The Man Who Fixed My Shoe

In this season of greed that we call Christmas, I find myself, once again, amazed at the generosity of those who have nothing. I was recently in Sindh province, Pakistan, trekking into a village that had been hit by the monsoon floods last summer. It looked like an earthquake zone. Houses were crumbled. Stagnant polluted water was everywhere. It was the first time any aid agency had come to help the few families that had braved the conditions to return to what was left of their homes.
While walking through the foot-high mud, my sandal got stuck. When I tried to pull it out, it broke. That's when Mumtaz Ali Jarwar sprung into action. "You are a woman in our village," he said. "We respect you and cannot allow you to walk around without shoes." He found a twig and some string and managed a temporary fix. Unfortunately, it was temporary and did not last long.
He then offered me shoes from one of the village women. Remember, these are people who lost everything, and I mean everything in the floods. I didn't know what to do. I did not want to insult him, by refusing the offer. But I also did not feel comfortable taking his meagre belongings. So, I finally compromised and agreed to wear the shoes until I got back to the Red Cross car, at which point I would give them back. In the meantime, he took a second stab at fixing my sandal, and to this day, the fix is working like a charm.
I guess I should not be surprised at people's generosity, but I am. Especially in this season when it's all about buying that bigger and better item, stuff we really don't need but feel compelled to buy.
I am glad there are people like Mumtaz in the world. He is a real reminder of what humanity looks like.

Off to Pakistan

Today I begin my journey to Islamabad Pakistan. My emotions are all over the place; excited, nervous, overwhelmed. And my stomach is churning this morning. Right now it's the waiting that is driving me crazy, and the unknown. I think once I get going to the airport, and once I get my briefings from the Red Cross in Ottawa tomorrow, the picture will begin to get a bit clearer.
One of the big issues? Packing! I have piles of stuff all over the place. Trying to weed things out so I only need to bring one suitcase. We'll see.
I'll try to update as soon as possible. Ciao!

A Thought-Provoking Book

I am at the cottage this week and have devoured a couple of books. One really took my breath away. Called "Sarah's Key", it's about the round-up of Jews in Paris on July 16, 1942, by the French police, under orders by the Nazis. The story is of 10 year old Sarah, who is one of the 13,000 Jews rounded up and sent off to camps near Paris (one of these camps has since been turned into affordable housing---can you imagine living there, knowing its history?). Most never returned. Sarah, confident she will return home shortly, locks her younger brother in their secret hiding compartment in their apartment. I won't say what happens in case you want to read the book.
What I will say is that the book alternated between hearing Sarah's voice, and a journalist's voice, who was researching the event 60 years later. I have to admit, I was disappointed when we stopped hearing Sarah's voice. I desperately wanted to hear more of her life and experiences, from her own mouth.
I am also ashamed to admit that I had never heard of this round-up before. Called La Grande Rafle at Vel'd'Hiv, these Jews were all herded into a velodrome used for cycling races, where they lived for days in unmentionable surroundings.
Why did we not learn of this in school? Was it because the French did not admit their complicity in this horrendous event until decades later? Was the Canadian government afraid of offending the French by teaching this history? I realize many countries committed atrocities during WWII. We all learned about the Holocaust---where are the history books on this?

Mon voyage into French immersion

Well, sink or swim, I am now taking a French immersion course in Trois Pistoles, Quebec. I drove as far as Trois Rivieres last night (in between Montreal and Quebec) and felt pretty proud of myself for being able to have conversations with the hotel people, gas station people, restaurant people and just ordinary folks.
Today, that confidence has been zapped. Drove the final four hours to get here and I am feeling totally out of my league and my comfort zone. Guess it's always good to challenge yourself. I will definitely be doing that this week.
On a positive note, I will be going whale watching on my birthday!
On a not so positive note, Quebec is part of Canada and I am proud to say that it is and hope that it will remain so. But, I felt somewhat compelled to take my Canada flag off of my car before I crossed the Quebec border. I'm sure the larger cities would be fine, but all I would need is some idiot to take exception to it, and scratch the vehicle or worse. It's a sad comment about not feeling comfortable flying the Canadian flag in my own country.
I have been keeping an eye out for Canadian flags here and I have only seen one. But then I have only seen one Quebecois flag too, and both were on a government building.

I can't believe I've been home for 3 months already! I am officially an unemployed bum but I have never been so busy! I don't know how I'm going to fit a job back into my schedule. :) So, this is the plan for now. Take July and August off. But start looking for a new job in August, with the hopes of landing something for September/October. I've had a paycheque coming in ever since I was like 14, so not getting paid on a regular basis is definitely taking some getting used to.

