ramblings from across an ocean

my tummy is in knots. no joke. I'm trying to slowly acclimate to local water and my body does not approve of the decision. bleh.

small world: One of the fellows, Anup (from CA) actually studied in Milan with me!! He studied through a different university and we didn't know each other, but apparently we went to a lot of the same places... crazy coincidence no?.

Favorite quotes from people thus far:
*(during a debate on growth and change) ..."you know, like how a caterpillar turns into a bee...oh wait... you know what I mean... "
*"I'm going to be on those malaria pills like birth control." (it's funny only b/c it came from one of the guys.)"
*"you guys know Jon Stuart?.... yeah... I wonder what he's up to..."

Also, my partner for my project (Rishi) is a guy and that will pose some cultural issues as far as how close we will be able to work and/or interact (I've got to watch how I talk to him and my body language to make sure we don't come off as scandalous.. and therefore compromise the project). Anyway, Rishi suggested we pretend we are fiances for the year and then break the engagement at the end of the fellowship... but later we nixed the idea b/c it would only lead to more ?'s and room for error. My point in telling the story: I was proposed to and had the engagement broken in the same conversation! That's got to be a record.

and last, but not least, the websites that I promised...
the orientation site where I am now.... and my NGO (Manav Sadhna)... and my project details.

Oh... and an interesting fact I read about today. Apparently, the western colonizers of India were confused and referred to Indians as "Hindu's" instead of "Indu's" (as in 'from the Indus Valley') and that has indirectly contributed to a lot of the Hindu-Muslim conflict over the years. That's about a chapter of a book summarized in my own words... so there's a lot more to it... but anyway I'm rambling again.

I'm out.

And the craziness begins...

I am sick. I'm a collage right now, a med student's dream... I've had a fever, nausea, sunburn, a cough, congestion, a perpetual tummyache, and a few other things I won't mention. owww...... :( Funny thing is that I don't understand Indian medicine so I just take what the staff member's give me... for instance, my fever was medicated with two blue pills the size of sprees, and a white pill. Don't ask me what they were b/c I couldn't tell you.

But it's all good. Spent the weekend in a tribal village (i.e. no running water, no electricity, waking up to a rooster... milling our own flour, farming, bathing in a waterfall... the whole deal. What I saw amazed me though. These people were super resilient and super happy. Simple and close. The feeling of communal living was tangible. One household's kids were the whole village's kids. Crops were shared, men cooked when the women didn't feel well, kids as young as five took care of the babies while the parents and older kids were out in the fields.... it was a great surprise to realize that I had come see how to build a community... and they were the ones teaching me what it even means to be a community. I was luckily in a house where I could speak Gujarati... so I had a few really great conversations with the mom of the house while I helped her farm and mill flour. They literally have no contact with the outside world (outside of their surrounding four villages) and it was interesting to see how perceptions differ, needs are relative.... I don't know. Unbelievable.

Got incredibly frustrated yesterday.. my email account is apparently NOT SUPPORTED IN INDIA. After the 49846216548 times that I changed the account to make it suitable for india... that is enfuriating. I'm so mad I can't even spell. Plus I haven't really gotten the chance to talk to my mom or brothers.... my last call home was spent trying to figure out some discrepencies in my finances left behind.... grrr...... I miss you guys. I'm so sad. I am sending rakdhi's first chance I get. I miss my family and not being there for key moments. I miss my mom. I miss my apt and my roommates. I want to go home for the weekend.

I met the girl who did our project last year. Crazy energetic and happy. I'm excited to talk to her. And small world, I actually know her from camp.

So far, this is already nothing like I imagined from my expectations of what India trips have been... or Sanjay's crash course of grassroots 'development' work in India. (the term development still sounds condescending to me.) I'm totally rambling. Peace.

quick update

can't talk long... but wanted to update while i had access to a computer.

whoa. squared. orientation day one: I'm thinking they will ease us into this experience.... oh no. after the flag raising ceremony for Independence day, and some team games.... a BUS FULL of kids 10-14 yrs old (like 80 of them total) come in from the Gandhi Ashram (a boarding house for kids of migrant laborers) and we are each to 'adopt' 3 kids for the day and take them to an amusement park. (WHA?!?!) They didn't speak any, let me repeat, any english.... but somehow kids' languages, music and games are universal. I feel like I've been running non stop since then. They have packed a LOT into this month of orientation where every moment is running late for the next meeting. Including a reader we have to finish .... 1140 plus pages!!! Wow. Not that I mind; I'm a huge reader and actually excited to get my hands on anything that will better prepare me for this year.

Sidenote reply to an email I got earlier (and yeah, I'm glad you didn't post it...) ... that sucks! ... but don't be upset! find a way to do it!!! (and you know that, in the end you have to do it.... for the sake of the greater good of everything!!!)

I'm slowly (very slowly) acclimating. Our campus is beautiful... I'll get the website on the next post. There's birds i've never seen before, monkeys, little chipmunks, frogs (that luckily I hear but don't see) .... i keep pretending I'm in Jumanji. AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

With all the preparation they are taking us through (great speakers/research- leading the field in development work in India..., field trips and team/trust building games ) ..... the only thing I know is that this year is going to be one hell of a ride.

Vim/ Vish, have a great year at school! Miss you guys!

Aaaaaa!

I'm here. Safe. In India. Home of the slowest net connections EVAH. Holy God. So, yeah, the flight was about 20 hrs... but I met up with one of the fellows (Ankur on the Entreprenuership project) on the plane (he jokes around almost as much as I do...) and so the trip didn't seem so long. We had a 40 min stop in Frankfort, so we ran off the plane for a Heusweisen (sp?), our last beers for a year. Got into Mumbai at 11 pm, Ahmedabad at 2 am.

Spent the night at the Manav Sandna house across the street from Mahatma Gandhi's ashram. This morning we got to the IRMA orientation site in Anand (the dorms where I'm spending the next month) on the lap of another fellow in an SUV filled w/ 8 ppl and their respective luggage. Craziness.

It's the monsoon (rainy) season here, so certain roads of the town required driving through about 2 ft of standing water. The campus is also flooded... so we moved in to our dorms with our pants hitched up to get through about a foot of water.

The fact that I know Gujarati is awesome b/c that's the language of the town where I'm spending the next month. They also found a Kutchi language tutor for Rushi & me, so we can *hopefully* have a basic understanding of the local language of the area where we are spending the next yr.

I met a few of the last yr fellows and it turns out that about half of them are staying in India. That's insane to think about--> half of them are not going back. But I'm already feeling the energy of these people and the work that's being done.. Rish (of 2002) had told me that once people feel how much is happening, everyone wants to contribute and be a part of it.
To add to that maddness, any time I'll tell the older fellows which project I'm on, they smile and go "ohhhh..." like they know some secret that I don't. When I saw that this was a recurring phenomenon, I asked one of them what that look meant and she said I'd see when I got there. O K ... that doesn't worry me... oh, wait, yes it does.

(sidenote: One of the fellows is going to Colombia for her masters as well. Ang... let me know if you want contact info.)

Ah, so jetlagged. Also, I've already managed to make some risky decisions regarding the drinking water... so I imagine I'll be getting sick sooner rather than later. I just want to get it out of the way and build some immunity.

I still can't believe I am here or that I'm doing this.

starting from scratch

I consider myself educated. Not as much as I could be or want to be.. but enough. I just realized, however, that when I get to India I am going to be illiterate. (?!?!!!)

(did you know that illiteracy is one of the reasons diners tend to put pictures next to written descriptions on menus?)

Can a language really be learned in a month though? I guess I have no choice.