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.
1 comment:
Rupal, I'm so glad you made it in... I've been checking your blog to make sure. It's the big sister in me, I guess. :-) I look forward to keeping up with your adventures and your good work. BTW, your decision about the water doesn't surprise me. As I recall, you also have an immunity to mayonnaise-based products that stay out on tables all day. :-) All love, Teri
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