room with a single bath so I’m not sure how it’s been divided.

The only drawback is that we’re about a 5 minute walk away from the others, who share a common courtyard so we’re a bit out of the social hub, but we’re obviously welcome to go hang out there any time we like. And it doesn’t seem like there is much free time anyway!

The room itself is great. I hung my mozzie net from my metal wardrobe and I’m using my second bed to supplement my cupboard space. I have a desk which is serving as a vanity and my bathroom is simple but has a western toilet and shower that has really good water pressure and plenty of hot water as long as I turn on the hot water heater 10 minutes before I want to use it. My only complaint is the mattress. Having just spent a week on an air mattress at camp, which was a bit too soft, I feel like Goldilocks but this mattress is too hard. I don’t know what it is about developing countries but they do love their firm mattresses! I tried taking the mattress off the second bed but that just made it a higher-up firm bed, it didn’t make it softer. Oh well, it’s probably good for my back.

It’s quite cool at night but I’ll run the ceiling fan anyway to discourage the mozzies, though there really don’t seem to be many. But they’ll find me, even hiding under my canopy so I’m taking every precaution. Speaking of that canopy, my bed is calling me now, so tune in soon for details of our first excursion into Jamkhed town as well as other excitement!!

I'm Right Side up in India!

Yes, it has been a while. A year, in fact. Turns out, working full-time while going to grad school is enough of a procrastination tool! Well, and facebook...I have played my life out in 290 character bits throughout the last year.

Most of you know I have a new job, which I've been meaning to post about (short version- I love it, it's great). But I've gathered you all here today because I'm embarking on a new adventure for the next month, in India and while I doubt I'll much time, I wanted to use this forum to share a little bit about what I'm seeing because I'm anticipating it's going to be pretty amazing.

This does relate to my last post of a year ago because I've come to India for a 3 week class (aka subject for you Aussies) in Primary Health Care in a rural setting. I'll be travelling to Jamkhed, a village near Pune, tomorrow, with 19 fellow Melbourne uni students (not all MPH students, though some are) and we'll spend the next 3 weeks at the Comprehensive Rural Health Project. The project was started in the late 70's by 2 US-educated Indian MDs who wanted to do something for their home country upon their return. What began as an initiative to provide clean drinking water (and this was in the days before the term community development even existed) led to the training of local women to educate their fellow villagers on pre- and post-natal care, bringing the infant mortality rate from over 200 deaths/1000 births to below 14/deaths/1000 births in about 20 years which is quite an accomplishment (although India was also undergoing vast developmental shifts during that time that probably also contributed). This in turn led to other projects for the men in the community, micro-fund projects for the community health working women and an adolescent girls program I am particularly keen to learn about.

Over the years, the project has grown and their numerous successes have led them to receive $ from OzAid and USAid to build a training centre so folks from around the world (like our group) can come to learn how they do what they do and then replicate elsewhere. So in the coming weeks, I'll be learning much more about the project and all of it's varied components, so I won't go into that much more now.

I'll just share a few of my initial reactions to India, having been here for about 20 hours so far.

I arrived to Pune at 4:30 Am local time, having travelled for about 27 hours door to door. This is after spending 5 intense days at camp for work- for the new job I love-- so needless to say, I'm exhausted!

I flew Melbourne to Perth to Singapore to Mumbai and from there took a 4 hour car ride to Pune. I had hoped to sleep in the car but I had underestimated the constant braking and honking that would accompany us throughout the whole journey. I dozed a bit but it was hardly relaxing so I was thrilled to lie down on the hard wooden block that is serving as my bed. I feel a bit like goldilocks, having spent the last week at camp on an air mattress that was a bit too soft. I suppose when I get home I'll find my mattress is JUST RIGHT!

I forced myself to rise in time to grab the end of brekkie and set off to run a few quick errands...or so I thought. It was time for my first auto-rickshaw adventure. Pune is a smaller Indian city but certainly no place for the weak. I've decided that you should have to demonstrate a certain number of passport stamps before they let you into the country because I'm feeling overwhelmed a bit and I consider myself a fairly seasoned traveller. I can't imagine what it must be like if this is someone's first stop on their gap year tour!

Traffic rules are more like gentle suggestions and it took me about 20 minutes before I felt confident to cross the street. My tactic is to find locals who are crossing and just draft off of them, muttering a quick Sh'ma under my breath as I go.

