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!

Building New Skills

One of my jobs is to develop leadership training and soft skills training. Ever since I took the Learning that Lasts course (4 years ago) and began teaching it I have discovered a love for teaching adults and making learning fun and memorable. Every month I'll design a half day class on a different topic and then teach it 3 or 4 times.

March is the first month in which I am giving these classes! The main goals of this month's class were to learn the difference between collaboration and competition, orient ourselves towards collaboration in the workplace, and have a lot of fun.

I faced a few challenges whilst designing this lesson. The major one was; how best to communicate the primary messages when I am still very much so learning Bangla. I had a lot of help both during the planning and execution of the class to get that part sorted. My Bangla is improving but it will still be a while before I can give a class solo.

Another challenge was to find the right games to play that would illustrate the points but wouldn't need too much verbal explanation. The games that are quickly explained and understood in the West are not necessarily the same games that are quickly explained and understood here (and vice versa).

In the end we played musical chairs, built pyramids in teams using cups, strings, and a rubber band, and told a round-robin story. There was a lot of laughter and joy throughout the class. They loved the new games I had introduced. They also seemed to grasp the main point that each of their jobs is valuable and important and we must all collaborate in order to complete our goals.

I get to give this class 2 more times this month. The lesson plan seems good, I just need to work on my Bangla skills. Wish me luck!

A Week in Bangkok

This past week I travelled to Bangkok for the Asia Region Anti-Trafficking Conference. It was an incredible opportunity to connect with others from all around Asia who are working in one way or another against modern day slavery and human trafficking.

The diversity of ways that this issue is being tackled is incredible! There are those who fight it through existing legal systems, those who provide skills training and others who provide employment for trafficking survivors, there are those who provide after-care, those who provide advocacy, those who fundraise, those who analyze supply-chains, and those who target changing cultures so that the demand for slave labor is reduced.

It was both motivating and challenging!

I went to this conference with two of my colleagues. This was not just their first time out of India but also their first time to fly! I love flying so much and it is a particular pleasure to vicariously experience a first flight all over again.

When we were not in the conference we made time to wander around Bangkok a bit. I really appreciated their quirky and beautiful city beautification techniques.

Food was also a very important part of visiting Bangkok. The street food was amazing! There were fruits and vegetables everywhere. Then there were of course all the rice and noodle dishes!

And, of course, Durian! It's a famous fruit for dividing people between the lovers and the haters. It is banned in the hotel where I stayed and is the most expensive fruit in Thailand. So, of course I had to try it and decide for myself on which side of the divide I reside.

I tried to like it. I really like liking things. After several bites and several attempts to see its merits, I decided that I was allowed to dislike durian.

Picnicking in a Sari

This month is Sari Bari's 13th birthday!!!

According to our most recent survey of the women we work with, among other feedback, we found that; 96% of the women are looking forward to the future and 100% believe that they are finding freedom! (Check out the Sari Bari Annual Report, located HERE)

These are amazing statistics and so encouraging that these women are choosing freedom and have been for 13 years now!

In celebration of becoming a teenager we all went on picnics together. The weeks leading up to the picnics I was repeatedly asked if I would wear a sari. Of course! I was also encouraged to straighten my hair, wear eye makeup, wear lipstick, tuck my bangs away, get some bangles...I didn't do everything on the list, but I did some of it.

It was enjoyable to get to spend some casual and relaxed time with the women and build some shared experiences. I learned that I can do many things in a sari, like: paddle a paddle boat around a lake, throw around a frisbee, lean out the window of a train to try and snap an artistic photo, and go on amusement rides, including a "thrilling ropeway ride"!

You can do pretty much anything in a Sari. Saris are one of the most elegant pieces of clothing and they are also versatile and functional (at least in my amateur opinion).

Small Victories

I have a water filter in my house...but it is not installed. In Tanzania I had a stand-alone Katadyn filter, no electricity needed and I added the water manually. Here, my water filter will be hooked into the plumbing and it uses electricity.

I hadn't made the time to schedule the installation until this past weekend.

The first time I tried to schedule the installation it took 20 minutes on the phone to set up an account, then I was told that I couldn't schedule the installation over the phone. I was advised to do it through the app.

I downloaded the app...there was no place to schedule an installation and the number that was posted in the app was a wrong number. So, that wasn't going to work either.

