The Saturday of All Saturdays . . . INDIAN EXCURSION!!!

Wowee! Boy, do I have a lot to tell you! Saturday was a wild and crazy day in India. No work done whatsoever besides a little brainstorming. Today was all about the cultural experiences!! So, the day began surprisingly early considering I went to bed very late. I just am not a sleeper-in-er, too many exciting things to do I suppose! So breakfast was first on the agenda - you saw pics. of this and I also took some pics around ICRISAT. Then I knew that Claire was interested in heading to the really close market. So, I tried to plan the possibility for a nap into my day and we went before lunch to the market.
(This actually didn't end up happening! After the market I was just too pumped up! Sleep later, right!?!?)


Let me tell you the most exciting thing ever. So what you do is flag down an autorickshaw and cram in - hold on - arrive at destination - and pay. You settle on the price before you get in and typically people try to make us pay a lot. 8 Rs. for the ride - 40 Rs. for your white skin they say! Just kidding! But anyway, some were saying 50 Rs. and we say, "Too much, too much." Then we found an auto for 8 Rs. a piece. That is what the locals pay!! So proud. Then on the way back, we got another rickshaw for 8 Rs. a piece - - - and that was after the 50 Rs. offer!!



So we went to this market which is just like a grocery store actually. We were gonna see a few other places but spent so much time there we had to head back to ICRISAT for lunch before our next excursion. So, back to ICRISAT we went. Then we had lunch - full of philosophical conversation and invigorating thought. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of our conversation. Afterward, I was like, "Claire, why haven't we been having these convos. every lunch!?!" It was fun to share and challenge one another as we debated and contemplated our purposes and the method by which we obtain fufillment, and so on.



Then Claire and I had some great bonding time as we chatted and reminisced and then thought ahead to how excited we are for the youth institute in the fall while she did her last laundry ever in India! Before we knew it, it was 3:30 and time to head out. We had 3 taxis full and our taxi pulled out 1st so we were the lead taxi I guess! Uh-oh! All was ok, things got a little (a lot) hot and long on the way - but it usually takes about 1 hr. to hyderabad and w/ traffic it was like 1.45 hrs. Then we arrived at this museum of the arts so I think we had a miscommunication w/ some of the drivers. We wanted to go to the Chowmahalla palace where we would find the S. African Indian arts celebration. So we left there and headed to the palace, which, I guess closes at 5 o'clock.



It was after 5 o'clock. Miscommunication again! We thought the exhibition show began at 5 pm! Ha - ha! Well I did some talking and then was able to get some great pics. anyway! Next we went to Charminar - one of the 7 wonders of hyderabad where we met some awesome people. Some indians wanted to sell things to us of course, but after I didn't want to buy - they still wanted to talk and be our friends. It was so much fun!!! They spoke to me in Spanish, which was a lot of fun! Their knowledge of languages is fabulous! The state languages are a big sense of pride here so in A.P. (Andra Pradesh) or (AAAAndHraa PrAAAdesh) Telagu is the popular local tongue.



Then from there we went to City Centre, which is a shopping center and entertainment place for the "new Hyderabad". It is so westernized and modern - it is fascinating to see the differences b/w the old and new cities. There I roamed around a bit and then we went over to this extreme sports bar and restaurant. We hung out there for a couple of hrs., chatted, watched some US gymnasts on tv, sang to some popular US songs, and then headed back to ICRISAT. We got home about midnight and I was absolutely ex - ha - uste - dddd! We actually left early too at the sports place so we could return. It was really nice our friends Sarah and Charlie came back w/ us b/c we needed a full taxi to leave. That is why we were there waiting. . . So, much appreciation to them. Check out this night of photos on my album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=233684&id=632933553&1=9137aOf128 !



Also, I was a photographer around ICRISAT and took some photos in the morn before the market and full day excursion! So, here is that album too! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=233689&id=632933553&I=c4ad29338a !

Happy picture-browsing!

Wrapping up the Workweek

Leah + Indian trees = nearly like home!!

Ummm . . . a vine!? and a just-woke-up Leah! :)

What remains of a good b-fast: papaya, bananas, and cereal . . . with HOT milk! Yes, the milk is hot here and so much more delicious than cereal and cold milk. Well, both are good I guess - but I think the hot milk is supposed to be better for digestion. However, you must anticipate a more soggy cereal of course, but the warmth makes up for it!

Some women walking to work. (Bird's eye view!)

Yes - I got myself in the pic. . . with the palm tree. Success.

Interviewing women-headed household: data for study.

Blurry pic, but look at the garland they made me I have hanging from my hair!!

My two favorite girls bringing me flowers, flowers, flowers!!!




Well well well - I am doing great over here! I have had a very productive week - started my final report which is all on the formal research study I conducted and I now am on pg 20 with 2 more objectives of my study to report on - (I have only reported on the first one and some of the preliminary data - including some info. ICRISAT gathered in earlier years. I am really liking this research work so I don't know if it is in my future or not - but it is a possibility. I think part of the problem I had with it not feeling significant earlier on is that we are kind of here in the ICRISAT bubble so to speak. So if it was actually for life I would be much more able to go off campus, be active in the church, volunteer in community, etc. in free time. So, many possibilities!





Today my workmate - well whenever he comes in the room he says, "Working hard!?" To which I reply, "Yes!" Then one time he said something to the effect of, "Work hard, but don't get stressed. Enjoy what you do." That was a wise statement - so I told him how much I do enjoy it. Now, I may need to break the "Serious Leah Working Face" to show I am having fun too! He sent me these maps of my village which are awesome for my report and another woman gave me all these reports and some have great graphs for my report. Another woman told me about final presentation and some more details - a different man is helping me get the names of everyone in the government, a different woman I will meet with next week to show her some of my qualitative data presentation, oh man. . . who else? Then my fellow interns are so nice to talk with - oh, I better get a picture with my new friend Ya-Ting - she is so cute!




So I have lots of people helping me here - the ones I mentioned and even more. Now I need to think about how to thank them!! Please help! Suggestions anyone!?!? Comment, message, or chat with me about all of your great ideas. Not to mention the wonderful people with the housing and dining staff who are all SOOOOOOOO KIND! I could never ask for a nicer place to be. Maybe that is why I think of coming back. It is such a family here - if I would return - it would be a whole new family with some of the same faces and I would be an old vet! Not new blood that time!!
Sorry no pics in awhile - I am back on the multimedia binge!!!

Oh speaking of that, check out another album of pics. from the village . . . this is the best way to tell the story - through pictures! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=233423&id=632933553&l=faadc918f4 Hope that is right!

Thursday Time is Ticking. . . .

Ok so I promise I won't mention the time in every blog post from here on out! But it will be a big part of it! Guys, I am freaking out! All of a sudden, the calendar caught up to me and I now realize how short my time is!

8 wks. is really the blink of an eye! I got my college roommate assignment today - I am living in 200 Church which is a program house for freshman who are committed to fighting racism and oppression and stuff like that, so I am pretty excited! Although all of this is crazy b/c it is really putting things in perspective - ---- ok - ----- so I just had to make a phone call home and get off some of the excitement off of my chest!!!!!!!

I have had the best best best best day!!!! I just feel like I have a million things to do - I don't even know where to begin or start!! Let me tell you about some of the best things in my life now!!!!!!

So here goes:

1) I have an awesome new penpal from Wesleyan University - where I am going in the fall. She is soooo nice and an incoming freshman like me. She is from Boston and is interning this summer with the Boston Globe. Last summer she had a fellowship dealing with the foster care system. She is really nice and really awesome - and I need to find time to write back and be a decent pen pal!!!

2) I now like to go on walks during breaks at work - so I just take these short walks during different breaks and it is a great activity during the day. Helps with focus too I am sure! No more problems with that :)

3) It rains here a lot and I like it a lot - I don't even use an umbrella - I just let it rain on me!! The rain is different a lot and it is not too hard - but when it pours - it really pours!!!

4) I may go to this awesome S. African art exhibition this wkend in Hyderabad - at this huge palace and it is this huge deal!! Craziness!!!!

5) I get a vehicle reserved for an entire day w/ an ICRISAT driver so I am planning whole day to do whatever I want to see in Hyderabad on a Saturday!!!! (With a personal driver, of course!!! Can't get any safer than that!!!!!)

6) I met w/ people from U. of Delaware who are here - leaving tomorrow though. Such nice and friendly professsors and I got the card of the Economics one - he is so awesome - today I talked w/ him and one of my helpers at wk. and the man said so many nice things! They both did! Everyone is so helpful to me - that is why I owe it to them all to complete a good final report.

7) I also met the students from the U. of D. and the girls were sooooo nice - I wish they were here interning!!! They just graduated from college - 2 of them knew friends who just graduated from Wesleyan and the U.D. professors were so excited for me!!!!

8) I am getting pretty excited for me too w/ all these new happenings in life!!!

