Happylittlegreensquirrel
-
Posts
9,112 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
85
Content Type
Downloads
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Blogs
Posts posted by Happylittlegreensquirrel
-
-
Safe journey Sam - I was surprised at the poverty. Even in Goa, it was quite evident. When we took the train down to Karnataka, it was a lot more obvious as it's not a tourist state. I had beggars stopping me to ask to drink some of my water or sprite - as it was a full bottle and I had no cash to buy more (I had found a shop that accepted cards, but I was walking back and was on a quiet road with small local shops) I had to say no.
I know you said you were unlikely to come back here but its safe to share drinks as locals would never drink direct from a shared bottle , they open their mouths and pour the drink in ! its quite a skill and all my team ( and Mark ) can do it , that's how everyone can drink from one bottle !!! I am rubbish at it and can only do it if some one else holds the bottle and pours it in...
My mother was in Sarengar. Do you know it, Sam?
Thats in Kashmir close to the Pakistain border I think , I have not been up that far North yet but I do want to visit that area. How long was your mum there for ?
-
Sam, from the documentaries I've seen about India it seems very much a country of two halves, the rich are very rich and the poor are horrendously poor, if they were given the chance to live in what we term poverty in this country they'd think they'd landed in heaven. What baffles me is the amount that is spent in India on space programmes and the like, whilst a high proportion of the people are struggling on a day to day basis.
It is very much like that, the first city I worked in was Ranchi in Jharkhand State and it's not a tourist location at all. The city still has a large amount of open defecation, and some of the slums we worked in vaccinating were hell holes and in Monsoon would literally be rivers of shite. How they have a space program is beyond me when children are living like that
My mother went to do nursing in India, reorganising a rural hospital. On the way there she spent a few days in Kolkata. She had been warned that nothing can prepare you for the reality of that city, and she said that was certainly the case.
Have a good journey, Sam, and enjoy your time with your family.
That by Indian standards was pretty close to Ranchi; I am sure your mother must have thought she had landed on a different planet!
I am currently in Goa which is India lite, in the tourist areas it's basically the Costa del Sol! Away from the tourist areas there still some pretty tough sights but compared to Ranchi its an utter paradise
We had a suspect Rabid cow to deal with yesterday, never a dull day eh!
-
Hi all
Working India is very very very different to tourist India , very challenging and very confronting and I have seen sights of human and animal suffering that are emotionally draining. Has put my life back into perspective I can tell you
Leave here on Friday evening , back to Sri Lanka for one day and then onto the UK for a few weeks , am so looking forward to just spending time with my mum and family and being bloody grateful for my lot in life
Sam
-
So I managed to get some money today
in the process I walked over 13km, burst into tears in front of a Canadian guy who gave me the last cash he had when I went to yet another bank that had no money, met an obnoxious horrid British woman who when I told her that I just want to buy an ice Cream and a nice cold bottle of water, she told me to deal with it and just cut back on the luxuries like you would at home if you were skint. It's not like I've ran out of money - I just can't get to it. Even if the banks had money, I'd only get access to 2000 rupees per day (about 19 quid) 
This was before I met the nice Canadian man - he restored my faith in humanity. I found a bank that had cash, but you can't withdraw money over the counter without a cheque book. The ATMs were empty and not going to get any cash until late afternoon. On my way back, I remembered a conversation with a guy on the dive boat yesterday, who said he had changed money opposite his hotel and they had small notes (all the other changers were giving the old currency - some shops accept them, most don't). I found the changer, gave them £60 sterling and got about £50 worth of rupees back, but it was all small notes that I can spend. I don't think I'll come back to India in a hurry 
Still planning on using my card to pay wherever I can, but at least I have some cash for bits and bobs now. I bought my bottle of water and a chocolate brownie magnum - am tempted to go and find that horrid woman tomorrow and eat a cornetto in front of her 
The situation with the money is devastating for the locals
The withdrawal of the 1000 and 500 notes was a total nightmare for the vast majority of the Indian population who don't have bank cards and would never have even seen a 2000rs note , I am working in Ranchi in nothern india currently and my team and I were eating breakfast for between 300 and 350 rupees a day and that was for 8 people !!!!
Goa has infrastructure for tourists where as Ranchi does not , we were here a week or so before we could get cash but the Charity I am working for here is supplying our food and water so it was okay
Ranchi is not an OD free city , OD stands for open defecation !!! so closed shoes are a must
-
OMG how amazing is the new Planet Earth series on BBC
Jayne ,where are you going on the train ?
-
-
Jayne , our local news says new notes should ( remember this is Asia ) should be available from tomorrow when ATMs open again
-
I also fear that his rhetoric on hispanics, muslims, etc will be seen as open season by some.
what's scary is how many Hispanics voted for him ( CNN showing the breakdown now )
DID THEY NOT WATCH ANY OF HIS SPEECHES
-
Having watched quite a bit of American election stuff lately and read up about both candidates, I can't help feeling it's like having a choice between arsenic and cyanide!
Deja vu here. Johnson v Goldwater in the 60s. Neither was trusted but they voted for the one who wasn't demented.
it really looks like the lesser of two evils......
-
1
-
-
if anyone wants to add me on WhatsApp my number is +94722598040
-
Hello. Are you back in Sri Lanka?
