On, zoom, click

Cows, cows, cows. Always in trash too. Odd, but whatever. I've gotten used to it.

A typical 'thali' plate. That is a mixture of different dishes, sauces, dal, and who knows what else. Did I mention it was all you could eat? And, yes, I did eat all I could.

A Hindu temple near one of the satellite offices. Simply gorgeous. Actually, most of the temple is underwater, so when the lake dries up people go into the main part of the complex. Most serene and incredible place I have been to yet.

And so it begins...

As I sit here in the Jatan office thinking about this past week, it has been a whirlwind of events: meeting new people, seeing much of the surrounding area, and getting settled into my host family.

While I have taken in so much at my host NGO, there is still so much to learn about what they do and who they help. Last week, I came into the office and read and read and read. Thankfully, they have many reports and studies which I was able to flip through to understand the organization. Much of the staff also speaks workable English making the transition quite smooth. As most of my time with Jatan will be spent working on a 'project,' from the first day I was keeping my eyes peeled for where I could chip in. Pretty soon it was made apparent that the there was a project I could start working on. Essentially, I will be researching and developing materials to be used for occupational health trainings for the migrant communities. Over the past ten years, Jatan has done much with this population so this project is a natural next step. Granted, I feel very inadequate for this project, but I will give it my best shot! Regardless, it continues to be enlightening as to how this grassroots development work gets implemented in such a locale.

Last week, I was able to go out into the 'field' (ie the satellite communities around Udaipur where Jatan works). In some ways, I feel like I was on a bull back in San Antonio at the rodeo, I was tossed from place to place in the field, jumping on random motorcycles and taken to another office or event. I was able to meet many friendly folks as well as the Jatan staff at the other offices. The color of my skin was also much more apparent than here in the city, ergo I got much more attention. Nevertheless, on Friday I found my way back to Udaipur crammed like a sardine into a government-run bus.

The weekends have been a nice reprieve. The interns placed in Udaipur typically get together and share a meal together and just catch up (ie share funny and frustrating stories of the past week). All in all, this time has been really great so far (minus learning Hindi...that could use some work:/. It's hard to believe I will be here three and a half months, but I know it will fly by. I hope everyone is doing great wherever you are!

Paul

Once I get an improved internet connection, I should be able to put some pictures up.

Greetings from India!

Greetings one and all!

Sometimes experiences live up to expectations and other times they don't. But ideally, expectations are not had, so the experience can forge itself, unabated by hypothetical notions. This has been my approach in coming to India. It is not a place I can neatly put in the context of a past undergraduate class or even a location I can leave to the pontifications of an author or teacher. Not that education would misrepresent or skew my time in India, but I hope to experiment in absorbing all I can without being told to think or even how to think about a topic or issue...yet.

To save you from the wanderings of my thoughts, I will be more explicit about what am currently doing here.

This past week has been the orientation of my/our program in Udaipur. Essentially, I went through orientation with 7 other interns (staying different periods of time with different host NGOs and host families). We we taken through the juggernaut of life in Udaipur and our internship program: Hindi lessons, guest speakers from local NGOs, city tours, and, of course, my favorite eating at a myriad of tasty restaurants. All of the interns seem to get along seamlessly well, all coming from different backgrounds, jobs, schools, parts of the country, etc. I have been given some clarity as to my day-to-day life here. I will be working with Jatan focusing on migration issues. Oddly, NGOs here focus on the other side of migration, the leaving. Rajasthan, the region I am currently in, is plague with many developmental issues (more later) so many people, men and children especially, leave for other regions in search of work. So the challenge is quite multifaceted as services need to be provided and anticipated needs must be addressed. I know little about the 'how's, why's' and other unanswerable questions, but hopefully will be illuminated to them in a small way in the coming weeks.

I have so much to write...but I know if I was reading I would lose interest a few sentences back, so ideally I will update the blog more often and with greater details. But, in short, the food has been nothing short of amazing, the people have been quite kind, unfortunately traveler's diarrhea is a reality, learning the language is presenting itself as my personal nemesis, and my jet lag is all but gone. I have a feeling I am going to get along with this place, once I learn how to effectively get around using a 'tempo' (communal rickshaw/taxi) and constantly remind myself that I did not come here to 'do,' but to 'learn.'

Cheers.
Paul

Btw the picture is in the 'Old City' from the rooftop of our hotel we stayed in the first week.