9) I have so many helpers at work - so many people who just help me soooo much - get me info./data/resources/ ===== just what I need!!!! It is miraculous all the awesome info. I got today for my report!!!

10) I got woken up at 4:30 in the morn by a wicked mosquiter bite on my foot and haven't slept since and I am so charged up!!!! I have so much to do - I feel I could just stay up and up and up and work on things - but then I would not be as productive tomorrow so I need to do some calming exercises or something!! (A shower will help with that!) I would stay up like I want to really late but that would break priority # 1: ahhhhkk! Stinking health! Means a somewhat acceptable nights sleep! Can't I just sleep on the plane ride? If I stay up till then maybe I can get everything amazing in!!

11) I have allllllll these new pics. from the village - so the WFP will be happy to have more pics of me with the farmers - and the kids - and my beautiful flowers!!!! (the kids brought me!!)

12) Hoping everyone on the great ride across Iowa is riding safe and making smart decisions! Go Uncle Bob go!! (And brother Josh.. . .for a day or so!?!?) And anyone else too! Bring in some funds Bankston!!

13) Too much more to tell - I better wait for tomorrow!!!

14) Love, EXCITEMENT!!!, Joy, Peace, Bliss, Rain :)

15) Ahhh, India.

16) p.s. you stay away from me tonight mosquitos - ya hear!?!? come on mosquito net, do your job!! :) ;) ;) ;) :)

17) Gooooooooooodnight! Have a great fantastic day :)

Is it Wednesday already?

The days are flying by and I am continuing to work on my research project. Today I got some great work done on my project and also visited the doctor on campus. I am feeling 100% better now, but with my internship program, it was good to get the "clean bill of health" so people back home can know I am ok also. So, hip hip hooray - I am officially better now! He was very nice also :)

One of my mentors here went with me actually b/c she is not feeling so well herself. She was a great big help to me today and so kind always! I found out some really exciting news today also! Catholic mass in India is hopefully coming to Leah's life soon! So, there are a couple of people who are from the Phillipines and Catholic also who go to Mass. One man goes from here to daily mass, even, and I think I may get to hitch a ride with him sometime! So I am so excited about that; going to Mass in India was something I wanted to experience before I left and now it's looking quite plausible :)

Also, I have access to an ICRISAT vehicle I just found out for a day, so I am talking w/ my friends and we are planning a trip to the city and going to see some things some weekend. Also, we may be getting a tour of a some place in Hyderabad, so I will let you know if that pans out too! So, all of that + final reports = a very busy (and happy!) Leah. Time here is going to continue to fly in these last 2.5 wks! More later :)

Too Much to do Tuesday! :)

. . . In a great way of course! I am loving my new room at work b/c now I got to meet another great person and he is so cool. Today he really opened up to me and showed me what he is working on. He is drafting the answers to the Indian parliament right now about what the whole ICRISAT institute has done and what good it is doing, etc. It is crazy! I saw the questions! My area, (Global Theme - Institutions, Markets, and Policy Impacts) is the one responsible for this b/c it is the policy area. So he writes answers, gives to boss (who is my mentor and head of the whole Global Theme), she revises and then gives to the General Director (William Darr) who is head of whole ICRISAT here and then he gives to parliament spokesperson or something!! So cool!

He also said something to me and I turned around and looked at his computer screen and was surprised to see the World Food Prize page up - with the Borlaug-Ruan interns this year and my picture! It was so cool that he found this and really cares about what I am doing. I told him how we were selected and what the program is all about and it was so nice to share. He then said he was on the sight b/c of reading on Dr. Ejeta who was the Laureate of the WFPrize last year. He is a huge fan of him and so impressed by his unbelievable story of hardship and overcoming adversity from a poor family in Ethiopia.

He grew up in a one room thatched hut with a mud floor in Ethiopia and went to school in a neighboring village. His mother greatly valued education as did he and he walked 20 kilometers to his school each Sunday night and 20 kilometers back home each Friday night. So he received the prize last year and is the absolute most humble and hard-working man, it was such an honor to just hear him speak. However, I was also placed in his small group which meant I got to present my research to him and discuss our policy and other approaches to our issues of global hunger. It was such an incredible opportunity meeting with Dr. Ejeta, so I got to share that with my work friend and I think he is so impressed by just this great fellowship opportunity.

I was so happy also that he looked into what I am doing because it is a unique program and the only reason ICRISAT would really want me here! Now after this internship if I ever wanted to come back I'd be a little more qualified - maybe in a future summer- but who knows what the future will hold. Uh-oh, better try to work on my report this time first!

It is so nice w/ my friend Ya-Ting at work, I got to help her out a little today and she had a couple of questions. I think she feels like she is bugging me b/c I have my whole big big report write-up I am frantically working on, but it is actually humbling to have her ask me questions - and then really cool when I can be of any help :) I mean she is working on stuff for her PhD plan, so what she is doing is gonna be important for the next few years of her life until she completes it. Not to mention I need some breaks from what I am doing anyway.

With this revitalized health I just feel like I am having 1 million thoughts a minute, they are all catching up to me from the days under the weather. So I need to keep telling myself at work, "Focus Leah, focus." I then look at the calendar and that is incentive enough! I am not stressed about it though because I mean I only have the time I have. However, I do want to make the most of it and work as hard as I can during my worktime. I deserve that to the farmers - to document their lives the most clearly that I can see it and at least write down the story that too often is ignored. I really enjoy what I am doing.

Some day I will take a pic. of my new room and let you see the new space accomodating Leah. I am up in the front of the office now and I really like it there. Man, with my million-thoughts-a-minute-mind it is very good my back is to the distractions as I said b/c that probably helps things out!

So then tonight I was bound and determined to transform this sick room into one of new and good health. I had a me-e-esss b/c I had my suitcase from the village w/ dirty village clothes, etc. was still unpacked due to illness. Ughhh. Not to mention my double glass doors have been closed throughout illness and it has been stuffy in here. So I was ready to unleash . . . I called housing and they came and opened them for me. (They got closed while I was gone, which was probably ok thing.)

Then I got unpacked and then I did laundry - mass laundry! It was crazy. I actually washed by hand instead of laundry service. A couple of the other interns do that as well. I was going to use my friends detergent but I get free n clear at home or I get allergies so I decided on the homemade goat's soap instead. (It is generous Claire's, from her cool, organic, diversified farm.) Anyway, operation laundry was successful, but I did a little color mixing - no whites and colors though, so I was ok there. We'll see how clean they are when they dry!!

It may seem weird, me washing laundry with bar soap :), but it actually seems like the most natural thing to me, surprisingly. I was just thinking today about how cool the simplicity in the culture is. It makes me think of a lot. Like how many clothes to give away when I get home! I mean, here I am with just the clothes I packed for 2 months - which is 1/6 of the yr. and most of the summer season. It is week 5 and the first time I had to do major laundry. After the village I actually had some dirty clothes! Otherwise, just the basic everyday things are what I would need to wash before this. I thought of how much water I am saving b/c 1st of all obviously it takes less water by hand but then I thought if I was home for the summer how I would have had more wash done. . . .

I think the fact I will be just packing again when I get home will help with the down-sizing also b/c only so much fits in a Hybrid! And I think I want more at college than just clothes!! It is not really like I have ever had a big thing with clothes, but I mean I have been living for 1/6 of the year on just what I brought it my suitcase and it is plenty! So, I obviously am used to more than this at home!

Not to mention, it is one of my (and maybe typical, couldn't tell ya, I'm not too typical usually!) coping mechanisms to the culture shock and new experiences to focus in on something to make adjustments to. It helps me anyway to look at ways I can change things I do to not just go back to what I was before after arriving back home. (I don't think this is too much of an issue considering I will then be booking it to college, but still.) It is a more visible check for myself, like, "did I forget what India taught me?" "Nope, look at my decreased wardrobe for proof." Not to mention it helps make me feel better too!

I have found that there are going to be things throughout life that I will not agree with or support. However, the only thing we can ever control is ourselves - our actions and decisions. Those are how we show what we truly support and where our values lay. Therefore, sometimes it is better to just live our lives in accord with our beliefs than to get bothered by whatever it is. Like if it would make me sad to see a person in rags, barefoot, I would then think and I have how many extras!?!? Some things really make me think of my life as so much excess!!! It serves as a great reminder of just how blessed we really are.
For health. For family. For friends. For opportunities. For enough money. For this sweet life.
Ok all the thoughts, rants, frustrations, reflections, and wonderful joys for now :) :0 :)
I am going to bed.

Sweet Dreams India. . . I lay my head down and drift to sleep amidst the soft pitter-patter of a peaceful summer night during the rainy season in India. . .

