Changing It Up a Bit

I have been writing these blogs for several years now. I started them because I wanted to be disciplined in communicating about my life with those (mostly) far and (a few) near. In keeping with that I am going to experiment a bit with other ways of communication to find out what the most enjoyable (at least for me) communication medium is.

So, for the next bit I won't be writing a blog post unless I have a monologue burning in my heart that I can't restrain myself from sharing. Instead, I will be posting more regularly to Instagram. If you want you can follow me there at ronit.odom.

We'll see how my experiment goes but hopefully it will be a bit more more casual and fun to post random, funny, or poignant photos of my life and work with brief captions like...

Playing on elevators is fun no matter what country you're in! #staffretreat #mallscavengerhunt #havingfuninKolkata

To All the Elementary School Teachers: Thank You!

I've caught myself singing the alphabet a lot recently.

There are a number of jobs that I've done recently in which it was very helpful to quickly be able to alphabetize. I like putting things in order, but if they can't be organized quickly, then chaos may win out. Thank you Mom and all other alphabet teachers for reinforcing such a useful tool like the alphabet song!

In a similar vein; not just at work but several times recently I've been very grateful for the skill of using scissors. I don't know why this one keeps standing out to me. The other day it helped me make something fit, today it allowed me to prepare what I hope will be an engaging English class!

I'm a little worried that this post may come across as sarcastic but it's not. I have honestly been particularly grateful for the skills mentioned above. Not because others don't have this skill, majority of people in the world can do these things, but simply because I am grateful that I too can use the alphabet to my advantage and cut a fairly straight line.

So, here's to all of you who teach the skills that we take for granted!

Six Months

I left the States (again) six months ago. Since then I've studied Bangla a lot. While I still have a long way to go towards proficiency, I have learned enough for casual conversations and I have taught 3 half-day workshops on collaboration. So, it's coming along.

The amount of things that I've learned in just six short months is a little staggering to me. They are so diverse! Fashion, color matching, big-city living, how I don't actually handle heat as well as I would like, business, management, human trafficking...the list goes on!

While there is still so much to learn and it will take me a bit more time to fully settle in, I have noticed some signs that I am getting into a rhythm and starting to feel at home here.

One sign is that I am doing a puzzle! Putting together puzzles has been a hobby of mine since I was quite little. I was probably 6 or 7 when I put together my first 500 piece puzzle (if I remember correctly, it was a picture of The Babysitter's Club). I used to have a nifty tool called the 'Roll-o-Puzz' and I was able to recreate it here! A fleece blanket and a tube used for canvases (total cost to me 45 cents!) allows me to work on the puzzle, then roll it up and put it out of the way!

One of my Aunts gave me a 4000 AND a 5000 piece puzzle the day before I left for India. I'm warming up to those with this small 1000 piece (which she also gave me!) Thanks Aunt Missy!

I've also found my running route in Kolkata! To be perfectly honest, Tanzania spoiled me. The scenery on this run will never compare to the beauty of running in the farm areas around Musoma and Lake Victoria. But, running along the Ganges at 5:45 in the morning does have some charm!

Here's to six months of settling in and the exciting new things to come in the next six!

Holi Cow!

I think it is a pretty widely know fact that in Hinduism cows are sacred. This means that cows are allowed to go where they want and pretty much do as they please. This also means that I will NOT be able to buy beef at the local market.

Since I live in the middle of Kolkata it is not very common to come across wandering cows in my neighborhood. This past week was an exception! Right on the usually busy main road near my flat I came across a couple of cows trying to sate their thirst.

This last week was also my first time to play Holi. Holi is the Hindu festival of color. Imagine a water fight but in addition to water balloons and water guns, you also throw colored powders all over each other. If you play Holi correctly, you'll be tye-dyed by the end. I didn't plan ahead, so I didn't have clothes that I was ok with ruining by playing, I'll be more prepared next year.

I did let the women at the office play Holi with me a little. Enough to take an obligatory Holi picture, but not so much that my clothes were wrecked!

Roadtrip Woohoo!

This past weekend I visited my friend's home, met his wife, son, and sister-in-law. It was such a fun and unexpected visit.

The food was delicious, the company was delightful, and the kid was hilarious. What more could you want?

Well, we took it up a notch. Upon hearing that I would be willing to drive in Kolkata, an offer of going for a drive was extended! They had access to a car and we could take a drive out to the villagey areas around Kolkata. So, after lunch, we jumped in the car and took off, testing my abilities to drive a manual on the left side of the road on less than smooth roads.

Thanks to years of training in Tanzania, I rose to the challenge.

We drove until we came to an open field where kites were being flown. Recent construction in the area left it much less green than it had previously been, but it also meant that there were food stalls along the side of the road in case one needed a snack after driving all that way!

We made it back to Kolkata in time to quickly visit a floating market (market stalls set up on boats in the midst of a little pond) before they dropped me off at the metro station.

As they waved me out of sight at the metro I giggled to myself over how wonderful the day had been, how unexpected and fun the drive had been, and how warmly welcomed they had made me feel. What a blessing!