Big happenings.

Tuesday June 12^th 4pm

The past two days have been quite the change for little old me. Over the weekend I was told that I needed to give a worker my key so they could move a fourth bed into my house. I was pretty shocked, since I didn’t know I would be sharing my living room/dining room/bedroom with another person. I was told another French girl would arrive Saturday night. So of course I kept waiting and waiting, but no one ever showed up. I was a little suspicious of this information to begin with, so around 11pm I decided I shouldn’t worry about it. And no one ever came….until yesterday. I was in my office and they said the other girl had just gotten here, so I should come meet her and go with her back to the house. Well, to my surprise, she was not French at all, but Indian. She was a PhD the organization had just hired and she was here for 3 days to tour and meet people at the research station. When we went into the house she was, shall we say, shocked and appalled at the “condition of the facilities” She said she had just started 5 days ago, but the facility she was staying at, about 45min away was much nicer and she was very surprised that the organization would have such facilities as mine and my neighbors. I have to say, I was a little offended. I had to stick up for my little house that has treated me so well over the past week. Sure, it is a little rough around the edges, lizards crawl around inside, you use a bucket to shower in place of an overhead faucet, but its good enough. The lizards eat the bugs and Im just as clean. It’s also very safe and quiet and the people are really nice. She is supposed to stay three nights, but Im guessing she makes it two. She is very nice otherwise, but with my roommates getting home too, its quite a full house! I went from being all alone to having three roommates in one afternoon. It was a little bit of a shock. Just after a week I had established my routine, so its strange to see the other way of doing things, like eating outside when its hot in the evening and eating with utensils! For the most part people in this area (I can’t speak for other areas of India) don’t use utensils. They use the chapatti bread to pinch the vegetables and stew dishes and then either do the same with the rice or eat the rice with their hands. Well I have been living by the motto, when in Rome!! And I rather like it I must say. My roommates also don’t like spicy food and since Mrs. M makes all or our food together, I will so no more of that. But I think the hardest thing to accept is they let the roaming cats in the house!! This morning, as I brushed my teeth, the stray cat wandered around at my feet crying the whole time. They feed the cats out the back door and let them come into the house. Im not a huge fan and I really don’t want to get fleas, but I guess I can put up with it for a little company.

They are both very nice, so im hopeful. If I knew French, I would really be in business. They speak in French to each other (obviously), so I cant really jump in on any conversations. But it will be fine im sure. They were both very impressed and surprised with my solo trips into Pune. They said they had never even taken the train, even with each other, so I think I’ve made a good impression. They also said the go there almost every Sunday b/c with only one day off it is hard to get anywhere further, and its pretty boring around here. They have offered to show me more places to buy clothes and other things they’ve discovered.

On the work front, things seem to be making a little progress. Dr. K called me yesterday at 2pm and asked if I could make a formal presentation at 3pm to the technical board of the organization on the research I plan to do and my objectives. I thought I misheard him when he said formal, so when I asked him to repeat it, he said, ‘ok, maybe just informal on you main goals” That I could handle! Since I hadn’t seen or spoken with him in over a week, I wasn’t that psyched about formally presenting anything. But at this meeting I did find out a ‘preliminary report’ is expected at the next meeting, July 11^th, so I think I will be pretty busy until then.

Today I went with Dr. K (and two other employees) to another village about 20 min away to spend the day conducting women’s health exams. It was pretty interesting to observe. They took all the supplies to a two room house/clinic and examined about 25 women. They took their weight, tested their eyes, took blood and urine samples for iron and protein tests, and then did a very basic physical exam in the other room. I wish I had taken some pictures to show you all, but I felt a little shy about making these women’s health visits my tourist attraction. I will try to be more bold next time. We were there for 3 hrs or so and then they insisted on feeding us all before we left. They said they wanted to see how I ate the food. But I think I did ok, no one laughed at me anyway. I’ve started to notice a lot of things happen slow around here, and its common to wait hours for something that should take minutes, but eating is not one of them! I consider myself a pretty fast eater, but I am nothing compared to my three co-workers! Since you sit on the floor, you naturally bend over the plate when you eat, and not one of them looked up or even took a breath the whole time. I thought maybe it was because our driver, and the bus load of school children he had just picked up on his way to meet us, were waiting, but no. They had seconds and thirds, so it wasn’t b/c they were rushed, it is just the normal speed. I better step up my game.

I am writing this at my office and they have lit this huge fire outside the building and the smoke has been filling the entire building for the past hour. I haven’t looked outside, but by the amount of smoke, I can only imagine it was must be trash heap the size of a small house! And I cant imagine why they couldn’t have moved down wind, but who am I to question things like this.