Back to work . . . and life :)

Hi all! So I apologize for this perpetual time warp occurring in my blogging. I bet you didn't know you were going to have to use a time machine just to follow my travels, but I also did not know I was going to be knocked out cold with the bad bacteria. So I am finally feeling back to Leah again!!!! I can't believe it and am so grateful right now for so many ordinary (for me) yet extraordinary things. Health being one good example. Also, all of the wonderful people who have helped me. Lisa (WFP) who is always there making me take good care of myself - or finding the right people to help me - or navigating young adults through foreign airports - or arranging foreign diplomats for the youth institute. . . she does it all! Claire - the best best best dorm neighbor/helpful nurse/cracker-sharer ever!!! (among a million other things, but this is health-related. If not, we'd be here all day. Rosana - a women here who works a lot with Lisa, she is one of my mothers here! I would say my main mother here. . . today she told me again I need to contact her with any problem/concern/need/want/etc. I have her extension no. and she says she doesn't mind if I call at 1 o'clock a.m. That doesn't bother her, she wants me to let her know with anything! . . . .She is an angel!
My other friends: Chandrakala - my old roommate at wk. (wait till I get to the "old" part) - who came to visit me one day when I wasn't feeling the best. Sarah (medicine-sharer) and Christen (banana-retriever and company) and Charley (idk, moral support and kindness!?!) and everyone at work and. . . and . . . (each ellipse accounts for more people I don't have time to write - but equally thank! Ok, so very thankful.

Alright, so I am going to finish telling you about the villages whether you like it or not :) just because that is the absolute most amazing experience I have had. So more from the village to come. Anyway, back to my life here. So today was Monday and I was back to work after my days off (weekend + sick days + being in the village). Man, it's been awhile since I was there! This morning one friend came to see me (this morning I was still not feeling too hot) and told me at least I wasn't pale, so that was good. Now that I am feeling better I have this ravenous hunger so I spent most of the morning at work eating! (While working on my notes of course. . . but I still wasn't feeling the best.) I was planning on working just for awhile or seeing how I felt so I was not feeling too hot (a.k.a. considering high-tailing it home) when I recalled the priorities I have set for the remainder of my internship. (These really were unspoken rules the whole time, but now they are set in stone!!)

Ok, so below is no cool language I am sharing, but just the font Webdings. Isn't that weird? It supposedly says, "Priority List!"

Priority List

1) Health
2) Complete internship reports (yes, plural!) and prepare for final presentation and . . . do those farmers justice! Yeah!
3) Other wonderful and fun and amazing India stuff!!!
4) Somehow find ways to thank everyone who has made everything this summer so amazing and indescribable, pack my things, and kiss the Indian soil goodbye!!!

So, that is what is left in a nutshell. It is crazy - this whole experience, and so awesome! Anyway, so I was thinking of the priorities and considering heading home when my boss came in to see me. I was happy she did and then I actually found out I was getting moved out of the Gender Studies Room. Awww, I liked the idea of working in that room . . . not to mention my wond - er - fullllllll friend, Chandrakala!!! But some scientist is returning, and who knows, they are probably actually working on gender studies, unlike me!! She thought I was looking good also! (Man, this Leah they were seeing I wasn't feeling yet!) I was like, man, it is good I haven't showered in a day or two. (Or made any attempt to look decent other than strapping on sandals and finding clothes with the least wrinkles.) ~ Note the word least here :) ~ Who knows what would have happened if I would have? People would expect acrobatic shows! (And I am a hygenic person thank you very much, that comment is to show you my dedication . . . or . . . yup, you're right, too personal.)

Anywhooo, so then my mentor took me and we sat down in what would be my new office. We had a meeting with a new intern - yep, you got it: fresh blood as we (weirdly and a little creepily now that I think of it) say. Maybe we are referring to the mosquitos or something. Yeah, it is pretty funny when you think of it that way! Oh well, she is from Taiwan, and for some reason I have a feeling they just won't be as close of a friend to her as they have been to me! (They aren't that bad. . . but we aren't great pals! Btw: did you know only female mosquitos bite? And after a good blood meal, the females can lay up to 400 eggs at one time? So, if you get a mosquito bite, you should be (or others should be) slapping you 400 times for every mosquito you let into this world. Ok, not that harsh. Especially looking at a couple welts on me now :) Anyway. . . . man, it's been awhile since I have blogged daily events! The real news - hot off the press baby!

Anyway, I met her and she is so nice. It is so cool b/c she is studying at Univ. of Wisc./Madison!! And I am from . . . Iowa, of course. So that was cool. She is only here until the end of August and just doing some pre-PhD work. She just got married like 2 wks. ago in Taiwan and now she is here already. (Her name is Ya-Ting, isn't that cute!? Easy for me to remember also. God was good to me this morning!) I told her I may not be the best person to introduce her to everyone because I am not the best foreign name dictionary let's just say. That was ok with her :) She said she was planning to come sooner but then had family home for the wedding and ended up showing them around Taiwan for a week and entertaining so she came a week later! And she seems totally at ease! She was telling me how she ideally would have spent the whole summer here, but had the whole wedding to plan so that cut into her time a little! A little? I guess so! Man, that is one well-adjusted girl! Anyway, it was awesome getting to talk to her. I was sharing about my village visit with her, and she was asking questions like I was the expert. It was perfect for me to be able to help someone else. That always makes a person feel better, so I was able to show her a couple of important rooms: bathroom, computer room (I know - what an exciting tour guide, right?!?!). So then, after a lot of talking and a sore throat, dry mouth, and attempts to drink my big water bottle, she asked if it was lunchtime! It was indeed! 12:15, and I am usually the speed walker getting to the lunchroom not a minute after 12:05. And it's a healthy jaunt! Anyway, then that. . . ok, jump back to office now.

To tell you more about. . . the new office :)
I have a nice big desk and now my back faces the open door which I love b/c then people can look in on me and see my back working and I don't get distracted by passing traffic. In my old rm., I liked to keep the door halfway closed so I was a little hidden! So, the look outside is still there, not quite as much of a view although it is the same one, just b/c of some obstructions (a.k.a. books), but fresh sunlight? big desk? still can't complain! However, I do feel really bad b/c I am budging in on this man's office. It used to be all his and now I just "all up in his space!" but he is sooooo nice and friendly and welcoming. I mean, you think someone may at least sulk for the first day or so (or at least hour) before extending the olive branch, but he was nice from the get-go! And, let me get to the best part! You'll love this one! He doesn't get there in the morning until 8:30. 8:30! and he is the one with the key! So, no more 8:15 for me. My life is changed. A full more 15 minutes in my morning. (I thoroughly enjoy my mornings in the solitude with a jolly chat with the 'rents at home sometimes of course!)

So, Leah's new work schedule: 8:30 a.m. - to be determined p.m. with some lunch and a breaks if needed. Today I took a long lunch. I just have a great big appetite back as I said so I wanted some more nourishment time :) After lunch (maybe a little too big) I was feeling much better.
Now I was up to some serious work. I got my village visit write-up done, which I will send tomorrow morning before work if I ever get to bed tonight. I also ended up staying like an hour late, which justified my long lunch break. Instead of leaving early as I felt in the morning. . . and I was feeling up to it, so oh how the tables turned on this day! All for the better :)

Oh man, long blog is back. Who knows for how long, but this girl is tired now! The lights are going out in India. . .

And my most important people to thank: all of you! The prayers, the support, and the love have nursed me back to good health. Well, still getting there 100%, but I am a lot more Leah now, as I am sure you can tell! Lots of Love to Iowa, USA :-) Sweet Summer Dreams :-)

P.S. Have some watermelon and corn on the cob for me! It's that season, right?

Day 2 in the Field: July 16th

I had an absolutely phenomenal day today. Last night we got back to the hotel and I got to shower. It was the - best - feeling - ever! Our hotel is super nice and I got a wonderful place set up on the couch b/c my mosquito net is able to be hung up on the window shades. We will check out day after tomorrow though and need to find a new place for the last night.

Today in the village, I had a number of experiences. I do not know how to begin. (That seems to be my trouble a lot, huh!??!!?) I am so happy. I had a meeting with government officials in Kinkheda b/c we were too late to meet with farmers who waited for us for an hour and then went to the field. I felt so bad and could not meet with them. And let me make one thing very clear: it is the women who were chronically waiting on the men, thank you very much. All stereotypes dispelled!

In our meeting we had a snack for the people, and we all got our own little serving in some newspaper. Then when you were finished, you could just crumple the newspaper up! I'm not too big on Indian snacks, but the mixture had some type of nut in it, so I was grateful for some protein and enjoyed that :)

The day was kind of interesting. I didn't really know what we were going to do until it was over. We got to see around Kinkheda village before lunch and then we went out to a restaurant for lunch - but not until like 3:30. Then supper is very late here also. (At home I am used to eating supper from like 4-6 p.m.!)

This was where the pictures came from in the photo album with the cow dung burning to try and keep away the flies. (The dining was outside - where we sat at least.) The flies were insane :) It was helpful though when the server turned on the fan above us. We were in an outside structured room of sorts . . . and I had some food I brought along and also tried some sorghum roti which was good. All roti is bread and then there are different kinds. For example, chapatis -which I have talked about before - are roti, just made out of whole wheat. Paan is another roti made out of white flour and baked differently.

