...supposedly. I was up at 6am yesterday morning...looking at the sun/moon. It was storming in Bhubaneswar with the dark storm clouds covering any lightness/darkness/awesomeness that was to be seen. What a bummer.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
eclipse
...supposedly. I was up at 6am yesterday morning...looking at the sun/moon. It was storming in Bhubaneswar with the dark storm clouds covering any lightness/darkness/awesomeness that was to be seen. What a bummer.
Monday, July 20, 2009
am i famous in bhubaneswar?
...or just white? Imagine going down for breakfast at your hotel. It's buffet style, so you go through the line, and now with food in hand you decide where to eat. You're by yourself, so maybe you sit where you can see the tv, or towards the hotel entrance so that you can people watch...me, I choose a third option, one where I'm not facing towards another person eating. Inevitably, within 60 seconds either someone new to the dining area sits in my line of vision, or incredibly, someone will get up from where they were sitting so that they can face me. And this is how I eat breakfast, with people staring at me in between bites. I realize that I'm an odd site in this town that doesn't get many foreigners, but since when is staring at people appropriate? I've come to realize that that's the wrong question, it's not "when" but maybe "where". I've found that Indians have no hesitation staring something down that interests them, and I most often realize this when they're staring at me. I get it a lot from little children who stare vacantly, but also from people riding by on their scooters or motorcycles, often craning their necks around to watch me as they pass. When I go to the grocery store I am surrounded by sales staff holding up products they think I should buy and by other customers interested in what I'm buying. When I walk down the road people on bikes riding up behind me will sometimes get off their bikes and walk slightly behind me (presumably only watch me walk but this particular one really freaks me out, especially since they're usually adolescent boys just goofing around, but you never know). In general I try just to ignore it. There's also snapping "kya?!" meaning "what?" - that one usually just gets a laugh as a response because I probably pronounce it wrong. And with the bike thing, I stop walking, wait for the person to pass and then continue with them in front until they get back on their bike.
It's a phenomenon that I'm still not quite used to. In the States, it's not "appropriate" to stare, and people often try to look covertly at something or someone that they find particularly interesting. Here, if someone is interested in something, they look at it. They'll look at it until they're no longer interested or until the thing goes away. While on the surface this is uncomfortable if not just plain rude, in some ways it's also more honest. The honesty and transparency of character is something I find very admirable about Indian culture. There's truth in their stares and if you look back at them, you can tell that it's not malicious, they are just plain curious. In the same way, Indians are known for their poor eating etiquite, there is always a lot of burping and slurping, you eat with your hands and get food everywhere, you eat and laugh and talk with your mouth open, but it's all honest and freeing.
...as a person who generally does not try to get noticed, it's quite unnerving knowing that people are watching every movement I make...I better make sure not to pick my nose - or maybe that would make them look away???
It's a phenomenon that I'm still not quite used to. In the States, it's not "appropriate" to stare, and people often try to look covertly at something or someone that they find particularly interesting. Here, if someone is interested in something, they look at it. They'll look at it until they're no longer interested or until the thing goes away. While on the surface this is uncomfortable if not just plain rude, in some ways it's also more honest. The honesty and transparency of character is something I find very admirable about Indian culture. There's truth in their stares and if you look back at them, you can tell that it's not malicious, they are just plain curious. In the same way, Indians are known for their poor eating etiquite, there is always a lot of burping and slurping, you eat with your hands and get food everywhere, you eat and laugh and talk with your mouth open, but it's all honest and freeing.
...as a person who generally does not try to get noticed, it's quite unnerving knowing that people are watching every movement I make...I better make sure not to pick my nose - or maybe that would make them look away???
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
2 month lull
I know I haven't posted in a few weeks, but that's mainly because there hasn't been much to report on. I've been super busy with work, more so than I ever would have thought, but I've also been sick, and honestly, really homesick. Had I written this post just a few days ago I probably would have highlighted all the things I can't stand about India and all the things I'm looking forward to when I come home...not very positive! I feel much better now, and can offer a less pessimistic view into the past couple weeks.
First, it's been raining a lot. The rains are a phenomenon that I still can't decide if I like or not. Before I came to India I would hear about the "Monsoon" and how it just rains like a sheet of water all day long for 3 months. My reaction then was "wow, that sucks - I'm going to be soaking wet all the time, lovely." After being here in the dreadful 110 degree weather in June I have to say, that I was looking forward to the rain like everyone else because it promised at least a 20 degree drop in temperature. And it definitely did. It's so much cooler now (between 80 and 90 lately) and only slightly more humid. The thing that I never thought of was the combination of monsoon style rain, un-paved dirt roads, open trash piles on every road, and the wide array of animals that roam the street. Needless to say, walking around is not the most pleasant experience...I still think I'd take walking in trash water over 110 degrees, but that's just me!
One other thing the rains have going for it, it makes (some) things very beautiful, like this flower outside of the data office. Yes, I was in the data office working when I looked up to see this perfect flower right outside the window. That was definitely a good moment.