I won't bore you with the 2 hour challenge of buying a phone card, only that I had to find a place to get my photo taken and my passport copied...sim cards are very serious business here. I got back to the hotel- this time with a metered rickshaw and realised the previous driver ripped me off (though he did invite me to his kid's birthday party so I'll forgive him) and had a hugely filling and delicious Channa Masala for about $2. Have plans to meet up with a few people from the course for dinner so just have to stay awake until then.

Hope you'll enjoy this journey with me...and I'll try to spare you any details of toilet adventures!!

Back in 2010!!

Hey everyone!

My last blog was in July so it's been a while. But, as I am about to start school (Master of Public Health at Melbourne Uni- part-time while working full time) seems like I'll need a procrastination tool because really, the flat can only be so clean.

So thought I'd resurrect this old thing and try to give you some reading material now and then.

First- School. I decided that since I've found myself in this Health Education field, I might as well find a way to do more direct service. I applied to two program and chose the Melbourne Uni one because they have more courses on Women's Health. My concentration is International Health and eventually I'd love to work with adolescent girls in immigrant communities-- or something. I've certainly never been one to set too many careeer goals or to follow a straight path so we'll just see how it goes.

Work is being very supportive, giving me time off each week to go to class. I was admitted to a Commonwealth Supported Place which means, as I interpret it, that the Queen is available to help me with my assignments, but I can't seem to get through at Buckingham Palace. But it does cut the fees which are already quite reasonable compared to US Master's programs.

My first class is an intensive block course, meeting for 35 hours in one week, starting on February 8. That's international adolescent health and I'm very excited for it. You can expect my next blog post when I'm working on the take-home exam!

Switching gears so I have an excuse to put up some pictures, we had a lovely holiday season--did you? I spent my birthday at Grampians National Park, camping with my husband, Hanna and Alon. These so-called mountains aren't exactly like Rocky Mountain peaks but it was still nice to wake up to crisp air and see views of hills dotting the landscape. And it was the first time I ever had kangaroos hop through the campground at dusk (Sorry no photos but trust me, it was pretty cool!)

We did a 5 hour hike (guess who was bringing up the rear for a change) to the pinnacle lookout on Boxing day and then relaxed a bit more the next few days, with a picnic by a lake, a short walk to a waterfall and a bike ride to round out our holiday.

I'll start small with this post but will do my best to write more regularly...enjoy!!

Some pictures from the Grampians:

Birthday girl and hubby at the campsite (we obviously have different temperature controls!)

View from the top of the Pinnacle...we made this toursity hike twice as long by starting from town instead of from the Pinnacles Car Park...because we are SUPER_RUGGED!

and that night- pretty tired!

By the waterfall- Hanna and I did a whole photo shoot but I'll spare you all of our Tyra moves.

At our picnic by a lake these birds were watching our every bite. They reminded me of Sam the Eagle from the muppets.

Hanna resting after our gourmet antipasto picnic. Yum!

And this was one our bike ride (after Adi took a wrong turn up a very steep hill and we had a bit
of a tif before I got to navigate to the proper trail!

Boring Blog 'bout Beautiful Boulder- aka SUE & CARLA ROCK!

I had a few days between the conference in Vegas and my departure to Italy so it was time to visit my beloved Boulder. The last time I was in Boulder, I was in a full car, heading east (just after my very first blog post) getting ready for a leap of faith life change. At the time, I don't think I realised how much I'd miss the little hamlet...actually, I'm not sure I knew how much I missed it until I caught a glimpse of the mountains as my plane touched down.

It was a whirlwind trip, where I felt constantly like i was running late and out of time to see everyone I wanted to touch base with and eat at all my favourite spots.

Wendy met me at the airport and whisked me to the newest of the Mountain Sun Pbus, this one in Denver, where i had a delicious house-brewed root beer. YUMMY! She dropped me at Sue's (one of my maidens d'bride) where I spent my first night, staying up way too late having a good goss. Thursday, I went for a run in the cute highlands neighbourhood before seeing my friend Marily for lunch. Marilyn and I have known each other since my first job in Boulder, when I played the life-size DOLL and taught kids about conflict resolution. It was great to catch up. I rushed to boulder, did some shopping and had a quick hello to Linda @ the JCC before meeting Sarah for racquetball and a vague notion that something had happened to Michael Jackson. Little did I know, as I was rushing across town to see Jody and her daughter, that this is the topic that would dominate the airwaves for the next...welll, how long has it been?

Then it was time to go to Kim's and meet her beau, Brian, and we all went to a yummy southwestern meal at Zolo, delicious although they did change their menu on me. Mado and Josh met us for a drink and of course, the topic of conversation was Michael Jackson.