After lunch we went back to the Kanzara village and I tried to think of what I could give the kids when a little girl touched a wooden bracelet I was wearing with a cross on it. I remembered I had a couple other wooden bracelets along so I went to my backpack to try to find them. As I was frantically searching my bookbag, I realized the bracelets were in my hotel room, but before I despaired, I came upon a different wonderful discovery. Playing cards! Yes! These are the pics. you saw of me playing with the kids, first the little boys and then the girls too. The girls were my favorite so I would always point at them to help out or something so some of the boys wouldn't get too much playing time!

This elder in the village - the old man in the pictures - loved the game also! He would keep the kids back from the playing table and tell the kids when to take the cards. It was so much fun!!! It was also cool how the whole village was kind of like a family or a team I felt. They knew each other and not me, so of course they were all kind of rooting for the person from the village playing me! But then when I made friends with some of the girls, my favorite one (the one in the pink dress in the pictures) was on my side! So there would be the 2 of us playing and then a person to pull in the tricks won also for them. I would usually pull in my own tricks. She started not only pulling in my tricks, but she grabbed every one and then would hand it to me. I would of course need to then give it back when I didn't win that one!

This village is not actually the village of my study, but it is similar to my village because they are only 8 kilometers apart. After we finished playing, the kids started communicating something to me - and I figured it out after a couple of seconds. They all wanted me to give one card to each of them!! It was so cute!! I tried to explain how 1 card for each would not be good b/c you need the whole deck to have fun together, but who knows if that was successful!

Ok, I will tell you about the hopscotch tomorrow . . . .

Day One of Village Visit - Still Continued :)

Well, here I am, still on the 15th. So I then was able to explain to my friend the whole chai thing. You see when coming to India, I was so excited about the tea. Well, ok with it at least. I like herbal tea - don't have it a lot, but it's all good. I did not know the chai here that is most popular is the milk-based kind :) I was able to explain to her how I don't have the most dairy products - with a little lactose sensitivity in me(I actually had tp have goat's milk for a time as a babe), so I was happy she would understand that. I didn't want to offend! She actually said she had the same thing and didn't do too much with the dairy products either!
The field investigator who had to fly back from Delhi to be with me is a wonderful man! He really has such love for his farmers and his villages. His work is such a vocation to him, it is inspiring.
I am happy the food situation is good, even on the road. I am able to discern what I think is safe and pick it up along the way, so that is wonderful! Ok on the stomach :)
Feeling so thankful to God now for all of His wonderous help he has given me today. At one point today, my companions asked if I was excited for college next year. I answered very passively, "Yes." They laughed I sounded so unexcited, and then I got thinking about heading off in the fall. That is a whole other world right now, you know? I started thinking about being 20 hrs. from home and saying bye to mom and dad just when saying hello again. So, that is something that will be really hard and that I am not looking forward to now, but such is life. "If He brings you to it, He can bring you through it!"
Oh yeah: news flash: trip is cut short: leaving Mon. morning for ICRISAT instead of Tuesday.
Learned two new words: how to say hi to old man and boy I think they are: old man = Chit-chaw and boy = javith . . . (again, way wrong spellings!)
ok, more tomorrow - the 2nd great day in a land far away!

Reevaluations and Revelations

I have been thinking. . . .
and I think I have cleared up a few things in my mind. Well, a few things that just hit me that is. After arriving home to ICRISAT from the villages I had this big profound revelation like, "Wow! Now I have seen the real India, etc."
Just a few days more of thought has led me to believe - no - has led me to know for certain that I have not seen the real India. Not even close. Even what I perceived as the "real India" was merely a watered-down version, one diluted beyond recognition, of what this nation really has. Of the atrocity of hunger, disease, poverty, and famine that grips the Indian subcontinent and many areas of the world.
And what is worse to be completely honest, is that I am not really ready to see it. I don't think there is any easy way to prepare oneself to see such disparity. So in that regard, what I have seen is like a beginning dose - a small fraction of what true poverty is - of what true poverty looks, acts, and smells like.
Consider the following:
- the poorest 40% of the world's population accounts for 5% of global income, while the richest 20% accounts for 3/4 of world income,
- as reported by UNICEF, 24,000 children die each day due to poverty - and they die "quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death",
- around 27-28% of kids in developing nations are underweight or stunted - the 2 regions w/ most are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,
- if current trends continue, the MDGoals of 1/2ing the proportion of underweight children will be missed by 30 million children, largely b/c of slow progress in S. Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,
- under 1% of what the world spent on weapons yearly was needed to put every child in school by the year 2000, but it did not happen,
- 1.8 billion people lucky enough to have water w/in 1 kilometer of their home, but not in their yard consume ~ 20 liters/day. (These people are very fortunate.) In UK, average person uses over 50 L/day just to flush toilet and in US, the highest water usage anywhere in the world - averaging 600 liters per day in total!
- in developing countries, 2.5 billion people rely on biomass - fuelwood, charcoal and animal dung - to meet their energy needs for cooking. Over 1/2 of the population in India and China rely on traditional biomass for cooking,
- indoor air pollution resulting from use of solid fluids is a major killer. It kills 1.5 million people each year, over 1/2 under age 5 - equivalent to 4000 deaths a day. This exceeds no. of deaths from malaria and rivals no. of deaths from TB,
- 706 million live w/out electricity in S. Asia alone and 1.6 billion people (a quarter of humanity) in total,
And one last set of statistics to share about the global priorities of spending from '98 in U.S. billions:
- global narcotic drugs = 400 (U.S. bill. dollars)
- military spending in the world = 780
- pet foods in Europe and the U.S. = 17
- and cosmetics in the U.S.? 8
Now to put things into perpective, consider what are estimated additional costs to achieve universal social services in developing nations:
- basic education = 6
- water and sanitation = 9
- basic health and nutrition = 13

If you would like to (or can stomach) reading more, go to http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats
(Anup Shah - March 2010)

The above may be enough to hold you over for awhile.

So, before I become a mere fact-dispeller, I better reflect and explain.
The reason I say I have not seen the real India is because the villages I visited had virtually zero deaths from starvation. However, that does not mean they were not poor, because they were. For me, some of the most interesting things were that:
- the landless laborers (those w/out land, they work for med. or large farmers in the fields) were so easy to separate from the large farmers. . . .
- 2 men I spoke with come to mind: one, a large farmer - little bit of a beer belly, plump cheeks, and a bubbly and gleeful personality - with passion and certainty of what he wanted from the government and of what new programs should be initiated . . .
- and a landless laborer: gaunt cheeks, pencil thin, more reserved and quieted, more ignorant and defeated. - no hope for new gov. programs, the concept was ridiculous to him - he simply wishes the gov. would carry out the programs they currently say they are running. . . .
- one house I interviewed a farmer in, I felt so sick - like I was going to pass out - the smoke inhalation in the room was unbearable b/c in the other room the woman made us tea by burning some type of biomass as fuel. . .
- I saw an elderly woman picking up cow pies and paddying them outside the car window in the Kinkheda village - I was at first shocked and then realized she was going to use them to cook with. . .
- In the Kinkheda village, if a familly saves and saves their money to buy a gas stove, regardless of their annual income, they no longer can be consider as below poverty line (BPL) and therefore, lose all access to the help the gov. provides for the families possessing BPL ration cards. . .
- I never understood what proper sanitation really meant for the developing world. Let's say it would begin with some type of a toilet - any type. We stayed in hotels and ate in restaurants, but I still am very fortunate I grew up as a tomboy. . .

So after a lot of fact-spewing and a few personal experiences, what does this really all mean? Stop buying cosmetics in the U.S. to ensure education for the children of the world? Cut down a miniscule sliver on military spending to save billions of lives - lives being lost to hunger and sickness and disease? No more domestic pets so we can focus on human nutrition and survival?

Frankly, and rather sadly, all aforementioned proposals are impractical. People don't starve because there is not enough food in the world, they starve because there is not enough justice in the world.
Maybe this accumulation of statistics and facts means something to you. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it's the first time you see poverty for the atrocity that it is. Or maybe, like many, you have become hardened to the reality of poverty and hunger in our world. The reality of people literally not having enough food to eat. Enough calories for their bodies to function and survive. Maybe this downcast blog will serve as a deterrent from clicking on "Leah's Depressing Blog Updates" again! But I hope not. Ignorance is bliss, but after losing ignorance, bliss rapidly disappears as well.
To each person, I guess, this means something different. To each person, they will be affected in a totally personal way. We all have our coping and justification strategies. One of the most important things - one of the stepping stones for any change is first to acknowledge the truth. To stare at these inequities and see the sickness they truly are. The sores of our world. If you had a sore on your body, wouldn't you use a bandaid? Or would you just pretend it wasn't there? If we have sores - big sores - in our world, shouldn't we attempt to heal them?

