weekend

Alrighty then, I walked this city like my life depended on it. From St Paul's Cathedral down Fleet Street past the Halls of Justice to Trafalgar Square through the National Galleries museum through St. James' Park and Green Park (close to Buckingham Palace) through Pica dilly Circus and onto the subway and home. Whew! Snapped a few pictures along the way. If you click on the top Trafalgar Square picture what's amazing is how big that London Eye Ferris wheel really is. The second picture is from St. James Park outside of Buckingham Palace and what amazed me is that a component of their formal royal gardens is rhubarb. Look right in front. And St. Paul's Cathedral is just pretty. I hope that you're all having nice weekends. Love, Christy

rugby and beer

So tonight's a little more low-brow: rugby and beer. But it's Tonga vs. England in the Rugby World Cup and Tonga is so tough and cool looking. So my excellent boss SS called me aside today with a serious look on her face and asked me if I'd be OK if she sent me to Dubai (with other people from my south asian team) and then I could fly to Kathmandu with some other people from the Nepal team. She was concerned that she wouldn't be the one taking me to Kathmandu; I almost threw myself at her feet with joy. Dubai is the capital of crazy-town: for instance they've bought major chunks of MGM and thus Las Vegas, a big piece of the Nasdaq, have the largest man-made port in the world, have crazy architecture that evokes buildings that one would have drawn in grade school, etc. Less than 10% of their income is from oil and they are still overflowing with cash. They're fun to google if you're bored. So in the course of 3 weeks I'll go to Dubai, Hyderabad India, and Kathmandu. I guess it'll get old but it sure sounds interesting right now (granted, with 2 beers in me). I figured out at work today that my work team acronym, representing south asian, arab world and eastern european team, is saaweet. SAAWEET! That just made me laugh and everyone did agree that only an American would have pointed that out. I kinda want to make a banner. The latin america, africa team (LAAT) is a little cooler than us and so we need a new marketing campaign, anyway. So I just paid $8 for a New Yorker magazine. Seemed worth it. Thank you for the comments and the emails; I love, love, love them. xoc

Meet the Natives Yourself!

This is an interesting article about the three-part documentary. Keep reading to get to the part about Prince Phillip. Mom and dad, if you have trouble with the link then call me at work!

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2932252.ece

I love British TV

In Ann Arbor I maybe watched an hour or two of TV a week but here I am OBSESSED. Apart from the fact that I'm in a one-room hotel room with a big 'ol flatscreen TV in the corner, they have the best shows. This evening I am watching "Meet the Natives" which is a show in which they flew over 5 guys from a tribal village from an island off of Australia (grass huts, the real thing) over to England to look around. They are so amazed and so genuinely amused at stuff that I can't stop laughing. You should see the English farmer try and explain why his pigs are artificially inseminated. The guests are appalled but trying to be polite. Equally as appalled as the English couple is when they learn that the guests raise some dogs for pets and others for meat. The guests can't understand all of the time spent cleaning, washing up, organizing things and they can't get over the amount of stuff. Finally, you should see them observing the nude male model at the wife's sculpting class. The pub is the only thing that they really get because people actually talk to each other and laugh. The British manage to do this sort of thing in a way that people retain their dignity and some of it kinda gets you choked up. Anyhoo, enough about that. But I'm a little bored with talking about work and so that's what I have for today. xoc

