Truly Thankful

So it's been a while, I've been busy. Every so often my stomach gets a little upset but it passes. Beginning in early November I had another round, and I thought it was great to lose a little weight, but this time it didn't go away for more than two weeks. After it got to the point of not being able to hold anything I ate, I decided I should go to the hospital (yes I probably should have gone earlier). So the doctor says I can be admitted to the hospital now for five days, or wait two days until my test results came back and probably have to be admitted for five days after that. I knew my friends were coming to visit in a week and I wanted to get better before they got here. Plus my great American friend was cooking a Thanksgiving feast and I had been looking forward to her amazing cooking. So I decided to get admitted to the hospital then and there. I mean I didn't want to eat or even drink water because it was so painful. Turns out I had E. coli and I had Dengue fever (pretty much worse than malaria). Since I have health insurance under VSO, I got the clear to stay in the swanky private room. However when I came to be admitted, the private room was unavailable so I started out in the ward. It really wasn't fun. I guess seeing a foreign girl in a hospital is new to most Indians so I had about 30 pairs of eyes on me the whole time I was there. Plus there were no fans or A/C. Plus you're just in the hospital. So I made a few calls to my allies (you need to have allies in India who can throw some weight around) and they came to my rescue. They brought me food, visited with me for a few hours, and made sure I got my private room. I am so grateful because I had a TV, ensuite bathroom, and A/C! The hospital I was in didn't have a cafeteria, plus most hospital food isn't know for being great. So this is the best. My friends brought every meal for me and visited me. One friend brought me a goody basket made out of a Corn Flakes box with many issues of OK! magazine, plus tons of food goodies. After five days of sleepless nights and a constant IV (turns out it might take my hands up to one month to heal because of the IVs and my Dengue), I was released. My friend insisted I stay with her for the two nights before I had to meet my friends to rest up for my trip. I mean the hospital part sucked, but man I am totally blown away by the generosity and kindness of my friends. I haven't been here very long, and they know I am not going to stay much longer but they cooked gourmet meals for me, brought meals to the hospital, and stayed to keep my company while I was cranky and incoherent. I'll admit that I had become pretty jaded at my circumstances and with people, but I am just so touched by these friends, they have really restored my faith in people and the love that's out there. I can never fully express my gratitude for their kindness, company, and support through a difficult time away from home.

Apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin cake for Thanksgiving dessert!

Viva La Singapore, Mumbai Edition

Back in Mumbai, we had another extravagant weekend of food and drink, but this time in Mumbai. And yes this included going out in Mumbai, which I never thought I would do but turned out to be a lot of fun! So after my most exciting ride on the train to date, I arrived at the very nice Ramada on Juhu Beach. This was quite the departure from my more simple life as an NGO worker. After getting ready we hit up Rock Bottom, though the name was a little intimidating, it was nice and really happenin. I saw lots of young Indian people drinking and wearing western clothes, something that was a shock to my new conservative sensibilities. My favorite part of the night was probably the DJ. I have been itching to hear and dance to American pop music for months now, and that’s what I got! It was great. So at about 1AM the club shut down, but there was an after-party upstairs! Wow! So after some more dancing, we were exhausted and collapsed in our nice Ramada hotel room.

The next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed to make it to the breakfast buffet. Which was delicious of course. Then onto Juhu Beach. After making the rounds on the beach, and getting some coconut water, we decided to head down to the Fort area. From there we had our first extravagant meal. And it was amazing. Peppered fish and squid, so good.

Lots of people hanging out at Juhu Beach.

$35 meal in Mumbai! But so, so good.

From there we wandered to Colaba and through the Taj Mahal hotel and eventually found ourselves at Leopold’s. Turns out Leopold’s has a second-story bar I never knew about. Tons of expats of course. Then we called it a night.

The next morning was delicious vegetarian thalis. Then we did some actual Mumbai stuff and saw dhobi ghat. After a nice stroll through Chor Bazaar, where we discovered a new sect of Islam, we decided it was too hot and sunny to stay outside and went to the Intercontinental on Marine Drive. The rooftop bar had beautiful views. After watching the sunset we headed back south to get kebabs. And of course those were delicious too. That was the end of our gluttonous weekend in Mumbai, and I probably gained about 8 pounds.