Each person saved is one whole human life. And to live your life knowing you saved one whole human life would be a pretty extraordinary thing. . . .

Explanation. . .

Hello to friends, family, and loyal blogging fans! Well, I must explain my recent blog activity - or lack thereof. I am currently having a little bout of Delhi Belly, as it is popularly coined in India. However, contrary to popular belief, I am not suffering from dehydration. Blue gatorade is my best friend these days and Claire, the other WFPrize intern is taking great care of me. So, I'll be back to blogging before long, but in the meantime, I would appreciate any and all prayers sent to India.
Love to all!
Leah

Plot-spoiler

So, I have determined I am taking my time to get the updates up - it is a long process! So, here is your plot-spoiler: check out my pictures on facebook if you haven't already. No fears if you have no account - this url will take you right to my album - it is public domain: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=230035&id=632933553&I=718829f23a - yuck - I can't copy and paste in here - hope that is right!!
Sleep time!

Day One Continued

So, back to the blog. I just shared a beautiful experience. I feel as if every moment is an entirely new and wonderful opportunity for growth. This ride is like a roller coaster - both figuratively and literally. They don't need roller coasters over here - a cheaper form is just riding on the road. With the animals, people, and vehicles, there is plenty of action to keep you entertained. I had 3 chapatis and 2 bananas this morning before we even left the ICRISAT campus! Oh boy - shoulda run to breakfast if I would have known what time we were gonna end up leaving. We ended up leaving at about 7:30 - so from this time forward I am no longer worrying about the time - I am just along for the ride. That will be much more enjoyable!

To begin my day, I woke up at 4:40 a.m. after a laaaattte night of packing because I had some things to do and I wanted to make a few send-off phone calls before I left. (And we were gonna leave at about 7:00.) I was very worried about sleeping through my alarm b/c I wasn't getting too many hrs. of sleep, but miraculously I shot out of bed at the first sound of it and was bright-eyed and ready to go. I needed to get Claire up in the morning - I had some late night correspondence with Lisa who told me not to bring my visa. However, I had my visa with me so needed to give it to Claire to give to a woman working here to put it in a safe so it would be secure. I tried to get in touch with her last night - to no avail, so I was anxious about that as well! Lots to take care of before I left - hence the 4:40 wake-up!

So I called her phone in the room at about 6:30 and miraculously, she woke right up. (She is a heavy sleeper, so I didn't know how successful I would be!) She gave me some tape (for my mosquito net) and some anti-diarrhea meds to bring also in case of incidents while out. (I brought some more natural ones, but when on a road trip, sometimes you may need the ones that will just mask the symptoms asap! I then headed out to the housing office to be early for our adventure and it was so funny when I saw Andre prancing through the courtyard towards the housing office. I forgot about the whole tardiness thing at this time. . .

Last I knew, he was not supposed to come, but here he was with a bag in tow. Yesterday when hearing there was a possibility he may come, I was skeptical it would actually happen and I was a little concerned about completing my study and collecting my data if there were lots of other objectives needing to be accomplished. (Self-centered, I know!) But upon seeing him and speaking with him, I was so relieved and pleased he would be accompanying us on our trip. This way, I am not the only intern or foreigner along!

We stopped at an ICRISAT employee's house on the way to pick him up and got to go inside. Of course, chai went along with this stop, but I declined the offer. They told me I would need to have chai in the village though to be socially accepted, so I considered myself warned. We will see about that - maybe I will be able to get out of some of those cups! My friend told me when she goes to the village she has like 5 or 6 cups a day! Ugh! Chai here is either caffeinated black tea, or the most common and popular milk-based sickly sweet concoction which looks more like hot chocolate. "Rupsha Mom" as we have termed the woman who is accompanying me on this journey, said the tea is so sweet in Maharashtra, you get a sugar mustouche after finishing a cup. It is nice they are kind and accepting when I don't want to have the same to eat or drink as them. I am being very cautious about safe food.

I taught them about applesauce. Byjesh had never heard of it and didn't know what it was. I was talking about summer at home with the vegetable garden, orchard, and what we do with all of our delicious produce. It was so neat to share these stories. I sat in the back on the ride - bouncing around like a piece of luggage. I get a big window out back though, and a little bit of Leah space - which is nice. These bumps though. . . :/ :)

I am getting stares of course. I love the double-takes. I thought, man I am only white and get this much attention. What if I was white and could juggle? I bet a white juggler would get even more stares - if that is possible! My stomach strongly dislikes Indian driving - we are passing all of these fruit and vegetable stands and these women have a little pot where they roast sweet corn - or kinda burn/charcoal it. I found out that the Indian summer for the children is from April to June (during their summer!). Makes sense, huh?

I went from feeling horribly sick to now feeling wonderful. We stopped for lunch and I did not feel well at all so I planned to refrain from eating anything at the restaurant. "Rupsha Mom" told me I should at least get something to eat, so I asked if I could run back to the vehicle. Our driver went with me and opened it up so I could get some money out. I felt I should not have another banana or chapati! So I wanted fruit from a street vendor. I told him that and he came with me to purchase some. He asked me if I could understand his English ok, and I said, yes, that it was very good. He then told me that I should not go anywhere alone, and as I felt a million eyes on me, I quickly nodded that was ok with me!

There was all sorts of fruit: apples, pears, bananas (heaven knows I had enough of these along!), mangoes, pommegranate and others. I was soooo tempted by those apples and pears - I eat so many of these back home - but I restrained myself for a "safer fruit". I settled on the pommegranate because you eat the berries on the inside - not the shell. In one of my health books I was just reading about pommegranates and thinking, man I never see those, so now I did! This was my golden opportunity. Unfortunately, I would not have a knife to peel any apples or pears.

The fruit sellers, however, kept marking up the prices when Vishnu - our driver - would barter with him. This was b/c I was a white foreigner - quite obviously! So he told me to stay back and he would go ahead to secure the price before I would arrive at the stand. He rushed ahead to set a price before the sellers would see me and I awkwardly "played it cool." That is, as cool as a pukish feeling marshmallow white girl can play it with everyone in a 100 meter radius staring intently. I was just thinking, wait a minute, I thought I was never supposed to go anywhere alone! Come back!!! But I could still see him and everything, I just had to keep a little distance so we would not be seen as a pair.

He settled a deal, about 5 pommegranates for 40 rps. I really didn't want to buy 40 rps. worth of fruit so I said 20 rps. (what a barterer, eh?) and we ended up getting 3 for 20 rps. Success! It was so nice, I then wanted to wash the fruit with my bottled water - boy I was being a safe traveler - and he did that for me. He then opened it for me, using my ICRISAT room keys, and we headed back into the restaurant. He was so kind and took care of me like his own child. I was so grateful and the pomegranate helped with my stomach too. We then got back on the road adn I had another whole pommegranate and then banana I had packed! I felt just great! I got down my vitamins with minimal H20, and decided to treat my happy stomach to a chapati. Bad move. Not feeling so hot then! We soon stopped at a roadside chai place and that rest helped things digest I think.

Note to self: No more chapati in Indian traffic. I will never ever ever again complain about the potholes in Dubuque County again. Oftentimes the roads were actually really nice, but going from 110, 120 k/hr. to brake/swerve/pass vehicle/dodge pothole/ is something to get adjusted to! There are also a lot of speed bumps to keep people going a reasonable rate. Sitting in the back, I smashed suitcases in around me in an effort to keep myself more stabilized.

I am very happy though and have had great discussions with my companions on the ride. One interesting topic was the treatment of Muslims who are minorities. One person was talking about how his son is required to learn the state language of Andhra Pradesh and cannot take English in school because he is Hindu and that is just how the legalities work. (It is like a state pride thing, from what I can tell.) However, if he were Muslim, he could choose what language to learn. There is a lot of affirmative action in the laws in that regard due to the religious conflicts. My friend was saying that if they wanted a riot, put a dead cow in front of a temple or a dead pig in front of a mosque and you would have huge brawls. She said oftentimes the ones doing this would be of the faith that believes the animal is sacred (Hindu and Muslim, respectively) but simply want to start conflict.

Other interesting things we talked about had to do with some of India's history. I didn't know that India was named after the Ingres River or that the British were the ones who changed the spices in the Indian culture. Apparently, the most important spices used to be black pepper, cinnamon and cadmun and the British were the ones to introduce the chili pepper. Of course, to begin the tea frenzy also! It is interesting how that is so ingrained in their culture - it is such an obvious example of their colonial past. . . .