After crashing @ Kim's I hit the Y- now fully refurbished- where my old boss has left me a pass- so I could have a workout before i saw Carmel and Josh for brekkie. Drove downtown and parked at my old duplex which was the last holdout but now it too has fallen to the trophy home developer. Walked around pearl street, reminiscing until I met Karen, (my boss from the Y) for a burrito at Illegal Pete's. Then I caught up with Carla (my old housemate and current bridesmaiden) and we did a little hike before dinner. I was exhausted so after some more television devoted to speculating about MJ's death, I crashed.

Saturday was rushed with a quick run along the raging Boulder creek and a short stop on Edinboro drive to say hi to the neighbours (the tenants weren't around but the house is still standing) and then it was time for the highlight of the weekend...my shower.

Carla and Sue throw a great party and I highly recommend them if you are in the market for attentive and generous bridesmaids! IT was at Sue's house and was a potluck brunch- as Carla knows, one of my favorutie meals. Everyoen brought the recipie they'd made so I can pass it along to Adi to recreate! There were folks from all different times in my life- a Brown friend who is now in CO, the girls from the JCC and Hebrew High (aka the Boulder Jew Crew), women I've travelled and walked with and more. Carla and Sue had organised a few games....my knowledge of Adi is suprisingly lacking but I guess we have the rest of our lives to fix that...and it was a great day that made me feel extra special.

Spent the day hanging with Sue and Steph before heading out in Denver and meeting up with Falbo and Huttner, 2 boys from my Brown days. The best line of the week might have been Huttner, eyeing Falbos' thick locks after about 10 years of not seeing each other-- "it's been a long time dude. You have a lot of hair".

I know this isn't the most interesting of blog entries but for me it was a great, albeit far too short, visit back to a town that still holds a big place in my heart. From the sunny weather to the flatirons, gentrified pearl street to SOBO, it was good to be back. Below, some photos...and next blog I promise will be more substantive...for Florence here I come!!!

My cute little dumpy duplex, transformed

Boulder Creek was raging!

Amy, Nina, Shannon, Sue and Stacey enjoying shade @ the shower

Jojo and our littlest shower guests with Carla prepping for the games in the background

Steph, Malinda, Carol and Kim enjoying the shade

The furriest guest at the shower
The Boulder Jew Crew

Kim!

The fabulous hostesses and bridesmaids, Sue and Carla!

Brown Boys Falbo and Huttner


Out with Sue and Steph

Around the World Brings Me Back to Blogging

My new running shoes are getting spoiled. I know what you're thinking:Sheryl, you haven't posted in 5 months and you're talking about smelly sneakers? But these are brand new running shoes and so far, they have run alongside a raging Boulder creek up Boulder canyon and today, over cobblestoned streets and around the Duomo in Firenze.

I know, I never told you about Palm Cove, Kangaroo Island or our engagement party. But to be fair, I did promise not to talk about wedding planning so that's kept me quiet for a while.

But since I'm being a nomad from my upside down life, it seemed appropriate to take the opportunity to say a quick hello.

My job is responsible for my first (I hope not last) around the world ticket, with stops in 3 continents in 3 weeks before I return to Melbourne on 12 July. Given my passion for travel, this is exciting to say the least. We (in addition to my boss Deb I'm travelling with her niece Abbie) left Melbourne on June 18 and after a brief stop through customs in LA, went onto Vegas.

Vegas, especially for those who don't drink or gamble, is kind of a stupid city. This was my first visit to Vegas without either Phish or the Dead (though my second time with someone named Abbie/y) and I had a very different perspective this time around. I will concede that it is an infinitely better spot for a conference than perhaps Cleaveland or Indianapolis, but it really is a silly place. With it being Deb's first time in the US, I was very conscious of how America must look. We stayed at Mandalay Bay and enjoyed the beaches and wave pools, all the while I was telling Deb that this is not what most of America is like!

A highlight was Blue Man group as well as the conference. The conference was the Association of Standardized Patient educators, with the term standardized patient being basically synonymous with simulated patient. My favorite part was a workshop on moulage techinuqes...which taught me how to make my SPs look battered, burned and bruised. I've included some photos!:

Ow, I cut my arm. Its bleeding.
It's oozing.
And I got punched in the face too.

Even if this isn't stuff I can use at work, I'm sure my nephew will love it!