Midweek

Hello. It was a bit chilly today but the weekend is supposed to be very nice; I've been looking for cheap weekend flights to places like Paris but the good rates are in October and so perhaps it's London for the weekend. Strangely the Eurostar train to Paris is really expensive and it's cheaper to fly. Feeling a little stir-crazy and so need to go somewhere. Work is becoming more and more clear and it's fun to meet with the people with whom I'll interface from all of the different departments: my finance guy is from Uganda and my accounting guy is from the Middle East. It's such a crazy mix of internationals and unimaginable that the people in the London office have to deal with the idiosyncrasies of 40 different partner countries. For an NGO they have really good systems; for instance, partner countries have excel spreadsheets into which they type sales figures/whatever and the spreadsheets automatically upload to the London database. Pretty cool. This job sure does make one begin to think about what goes on in the larger world, (although I still read Perezhilton.com everyday, truth be told). My boss SS took me to this amazing dim sum restaurant for lunch and I would have been better off not knowing about it because now my typical $5 Pret a Manger sandwich is not going to seem so great anymore. Otherwise I'm working on rewriting a $1.5 million grant proposal and for sure my sales/English skills are valuable because the stilted English coming from the developing world doesn't quite cut it when addressing rich American donors, (which is part of why I'm here, I guess. That and I understand the words cash flow which apparently is a new concept and the norm is 40 countries calling all the time screaming that they can't make payroll.) It makes me feel useful at least. Goodnight and go Tigers.

Ginny the cat

Hey, FYI I wasn't making fun of Ginny. She was a great cat and had a lot of personality. It was all meant to be a tribute! xoc

'ello

I need to go watch Flight of the Concordes and so can't just go on and on and on and on like last night. If you haven't been watching it on HBO then start because it's great. Thanks, JenRose. And thanks everyone for not using my last name or company name or anything, you've been great fellow super spys...Nepal boss might control the Nepali army but she can't control me! Actually, we've started politely emailing each other and are due to speak tomorrow. I'm really bummed that I probably won't go to Dubai, land of the crazy spaceship buildings, but do have a firm departure date to Kathmandu of November 11 and will go to Hyderabad, India in mid-November. Will still secretly canvas for Dubai with the organizer by pretending to not be able to get enough MIS accounting, the topic of the meeting: "No really, organizer lady, to me MIS stands for Massively Interesting Statistics and nothing would make them pop for me more than learning about them in Dubai!" We'll see. I read a report on the Maoists today: they'd be funny if they didn't sometimes kill people but at least they have a policy of not killing foreigners. But still, it'd be mean to find them funny so I won't even though they refer a lot to Lenin and Stalin as good role models. Really? I suppose Lenin would be a stretch but Stalin?! The Maoists keep using the classic communist terms "revolution" and "dictatorship of democracy" together will hurried assurances that no one actually wants to be a dictator and no one wants anyone to get hurt. It kinda reminds me of the War on Terror. My awesome new sneakers and I took a stroll around the neighborhood this evening but I'm not getting all comfortable because on Monday I move to Bloomsbury of Virginia Woolf fame. Bloomsbury's a great neighborhood. Alright, I went on and on but kinda feel a little stir crazy and need someone to call me so don't feel shy, the number that I gave goes straight to my room! But things are great and thank you for the comments and emails. I love them. xoc

Here's to Ginny

Ginny, Linda & Sumit's 19 year-old cat, left us this morning. OK, that's not a picture of Ginny, but she'd appreciate the effort. I will always remember her biting the heads off a whole bouquet of fresh flowers that I forgot to elevate out of reach and clawing my leg for sitting in "her" chair. And in her younger years jumping up to switch on the lights in the middle of the night just to say hello. Wow, Ginny and Shaky Jake in one week...we're going to need some new icons. xoc