Small, But Sweet Victories.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

I haven’t posted anything in the past few days b/c not much has happened. My boss has been MIA, so I have spent the latter part of my week working on my own here at the center. But on a personal note, I have made some small, but still noteworthy progress in my quest to get around. On Thursday I was able to convince the guy who sells cell phones in his grocery store in my town to sell me a prepaid mobile phone. In order to get a cell phone in India, you need proof of address and a passport sized picture. Don’t ask me why, but you do. I came to India with two extra passport sized pictures. One I was planning to use to get my entry visa when I got to Nepal, and the other was “just in case” Well the first day I arrived my organization had me fill out paper work (in duplicate) to register with the police here and I had to attach a photo to each. I was lucky I had them, but who knew you needed them for everything! So the guy gave me the phone and told me to come back with a photo and some ‘papers’ or I could ask someone else for their papers. I don’t know that I would worry that much about it normally, but since it seems to be the only place in my town that sells phones and can refill my minutes, I decided to make good on my promise to go back. I brought him a copy of my police registration papers and I cut out my picture from a copy of my driver’s license I happened to have. It seemed to appease him enough so that I can go back to the store.

Today was my day off so I decided to take another stab at expanding my wardrobe. Rotating between the two shirts I brought and the cotton candy pink outfit I bought last week was getting a little boring. Having felt like I half-mastered the bus, I decided to try my luck with the train. As intimidating as the train looks going through my town with people busting at the seams and literally hanging out the doors of the cars, I decided I might as well jump right in and take the bull by the horns. I also did a little research and got some advice on places to shop and go in Pune, and they are much closer to the train station. So I headed out to catch the 9:25am train from Urulikanchan to Pune. I successfully bought my ticket and was waiting for the train. But as the train pulled up, it was headed in the opposite direction I knew I needed to go. So at the last minute I asked someone and they confirmed I was on the wrong side. (Stupid British colonists, everything is on the wrong side here!) But I caught my train in plenty of time and stood in the doorway for the hour trip. I am not sure of all the gender ‘rules’ or norms here, but sometimes I can tell I am breaking them. I was the only female standing in this area. I didn’t feel unsafe, but it is strange to quite frequently be reminded that there are social differences and being a woman traveling alone you can’t always follow the norms. I was no way going to push myself into the car to push myself onto a bench seat or stand in the hot car just b/c I was the only woman there. Again, I don’t think it was wrong or unsafe for me to stand there, but it just is unusual for women to be traveling alone. The women on board were sitting with their kids or families while men stood in the doorway.

I had forgotten to look up the return train schedule on the internet the day before, so when I got off in Pune, I decided to do that before I ventured off. After strong arming my way into two different lines (which were the wrong lines of course) I finally found out the return train was at 120 and then at 6. It didn’t give me much time, but I didn’t want to be there until 6, so I bought my ticket then so I wouldn’t have to wait in line again. (which was the best decision I made, b/c at 1230 the “lines” were three times as long.) I use lines in quotations b/c there is some form of line I guess, but once people get five away from the window, they just push up to the front and try to cut the people in front of them. And I mean PUSH in front of you, there is little to no social stigma against pushing your way in anywhere. People also regularly just cut the entire line or push past you. I had heard this was the case before I came, but man is it infuriating when a 2-3 men in a row step ahead of you and demand service. It’s dog eat dog and the men think they are top dog! I cant wait to get back and see how I behave in a big crowd of people. I apologize ahead of time to the people I will be with that will bare the brunt of this embarrassment. There is also very little concern for personal space and people have no problem just pushing past you, hitting you with their bag as they pass by, or squeezing three people onto a train seat meant for one. I guess that’s what happens when so many people are all trying to do the same thing. The trains were super crowded and you have to push your way onto a seat or stand for your trip, no one is going to offer it up. I remember thinking the same thing at the tourist spots we visited in China. Maybe once you hit a billion, all bets are off.

I had much better luck in Pune today. This was the area I was looking for! I don’t know where I was last week, but it wasn’t the place I needed. Last week was like heading into Boston for the first time looking for downtown and the main shopping district, and ending up in Allston. (Im not saying there’s anything wrong with Allston don’t get me wrong, but its not the first place you would send a tourist in Boston). Today I found Boylston St and maybe even Newbury street, or something like that. I was able to buy 2 dresses pretty easily. Unfortunately I didn’t have too much time b/c the train left at 1 and I wanted to give myself time to figure out how to find it. I did set aside time to stop in this midsized grocery store that was a nice sight. It was even air-conditioned! Something I hadn’t felt since being here. It was pretty fancy in the context, but it was nice to get some food I knew how to prepare and some supplies I cant get in my town. I think the area I was in is very close to a University and it is close to this famous ashram where people come from all over to visit. I even saw a handful of white tourists! I did a double take the first time b/c I thought I was seeing things.