Vegetarian thalis with dosa (not pictured.)

Dhobi ghat.

Lonely guy in dhobi ghat.

View of Marine Drive right before sunset.

View of Marine Drive right after sunset.

Kebabs! It's just a stand on this side street.

But you can't miss it because there are lots of people milling around.

Viva La Singapore, My Deadliest Sin: Gluttony

I just returned from a four day whirlwind trip to Singapore, and I had an amazing time. The newness and the buildings of Singapore remind me of the over-the-top feel of Vegas buildings, plus I was a little indulgent. I had been looking forward to the trip for a few weeks for several reasons, most significantly for food and drink (I live in a dry city). And Singapore did not disappoint. I arrived very early Thursday morning and slept until the afternoon. First up: Korean BBQ buffet. I’ve had Korean BBQ many times, but never a buffet of meat where you choose the quantity of every type of meat you want to grill. The restaurant also had some non-meat Korean items which hit the spot for my Korean cravings. Anyway after we stuffed ourselves, we went out for drinks. Drinks in Singapore are ridiculously expensive. Like, really expensive. I’m a lightweight so it’s not a huge deal, but it’s still pricey. My lychee martini was SGD 18, which is about $14. Yea, ridiculous. Anyway we had drinks and I also checked off the next item on my food list: waffles covered in chocolate and fresh strawberries. It was delicious. After debating whether to stay out later, we ended up going home and watching Arrested Development in celebration of the new episodes. We rested up for night #2.

Korean BBQ

After about 4 hours of sleep, I woke up to go to the American embassy to pick up our passports. We had gone the day earlier because we both needed to add more pages to our passports. After that, I shopped in the Orchard area. I went a little crazy; it had been so long since I had been in a Western style mall. Shops in India generally don’t have many Western clothes, and the ones they have aren’t very fashion-forward. That and for some reason they only have like one or two of each item of clothing. The Singapore stores were overflowing with really cute shirts, dresses, and SHOES! I went pretty crazy on the shoes. I spent about two hours in the first store I went to trying on shoes, and forced myself to only buy two pairs. From there we went to sushi. Again, absolutely delicious. I also had udon and donkatsu to make sure I got my fill of Japanese food. From there, more shopping. About 4 more hours of shopping. Then, more Korean food. I love soondubu, it’s my favorite restaurant food. So my friend did some research and we ended up at a restaurant with good soondubu. Then onward to home to shower and go out for the night. We met up with my friend’s friend, and his friends, and went to Zouk, where apparently a big-name DJ from Japan was spinning. That’s cool. My friend’s friend’s friends left at around 4AM to make their 7AM flight (crazy people!) and we went on to a bar for a few more drinks.

 After about an hour of sleep, I force myself awake so we can make our 8:30AM bus to Melaka. I pretty much am a zombie through most of the sight-seeing we did, but we had some good Malay food and satay for dinner. We had planned on seeing the Kung Fu Doctor, this amazing kung fu master who swallows knives and can pierce a coconut shell with his finger. However it started raining pretty heavily so the night market was not very lively. We ended up at a bar (surprise!) where I got some amazing apple pie, check. From there we wandered a few more bars and made it to the hotel.

Trishaws in Melaka.

After my longest night of sleep, 6 hours, we get up to catch our bus back to Singapore. I had a quarter pounder at McDonalds (more meat!), then slept a little while we made our way into Singapore. After a little respite at home, we had ramen at Ramen Challenge. There were six ramen iron chefs from Japan who set up shop in a part of a mall. The chef with the most votes wins the Ramen Challenge gets to set up a restaurant in Singapore. Needless to say, the ramen was delicious. Then onto a building that looks like it’s from Gotham where we had a drink at its beautiful bar. The last stop of the weekend was a bar on the river where we passed out on a daybed while sipping Singapore Slings.

Ramen!

Ok so maybe I didn’t see much of Singapore, but I did have a nice break from my daily grind. I am predictably exhausted and wondering when I can make it out to Singapore again.

View from our daybed at Lantern.