Just been looking at the Dogstar Foundation website. I t is hard to believe it is 10 years old. You have achieved so much in that time.
Hi
Yes back here now, thank you I can't believe its ten years either!
-
Hello by the way
-
Are any of you guys using WhatsApp ?
A WhatsApp group might be a good non-forum way to check in with each other
-
How's your mum Sam?
A awful lot better thanks , she was discharged last weekend after nearly 5 weeks in the hospital and the staff there were first class. We are very very lucky indeed her surgeon was not only very good at his job but a throughly nice man
As she still gets fatigued we have hired a wheelchair so we can get out and about every day
Dylan was born at 1pm. all I know so far
IM A NANA!
Congratulations
-
you have to know their names though. think at my age its a bit late lol
harry is on the next stage, eating with the dogs. first day, going well. he eats so much slower than them corrrr
I am not sure you have to know all the details and I don't think its ever too late , there are private companies as well like http://www.borntobefound.co.uk
-
ive never met my dad, don't know his name, so lost that side. mother moved us down south when I was 7, so lost my cousins. I now cant get hold of them on facebook when my account got closed, so just me, the boys and my brother who lives up north. Ive always wanted to know, but mother wouldn't talk about it
There are agencies that help families reconnect such as Salvation Army
http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/reuniting-families
might be worth looking into it ?
-
Hi All , I am heading back to the UK next Wednesday for a week as Grandma Squirrel has had some pretty hardcore emergency surgery , Aisling is full of praise for how amazing the NHS and how kind the nurses and consultants are
-
Sam I am so proud to call you my friend (which I do very often) all my love to you and Mark.
Hi Loobs , how are you ? Mark and I very proud to call you our friend as well , Sam xxx
-
1
-
-
I am giving a 30 minute presentation at an international conference in early October , I have to send the slides over by September 9th so the translations can be done
better start writing the bloody thing then !
-
Just posted this on face book but I know some of you are not there
I don't really know if Karma exists but if it does then today I saw it a very very very quick serving
After work I went to a supermarket to get some salad items , whilst in the queue to get my items weighed a woman cut in front of me and started shouting at the shop assistant , I like to believe the best in people and I thought maybe she had not seen me but I did think she was being very rude to the girl weighing the items
When I got the checkout , the same woman pushed in front of me again and this time it was 100 % premeditated and she physically had to reach over to place her items on the belt ahead of mine, she also knocked over a number of items which she did not stop to pick up and was generally rude to check out girl whilst ignoring me
I was going to pull her up on it and then I decided not to bother , I did not want to allow myself to get angry and get involved in what would no doubt be a negative exchange with a very rude person
She then walked out the supermarket where she met someone just as rude and thoughtless as her...
A lorry driver who threw open his door smacking her full on the face and from the looks of it breaking her nose ( there was a lot of blood )
He shrugged his shoulders and just walked into the supermarket without a backward glance
If she had not cut me up in the queue she would have still been checking out when the lorry driver opened his door
Like I say I don't know about Karma but I do like this Wayne Dyer quote " how people treat you is their Karma, how you react is your Karma"
-
4
-
-
Phone call from the surgery at about 5.30...my MRI results are back and I need to make an appointment to see my GP within 2 weeks. Philip says don't panic, if there was anything serious they'd be saying immediately. I'm not going to panic, but can I wibble a bit please? They've made me an appointment for the 30th August.
I would agree with Phillip , if they had any real concerns they would ask you to see someone ASAP but of course its totally understandable to wibble a bit.
-
Suzeanna , so very sorry to read your news
-
How exciting Sam - where in India are you going to be? I'm going to Goa in November
I am in Ranchi in November and Goa in December , vaccinating dogs and helping run mass vaccine programs
Just read back properly..wow Sam, you'll be running the world at this rate! Hope you really enjoy the new job and that you help as many animals there as you have in Sri Lanka.
I am really looking forward to it as I love working with the WVS and Mission Rabies staff and its part time so I get to work here as well with my own team , We are also planning to expand our services here in Sri Lanka by employing more staff ( thanks to grant funders ) so they can manage things when we are overseas
-
let me get this straight
You live in Sri Lanka and you come to the UK for a holiday !!! hahahaa
Yes I know it sounds mad but yes home is Sri Lanka and my holiday is UK !
I was talking to a Sri Lankan about foreigners yesterday and included myself in that description and he was most upset and he said that no I was Sri Lankan now !
Congrats Jayne Gooster on your new job , I also have a new job and so does Mark ! from next month we are working part time for Worldwide Veterinary Service and Mission Rabies as project managers in Asia and Africa . In November/December we will be working in India for a month on mass rabies programs.
-
2
-
Decembers Dishy Delights
in Non Animal Chat
Posted
She sounds an amazing woman , well ahead of her time as well
I have nearly drained myself on more than one occasion
how did you get on ?
I don't there is any doubt in anyone's mind that people living in slums and poverty in India or refugees in Syria are suffering and certainly by UK standards they are "worse off", however, that does not mean that people in the UK are not also suffering , they just suffer in very different ways.
The UN call for developed countries to donate at least 0.7 % of gross income and the UK is one of the biggest donors, I read that the UK stopped bilateral aid to India at the end of 2015 because Indias economy is growing so fast.
I am very very sorry to read that Suzeanna