I made it back this time without a hitch. A much better trip home than last week’s return bus I must say. I even managed to get a window seat b/c this guy took pity on me and gave me his buddy’s seat. I must have looked pretty pathetic. I think people were afraid to sit with me, b/c as they were doubling and tripling up in the other seats, I had mine all to myself. I didn’t complain.

why is 9miles so hard?

June 7, 2007

I am determined to kick this rural Indian bus system’s butt! The past five days had given me a chance to recover from Sunday’s Pune bus debacle, so I decided to get back on that horse. I decided to maybe restart with a small less intimidating step of going to the ATM 10km out of my town and on the main highway. So at least I would know what direction to start walking in if push came to shove, since it is just down the highway.

So after work I was able to catch a scooter ride into my town (Urulikanchan) to catch the bus on the highway. I walked up just as it was pulling out and found the last seat in the ladies section. After the 10 min ride I was even able to successfully identify the nondescript area along the highway known as Theurphata and signal to get off. It looks just like every other populated area along the highway to me, so I was happy not to it. There is apparently a large sugarcane factory off the highway there, so it seems to be quite the hub. Of course everywhere seems to be a hub, with 1 billion people here and all.

Of course just as I was feeling confident and getting the wind back in my sails I attempted, and failed, to catch the bus back to my town. Of course 10 or more went by in the hour I stood there, but none were going my way. Finally, with the monsoon clouds looming, I decided to bite the bullet and catch a shared motor rickshaw. It is only a few rupees more than the bus (which amounts to less than 10 cents) and just a little slower. I should have done that after 10 minutes, but I was determined to not give up so easily. I’ll get ‘em next time.

By the time I got to Urulikanchan it was pouring and thundering and lightening. I wanted to get a couple things before heading home, so I attempted to walk through town to the market area. No one was on the street and I looked pretty ridiculous; with my pants rolled up and completely drenched. Im sure I gave all the people standing under the eves of the stores quite a nice chuckle. I only made it about 20 yards and had to take refuge in a store. I even had my $2 umbrella I bought a few days ago, but it was no match for this downpour. I thought if I bought my umbrella here it was sure to get me through any monsoon rain! I was mistaken. I even started out a second time and only made it 10 more feet. The worst part is the water on the roads—it’s immediately flooded and you have to walk through ankle deep water and mud. But what can you do. The rickshaw drivers wouldn’t even take me home b/c of the weather. So I waited it out standing in a restaurant for 20 minutes or so and then headed back out after it let up. I did some shopping and by that time I was late enough to catch my organization’s van back to my compound at 745. When I got back the electricity was off, so it wasn’t the best homecoming after a soggy outing. And to boot, Mrs. M took a trip with her family tonight, so no one delivered me dinner! Can you believe the nerve of her! I was finally forced to conquer the gas burner attached to the big propane tank in the middle of my kitchen and make myself some boiled instant noodles. While I was eating the power came back on, so that brightened my mood a little. I wasn’t looking forward to another night without my fan. Yesterday the power was off from 2pm to 2am, so it was very hard to sleep. Tonight should be better.

Oh, and for those of you who have been asking for pictures, you’ll just have to hold your horses. Im working with a dial up connection that doubles as a phone line for my organization, so it may be a while. (Don’t ask me how many phone lines they have. Im assuming more than one b/c no one said anything about not getting any phone calls the last three days I was unknowingly surfing the web on the only line. Oops.) And just for reference, its not 3 people sitting in a building, there are hundreds of people that work on this compound. So lets hope there is more than one line. That’s it for now.

addendum to previous post

I just want to clear something up. Although i dont think Im wrong in calling it roti, it is more commonly called chapati or puri. (just to be clear-- in case you guys want to plan my homecoming meal)

it's no turkey sandwich

June 5^th 2007 730pm

I will make this a short one b/c the power has been out today since about 330 and Im not sure when it will come back. I want to save my computer battery for my life saving emails tomorrow morning; since it is my only form of communication right now. These past two days have been good, just getting into the swing of work. Today I went into the office in the village, just 3km away, where my boss has his office. My neighbor gave me a ridge on his motor bike, so I didn’t have to walk. But man if I had only brought my bike helmet. I know I would look pretty funny, but everyone stares at me anyway, so I might as well at least be safe.