Out in the Field

With my job here I have the opportunity to travel around the state of Maharashtra. In an official capacity these are monitoring visits to evaluate how the program is doing in the field and to implement a volunteer management database. I get to go way off the beaten track and stay in villages that are beyond the reach of the Indian railway system, a very extensive system that is the world’s largest employer. These villages have been several hours away so traveling requires leaving the night before, spending the night on the bus, and arriving early in the morning to start a full day of field visits. After two full days of going from village to village we spend another night on the bus to come home and leave to start all over again. I’m a pretty light, fickle sleeper so I’m usually exhausted before the work day even starts. However I’m grateful for the opportunity to see how people outside of the major cities live. It’s been an eye-opening experience to say the least. Language is more of a barrier since fewer people advance in education. Through some tireless translation I’ve learned several of the obstacles that people must overcome.

In one village I visited were campaigns addressing three main issues: violence against women, caste discrimination, and education. In my field visits I didn’t meet a single woman, all meeting participants were men. Women in civic and social participation is abysmal, and their absence was disheartening. However there is a small group of women raising awareness about violence against women. Caste discrimination is present in urban areas, but it is in full force in the rural areas I visited. One brave young man from a lower caste campaigned for an open position on his village council but was defeated due to opposition of his caste background. He continues to campaign for social awareness and now serves on three village committees (unelected positions.) Another issue is education, families move where the crops are so their children do not receive consistent schooling. The organization I was visiting has set up programs for education gaps so children can make up for lost school time.

However I had some great Indian food, I’m getting decent at eating with my hands now, although I haven’t quite mastered only using my right hand. Traditionally eating with your left hand was seen as unclean, although this is not prevalent anymore. Tearing roti with one hand is pretty challenging and I don’t think I’ll master single-handed eating before I leave. 

Most meals consist of wrapping roti around an assortment of vegetables, using your hand of course.

Community center where one of the field meetings was held. The smoky column in the back is a Hindu shrine.

Women right beside the meeting who didn't want to participate, but wanted me to take pictures of them!

On my last day of field visits I came back by myself. Getting home involved taking a bus to Mumbai and another bus to Navi Mumbai. I thought to myself, taking a bus to Navi Mumbai doesn’t make sense because I could take the train and I’m sure there will be gridlock traffic. As the bus entered Mumbai, it turns out there was gridlock traffic. The conductor yelled out if anyone wanted to get off at Kurla. I have only been in Mumbai once but I recognized the name as a stop on the rail line I could take directly into Navi Mumbai. I said I wanted to get off the bus, so I leaped over a three foot wide puddle to land on the muddy streets of Mumbai. At this point I had been on the bus for five hours, since seven that morning, and was exhausted from days and days of field visits and traveling. The bus driver pointed me the way to the railway station and off I went. The sheer amount of people on the street would have been overwhelming enough, but navigating the traffic and muddiness tested my resolve. When I decided I was just going to get my feet muddy I almost ran into a cow and its huge pile of “fertilizer.” I then realized that I don’t mind mud on my feet but I do mind stepping in piles of fresh cow dung. Unfortunately there is no way to distinguish regular street mud from cow mud so I picked my steps carefully toward the train station. I tried three times to get an auto rickshaw to take me but it was just too close to be profitable for them, yet just far enough for me to know I had to focus on my end goal. About 15 minutes into my trek I was able to get a tuk tuk and got dropped off at the train station, where I was confronted with a mass of people which apparently were eight separate lines for the tickets. These eight lines were spilling out onto the streets. Completely disheartened I decided to ask two gentlemen where I could get a bus to Navi Mumbai. They asked why I would ever want to take a bus as that would take 2-3 hours with traffic and a train is only half an hour. I pointed to the line and they understood. One of them handed me a coupon and said, we need to find more. I had no idea what he was talking about but followed their lead as they began asking people for more coupons. Apparently these coupons are prepaid, and stamping them in a little machine at the station with the correct amount for your ticket will act as your train ticket. They asked several people if they could please spare a 10 rupee coupon, a 5 rupee coupon. I didn’t think this would work, why would people willingly give up these golden coupons that let you get onto the train without having to stand in a 100-person line? But it did, it did work. People did give these men their coupons. In about three minutes we had enough for my train fare, in fact we had more than enough. The men stamped my coupons and I ran toward the platform. I made it onto the next train and decided not to sit, but stand near the open door and get some fresh air. I had been reading articles on how sitting is bad for you and after sitting on buses for several days I decided I could stand for half an hour. I got to home/work just before lunch.