Another great part of the conference was getting to see my former boss and collegaue Jen and Melissa, from CU. If nothing else, the nights we hung out and talked both shop and gossip (not to mention went to a great hole in the wall sushi place) were the most fun I had in Vegas- well, sober!

Jen, Melissa and Me.

After the conference, while Deb and Abbie went to NYC I had a stop in Colorado for the first time since my deaprture. Three days is not enough time to see 12 years worth of relationships but I had a great time! Those stories to come soon...ciao!

Bush Fires (much sadder than when Bush got Fired!)

I posted the below last Friday, the day before temperatures in Melbourne soared to 118 (F) and, along with wind gusts of over 60 MPH, created the conditions that have led to Australia's most devastating natural disaster in history.

I've heard from many of you checking on me and want to assure all that the city of Melbourne is safe from the fires. The closest ones rage about 90 KM away. The wind is keeping the smoke out of town as well so if I never listened to the radio or watched TV, I might not know about the infernos all around.

But for the sadness. As I write this, the death toll has climbed to 181 and with dozens missing and many in hospital with severe burns, is expected to still rise. As Americans, we think of our recent tragedies like 9-11 and Katrina and the casualties were in the 1000's. But remember, Australia has less then 10% of the population of the US, so these are significant numbers. Over 1030 homes have been lost and entire towns wiped out. A small town near where Adi and I hiked just 2 weeks ago doesn't have single structure left standing. Another town of 200 lost over 30% of its population.

The people I know have been lucky. One woman I work with has been in a motel since Saturday evening but her house, as far as she can tell, has survived...but is still threatened. I have 2 friends who hail from "the country" and both of their families have been spared, though they know people who have lost property, and friends of friends who have lost their lives.

How did this happen? At first, my American view was that they must not understand forest fires the way we Americans do.But Australians have been dealing with bush fires forever, so that answer didn't really resonate with me. People living in the bush all have fire plans in place. Many homes have fire pumps that pull water from the ground to wet their house and property. The general rule of thumb is leave early or don't leave at all.

What made these fires unique was the unpredictability of the wind coupled with the fast movement of the fire. A wall of flames is reported to have travelled over 50KM(about 31 miles) in less then 15 minutes. So people didn't have the time to get out. Others who planned to stay and protect their homes panicked, especially when the heat from the fire caused many of the pumps to fail or was so intense that their well-protected homes exploded. Many who tried to flee got lost in the thick smoke and ended up driving over embankments and into other cars. Survivors are describing their ordeal with raining fire and comparing the sound to standing next to a jet engine, so loud was the roar of the firestorm.

A few days after the tragedy, the fires are starting to be politcizied...the Labor government warned that not enough proscribed buring was taking place, the state government is upset at the Federal government's bureacracy. It is refrershing, however, that relief efforts seem to be in place and both the Victorian Premier and Kevin Rudd, the PM, have been a regular presence.

The sadness permeates everyone here, especially as the police continue to believe arson caused at least some of the fires. Proves you don't need to have guns to have sociopaths. The Age, the Melbourne paper, has a gallery where people have posted photos of people missing and presumed dead. It is difficult to scroll through without being reminded of the flyers from 9-11. I feel much the same way I did after those aforementioned tragedies in my old country, wanting to help but feeling powerless to do much good. I could donate money (I have) and give blood (I've registered to do so), and of course, I'll do my weekly grocery shopping on Friday, when Coles says they'll donate all profits to the relief effort. I want to do more and suddenly, the $1000's of dollars of education floating around my head seems not particularly useful.

On the radio, I heard the "Sparkies" union- as we call electricians- have over 80 volunteers to help connect generators for people who are living in affected areas. That's just one example of what the community is doing to help. Because of the relative smallness of the community, such efforts can be spearheaded and actually do some good. Individual communities are making specialized pleas for goods they need...one needs torches (don't panic, they don't want to start more fires, they mean flashlights) and batteries, another,towels and wash cloths. Perhaps the most heart wrenching was the appeal I heard this morning. A request for donated suits, which the radio announcer was confused by, until the need was clarified. Men in these communities want suits, not to go to work in, but to attend funerals.

I'll leave you with my more tongue in cheek commentary on the heat we've had lately. Keep OZ in your thoughts.

