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23 September
So in the scheme of my ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong
time – as opposed to my other great ability to be in the wrong place at
the right time - a group I worked with a couple of days ago have come
down with H1N1 (swine flu). Well 5 have come down with it and the rest
are waiting to see what happens. Now I will not be happy if I get swine
flu, that’s all I can really say to that. It is certainly not a good
time (is there ever a goodtime to get it) and I though that it had all
stopped two years ago????
Does swine flu top almost being mauled by a tiger…or being attacked by
machete wielding bandits? These have been the major traumatic events in
my life in the last year. Actually traumatic is a lie, people I tell
find them traumatic which is not at all the same as me finding them so.
Thinking about it I’m sure there are more – or else I am losing my touch
– but I just cant seem to think of them right now. Moreover my ability
to distinguish events as extraordinary is lacking – what is abnormal in
someone else’s life seems all too ordinary in mine. I’m not sure this is
a good thing.
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18 September
So some good and bad news re Africa. Joseph and Benson applied for their
UK visas to come for two weeks and give some talks. Benson’s has been
refused, without an interview or any discussion with him. They gave a
list of excuses, an extensive list that are all things he can do very
little about such as the fact that he had no fixed abode (HE IS A
REFUGEE), he has no regular income (HE IS A REFUGEE), his children have
no birth certificates (THEY ARE REFUGEES) AAAGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
On it goes, seriously we apply with all the correct invite letters, we
follow all the requirements, it is clear he is a refugee but still they
ask for things they know he cannot provide. The good news is that
Joseph’s application is looking more likely to be accepted as he has
also been invited to talk at a British Consul related event in the UK.
The great news however is that donors came forward to sponsor Joseph for
his first year of university to make up the other half of his
scholarship. And so – final immigration process permitting – Joseph will
begin his university career in Missouri, USA in January 2012.
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15 September
So been thinking a lot about planning and work – time management and
what exactly I want to be doing in the time I want to manage. I have no
answers. I feel like I am suffering from some kind of Peter Pan syndrome
– that I need to grow up and be an adult but the problem is I do not
want to. Or at least I don’t want to if that comes with the expectations
it normally does.
Think about the things I teach in the lectures and the workshops and
wonder if I have failed in applying it to my own life and if so, does
that make me a hypocrite? But another part of me thinks that the fact
that I also struggle with some of these things is what helps me teach
it.
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10 September
I keep making projects for myself that involve me trying to be extra
pleasant to everyone for the day – and yes I do have much better things
to do with my time but it’s part of the whole reading people’s body
language and watching how words effect it. I always set myself new goals
about reading people and play with it a bit. So today’s was to be chatty
and friendly to everyone I came into contact with – a whole day of that
almost killed me! It seemed that the ‘Gods’ decided to test me on this
and they almost won. I got in a taxi to head off to a meeting and the
very elderly taxi driver was very chatty straight away so I didn’t have
to make much effort. After a few minutes he suddenly asked me to remind
him where I was going. I thought, ok he was distracted by our
conversation but after a couple more minutes he asked again and then
again. At this point I was starting to feel a little uneasy that he had
any idea where we were going at which stage he tells me that he has
Alzheimer and so if I don’t tell him where I am going every few minutes
he will forget! Seriously! Of all the taxis I could have got into, of
all the taxi drivers I could have got, I managed to get in the one cab
with the driver suffering from Alzheimer’s!
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1 September
Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have
within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the
stars to change the world. (Harriet Tubman)
I seem to have lost almost a month, not sure how that happened. I came
back from Africa and three days later was on a plane to Thailand. I
barely had time to draw breath, perhaps a good thing. Thailand was
supposed to be restful at the start, a holiday before work begins and
time to catch up. It didn’t quite happen like that and somehow time got
away from me once again.
Before I knew it I was on another plane to Singapore where I will be for
a couple of weeks before returning to Bangkok. This is all work related.
I arrive back in the UK in the evening weeks from now only to board a
plane the following morning for a meeting in the Netherlands, a short
visit only. People keep telling me I have an amazing life, that I am so
lucky as I get to travel around the world and work with incredible
people. Yes I am lucky, there is no question of that, but…there’s always
a but. And I am not sure I would agree with calling it luck. Our lives
are very much what we make them, I think we tend to create our own luck
with some things at least. Travelling and doing this work didn’t happen
from luck, it was hard work and a series of strange circumstances that I
can’t even pretend to understand. And there’s still abut….
I was almost mauled by a tiger last week. That’s a great opening
sentence – not so great when it’s true.
So we went to the tiger temple which is a few hours outside Bangkok. The
monks own a large piece of land with various wildish animals on it and
they raise tigers which while they would no longer survive in the wild
are far from tame. I was unwilling and too disinterested to pay the
extra to get in with the cubs for an hour and feed and play with them
(I’m not what you might call a pet person). I found the fully-grown
tigers more interesting to watch anyway. What was surprising though is
that the tigers while on a leash with the monks generally do break free
every now and then and tear through the place (killing other animals,
maiming some tourists and have killed a few monks!!!) so there are
warnings everywhere and you have to sign a document that you will not
hold them responsible if a tiger kills you!
When you see it you understand why that's a serious risk (a monk was
killed 4 months ago by one of the tigers and when they wont cooperate
you can see that the monks can do nothing but let them go). Anyway while
I was waiting it started raining so I went to this sort of cave area and
sat there reading my book when I felt someone tap my shoulder and turned
to see not ‘someone’ but rather a fully grown tiger with its head on my
shoulder. I sat there weighing up my options, none of which were too
great trust me – then a couple of minutes later an out of breath monk
arrived who had clearly been chasing the tiger for some time and when he
saw the tiger comfortable and quiet (he was the only one) the monk just
shrugged his shoulders and sat down opposite and started drying himself
off from the heavy rain.
So I sat there - paralysed may be the best description - when a bunch of
stupid tourists spotted me and ran over to take a photo but had the
flash on (which is prohibited because the tigers react to it). So the
flash goes off, the tiger goes crazy, leaps up growling turns, jumping
up on me, knocks me over, and stands straddled over me looking at my
face inches away and then finally runs off. All of this took seconds I’m
sure but it felt like much much longer – that’s what having a tiger on
top of you breathing into your face will do! The monk during all this
was no longer looking so calm and I think I personally had had a mild
heart attack so was pretty much numb!!!!!!
Why do these things happen to me?
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Blogs from June 2011 - August 2011
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Jennifer S Hartley 2008
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