I decided to find the office and visit them face to face.

I found the address, but there was no signage to encourage me that I had truly found the right place. I asked around and was told that it was on the first floor of the building. On the first floor they told me it was on the second floor...and past the second floor I found an office space (still no signage) on the third floor.

On Wednesday I'll find out if I really did successfully schedule the installation, fingers crossed!

Right before I left the office one of the men looked at me in surprise and said, "How did you find us?"

Google Maps and asking. You cannot hide from Google Maps!!!

A Brief Drop-In

My mom seems to follow me around the world. Actually, there is no "seems to" about it, she does follow me around the world. She does part time volunteer work with an organization of seminaries around the world. She specifically requests assignments to countries close to wherever I am living and working.

She first taught in Kenya, which led to my first visitor EVER in Tanzania, after 4 years of living there! (Mom is Here!!!, Mom Takes Pictures I Don't Think Of)

It only took her 4 months this time to find her way to me. My mom arrived in Bangladesh only three weeks after I left!!! She got to meet a few of my friends in Dhaka when she shared at a local Bible study.

Then on to Kolkata! She was only here for 4 days, but it was fun to show her around and introduce her to a couple different parts of my new life here! She visited Sari Bari, sat with women as they sewed and prepared products, and was told many times to return...but to bring my dad with her next time.

We also enjoyed delicious food:

Went grocery shopping:

And rode the metro:

Thanks for coming mom and I hope I have many more visitors as the years go by!

The Night Life

I'm really glad that I am a good sleeper and that disrupted sleep doesn't get under my skin. So much life happens later in the evening here. The active hours of the day are quite different too. 10am to 7pm are normal working hours. I'm guessing this leaves the cooler parts of the day free.

I remember reading the quote, "early to bed, early to rise..." when I was a kid and I have definitely fallen into that pattern. So, early in the morning I have the quiet to myself and enjoy a long and slow morning before heading to work.

In the evening there is laughter, yelling, conversation, and the general noises of life happening outside of my window.

Then, when night comes, different types of noise and life happen outside my window.

A few weeks ago it was; a brick delivery!

The last several nights, it has been volleyball!

Who knows what it will be in the coming months!

Unexpected Resilience

When I first arrived in Kolkata I was disappointed with the number of trees. I've always had ready access to trees and I realized for the first time how much I love them! I am training my eyes now to see the trees that are here, rather than just lamenting the ones that aren't. My favorite trees are the ones growing out of abandoned, or at least seemingly abandoned, houses. The trees are taking their land back! They are finding soil, burying their root below, and reaching up to the sun.

The resilience of nature is remarkable! I am learning to see the beauty of resilience all around me. I see it in the trees as they push past obstructions. I see it in those who have chosen to serve rather than be served. And I see it in the women who have chosen freedom over slavery.

So Much Beauty

India truly is a beautiful country.The city and the countryside are two different types of beautiful, for those who have eyes to see it. I hope that I always have eyes to see the beauty around me.

This past week I've been outside of Kolkata a bit and getting to experience more of the countryside that India has to offer. I feel like this place is every photographer's dream and I won't do it justice, but I'm going to enjoy trying.

There are palaces:

Bouquets of flowers:

Rivers, boats, and trees:

Laundry and bathing up and down the river:

I also really enjoy the faces I see here. I tend not to take pictures of people though and post them here. I'm always a bit concerned about how they might feel having their face posted online, and so I err on the side of caution. Once I establish more relationships and learn how to ask permission in Bangla, I might start posting a few more faces!

Back to Kolkata!

I'm back in Kolkata!

I don't yet know Bangla fluently, that is very much a work in progress. I know enough, however, to come to Kolkata and start getting into my new life here!

So, last week I said goodbye to Dhaka:

And less than an hour later, hello to Kolkata:

It may look like I simply traded in one hazy city for another, but it is so much more than that! I really loved being in Dhaka, but it was always going to be a transient, short stay. Kolkata, however, is where I get to settle in a bit! I've been moving around a lot in the last 2 years. I've stayed in over 15 different homes for anywhere from a few days to several months, none of them really my home.

My last home was in Musoma. I wanted to grow up to be a wandering adventurer, and I think I may have accomplished that goal. I'm now wondering if Kolkata might just be the next spot that grows into place that I can call home.