Here's an example of the animals that take over the streets. This picture is taken from one side of the street looking back across to the driveway to the hotel. The free part of the median that the cow is occupying is the same area I use to cross the road...it was an interesting, and much too intimate experience for me and the cow that day!
I've mentioned in previous posts, but our project's office is just a room in another girl's apartment who also works for the same company, but on a different project. She left India for good this morning and had a farewell party at the apartment on Friday before she left. Here are a few pictures....
The guy on the left in the following picture is the owner of Knack, the software company that entered all of our surveys. It's his personal office that I've been working out of lately mainly because that's where our surveys are!
The guy on the right is Deepak. He has seriously been the most helpful and dependable person that I've met in India. He was part of the baseline data collection for the bednet project, and so he knows everything and I mean EVERYTHING about the project. I'm technically his boss, but he and I both know that I need him more than he needs me! I think we have a good understanding...Anjali is in the middle (the one who's apartment and party it was).
This next picture is of all the people (besides Deepak) that I know in Bhubaneswar. The 4 girls that aren't Anjali and the guy are interns with UNICEF. They are very nice girls and we try to get together every couple of days for dinner or drinks (at one of the 3 establishments that will serve women...). It's nice for me because all the rest of the time I'm eating and being alone and it's nice for them because otherwise it's just the 4 of them all the time (the live together, work together, travel together, etc). It's a nice symbiotic relationship : )
Deepika (from Delhi), me, and Anjali.
The night after the party the 6 of us girls went out to dinner and while we were waiting for our food a magician came to our table and did some tricks for us. You wouldn't think something like that would be very good, but it definitely was. He had all of us laughing with our mouths open in shock. I guess the still picture doesn't really capture the magicalness of it...
And that's about it. I haven't seen or done much interesting lately except work, which (honestly) is what I am being paid to do, so I can't, or shouldn't, really complain. I am really looking forward to going to Rourkela next weekend to do a field test of our malaria test kits at a local malaria clinic. Also, on the way back Deepak has offered to take me to one of our project's study villages so that I can meet some of the people that they interviewed. I can't wait!!
First, it's been raining a lot. The rains are a phenomenon that I still can't decide if I like or not. Before I came to India I would hear about the "Monsoon" and how it just rains like a sheet of water all day long for 3 months. My reaction then was "wow, that sucks - I'm going to be soaking wet all the time, lovely." After being here in the dreadful 110 degree weather in June I have to say, that I was looking forward to the rain like everyone else because it promised at least a 20 degree drop in temperature. And it definitely did. It's so much cooler now (between 80 and 90 lately) and only slightly more humid. The thing that I never thought of was the combination of monsoon style rain, un-paved dirt roads, open trash piles on every road, and the wide array of animals that roam the street. Needless to say, walking around is not the most pleasant experience...I still think I'd take walking in trash water over 110 degrees, but that's just me!
One other thing the rains have going for it, it makes (some) things very beautiful, like this flower outside of the data office. Yes, I was in the data office working when I looked up to see this perfect flower right outside the window. That was definitely a good moment.
Here's an example of the animals that take over the streets. This picture is taken from one side of the street looking back across to the driveway to the hotel. The free part of the median that the cow is occupying is the same area I use to cross the road...it was an interesting, and much too intimate experience for me and the cow that day!
I've mentioned in previous posts, but our project's office is just a room in another girl's apartment who also works for the same company, but on a different project. She left India for good this morning and had a farewell party at the apartment on Friday before she left. Here are a few pictures....
The guy on the left in the following picture is the owner of Knack, the software company that entered all of our surveys. It's his personal office that I've been working out of lately mainly because that's where our surveys are!
The guy on the right is Deepak. He has seriously been the most helpful and dependable person that I've met in India. He was part of the baseline data collection for the bednet project, and so he knows everything and I mean EVERYTHING about the project. I'm technically his boss, but he and I both know that I need him more than he needs me! I think we have a good understanding...Anjali is in the middle (the one who's apartment and party it was).
This next picture is of all the people (besides Deepak) that I know in Bhubaneswar. The 4 girls that aren't Anjali and the guy are interns with UNICEF. They are very nice girls and we try to get together every couple of days for dinner or drinks (at one of the 3 establishments that will serve women...). It's nice for me because all the rest of the time I'm eating and being alone and it's nice for them because otherwise it's just the 4 of them all the time (the live together, work together, travel together, etc). It's a nice symbiotic relationship : )
Deepika (from Delhi), me, and Anjali.
The night after the party the 6 of us girls went out to dinner and while we were waiting for our food a magician came to our table and did some tricks for us. You wouldn't think something like that would be very good, but it definitely was. He had all of us laughing with our mouths open in shock. I guess the still picture doesn't really capture the magicalness of it...