Tomorrow I head up to Barrie for my one niece's graduation from grade 8. People go so whole-hog on a grade 8 graduation these days, what the heck will they have to do to top it when it comes to graduating from high school or college? I mean, I understand it's a special achievement and should be celebrated, but spending hundreds of dollars on an event that everyone achieves? I guess that's just the pragmatic and frugal German side of me coming out.

So far, it's great being back. I love just hanging out in my yard, working on the garden, or swinging in the hammock at the cottage. Very relaxing. But also missing my buddies from Indonesia.

That's it for now from the KM household.

Home Sweet Home

There's no place like home, and nothing could be more true. I am now sleeping in my own bed, surrounded by all my 'stuff', and am reconnecting with my family and catching up with my friends. I love it! It has been a bit of an adjustment being home, getting used to Western living again. One good thing--I have lived on so little the last 18 months that I am now in full spring-cleaning mode. I am throwing out so much 'stuff', realizing that I don't need it all.
Friday I will go see my youngest niece play in her final basketball tournament... Next month I will go speak to another niece's class. There's also a confirmation in there to attend. Over the next week, I will go see my dad. All things I could not have done had I still been in Indonesia.
Don't get me wrong, being overseas was an experience of a lifetime, and I'm not about to give it up. But I also realize that I need some time to be at home and to get back in touch with the people who are important to me. Although I need to ask the question, does everyone's family drive them as crazy as mine sometimes does? :)

Human behaviour

I don't get human behaviour sometimes. My brother's ex is putting him through hell right now, denying him access to his 5 year son. She's accusing him of beating her, is threatening to tell the little boy about it, and in general loses it in front of Rudy quite regularly. God knows what lies she's telling him about his father. I don't care how much she may hate Paul---doesn't she realize how much she's hurting Rudy, her own son? Rudy loves his dad. They have a great time together. And now all of a sudden dad isn't there. He doesn't know why. All he knows is that dad has stopped coming around.
Paul has finally got the lawyers involved. The laws in custody disputes still favour the mother in Canada. Supposedly they are more nurturing. So Paul has an uphill battle on his hands. But the cops seem to be in his corner. And the judge seems fair. But until a ruling is handed down, it could really go either way. Something needs to happen to our laws. It's not right to just assume the mother is always the more appropriate parent for a child to live with. Each case needs to be looked at on an individual basis. Hopefully in this case, that happens.

Canadian Pride

I managed to catch part of the opening ceremony of the Olympics while at the gym today. I have to tell you, I was really gushing with pride. Even teared up a few times. What I saw, I thought was tasteful, varied, talented, and accomodating to many of the different nationalities that make up our great country. I loved seeing so many maple leafs! And KD Lang. What a voice! And in light of the horrific death of the luger from Georgia, everyone in that stadium did Canada and the Olympics proud with their respect.

It disturbs me to see people looking to find fault. I'm hearing comments that there was too much French. That English should have been spoken first, before French. Why do we have to complain? Can we not just, for once, celebrate our amazing country, and take pride that for the next couple of weeks, we get to shine in the world's spotlight?

We have so much to be thankful for in Canada. For some, maybe they should leave the country for awhile to see just how good we do have it. Then, maybe some of the frivolous whining will stop about which language should come first.

My own special Christmas

Well, I had an unexpected surprise today. I got a Christmas present! My mom had put a parcel into the post for me last November! We thought it had been confiscated, or just plain lost. But lo and behold, today, in walked the delivery man with the box tucked under his arm.
I was SO excited! You cannot imagine how it feels to be so far away from home, and then to receive this package all wrapped up in love and warm thoughts.
She clearly put a lot of thought into it. There was a penguin tree ornament (I love penguins), a key chain of a teddy bear with my name on it, a fridge magnet, cow candies from Poland (yummmm), a card, some chocolate, a tape dispenser shaped like a highheeled red shoe (don't ask), and, courtesy of my sister, Little Moo, a bag of Bran Flakes!!
Yippee!! These little bits of home go such a long way to making my time away less lonely.
I feel so loved today. And that is the best Christmas present in the world!

Holiday thoughts

What a whirlwind this holiday season has been. Hopped over to a nearby resort island for Christmas and enjoyed a fantastic turkey dinner (my first in more than 2 years!), courtesy of Freddie. Then to the city of Jogyakarta for a few days over New Year's. More on that to come. Then into the jungles of Borneo (Kalimantan) to hang out with the orangutans and the people of the local Dayak tribe (apparently they are head hunters!).

My senses were overwhelmed, visiting so many worlds so close, yet so far apart from eachother. The bright lights, noise, crowded markets and pollution of the big city, compared to the sounds of the jungle lulling us to sleep at night, fresh air, and inability to communicate with the outside world.

I will write more in the coming days. Just wanted to let you know I am still kicking!