ooh, the power just came back on!! And I just got my dinner. Things are really looking up tonight. Mrs. M delivers my dinner every night in 3-4 stacked tin canisters that are held together with the handle. It is actually pretty handy, and what everyone brings lunch in to work. Im thinking I can bring a set home for my lunches. Tonight Mrs. M brought fresh mango juice, well mango pulp—it is really just puréed mango, and it is delicious! There is also two small dishes of sauce or soup-like consistency , one large one (maybe the amount of a mug of soup), a cup of rice and then roti (the thin bread that you eat everything with). At least that’s what I think it is called. Every night Mrs. M says what the dishes are, and Im sad to say I can not tell you one of them. I just nod and say thank you. Its good food, that’s all I know. Usually there is only one sauce dish and another dish of vegetables or lentils, this cauliflower dish she makes is my favorite so far. Probably b/c it’s covered in heavy oils and spices.

Today at the office in town my fear for the past week came true. I sat down with my boss and 4 of my coworkers to eat lunch. I was hoping to have a trial run with my roommates when they got back so they could tell me what im supposed to do with all the dishes, but it didn’t happen. I had to wing it. I just hesitated for a while until I saw what they were doing, and I think I held my own. The one thing I couldn’t figure out on my own was how to tear off a piece of roti (which is about the size of small dinner plate whole) using only your right hand (since your not supposed to eat with your left). But my subtle glances around the table paid off and I think no one noticed.

After lunch I was able to sit in on a women’s self help group session that my organization runs. They run about 200+ around the area on different topics or areas or trade. Usually they occur in the village where the women are from, but today the Secretary was coming so they organized a meeting at the office. The secretary of what im not sure. I thought my boss meant the receptionist from the other office b/c I asked if I could catch a ride with him on his way over. I soon same to realize it wasn’t that type of secretary. Hopefully my stupidity got lost in the language barrier. I thought I was just attending to observe the meeting, but there seemed to be a lack of communication, b/c before I knew it, the facilitator was telling me “ok, you can ask your questions now. I told them you want to learn about Indian agriculture” I was a little surprised, but I pulled some general questions out of nowhere, although they seemed pretty basic. But where do you start with that subject on no notice. I have a feeling these miscommunications may become quite frequent.

The power keeps coming and going now—hopefully this time it will stay on. It will be hard to sleep without the fan on.

I also had a few more small discoveries after work. I had a little more time to explore my town a little and there are a few more streets that I found with stores on it. So I was able to buy an umbrella and some small snacks. There are more things there than I thought—so that’s good.

As soon as I got off the motor rickshaw at the office near my house it started to really thunder and lightening. As I was walking home it was so close and loud it made me cower at least three times. Im sure I looked completely ridiculous to everyone—carrying my bottled water and jumping at every thunder sound. But then it started raining, and after I got home, it was pouring maybe the hardest Ive ever seen with huge winds. They aren’t kidding about these monsoons. And I think this is just warm up b/c the scheduled ones aren’t supposed to start until next week or so. But it has thundered for the past three nights, so I take that as a sign. Im lucky I found that umbrella today!

Saved by a preacher

Day 3&4: June 3^rd 2007

Thank you to everyone for the birthday emails! It was nice to have some birthday wishes. If you were feeling bad about not being able to give me a present, no worries. A neighbor and co-worker of mine happened to notice on my passport the day before that it was going to be my birthday and picked a flower for me. It was very nice considering I he didn’t know me at all, and I still am not sure what his name is.

Dr. K and I had a meeting Saturday afternoon about the project Im going to be working on. It’s a little overwhelming at this point. The good news is the previous intern had conducted interviews with farmers in an area that was far enough away from her house that required her to stay for several nights at a time in a paper factory hostel. I assumed I would be in the same area, but I wont be. The villages where I am doing field work are all within 20Km of my village, so Im hoping to have no overnights, but maybe Im wrong. We’ll also have to organize a meeting with all of the head women in the 11 different villages to tell them what I will be doing and ask them to spread the word about what im going to ask the different women. My project is specifically interviewing women that took part in a micro-financed wheat program. The women paid a reduced rate for seeds and biofertilizer (produced here where im living) a year ago and I am supposed to interview them to evaluate the success and their thoughts. I am also supposed to develop a way to measure a change in the women’s family status as a result of this project. Not quite sure how to do that yet.