Monday, Monday

Wow. So totally raining and cold this morning; I was reminded that I don't have rainboots and am moving to a country that actually has a monsoon season. Must find cute rainboots. Since the main warning that everyone gives me about Nepal is that I won't be able to buy shoes, (nothing about the Maoists, lots about the shoes), I bought new sneakers to walk around in because I walk around A LOT due to lack of friends/activities besides, of course, my new admirer Leslie. Enclosed is a photo of the shoes that are a little too cool for me but I like them and so did all of the East Enders who were shopping with me at Niketown. Does that make me ghetto chic? I hope so. Anyway, they're brown and black in case the photo looks a little purple. The photo is upside-down because I was break-dancing like my friend Erin at the time. So there was a train failure of some sort at Kings Cross station which is midway on my dreamy little 15 minute subway commute to work and I ended up on a 1 1/2 odyssey through the city of London to get to work. It was so packed and hot on the functioning subway cars that I could literally feel the sweat trickling down my scalp and back. I looked really great when I got there. Must learn the bus system better. Today at work I learned that 30% of Nepalis have private toilet facilities, 70% have some sort of public facility, and half of the facilities for that 70% is defined as "field/bush". OoooooKayyyyyyyyy... I sent a very, very ingratiating email to my future boss KT as my first effort in "Operation Like Me Because the CEO Said that You Have To" and my bosses boss SS, who is training me and who I like very much, was very pleased with my understanding of sucking up. For heavens sake, I worked in automotive sales for 15 years! Asian culture is not different than General Motors Purchasing. I have been told that Dave Holcomb is by far people's favorite commenter (something about making fun of me) and I figured out today how to allow anyone to post a comment instead of just registered people. Have at it but remember my parents read this blog EVERY DAY. On the day that I skipped I got a very terse email from my father: "Your mother and I enjoy reading your blog in the evening are are disappointed that there was nothing Friday. Dad" I felt really awful. So if you find all of this interesting then who am I to disappoint. My current favorite email comment from Carolyn: "have you bought new clothes or are you just going to get by (and be remembered as that ‘very nice, sort of frumpy gal’)?" Didja see the new sneakers, Carolyn? Sure, with the wrong outfit they're slightly Ellen but I wear cute ballet flats while working, so there. But yes, I'm going to be remembered in London as the frumpy gal which is why I'm moving to the developing world because I think that I'm gonna be Off the Hook in the 10th poorest country in the world! xoxoc

Sunday again

So I've been here just over a week and have a few observations. Starbucks is one of our best exports. British cuisine is really high quality...even the fast food, "Pret a Manger" which I believe is in New York, is really good. Even though the British women's soccer team was in the quarter finals of the World Cup in Beijing, I never, ever saw press on it. That's about it. Meditation class was good but a lot of sitting still which has never been my strong suit. I made a few friends, though. As always I acquired an older gentlemen admirer: a cute, shy, bald older British man who is very enthusiastic to see me at class this coming Wednesday night. Sigh. It's not quite Joe's grandfather kissing me in Miami, but it's still a testament to my appeal to the grandfathers of the world. Lunch was a robust vegetable soup (hey, how about some salt! AND pepper! I'll bring you some!) and some mashed potatoes/turnips/squash but I discovered the chocolate tea biscuits and so did fine. On Monday I email my boss in Nepal to start a calculated PR campaign, and next weekend I move apartments. How about you out there? Hello Abby and Amelia. Tell your cheapo parents to bring you to London....it's very affordable here!

Saturday

So let's see...Friday I met with the CEO, who is an American. It was nice to hear from him what he thinks should be my priorities as Operations Manager: better management of the far-flung clinics, the promotion of long-term contraceptives and better market-research into what we do better than any other NGO or company. On the one hand the big issues at hand seem so overwhelming: stuff like there are 35 million refugees and internally displaced people in the world and they are mostly women and children and approximately 20% of the women are pregnant (not to mention the sexual violence that occurs after-the-fact). What do you do with that? While on the other hand there is a fear of the NGOization of the developing world which means that independant organizations are dispersing tons of money, more money than the governments of countries, and the NGOs don't necessarily work well together or to a big plan. There are problems and there is money but the big picture is cloudy. Totally a new world. Then I met with the guy who drops in on our partners in all 39 countries with little notice and does full audits (he's like a sweet grandfather). He has seen some crazy things, to be sure. He's going to Afghanistan next week and it's so interesting to see what plans have to be put in place. I walked through Oxford street, the main shopping area, after work and am blown away by how much money is in London. You literally can hardly get through the mobs to try on clothes or get some help. I know that I say it's expensive here but here are some great examples: short-term parking on the street: $6/hour; tokens to do my own laundry: $14 for a wash and dry. Today I went to Jamyang Buddhist Centre for a meditation class by a (relatively!) well-know American Buddhist nun named Kathleen McDonald who wrote a best-seller on meditation. I was amazed that she is here. The center is really nice and as always I loved the wandering, slightly off-beat people that one meets at these places. It's a lot of sitting and there's another class tomorrow, but the center does some nice evening classes and it gives a little home away from home here. However, I knew that I had to take matters into my own hands when they served us our vegetarian lunch that was basically a plate of unseasoned chickpeas, cabbage, and zucchini. I ate what I could and then had 15 minutes to walk as quickly as was dignified to a corner shop, stuff a Snickers into my mouth, and then walk back in time for class as if I was just getting some air. I will go to class tomorrow with snacks in my bag, to be sure. Otherwise I walked all the way home from class (1 1/2 hours) because it was a beautiful night and now I'm doing laundry. Life in the big city! Let me know how you're doing..... xoc

