In Country Orientation 1

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So a less that taxing orientation so far - although there was a long train trip (return) across the country to contend with:

Week 1 after the couple of days pre-mentioned in the last blog was spent as follows:
Sunday evening to Monday evening traversing the country from Delhi to Puri (East Coast) in a train;
Tuesday/ Wednesday / Thursday being observer in a Program Area Review (an annual event for VSO India) whilst staying in a resort in Puri! This was a little weird (the resort part) as I have never stayed in this sort of place in my times in India as a traveler. All part of the adapting to this new gig! Mind you - I did enjoy the pool and the sea (albeit that one had to wade out a little in the sea to where it was 'less dirty' - and then one could actually catch a wave or two).
Friday spent in volunteer meetings (although I did skive off after renting an Indian Bullet Enfield for the day - princely sum of Aus $8 plus nearly the same in petrol). I rode to the Konark temple with a beach stop on the way (up the coast away from civilisation the sea was even less 'less dirty'!
Then Friday night until Sunday morning in another (slower and longer route) train back to Delhi.
On Monday morning (today) we started orientation/ training in earnest - which meant a 10 am start getting underway around 11 - a longish tea break in between Hindi lessons followed by a 1.5 hour lunch break - and then a health briefing (VSO Doctor) which ended early at 3.30 (and so end of day's proceedings).
Tomorrow is scheduled for one on one discussions with the relevant VSO Program Leader (in my case HIV and AIDS). However - that person is away tomorrow so I get the day off! The others get to spend 1 hour with their leaders only to have the rest of the day off basically.
So.... all happening but at a certain pace.
I am though glad to report that Yoga lessons have been arranged for us with a local teacher in a beautiful park close by where we are staying - they will be from 6 to 7 am each morning.
For me - this is all very different and challenging from my 'traveler' mode of being in India. I think I really need to just get to Bhubaneswar and get into it and get my lifestyle organised around the work.

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Photos

Lodhi Gardens
This is part of the gardens where we will be doing Yoga at 6 am each morning

Yamuna River
This is the sorry state of one of India's most significant rivers - the Yamuna - which runs through Delhi - the stench as we approached it was just indescribable - the colour was black with bubbles of methane gas across that part of the surface not covered with rubbish

Delhi Metro
Contrast the tragedy of the Yamuna (see photo) with the triumph of the Metro - a world class public mass transport system that is rolling out across Delhi - clean, efficient, comfortable, modern, full of 'customer care' that works.

Emergency Flush
On the train to Puri - there is a logic of course - Indians (and smart Westerners) use water to clean with (not toilet paper) for toileting. So generally there is no need for a flush as such - unless......

Resort design gone wrong
I could go on about the poor design of the resort we stayed in - but here is an example - this was a gents toilet for one of the conference areas - One urinal (nothing else!) and three wash basins! The mind boggles!

Konark Temple
You can google this one for it's history and significance - but suffice to say an ancient temple devoted to the Sun god - fashioned as a huge chariot pulled by horses. Very impressive.

Comments

[Michael]

my travels
Off to Byron tomorrow for the Blues and Roots with Manon and her boyfriend! Great lineup this year. 5 days of festivities - will report back. The rest of the family are off to pony camp - Josh is doing his thing. He has a Kombi now so he has to fix a couple of things before he heads off to some doof or other.