July 15, the day of our departure to Maharashtra, India

I cannot believe it is the fifteenth of July already. My internship is already 1/2 of the way complete. I still am in disbelief about this entire opportunity. I cannot believe I am on this internship - I cannot believe I am in India - and I now cannot believe that I am finally going to visit my village - a 12 hr. drive and 6 day pilgrimage to the Akola district of Maharashtra. I am so grateful to Elizabeth - my godmother - for giving me this journal which is perfect to write in on my journeys like in the airport and now in the village. I am almost done with the first one. I also need to thank Peggy - my aunt - for giving me this handy-dandy money belt which I am taking to the village with me also. And Donna Huberty - my prayer group leader - who generously offered me a beautiful suitcase to bring, even though I didn't end up using it - thank you! Who else? Too many to name - just really wanting to send thanks out to all who have helped me in preparing for the trip and for all of the support you - my faithful blog-readers - have provided me!
Oh yes, the siblings, for providing me with an awesome grad. present of a digital camera - which has been the only reason I am able to capture some of these moments in the Indian sun to share. And Ben too, for the last-minute packing tips - if it wouldn't have been for you, I wouldn't have brought any cards to India (playing cards) and they will come in handy later on.
I just love every event that occurs here - whether good or bad, they all add to the richness of the experience. I think it is good to be easy-going and just take what life hands you - embracing it - regardless of how things could have or should have gone smoother. I have been maturing on this trip (the internship in India) and am reminding myself now, no matter how many bumps in the road you are encountering, someone is - many people are - experiencing a much bumpier road. I think of the women in India and Africa who need to walk several kilometers just to retrieve safe drinking water for their family. Then any obstacles or hardships or annoyances I have pretty much fade into the background.
I just learned a new word that means thank you, "Shukria" is how it sounds, probably not how it is spelled, but oh well! I wrote it 10 times so I will remember it! Now I can thank service employees places - at the hotel tonight I was able to try out the "Shukria" and the man was very honored. He was just tickled and spoke back in rapid-fire Hindi that he is just doing his job. People are not used to being thanked! I think it has to do with the social hierarchy. . .

A Whole New World, A Whole New Me

The Change
It is hard to describe the changes that I feel,
the culmination of these experiences which were ever so real.
The laughter, talks, and companionship shared,
the way languages were overcome to show each other we cared.
What joy and what peace - they live a truly beautiful life,
but, a life also plagued with inconceivable strife.
This was the reason we came and we saw,
but one visit alone cannot change the corrupted law.
One internship to experience with just 8 wks. to give,
can never transform the evils in the world in which we live.
So instead I now look at things in a different light,
I have been spreading my wings and learning a new flight.
For no matter what one does - it can never be enough,
and there will always be simply more - more stuff.
More stuff that needs learning, doing, and saying,
More stuff that needs loving, healing, and praying.
This new flight acknowledges the truth in this land,
that life for all people will live on as God has planned.
However, all bad things will sadly continue as well,
as long as there is Heaven - there must be a Hell.
But life is a perspective - merely a state of mind.
What is this fellowship which we call mankind?
It is a single opportunity - and a fleeting one at that,
to step up to the plate and pick up the bat.
One chance we are given to swing and to run,
to enjoy one another in our days under the sun.
To fight the inequities which we can see,
to experience new cultures and break for tea.
To love - just love - the gift of life we have received,
to thank God each moment we have been conceived.
The true gifts of this life are not tangible items on earth,
they are love, companionship, joy and mirth.
They are not acclaims awarded or medals won,
they are not money accumulated or deals done.
The true gifts can be shared regardless of age, color, or class,
these true gifts are central to the most holy Mass.
It is not only an option to share in these intangible jewels,
but a duty to do so - breaking whatever social rules.
Whatever rules teach us we are different than the rest,
whatever rules inform that we are the best.
Whatever rules confine, restrict, and decrease our love,
to follow these rules is to be like a wingless dove.
The most valuable ingredients in life must be cherished and kept,
never covered by a bush or under a stairwell swept.
We cannot give into the rules of prejudice, anger and pride,
we must ask ourselves for what reason Jesus Christ died.
And ultimately, after this introspective time -
this deep and thorough internal mime -
a peace can be reached which has not been found before,
a peace that keeps you wanting more and more.
We must do what we can - while we can - where we are,
whether home or away - whether near or quite far.
We must find the way to fulfill our desires,
to refuel our tanks and fill our tires.
The mission for each person is never the same,
some may be destined to work with the lame.
Others inclined to help save an injured cow,
(yes, I picked this animal, don't ask me how!).
Whatever it is, pick up your mission and walk,
and do not forget to always remember to talk.
To talk to each other and to talk with God -
the only reason we are living on this earthly sod.
After my experiences in the villages this past week,
I have so much to say - it is just worthy words I seek.
Words worthy of communicating all the beauty around,
the beauty that within every person can be found.
I currently may look a bit disheveled, tired, and weak,
I may appear to be homely, worn down, and meek.
However, within I am radiant - beaming with joy,
my emotions are changing like a child's favorite toy.
I am overcome with the feelings of gratitude and praise,
for all things, including the grains of sorghum, wheat, and maize.
The person I am is not the same - not now,
something within me moved in those villages- I do not know how.
A beautiful experience I have had I will never forget,
the kids played with and the farmers met.
I cannot wait to tell you more about each day,
Each day I woke up, lived, and slept in a land far away.
First I must rest and settle back into my temporary home,
for just under four weeks - at which time I will again roam.
Roam about making another home for myself,
taking care of my passions, studies, and health.
A life ahead and so many interesting things to pursue,
so many ideas to think, see and do.
But sleep is essential and I best be headed off now,
Any last words? Yes, please. Just, "Wow."

The Scoop

So, I figure it is about time to let you know what I am up to! I am having an absolutely extraordinary time, but am on a borrowed computer and net connection. This means I am journaling every moment and picture snapping the others and I cannot wait to share. When I get unrestricted net access upon my return to ICRISAT (try 48 hrs. or so) I will begin to update. However, I will restrain myself and go in the proper order as I did on my long and hectic flights here.
Well, I am doing great! Fantastic, exhausted, and one hint: I love the kids!!! So, I will get you filled in as soon as humanely possible - after catching up on all my lost sleep of course!
More later!
Leah

So I am Off, Then!

Just thought I would let you know I am ready and raring to go. I woke up this morning at 4:40 a.m. (Thank God!) after a short night's rest. I will finish up with some last minute packing that I am working on here and then I will be off. We will head out at 7:00 a.m. from ICIRSAT west towards the land of Maharashtra and the village of Kinkheda. I am quite excited and ready for the long journey which will be a perfect time to sleep, rest, read, and relax.
Thank you to all for the prayers, love, and support. I will take a little of each of you with me as I meet with the rural farmers of the Maharashtra village.
If anyone is quick to reply, let me know any picture requests -- otherwise, I will use my best judgement!
Lots of love to all!
<3 XOXOXOXOXO <3:
Leah Marie Abigail Lucas

The Day my World Turned Upside Down. . . and GOT SUPER EXCITING!! :)

As you all know by now (or should) crazy things are going down here on the ICRISAT campus, Patancheru, India. Today I woke up - had my delectable b-fast of papaya, mmmm. delicious ripe mango, double mmmm. and even part of a banana/chapati roll-up. Wow. Big breakfast. I was very full. (It was like my subconscious mind knew I was stocking up before I even did!) I woke up extra early also so I was able to have nice long talk with Mom and Dad. (This all fits in perfectly to the plan later on. . . .)
I headed to work, wanting to be punctual, of course, with hopes to maybe meet my mentor today. I had to wait for the door to be opened for my office, but that was ok - I felt pleased I was there early. I began the day but barely got too far into any work (I was just working on final report) when my friend came into the room. She is great and doesn't mince any words. She says, "Hi. So, you are leaving for the village tomorrow morning from here and I am coming with." Of course, a mixture of emotions courses through ones veins at a time like this and I tried to find out the scoop. I had planned to leave next Monday and return late Saturday night, but this was all out the window now. (This was, like all things in life, both good and bad.) Now, thinking of it, I am so happy and I have no idea what I would have even done otherwise. It could not have worked out any better. This is precisely the time I said I wanted to go on my visit in the first place. I said, and I quote, "early to mid next week," in my last week report. Soooo, then I thought it wasn't going to happen and I resorted to a pushed back date. Now, I am right back on track. Pretty sweet, huh?!? Ok, so I must start at the beginning, this is quite the big day.

The man who lived in the village I am going to for 30 yrs. is currently on a trip. He works for ICRISAT now in the research field, but still maintains great connections with the village. He needs to go with me to get me in good with the people and ensure I get good results and data. He knows the people and village like the back of his hand. Once again, he is on a trip. I was told he would return from Delhi on Thursday and we would then plan my trip. (This is why I pushed back the date in the first place.) However, turns out, he was not planning to come back Thursday at all, but planning to leave from Delhi to a different destination he needs to go to. (He is on leave from work.)
If he would have done this though, I could not go next week with him either. Then I would be absolutely sunk without enough time whatsoever for me to analyze and prepare reports on the data I receive. So, at this point, my mentor comes into the picture. I met her today and she is wonderful. So kind, smart, and very good. I am so pleased to be working under her - I can learn a lot. She heads the whole Climate Change team. She went home on leave to visit family and while there, her father fell ill, then passed away and she - being the oldest child - was responsible for conducting all funeral service arrangements. What a shock she has had. She is still on leave from work, but came back early b/c of the things that need to be dealt with. (I am almost 50% completed with my internship, for example.) - And I am sure a lot of more important things also!