Thursday and Confused Again

Today it all became overwhelming again! Tomorrow I meet with the CEO and several other senior managers and figuring out the London office goals vs. the Nepal goals and how I could effect any of them is a stretch. But I'm learning so much about NGOs (philanthropies) and it's obvious to me why it was hard to break into this field: these people are die hard and have all had overseas posts. The CEO was in the Peace Corps and and has worked in many developing countries. And went to Notre Dame, and so I do have one up on him. My small victory this morning was that I remembered to walk on the left side of the busy sidewalk (per British traffic rules) so that I didn't create rush-hour congestion. Small, but important. Went for a really nice walk this evening and took some pictures. BTW, if you would like me to have photos of you on my hotel room desk then email some to me because I already need to figure out where to print pictures. I've never had so many indignant emails! Also, you can click on photos to blow them up. xoc

My Life in Pictures

Wednesday in London

Ah, cloudy and a touch rainy. Caught the Tube to work, got my coffee, and almost felt like I've been doing this all my life. Met with the recruiting contact and discussed the intricacies of work visas and bank accounts (I've been advised not to leave much money in my Nepali bank account but it gets a little pricey transferring money all over the world.) Hey - since when are British computer keyboards different than American ones? The "/" key is where the left-hand shift key should be and the @ key is someplace weird. Let me tell you, you use the left-hand shift key A LOT and so my work emails are littered with /s and are lacking capital letters. Things in Nepal are getting a little lively with elections approaching - those CRAZY Maoists - and so we're all just sitting tight. By that I just mean that they are fearful that they won't do well in the November election and so are trying to get it called off by leaving their government posts en masse. Imagine if the Republicans did that. Kathmandu is very western (and safe) but it'd be a drag to not be able to leave the capital. Since my team also handles Pakistan and Afghanistan without much fuss (imagine if I was posted to the clinic in Kandahar!) we're not impressed; the Maoists are SO 2005. I have been diligently practicing Preventing the Spread of Infection while heating up my dinner. Very successful. All of the other DVDs that I'm going to watch are on medical procedures and so I think that I'll watch them well before or after dinner. Still, a video on how a clinic in Kenya successfully practices sterilization is a bit amazing. Work is starting to include me on company emails and the organization runs amazingly like a for-profit company meaning that there is very tight tracking of money and lots of strategic planning and measurable goals. I understand how the office in London works - accountants and project managers collecting, spending, and tracking money - and so the challenge is going to be doing all of that in a totally new culture. Smile and give lots of compliments! Otherwise my only other observation is that New Yorkers would never be so civil about being crammed into a hot subway car literally like sardines. I was crushed up against a gray-haired granny and a half-drunk guy going to a football match like it was completely normal. Go figure. Let me know what's going on with you out there. xoc