ORIGINAL POST:
Forget the blogosphere, it's hot in here!
Where have I been, you ask? I know, I left you stranded in Sydney after telling you it wasn't as good as Melbourne. Apologies all around but I have been hot. Not your run of the mill "its so humid you feel like you're in a sweaty towel all day" kind of south eastern heat. Not your "it's so sticky and disgusting I might throw myself in front of the subway in order to get off this platform" kind of NYC August heat. Not even "how is it this hot in Colorado when it never used to get above 90?" kind of hot. No, I've experienced all of those kinds of hot. As well as the equatorial tropics and the Negev desert, African Savannah's and Boston and RI summers. All unpleasant enough, sure, in their own right. But those kinds of hot are nothing compared to what I lived through last week.

I hesitate to share the experience, fearful that it could cause nightmares in small children and the faint of heart. Last week, Melbourne experienced a record heat wave. We had not one, not two, but over 3 days where the temperatures soared above 40 degrees. Not bad for February, you might think, its been much colder here. Yes, but you have your C's and F's mixed up. 44 degrees, which it hit all three days, is perfectly pleasant in Fahrenheit. A nice day for spring skiing, not a bad winter's evening walking around town if you're rugged up properly. But traipse back 3 letters in the alphabet and suddenly 44 is a whole different hemisphere. It equals approximately 111.

Now, its been a while since I wrote about my little May-Z car, which is doing just fine. The only problem is this little hand-me-down lacks air conditioning. Pair that with a hot car park at my office with nary a tree in sight and the end of the day is excruciating. I found myself seeking out trucks so their exhaust could blow a refreshing breeze through my hair. Our flat, also a/c free, is on the top floor of a brick building and thus, retains heat more effectively than the broken oven I lived with for 2 years at Edinboro Dr. Our fruit basket became a living homage to time-lapse photography as bananas, onions and potatoes ripened and rotted in minutes.

True, it wasn't overly humid. But for all those who think its not the heat its the humidity I say, why not plan your next holiday for your oven. That's a dry heat too, but you wouldn't want to hang out in it!

There was one shining spot (be careful the shine can get hot!) during this half week from, literal, hell. Our friends Maria and Jeremy happened to be away at a conference in Canberra. Before leaving, Maria, unsolicited no less, offered us their keys, "just in case it gets hot" because they have a/c in their bedroom. We thanked them and I figured we would probably not take them up on their kind offer. Turns out they couldn't have picked a better week to be gone and we did our part to raise their electric bills. (And PLEASE don't direct me back to the blog about not using the a/c. I meant not using it when it's 75. At 111, all bets are off and clearly it is us vs. Mother Nature (who can be a bitch)!

So, that is why you haven't yet read about Palm Cove. But that post is being crafted now. I'll get you out of Sydney soon, I promise. Tomorrow is threatening to be another scorcher but the famed "cool change" we've heard so much about it due on Sunday.

Enjoy your snow!

Go Climb a Bridge

Happy new year! I'm excited about lots of things in '09, starting with a new President and including a new dress and eventually a new husband! The next few posts will take you along on the journey Adi and I just had travelling around Oz with my parents. It was a great trip and it will be hard to remember all the highlights but I'll do my best.

It all started as my boat came into port, me wearing a powder blue knit suit circa 1939. My eyes scanned the crowd, seeking the handsome bloke who was to meet me upon arrival. Meanwhile, Adi was doing shots in an all-white bar and shouting out "crikey" at regular intervals, while regaling the crowd with tales of his most recent cattle drive across the outback. A short while later, Adi stood in a large bucket and used a pail to shower and I couldn't help but notice how his muscles rippled against the water. Oh, wait. That's not my story. It's Baz Lurhman's. My photos won't be as good and some might not see Adi's resemblance to Hugh Jackman (I do though) but hopefully the stories will be less trite- and it shouldn't take you 3 hours to read them!

I met mom and dad in Sydney on Saturday, 20 December. I snuck into their hotel room where they were fast asleep, recovering from a longer plane ride than I had. We hung out until we went to dinner at the famous Rockpool's which was very good. My highlight was my entrée (in the everywhere but American sense of the word, meaning appetizer). Goat cheese tortellini with prawns in a sweet and savory sauce finished with pine nuts. Yum. We spent the next day on a private tour with Glenn, who, incidentally, really liked to use the word incidentally. We drove around greater Sydney and got a feel for some of the suburbs. Personally, I would have preferred to wander on foot but I was just along for the ride. We saw a number of perspectives of Sydney's beautiful harbour, with the bridge and opera house in the skyline. Afternoon tea watching the surfers at Manly beach was fun but we didn't make it to Bondi, so that's on deck for my next trip to Sydney. We saw where Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and the prime minister reside when in Sydney but couldn't secure an invitation to any of their spots. I'm sure when they all come to Melbourne, they'll be driven by Goathlands st. to check out our abode.