Anyway, so she was great and very helpful and told me there was one dimension she would like to add to my project. I was very interested and excited to hear b/c I liked her already. She wants me to have more of a forward approach and add in a futuristic element to my study. I was liking the sounds of this. She talked of how when her sons were in college (in U.S.) there were grant opportunities for international research and travel for the whole summer months. She said, so you could travel to a different country, maybe India, and if you returned to ICRISAT, continue with this project because a few weeks - a few months - is just enough to give you the basis of what the issues are with literature review. I agreed and was so happy and flattered she was saying this during our first meet.
So, what this futuristic theme or element/idea is actually something that ICRISAT is working on now - she said an issue of top priority. I will be conducting everything in my study as I have planned, all the while keeping in mind that there is a possibility for further growth. This growth is that in the future, let's say that ICRISAT will be approved to give a $10,000 grant to my village. (This is a loooot of money here and could create so many opportunities for a small village.) What I need to do now is preliminary work to see what institutions are best suited to handle money and a project of that magnitude. Would the local government be the best hands for the cash, or the self-help group, or the other formal/informal institutions? I need to find out what governance processes are working smoothly and efficiently and which have the trutst of the farmers. When giving such a large sum, you want to give support to an institution that the farmers know and trust.
After money is given, as my mentor said, there is no more shoulda, coulda, woulda's (She used other terminology of course!). The money is out of your hands and if given to a reputable organization, can and will be implemented properly and successfully, or obviously the opposite is also possible.
So, for my topic, a very important, sometimes touchy topic of governance, I need the man there with me who is on a trip now. So, my mentor called him and is having him fly home, which he was not planning to do, accompany me and introduce me to the village, which he wasn't going to do, and then fly out from here to his next destination. It is absolutely crazy that all of this has happened in the blink of an eye. So, in our meeting, she asked me if I would be ready or able to go on my village visit earlier than expected. By this time, I had already heard the plan, so I was prepared and said, "Yes." Then I heard the famous words again: tom-or-row!!! morning I would leave.
This afternoon was mad as I prepared what I thought I would have five days to prepare in just one. I got all of my materials - which is a long process b/c the security is so tight, every piece of property taken (owned by ICRISAT) must be checked in and out here. This was a long process, but I think I have all I need now. Cassette tapes, tape recorder, batteries (they call them "cells" in other countries more frequently), markers, and chart papers for my focus group discussions. I also needed to take care of all details with my money for food-purchasing out in the great abyss of India. I got all this taken care of and said some farewells to work friends.
I left half an hour early to get a start on the packing that desperately needs to be done! So, then this evening, it was going to be my last night with my friend Anubha. She leaves on Saturday and I will miss her going away pizza and mulit-cultural dance party! We hugged and hugged and said farewells after supper and I feel like I will see her again. We have a special connection, I was so happy to meet her and get to spend time with her. She is a truly beautiful and inspiring young woman. In two years she is planning to try to do a masters in the U.S. and Cornell University is one of her top picks, so that would not be too far from me at all. . . :)
Then, I continued to pack, pack, pack :) Claire and Christen came to my room and gave me some company as I packed and that was fun. I packed up allllll the food I am bringing - lots of bananas I brought from that lunchroom today, and lottttts of chapatis. It was a miracle - just today, they had chapatis for both lunch and supper. That. never. happens. EVER. Just the day before I am leaving for a trip and need it to happen. Supper was also wonderful. Delicious. Large. And great. I got some bottled water also and began to get into the mindset of "Go bottled, or go home!" when it comes to water anyway.
I am excited and a little in disbelief. I think the 12 hr. car ride will help me realize that, yes, this is a reality. We are not just riding 12 hrs. for kicks. This will be great - quite the experience. I will delete photos in my camera on the way. That will occupy some time. I will read books that I have not had a chance to. I will sleep - because I am not right now :) and I will prepare for my data collection and social and cultural exursion.
So anyway, I am going, the "traveling man" is coming to conduct all of our community meetings and introduce me to the village, my friend, Rupsha, is coming (kind of as a female companion and helper for me I think), and another friend in the office, Byjesh. (Byjesh and Rupsha were both at BbQ Nation that one night. . . .) Also, ICRISAT driver and SUV vehicle. So, that is the status update and it is now official - it is way past my bedtime! Lisa (a.k.a. international mom w/ the WFP) just told me in an email after I wrote back to her, to: "TO GO TO SLEEP YOUNG LADY!" So, I guess I better listen! Darn that world clock she keeps at her side!
Love, peace, and blessings to all, and to all a good night.
I will return to the blogging world upon my earliest availability.
(For sure, I should be back mid-next week.)
So long, my blog fans, so long.
Leah

Stop. Freak out. PREPARE!

News just in: I am headed to the village tomorrow. Tomorrow. To - mor - row!!!! I will be headed out of here at 7:00 a.m. and not returning until Tuesday night, the 20th. Wowee! How'd you like them apples?!? More on this roller coaster ride later - time to get to work finalizing my questionnaires!!

Lots Ahappening at ICRISAT

My friend had me try on her scarf, and then she took my picture! (Don't worry, we closed the door first!) I have decided, I just don't have the look down yet!
Chandrakala - my good friend and workmate. I made her pose for me so I could try to capture her beautiful outfit. The clothes here are so wonderful - creative, unique, and pretty! (I remember when I first met her and was told she was nice. The only thing I could think of was how I was never going to remember her name! Now, it is second nature to me!

This is a treat that was brought around today at work and shared.

My friend, Anubha's, cake at lunch. It was so beautiful, I had to take a picture! They always have the most beautiful and decadent deserts here - both Indian and Western!

This was a picture of a dish I tried at lunch. It was so weird - today was a really off day lunchwise. Everyone agreed. It was the first time pretty much ever. I said, well, an experience is an experience, so it qualifies as a picture-taking opportunity! Then I came back to my room and had some bananas and chapati! :)

Funny thing was, that at supper, there were tooooo many delectable dishes!! They definitely made up for it in the heart of my Western friends and me.

Today at work I worked on my proposal for my village visit - hopefully that will take place next week. It was an interesting day because I was trying to plan what I hope will be 6 jam-packed days away from this place that has been my home for the past 3.5 wks. It is like I am taking all that I know and tossing it out the window . . . and loving it! This place has clean water, it has nutritious and delicious food, and it has all of my friends I have bonded with since arriving. My ICRISAT home away from home. But frankly, I think I am ready. I want to experience the real India. To see more of what lies beyond the pristine walls of this estate. To truly meet and come to understand what the face of poverty is. What the lifestyle and culture is of a hard-working farm village that works their bodies into the ground to provide enough to live. Enough to eat. Enough to survive.

I come from a similar-sensed, hard-working farming community. However, the lifestyles that we live are usually not even comparable. Hard work is to be respected - no matter who is doing it. However, hard work to buy a new car and hard work to hopefully provide enough so your family can fulfill their dietary requirements are two different things. Can you imagine? Not knowing your future? Not knowing if you will get any rain to give you food to eat? I am very interested to learn the results of my study and to be able to generate my report on my research.

I am very interested to have this wild and new experience next week, hopefully. I was able to get here safely - through Dubai of course - and overcome a million unforseen obstacles through the grace of God, so I know that His providence will continue to provide, shelter, and protect me on my journey. I will keep you all posted after my meeting at work. (This afternoon, my boss returned, but I have yet to meet with her or to meet her at all!) It would be crazy to return back to work after so much time away - especially when you have such a giant job.

Here are some side notes:

-One of Claire's supervisors lives on our floor and she is the sweetest woman. She is like a mother to everyone. She feeds the cats milk, she has a pet bunny, she is always making our floor smell de-lic-ious with her cooking. Oh my, I wish I could stick that in an envelope and send it home. She is so nice and today gave me 2 mangoes - just because! Out of the kindness of her heart! And they are ripe also! I am so excited for my first ripe mangoes!!!

- The breeze feels so nice here. Today it did not rain and it seemed peculiar. I am accustomed to my daily sprinkles :)

- My friend, Anubha leaves this Saturday morning and my friend, Harshan also. It is so bittersweet - both. I am incredibly happy for them. They will be missed. True kind and beautiful spirits. Mom, I wish you could meat Anubha. You would just love her. She has a presence about her - full of joy and peace. Radiating contentness.

- Friday night is a pizza and dance party to celebrate her success here and our love for her!

- Ok, bed time! Good night - good night!!! More tomorrow, have a good day Iowa!

A Great Grand Splendid Day!