After days of being in the field and being astonished at the resolve of these people trying to make a difference against all odds, I was completely blown away by the kindness of these two men and all the strangers they asked for coupons. I’m sure they had somewhere they could have been, but these men went out of their way to find coupons for me; they did something for me I’m sure they wouldn’t have normally done for themselves. And yes, several people said no when asked if they could give up coupons, but many people said yes and some people even volunteered their coupons. I was just blown away. Yes people in India and everywhere face harsh adversity, but they have kindness that I haven’t seen often. Yes India can sometimes be dirty, but it has a clean heart.

Cows blocking my path to the bus door.

This is what I mean when I stood and got some fresh air on the train.

Monthiverssary in Mumbai

Alas, I have been in Navi Mumbai for a month, in India for two months and I’m starting to feel a little homesick. Specifically I miss meat and the suburbs. And I’m surprised at both of those. I’m not a huge meat eater by American standards, but I am a HUGE meat eater compared to any vegetarian standards. I realized I usually had meat for at least two meals a day, and I’ve been feeling the effects of going vegetarian. Firstly, I eat and eat but I’m always hungry. It’s like being on a diet but not losing weight. Especially considering my very protein-heavy eating pattern before leaving for India, my body is craving some amino acids. So now I am able to work either chicken or fish into my dinners, and having eggs in the morning has curbed most of my hunger. But I really miss beef. I miss tacos, steaks, and sushi. A lot. Thankfully, my dear Robert has shipped two boxes of beef jerky and tuna and protein shakes so I will get my protein fill for the next couple months. And yes I miss the suburbs. I’m not a huge fan of having to own a car and the need for driving to get anywhere. I’m a huge fan of good public transport, and being completely self-sufficient without a car. I might be eating my words now. We have to go grocery shopping at least twice a week because we can only buy how much we can carry home. And it’s not a lot. Walking home from the grocery store while dodging unpredictable traffic and cows, carrying about 7 pounds for a ½ mile in each hand can get a little heavy. Oh yea, and it’s been getting hotter. May is the hottest month in Mumbai, before we get hit with torrential rain starting in mid-June. I’ve been told that walking around in the monsoon is the equivalent of standing in the shower for a minute with all your clothes on. Not to complain, but I’m guessing grocery shopping will become a little more difficult. So I miss cars and huge supermarkets and Costco where you can stock up on food for a month. A nice air-conditioned ride from Costco with the trunk full of meat and eggs sounds pretty marvelous. I remember putting off running errands because it required so much energy. I really get a workout now getting my food for the next three days.

Other than that rant, I’ve started to settle into work here. Over the weekend I actually got to do some field work, in a tribal area about an hour from where I live. I took some great video of my transportation experience, but for some reason my computer garbled it. I’m actually pretty sad about that, this video was a true once in a lifetime experience. It was the most perilous car ride I have ever experienced. Until now, my experience of dangerous car rides includes throttling down unpaved hills in Mexico with a notoriously daring driver, and circling the Arc de Triomphe in Paris with a cab driver who was in a hurry during rush hour. I love roller coasters and thrilling experiences, but I actually felt fear for my safety with this driver. The road to our destination mainly consisted of a two lane highway. There was pretty heavy traffic, and we later found out there was an accident. You would think that would make us think to be more careful, but not really. Any time there was a break in the oncoming traffic, and I mean even for a second, he would swerve into the opposite lane to hopefully pass one or two cars before swerving back into the correct lane. This would consist of three opportunities for a horrible accident to happen. The first is when the driver pulls into the opposite lane, more than once he did this even if there was a curve or when the next car coming down the lane happened to be about three seconds behind the previous car. On the times it was safe to continue in this lane, he would wait until the absolute last possible fraction of a second to get back in the correct lane. With his hand out the window he would often graze his fingers against the car that we narrowly missed as it sped past us. This also meant that we would need to be able to fit back into the correct lane. This wasn’t always possible so the driver would simply squeeze in so there would be two cars, or possibly a truck and a car side-by-side where there should have only been one car. When I was filming my video, my boss in the seat next to me warned me to be very careful. We arrived safely and I had a great time talking to the volunteers with the organization.