On Monday we rose earlier in an effort to catch Hugh at his favourite brekky spot. (Mum watched the Oprah special and took careful notes- unfortunately, she lost her notes) She remembered one place was called Bill's and we went and enjoyed their great ricotta hotcakes. She realised after the fact that this was Nicole's spot not Hugh's, but we didn't see either of them. Then we walked from Darlinghurst up the rolling hills of Sydney, through Hyde Park (which, if it is in need of private sponsorship, should contact Hewlett Packard, as their shared initials are inset into the ground at frequent intervals). It was a nice breezy day and we continued our walk down through the Royal Botanical gardens all the way to the Opera house. We grabbed take away lunch and sat by the water in Circular Quay, watching a mean mother force her unwilling daughters to busk for their Christmas presents with their violins and a 3 Christmas song repertoire.

In spite of this lovely morning, the best was yet to come, at least for two of us. Mom returned to the hotel to relax while Dad and I participated in Sydney's famous Harbour Bridge climb. The three hour journey begins with the issuing of Star Trek like space suits and a safety briefing. Then us, joined by our group of 12 and our guide, set off to climb the over 1500 steps to the top of the arch of the bridge. Other than 4 ladders which get the heart beat up it was suprisingly less scary than anticipated. The views of the city standing above 8 roaring lanes of traffic, were magnificent, and it was a fun afternoon. I brainstormed that Dad's next job can be BBCC- the Brooklyn Bridge Climb Commissioner. He scoffed at my idea until he heard from teh guide that Giuliani had been in discussions with the owner of the operations until 9-11. ONce he heard Rudy liked the idea, he suddenly thought it might actually work. Those of you who know how my dad feels about Giuliani will understand why I was a bit insulted. Nevertheless, we're currently seeking volunteers for the first BBCC, perhaps to be completed in 2011....Adi and I have decided we'll wait to be the 5th or 6th group to do it!

We finished our stay in Sydney with our best meal yet, at Altitude, above the Shangri-la hotel. The chef himself came out to chat with mum about her needs and the views were even more spectacular than on the bridge.

Having heard many disparaging comments about our neighbor to the north, I was expecting the worst in Sydney. Instead, I found a beautiful city with people who were friendly than I anticipated. At the same time, however, it all felt a bit hollow and showy...lacking the substance that we have here in Melbourne. I am now more convinced than ever that Sydney is a good place to be a tourist but Melbourne is a better city to live! (And being a tourist here is fun too...but you'll have to wait a few blogs for details of that!)

Until the next blog- which will follow us up to Queensland- enjoy some pics of Sydney and Happy New Year!



The iconic views of Sydney harbour

Dad and me on top of the bottom of the world

I'm Back!!

(This has been posted on a wall in my neighborhood. Don't know if it is
the work of Chabad or someone else:-)


I know I know, where have I been? Last posting was in October and the whole of November has come and gone without a peep. The world has in fact changed since we last visited with each other (YES WE CAN) and the Australian dollar has plummeted, which is good for wedding dress shopping but no so good for folks from Oz trying to get to the US next September. I appreciate the magnitude of complaints I got from my loyal readers…I’ve been so busy responding to your queries, I haven’t had time to write. Fine, only 2 people have inquired as to what has happened to my blog. I assume the rest of you were just too depressed to even put finger to keypad, given my absence. But here I am, back again. So you got me AND you got Obama…happy holidays indeed!

To be fair, one reason I haven’t written is that in my last post, I promised not to spend the blog talking about wedding planning and that has taken up a little bit of time. But November, even more than being filled with L’chaim and celebrations was filled with the dreaded OSCEs. OSCE stands for: O-something S-something Clinical Exams or something like that. What it means is that in a 3 week period I had over 200 slots to fill with SPs of all shapes and sizes. I had to recruit, get the cases copied and mailed, figure out who was going to which of the 5 different testing sites we had running, make sure everyone’s contract and bank details were sorted and occasionally, on the good days, do some training in order to make the exams run smoothly. While there were plenty of issues in the process which will hopefully be remedied next year- namely the last minute nature of the whole process- I did manage to find all the SPs and they showed up when and where they were supposed to be.

Rather than go back and do a play by play of my life since September (the rest of Brisbane was non-descript anyway, at this point!), I thought I’d focus this blog on some of the culture that we’ve been filling our days with, both before and after our betrothedness (if that’s a word?)

