Singapore on speed

I am exhausted. Ok, I was exhausted, before I took a couple days off after my trip to Singapore, and now I feel recovered enough to actually write about it. I was more productive in 2 full days in Singapore than I think I have ever been in the US. The first day I toured 2 hospitals, visited 1.5 doctors (the second one was in a delivery when I went to my appointment), toured 2 temporary apartments, and shopped at 2 different malls. And the second day was basically more of the same. My 6 month pregnant body cannot take that kind of abuse and I was completely useless by the end of the day. I actually felt like an abusive mother to my unborn child at times as I felt the toll my body was taking. BUT, I got a heck of a lot done, made some important decisions and visited a new country.

According to C, I was out shopping for kiwis and bread the entire time I was gone...

The city is probably an urban planner's wet dream. It feels fairly small but with a population of 4.5 million it is actually quite large. It has all the amenities and niceties that you could want, it is incredibly easy to get around and there is almost no traffic. It is a very pretty city as well, with lush vegetation everywhere and nicely painted buildings. There is plenty of shopping, restaurants, sidewalks (sorely lacking in Jakarta!) and Starbucks to keep a girl moving. Aside from a lack of culture and having to spend 6 weeks in a small apartment AGAIN, the city will be a very comfortable place to live and there are plenty of things to keep us busy. The hospitals were also all first class, as were the doctors I visited, and I have no reservations about delivering a baby there. It's not a terribly cheap city unfortunately, or maybe my scale is off kilter after being in Jakarta, but it's not too bad.

I learned some interesting tidbits about Singapore. I stayed with my husband's colleague who lives there, and she shared a few things that she has learned. First and foremost, it is a police state. Not a dictatorship, as it is officially a parliamentary republic. However, in some ways it feels like a dictatorship...maybe a party dictatorship since the same party (People's Action Party) has been in office since their independence in 1965. I am guessing this is one of the most successful police states around, considering how efficient everything is, how pretty it is and how well off the citizens seem to be (per capita GNP is $26,600). Being an American I don't think this is worth giving up free speech and knowing that Big Brother is watching you in probably all public places, but the system sure runs well! Other oddities: gum used to be banned. You can now find it in stores although it is still difficult; presumably you would no longer be thrown into jail if you chewed it. Perhaps this change was made to become more tourist friendly...? I also learned that all domestic staff (and other blue collar workers? I'm not sure) have to take a HIV test every 3 months, and all foreign women who fit into this category have to take a pregnancy test as well. They seriously do not want their population to grow. If you are found to be HIV positive you are thrown out of the country immediately! Talk about civil rights abuses! My jaw dropped to the floor when I learned about that. As someone who has worked in international HIV/AIDS issues, I find so many things wrong with that it is offensive.

After a couple days back home relaxing and ignoring the unpacked boxes scattered about the house, I recuperated and actually put in a full day of work - my first full day of work since last December. I haven't explained this in the blog, but my company back home does some work here in Indonesia. I had hoped to work on one of their projects, a maternal and child health project, but they really needed someone full time and I have no interest in doing that since I don't have to. I do hope in the future to do some short term consulting work for them, but we shall see. The project I worked on back home is just starting to do some work here. Here in Indonesia we are working with USAID (US Agency for International Development) and other donors to move Avian flu commodities through the country. USAID is donating decontamination kits and personal protective equipment to several countries around the world. Given that Indonesia is at the forefront of this potentially scary epidemic, it's important that they have some safe equipment with which to protect their investigators, and that is where USAID and our company comes in. For example, these supplies have to be stored, distributed, tracked, reordered, etc. We call this health logistics, which is what my project specializes in. Back in DC my work was to evaluate our program, to see if the logistics systems in various countries were functioning well, what needed to be improved, provide feedback on how to make improvements, etc. A lot of the work that I will be doing here is somewhat new to me - that is, new in practice but not in knowledge. I am familiar with all the concepts and how it works, but have done very little of it myself (since I was evaluating rather than implementing). It is a great learning experience though and it is exciting. It feels good to do some work too. Although since Monday was a holiday here and Tuesday was spent working, I feel like the week is basically over and I have so many other things to do!

Oh, C would be very proud to tell you that he can pedal his tricycle by himself. We are a proud family and he is so very adorable as he shows off his new skill!






Regarding C, I finally visited a couple preschools this morning. The one nearest our house, walking distance in fact, is fine but nothing very special. I was not very impressed with the facilities or the tour. The second one I went to, called Tutor Time, is an American company that has preschools all over the US and the world. I think C went to an excellent daycare back home, but it pales in comparison to this one (of course the teachers and instruction matter most, but I don't know about that yet). This center has an outdoor nature area, complete with stream and koi fish, a little bridge, lots of vegetation, rabbits, hamsters, turtles, and each class is growing some plants. There is an indoor gym and a playground (not as nice as the one back home but you can't have everything), and another room that is for "imaginative play". It is like a mini-village, with a little house that is the fire station, another little house that is a grocery store, etc. and a road in front where the kids can ride a tricycle or pushcar around. It's kind of crazy. The kids all looked happy and the classrooms are bright and cheerful and spacious. My neighbor's son goes there so C would be in his class, and the mother recommends it. I have one more place to check out, a supposed Montessori school that I have heard isn't terribly "Montessori", so we'll probably go with the one I described above. C can start in mid-April. It's nice to have one more big task almost accomplished!

It's been a busy, busy past several days!