Parking spaces (and cars) are smaller here! Aren't they cute? Reminds me of the white Escort that so generously made the rounds in our family. (Originated with Billie and Paul!! Another thank you sent out for that one - man that was a good little trooper - aerodynamic too!)
This picture is weird and kind of corny, but it is of my fingernails. They are really long and strong and have no new white specks so I just had to show the fam. and anyone worrying about my health. Healthy nails = healthy girl, so I guess this travel thing isn't so hard on me after all!

I have sugar chunks in my hand. They are given out kind of like the prasad is (that is the stuff with the religious significance I wrote about earlier). It is believed to be more pure sugar and healthier because it is bigger I guess and not so finely granulated. . . . My friend gave these to me!

This is my building no. I work upstairs (in the air conditioning!) I used to be downstairs (with a fan!). Either way, the weather is nice now ;)

And this is my delectable snack. You must read on to find out more.

I have been having the most wonderful day today! I had a great time at work and got a lot of work done on my report. It is nice I have been working so hard because I have done a lot of the background work which is necessary. Of course it will be difficult to analyze the data and all, but I am just so excited for it because it will be so new and exciting. I mean, I am going to get to realllly reallyyyy go out there and see, experience, smell, and taste India. So I went to my supervisor today and met with him. I gave him some updated versions of my research proposal and told him what I have been thinking about my data analysis and stuff, and he seemed really great and flexible with everything! So that was so nice! It seemed like it would be ok for me to do whatever I need to do in the interests of time so I was quite pleased. We made 3 handy-dandy little manila folders with my info. in them I have been working on - one for me, one for him, and one for the big boss who. . . is baaaa-aack! Yay!

So, he also asked me about my weekend and how it was. He is so nice to me, on Friday before the weekend, he wrote down his no. for me again and told me to call him if I ever needed anything - not to hesitate. Personal or professional! I am pretty lucky I think. Now tomorrow I maybe will get to meet this boss that I have only heard of before now. I am beginning to believe she is just a name with an office that they talk about! Just kidding! But it will be really nice to meet her, and I am happy that I feel like I am settled in with a good head on my shoulders too for when I will meet her. I pretty much have a great idea of what I want to accomplish and what I am working on and she has been copied on all of my emails, so if she was vehemently opposed to anything I was working on I think she would have let me know before now!

So, I will be sure to wear a nice outfit for work tomorrow and hopefully my pillow will give me a good hairstyle tonight! (You never know what you will get now that my hair is thickening and growing out a bit, but a little water always does the trick if there are any big issues!) Anyway, so John, I think I have an answer for you!!! To fill everyone in, after my last post, John asked me about the reason why I only see boys in the village usually and why I did not see many girls out playing. So, I never really thought of this myself and was glad that he asked me. I asked my workmate today why this was so and she didn't quite get what I was saying! So I made it a little more clear and asked her about her childhood - because she is Indian. So when she was young she loved to play and play. They played all sorts of games - more than she could even name. The one she was telling me about sounded a lot like hopscotch and another involved some type of hand/eye coordination with a ball. She said they always played outside. This wasn't helping get to the bottom of my situation, so I then asked if she played with just girls or girls and boys. And, against what I had presumed, she played with both boys and girls!

So, John, I have just come up with my own gander about why I see more little boys. I am white, quite white indeed, and most people here would not be as used to seeing white people like me - off campus especially. So, I think the boys are just more adventurous and are closer to the fence to get a better look at my ghostly appearance or something! The girls must just play somewhere else on Sunday mornings - probably more in the village. The fence is against the edge of it, so yeah, those are the only answers I can come up with! Also, speaking of the village and my little boys, it reminds me, when I was walking past the village on Sunday, there was this huge thing going on. There was a really loud person talking into a microphone and maybe some singing also. It was a big affair. I don't know if it was at the Christian, now I know Catholic (from my friends!) Church or what, but it was really cool! I wanted to know Telagu so bad then (the native language of Andhra Pradesh.

I was very upbeat and happy all day at work today as I plugged away quite content on my computer. Then after work I came back to my room for about an hour or so before workout time. I talked to Mom for a minute before she left for work and also to Dad for a little longer before he left for school. (I forgot summer school was still going on for him!) Then I, after chatting with some people online, headed out to the gym so I could get out of there in time to go to supper at 7 and before the nastiest 'squitors came out. (I am talking with a lot of the other Borlaug-Ruan interns and getting close with them!) It is so cool - we are in all these different countries, having these tottttallly different experiences, yet we all have such a common bond! I am soooo excited for the Youth Institute and WFP Conference! It will be so fun and amazing and . . . yeah, indescribable. It sure was last year!

So at the gym I signed in the book with my room no. and signature as usual and the man came over to me. He kind of asked me some question, oh yeah, how long I was staying. I told him 2 mos. and he said ok. Well, he actually shook his head, but that means ok. It is just like nodding yes, except here it is more of a sideways nod - imagine touching your ear to your shoulder - not that drastic, but in that direction. It goes back and forth - the same as our yes, like how we bob up and down. It is funny though. You don't think of other countries having different yes and no symbols and non-verbal communications. It makes sense! Can you imagine how silly some people must think we look - well mainly me because I am the one here. Always bobbing my head up and down like a fish during every conversation! I have been a little more timid with the head nod, but I am just such a head bobbing type of person - I seem to nod yes a lot! I was actually going to challenge myself to get the Indian head nod down while I was here, but I didn't want people to think I was ever imitating them or anything. Claire thought they might think it is weird because I mean, they know I am Western - look at me! (We've been over the ghost thing!) So, I have resigned to sometimes a half-way my "yes" nod with a little of their "yes" nod! It works!

Lunch was good today and I am thrilled with this new snack I have come up with. I took a picture of it for you! It really may not look very good, but it is my favorite treat!

You see, I bring back bananas from the cafe all the time and keep a stash in the fridge - nothing like the black banana stash you all viewed earlier - I promise! I also have started to bring back a few other things because some people just always order their food to go, so that is fine also. Specifically, I bring some chapatis! I've talked about these before also, they are the whole grain tortilla-like thing eaten with Indian dishes. Well, there are other types of bread also so these are not at every meal. However, these are the ones that I like, so when they have them I bring home a little baggie with them in it! Then during tea break or when I want a snack my favorite thing to do is have a banana and chapati rollup!

Anyway, so back to the gym. They have just one working treadmill now, so you are only supposed to use it for 20 minutes a night to give everyone a chance! (Ha, ha! Tonight I had the place to myself, but of course I must follow rules, right!?!) Anyway, there is also this "emergency stop button on the treadmill in a very easy to hit place. So the first five minutes of a workout - at least for me - are never the most pleasant. I mean, you need to get into the running rhythm before it gets to be fun. So I had just gotten past those minutes and was really getting into the rhythm and having a good time when, "ACK!" I hit the stinking emergency stop button!! Oh, it always upsets me when I do that because 1) I have to start over and 2) it is terrible for your body to go from a good pace to a stopped pace! And did I mention I then need to start over? Ha!

Ok, so I started over and then I had a longer run and I was actually happy I got to be on there a little longer - it was fun to run again! Part of my brain is pessimistic, telling myself the joint pain will kick in soon, but hey, until then, I am a running woman! I had a nice workout and bit a few mosquitoes there. You see I have this new theory - bite or be bitten. So, I keep a daily tally and have gotten way too competitive. Yesterday I was down, so today I went out with a vengence and totally won - by over 5 pts! If I bite, it means I got them. If I am bitten, well you know what that means, then they get a point.
After this, I ran back to my room (oh, and by the way, found out earlier the gym is free b/c I am an intern - I guess if you are here longer you have to buy a membership. . .) and hopped in the shower. Now comes the time when I am going to talk about how grateful I am that Claire is here. So, if I wouldn't have Claire, I would put my sweaty clothes on and go back to my room to retrieve my towel when I realize I forgot it. However, I do have Claire, so she just got it out of my room for me! I took a lickety-split shower and then we headed to supper and I was hungry! Yippee! I mean I had a biiiig meal and then came back and had some more chapatis and 2 bananas, so I think I am getting my active appetite back again because of these daily workouts!
And the men are so nice at the cafe. They know I want my steamed vegetable bowl every meal and they have it sitting out for me - just for me! There are so many people that go through line, but they do that for, like I said, me. :) It is so sweet. And they also always just smile at me now, they know I have the card thing that says my meals are paid for. They don't care if I take food for later b/c I only eat half the amount of Rps. that my card pays for in a day anyway. Tonight the man said, "for breakfast?" when I was getting the extra chapatis. I said yes, and thought, and for snacks. . . because I usually just have fruit for breakfast, so he probably notices that!
Well, I am just in a great mood, but better get some sleep somehow. Hopefully I am not too full after my big appetite! At dinner I was in the best mood ever and I am just wired right now also, so I really think the endorphins are to thank. Ta, ta! Can't wait to tell you how tomorrow goes!!!!