I can start with the good:
Some highlights of the spring include Michael Franti and Spearhead, a great show we went to with Shai, Adi’s youngest brother, and his friends. Stevie Wonder, who is truly a legend and entertained us as a rock star should and provided a great birthday gift- if not a surprise to Adi. And Billy Joel (yes, Sach, you would have loved it;-) who, in spite of his years and alcohol problems, is still “The Entertainer.” Adi is a huge fan of Mr. Joel and had never seen him, so that was really special for him. Thankfully neither of the latter two shows were simply greatest hits shows and they both played deeper tracks from their repertoires as well as the crowd-pleasers.

Ah, but the bad is so much more fun to write about, isn’t it? The Melbourne Fringe Festival way back in October, offered the chance to see a variety of unknown performers, and to discover why they are unknown. We saw a cabaret performance by an angry gay central-Queenslander (I have trouble believing there is any other kind—think rural and backward, but in the outback) who sang a number of songs about being angry and gay in central-Queensland. We saw an improv group perform a musical to Sondheim music, which was mildly funny but marred by the fact that none of them could sing. But the best of the fringe (and by this I mean the absolute worst) had to be “Vlad is Dead”, a one man show by a uni mate of Adi’s who staged a paranoid multi-media inclusive show that seemed to be about being a man without country, as he was born in the former Yugoslavia. In spite of its mildly lucid moments in the middle, it completely lost me when the actor eviscerated a pig constructed out of packaging tape right before wrapping himself up in said packaging tape. The best response we could muster when he came out after the show was stolen from 30 Rock: “great programs”.

Another show with great programs as its highlight was Shai’s end of year dance recital. Having shared our feelings with him, I’m not afraid to put in writing that I’m glad he’s decided to transfer to a social work program. The piece, which emphasized dance for the sake of dance, was performed to traffic noises. And this contemporary piece was the best in the 3 offered that night. Shai, of course, danced to the lack of music better than any of the others, but that didn’t stop his mother from wanting her admission fee back! If Shai is reading this now, I’m certain he is shaking his head and muttering “I knew you guys wouldn’t understand it.”

The Ugly: The closest I can come to finishing the cliché is by sharing that Adi and I have been taking swing dance classes. We’re getting better but this is because there is vast room for improvement. The last few classes have been fairly small, which is good because we rotate partners and when there are too many in the class, I don’t get to spend enough time with Adi. I end up dancing with the guy in the zoot suit who smells of mix of grape chewy and cigarette and has a vague look like he’s about to shoot up a post office.

A few other highlights of the spring: obviously, getting engaged was a big one. We had two of the aforementioned “l'chaim’s” which are informal gatherings to have a toast and celebrate good news. Photos from the one at The Local, a watering hole down the street, are below. The food at the L’Chaim that Adi’s mum threw for us was much better, but I don’t have those pics.

And finally, some photos from a fun girls’ night out- M to the 4th power . A great deal for manicures, makeovers, massages and martinis, that a bunch of us enjoyed a few weeks ago.

Mum and Dad touch down in Sydney in about a week so there will be lots of adventures to share with you…think Australia without Hugh and Nicole and the bombings from the Japanese. Meanwhile, welcome back and have a fabulous holiday season!! xx

L'chaim at the Local:
US

Me and the 2 friends I made all by myself-Maria and Loretta

Alon, Adi, David, Avi & Daniel

Me, Hanna, Mel, Nat & Sammy

"'M' to the 4th Night":

What do you think this one's about????

Stop the blogosphere. I know you haven't heard the end of Brisbane or about the Fringe festival or any of the other happenings in Melbourne this spring. But I know many of you care very little about all of that and are much more concerned with details of my bigger and more exciting news so I shall jump ahead and simple share the details of last Sunday's magical day when Adi and I got engaged.

It's no secret that I knew (or expected) a proposal to be forthcoming. With a date set and a venue selected, the only remaining tick on the list was an engagement. In fact, it was getting to the point that if Adi and I were walking out of the house and he bent down to tie his shoe, my heart started pounding.

So last Sunday, I awoke to go running and instead of simply rolling over to spread out across the bed as he does most mornings, he woke up and said, "Go running then we'll go for a drive." I told him the weather wasn't very nice and also that I knew he had work to do but he insisted. I had afternoon plans (the first southern hemisphere Check Your Boobies party!) so our time was limited. As I began my run, it began to rain so I used it as an excuse to bail and returned upstairs. I was surprised to see him out of bed and looking a little guilty, but I decided to go with it.