After work yesterday I went into UK to finally get some more water. I was down to the last drop. The town is not that big, but seems to have enough stores once I find them all. My favorite part about the town is the strange rodent problem. I’ve heard of rats, mice, raccoons, but this town has a problem with wild boars. They are all over, rooting in trash piles and walking around. I was trying to get out of the way of a bike and was forced to step uncomfortably close to a HUGE mother boar next to the road. I used to have a fear of strange dogs, but I think this is worse.

I considered that trip a warm up to my trip today into Pune on my day off. I needed to get some things that my village doesn’t have (like clothes and a cell phone). It is about a 3-4km walk into town to catch the bus which I was prepared to walk, but about 500m into it one of my neighbors picked me up on his motor bike and gave me a ride. Then when I got on the bus my other neighbor (who gave me the flower) was sitting there too! So things were off to a good start. Well…they quickly deteriorated when I stepped off the bus in Pune. I had no idea where to go and how I would find my way back to the bus station if I wandered too far. The tiny city map in my travel book was useless. Even if it was right, no signs were in English, so how would I know what street im on. I ended up doing a lot of wandering and not much shopping. I failed at buying a cell phone (sorry mom & dad) because I had forgotten my ATM card and didn’t have enough cash. I could only take about 3 hrs of this because it was exhausting. Its tiring to have everyone staring at you everywhere you go and to not have any point of reference or anything familiar. Nothing is in English and people speak very little, so everything is a bit of a struggle. Including finding my bus home which was my next task. I knew I was in trouble when the rickshaw driver dropped me back off at the bus station. Of course I couldn’t read any of the bus signs and it is such a busy place there is no where to even stop and breath. The first attendant told me I needed to catch my bus on the road and it’s the 7 bus. After 30 min. of me running up to each bus and yelling the name of my town at the driver, I was told I was on the wrong side of the road. That meant I had to cross the street—no easy task, but I dodged and weaved with the best of them. After waiting at another bus stop I was told I was at the wrong stop again and had to go 50 yards down the road. That’s where I preceded to wait for 2 hrs for the bus. Of course I went up to every bus that drove by and tried to ask if it was mine, but most of them don’t even stop, you just have to jump on with the other 30 people trying to do it, so asking the driver a question was a little difficult. After an hour and half or so I asked a man sitting next to me if he was going to my town and luckily (in his very little English) he said he was. So I followed his lead. It was pretty funny b/c when the bus pulled up the tea vendor and about three other people yelled at me to get on. (I guess I wasn’t subtle about being lost) When I tried to buy my ticket on the bus the driver started telling me something in Hindi and waving at me to get off. I just pointed to my new found friend and he said “ok, lets get off.” After we got off the guy said it wasn’t a direct bus and would stop somewhere else first. So we waited for another 45 min. That gave us a chance to talk. He introduced himself as Robert Jones, a catholic preacher. Hmmm…ok. Finally when I got on the bus it was so crowded I had to put on my game face and employ the Disney world stance of holding my ground and looking tough (which I think I pulled off quite well). After I got off the bus I decided to splurge the $1 for a rickshaw to take me home the 4km. The best move I made all day.

It was so nice to get back to my quiet house and neighborhood. I am so glad Im not staying in the city and I can imagine if you only visited cities how traveling here could wear you down. I only had one day and I felt completely worn out. I had to come home and take a nap.

June1st, Day 2 8pm

Well it’s like they always say, it will be better after a crappy night’s sleep. After waking up at 4am and lying in bed until 7 I thought it was going to be a long day. But the day got better and I even learned some important lessons. The first being; never show up on time. I had planned to meet my neighbor Dr. N so he could show me where the office is, but when I showed up I met him coming out of the shower in a towel in his living room—slightly uncomfortable. The second lesson was shortly after that when I was sitting in his living room with his parents, wife and son. I realized I had forgotten to take of my sandals. I was hoping no one noticed, but his 6 year old son definitely did b/c he imitated me by putting on his sandals and showing them to his mother and grandparents.

I spent the morning doing some general paperwork and surfing the web with the high speed dial up connection and then walked home for lunch. Which would normally take me less than 5 minutes to walk, but I have instantly turned into a lazy stroller—it’s too hot for speed walking here, even for me! (Im sure my roommate will be glad to hear that!) After lunch I learned my final lesson of the day, which is even if you really don’t care what your hair looks like, it may be a good idea to look in the mirror every once in a while. Four hours after lunch on my way home from the office (where I had talked to several people) I felt my face and realized I had bright yellow curry on my nose. Awesome! But all was forgotten when I made a small but important discovery - where to throw my trash. Well, in the big pit next to my bedroom window of course. Fortunately it doesn’t smell, but man I do hope they burn that before I leave—that will be mighty nice blowing in my window. A little smell of home.