And that's about it. I haven't seen or done much interesting lately except work, which (honestly) is what I am being paid to do, so I can't, or shouldn't, really complain. I am really looking forward to going to Rourkela next weekend to do a field test of our malaria test kits at a local malaria clinic. Also, on the way back Deepak has offered to take me to one of our project's study villages so that I can meet some of the people that they interviewed. I can't wait!!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
4th of july new delhi style
I flew to Delhi over the weekend to visit Colette who is there doing research for a Masters in International Human Rights from DU. We used to work together at Financial Designs in Denver. We would spend so much time together in those days at FDL, and to think that we’re here in India together is just so ironic. We were there slaving over spreadsheets outlining the premium savings we could pass on to some of the richest people in Colorado, and now we’re both in a developing country independently working to make the world a better place for the poorest people here. I can’t help smile at the irony of it and wonder how we ever got paired together.Anyway, back to Delhi...all in all it was a great weekend, and I think it was as much because I loved Delhi and what we did there as it was just being around a good friend and having someone to do those things with.
My first impression was that Delhi is a very nice city, in fact, the cleanest, most organized, most developed city that I’ve been to in India. For instance, on the way from the airport, the road we took was very wide, clean, and manicured with trees planted in the median and on the sides of the road every 10 feet. Colette is staying at a family's house who rents out 3 of the 4 bedrooms as a guest house. It worked out that one of the rooms was empty for the weekend, and that's where I stayed.Colette and I talked the first night about this feeling of guilt that we have being here and staying in such (relatively) nice conditions. It's a feeling I've had a lot lately coming back to a nice, clean, air-conditioned hotel room in such contrast to the villagers that I'm studying. She feels the same way and even remarked that she feels guilty every day because their work takes them into some of the poorest slums of Dehli and at the end of the day she comes back to this beautiful neighborhood where she pays more than the average slum dweller pays in a month in a night to stay. I can definitely understand her conflict and I feel it in Bhubaneswar too, but honestly to a lesser extent. I mean, I haven’t really gone to the field and I definitely am not in the presence of the poorest of the poor on a daily basis. I think there’s a resolution of hypocrisy that you need to be here. It’s impractical to think that people like Colette and I could handle living for 3 months in slum or village conditions without seriously going insane and needing flee the country. Also, we are genuinely here to help, and I think that those intentions go a long way. We’re not just here to cash-in on the Rupee Dollar exchange rate for a first class vacation (for the most part...) It was really nice being able to relate about this experience to someone who I knew really got it, especially since it's really hard to explain if you haven't been here.
Enough about reflections - what did we even do???
On Friday she took me with her into one of the slums (Jasola) where they were conducting a small follow-up survey. They had interviewed about 100 women and they were going back to about 30 of them, targeting women who had very young children or who were pregnant. This second survey was all about maternal child health and access to health services. I believe they're going to use this data to do an evaluation of the slum-dwellers access to services that they know to be technically available.
That night we went to an amazing Thai restaurant and then for frozen yogurt...yum!On Saturday we woke up early and went to the gym that's near their house and then did a day of touristy sightseeing.
We started at Humayan's tomb. It was built before the Taj Mahal and it's architecture is said to have inspired the design...it makes sense to me. 
After that we took the metro the rest of the way to Old Delhi. It’s known for it’s spice market or spice bazaar, so we walked around trying to find it. It was about a half hour walk through the most crazy hectic streets you can imagine. It’s like there were people every square inch and the buildings were so old with little alleys you could look down to see hundreds more little shops in every block. It was quite overwhelming, but the spice section was really neat. Everyone in the streets were coughing or sneezing because of all the spice in the air.
It smelled really good though. On the way back to the house, the metro was packed. I’ve never been crunched that close in public transportation before! We were all huddled together like sardines. It was quite an experience.The next morning we went to a breakfast place where we got REAL American breakfast - waffles, eggs, sausage, real drip espresso coffee drinks. Mmm. After we went to an outdoor market where I bought a few little things, but mainly just watched the chaoticness there.
At one point when we were looking at some clothes, the stall owner said "one minute" and it was like an invisible alarm went off and ALL the vendors started frantically gathering all their merchandise that was on racks encroaching on the street and throwing them into their stalls, thereby doubling the width of the road. There was a police truck at one end of the street moving its way towards us and there was a rule that they couldn't have any of their goods coming out into the road. Everything in the entire market packed up within 60 seconds, waited for the police truck to pass, and then set up again. I tried to take a picture, but I realize now that it should've been a video because you really can't capture the frenzy in the air.It was a fun, but thouroughly exhausting 4th of July…no fireworks, but I think I prefer the Indian way better! Now I'm back in Bhubaneswar. It's exactly half way through my stay here in India and I really can't decide if the time is going by fast or slow. At times it feels like every day inches by, but then I think about how I've already been here over 6 weeks and it seems like I just arrived yesterday. Now that things are generally settled, I'm just trying to enjoy every minute (even the ones spend cleaning data for hours on end)!
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