Second Day Makes a Bit More Sense

Today was less confusing and I actually felt like I could get the hang of this. I learned about how doner money comes into the British organization and how it's divided up and spent on specific programs in 39 developing countries. Since I'll be in one of those 39 countries (and asking for money) it's good to know how the system works. It was beautiful weather today and I went for a jog after work along the Thames from Tower Bridge down to Big Ben. Lovely. My favorite email response to my last blog was from Nancy : "would you like your "army" to come and kick some maoist ass? ha. i am available. must do a little more training with troy" (her personal trainer) I'll let everyone know if I need an intervention. Also, to be clear, I'm not wearing hiking clothes to work; I do have grown-up clothes but I don't look that cool. Oh well. Otherwise I'm going to watch a fascinating 23 minute dvd on "Preventing the Spread of Infection: a simple and excellent approach to infection prevention" as a part of a set that I'm going to watch; it's the least invasive topic of the set, to be sure. Oh, you can try calling me in my hotel room at 011-44-207-566-8044 but remember that I'm 5 hours ahead of you and go to bed at 11. It looks like I won't get control of my cell phone until early October and so I'm nervous to call too often from work or from my work-paid-for hotel room. I'd love to hear from you! xoxoc

Cell phone

Oh yeah, I should have my cell phone sorted out by the end of this week and will be really glad to hear some American voices.

First Day of Work

Wow, where to start...work is CRAZY. The reason that I don't use my whole name or the name of my company in this blog is to make it "unsearchable" by co-workers so I have to come up with other names for things. My bosses boss SS, the Regional Director of Asia who works out of London, is from Bangladesh, she's a doctor, and she seems really smart and and a good manager. However, there is a Country Director KT in Nepal who will be my direct boss and she appears to be more of a challenge. Her husband was the head of the army that fought the Maoists and so now that the Maoists have made strides (since when were Maoists back?) and there will soon be elections KT's position has potentially changed from that of extreme power to precariousness and so she needs support. Good for me. Seriously, I'm not making this stuff up. So my Regional Director heads up a territory that includes Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Romania, Sri Lanka and Yemen and I have a chance to go to many of those countries depending on how things go. SS casually tossed out that I am going to go to Dubai and Hyderabad, India for regional workshops in the next two months. Uhhh....alright. I, of course, act like all of this is normal. Like heading to Dearborn for middle eastern food. I went to lunch with five of the women from work who are on my team and it became clear to me that they all have backgrounds in public health/healthcare/something pertinent to the job. I was vague about "consulting, blah, blah, blah" and tried to be mysterious and amusing. Results unclear. So SS asked if I would stay in London until early November so that she could do the delicate introduction to KT in person when KT's here from Nepal for a conference (and then SS would fly to Nepal with me). KT is potentially threatened by my position and just needs to feel confident that I'm an asset and so of course I said yes (plus her husband could literally set the army on me plus I totally don't want to arrive in Nepal alone). The only problem is that I didn't count on 6 weeks in London and am not even remotely cool enough for this city. I wasn't counting on needing fashion (as if I could have packed differently). So otherwise I'm trying to learn literally dozens of new acronyms and a whole new field. Interesting things that I learned today:

1. Average marriage age for women in Nepal is 16.


2. Most men in Nepal won't have vasectomies during the hot & rainy season due to a wrong belief that they won't heal correctly.

Huh. Hopefully pictures tomorrow. Of London & me, not 16 year-old brides or...whatever. xoxo

Sunday in London

So I went by work today to see where it is located and am pleased with the restaurant selections in the neighborhood. Very important! Work is also very close to Regent's Park which is beautiful and will be a great place to walk after work. Except that the forecast this week is for rain, rain, and more rain. My outfit is laid out and I've packed my snacks...I'm all ready for the first day!

London

So I went to NYC for a few days to spend time with the family and celebrate Amelia's birthday. Wonderful. Today I arrived in London after having been gone for maybe 8 years and it's still pretty recognizable...with more Starbucks. For which I am grateful. My hotel room is adorable and I am just so grateful to stay put for a month and unpack. How I love the unpacking and organizing! Went for a walk around Covent Garden and bought some groceries at Marks & Spencer. I have a teeny tiny fridge, dishwasher and two-burner stove and so am all set for meals. But boy are things expensive. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have figured out how to change my cell phone # and will post it. I'm so happy to be here but miss everyone. And here's to my mom and dad for checking their first blog. xoxo Christy

Packing up and moving out....

And trying out the new blog!