Id be remiss if I didn't mention that I decided to put on a little makeup, even though we were ostensibly just going hiking. He mocked me but we both knew what I was thinking.

We got in the car and headed towards the Mornington Peninsula...I wasn't sure where we were going and it turns out neither was he. We ended up in a car park and he had to check the melways, during which time I self-talked to myself that I shouldn't be mad that he had what seemed like no plan.

He finally found our way and we arrived at Pt. Nepean, a spot I'd wanted to visit since reading about it in Bill Bryson's hilarious book about Australia (In a Sunburned Country). In addition to being an important military base during WWII, this is the spot where Prime Minister Harold Holt went swimming one afternoon, never to be seen again. Yes, Australia lost a prime minister. Too bad we haven't let W just wander off like that...

We took a short walk, up past some bunkers and artillery remains until we reached a beautiful overlook. We could see Melbourne across the water as well as Queen's Cliff and the Pacific stretching out in front of us. The area was deserted and I was disappointed that we couldn't find the former Prime Minister (for whom a public pool in Melbourne is named after!)

As I took in the scenery, Adi handed me his ipod and said, "there's something I want you to hear." I was excited and pleased that it suddenly seemed like he'd thought things through a bit and wanted to set the mood. Imagine my thrill when I realised he'd recorded himself playing and singing the song "just the two of us", even changing the lyrics from "i want to spend some time with you" to "I want to spend the rest of my life with you".

While we listened to the song, we hugged and I could feel his heart pounding which I thought was pretty cute since I think he knew there was probably a yes forthcoming. After the song ended, he told me lots of nice things about me, including that he'd had a conversation with mom and dad- NOT to ask permission, as I had told him not to do that- I never did so why set a precedent- but for their blessing...which I am assuming they gave. Then he said, "so..." and went rummaging through his backpack. It took a little longer than I would have liked and I started to panic that he forgot the ring. But he finally extracted a small box and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

I said yes and was excited to see the ring. I hadn't really known what to expect- didn't even think I was getting a "real" ring or anything right now, given his student status and an heirloom waiting for us in the states. But he had organised of his own volition a unique ring, designed and crafted by our friend Romy, which makes it all the more special. It's white gold with a bezel set round diamond and a triangular cut out underneath the setting. He had been having secret meetings with her months ago- even had the ring for over 2 months! It explains a bit why he has taken to pointing out on more than one occasion that a triangle is the strongest structure...

The only problem is that he used a pinky ring I never wear to size it so as he went to slip it on, it stopped just above my knuckle. He insisted he used a ring I wear all the time (it wasn't until we got home and he showed me the ring he'd used that i understood that it wasn't going to fit) , so as we walked down the trail and back to the car, I figured it was because my hand was a bit swollen from the hike and I forced it onto my finger. This proved to be a big mistake as my finger started to throb and quickly turned an attractive yet scary-looking purple. I tried to get it off and it wouldn't budge so in as calm a voice as I could muster, I asked my new fiance to get some sunscreen from my pack and we gooped it on the finger and after a short struggle and a little bit of ripped skin, I was able to remove it. I had a fleeting fearful thought that the day would be remembered as the time I had my finger amputated as opposed to the day we got engaged. But I got it off and decided not to put it back on that finger until it had been resized!
Romy came over the next day to pick it up and I got it back Wednesday and now, as you'll see below, it fits great and looks great and I love it! I even got my first manicure ever yesterday and it looks even more special. (I just stopped biting my nails a few weeks ago...see, I knew this was coming!)

We had originally planned to go to dinner to celebrate that evening, but I had the Check Your Boobies party- a huge success by the way- so we postponed until this past Friday night. We went to NOBU and had a fabulous meal. We put ourselves in our waitress' hands and she didn't disappoint- the highlight was the 3-day sweet soy and miso-marinated Black Cod. Yum! And we finished with a sweet dessert, emblazoned with good wishes from the kitchen.

And that is the happy ending to this chapter of our love story. I look forward to sharing many more happy stories with you all, and will do my best to keep wedding planning out of the blogosphere because really, that's boring!

But this is exciting and I am happy bride-to-be!

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!!!!

xxx

Moments after I say YES!

a mediocre self-timer but we're happy!

the romantic history of our engagement spot!


Stuffed after 10 courses at Nobu.

Of course, we have room for dessert!

Some ring pics:
and finally, I voted- so you should too!: