I just finally got good enough internet access again that I can access my email! So this will be a rather long post since I couldn't post the last few days.
To catch you up, I'm in Thrissur, Kerala now, where I'll be for the year working with ESAF Microfinance. I arrived on the 28th and am staying at the Hamara Hotel, a newly built 3* hotel that's still in process of getting things up and running (i.e. the phone for instance in the hotel room can only call to the front desk and cannot call out, not even locally). I'll be here for another two nights and on October 31st, I move into a women's hostel very close to the ESAF office and start my very first work day with ESAF. It's going to be a BUSY day from what I can already tell. I will be sharing a room with two other women from the office, which I think will be a good thing because it'll help me connect with more people and get a chance to know the city more intimately. Once I'm ready, I will be able to look for my own apartment close to the office.
Kerala really is a beautiful state just as everyone has told me. The aerial view from the plane was gorgeous. Tropical trees and plants cover the land. You’d think a brontosaurus might emerge from the trees at any moment. I say town because compared to Bangalore, which is a big metropolitan city of about 8 million, Thrissur has much more of a town feel with a population of about 300,000. Thrissur district has a population of about 3 million but Thrissur itself is about 300,000.
I know I've only been in India a few days total, but I feel like my internal bag that I fill with all the new things I'm learning and observing is over filling today. I am learning patience at a level I did not even know existed. Not even having been here for a week, I already know India is a place where you truly learn to go with the flow and you can't freak out about the inefficiencies because they're a part of daily life here. It’s nothing like I’ve experienced before which is good but wow, it sure is something you can't prepare for. All the people I've met so far have been friendly and hospitable, which I'm truly thankful for. I'm very much the type of person that not only enjoys but needs to connect with others in order to feel rooted so it feels good getting to know the local people. My culture shock is more so a combination of all the new things I'm learning and observing coupled with all of the inefficiencies where I expect efficiency. I know it's ridiculous to have expectations (more so expectations I didn't know I had) in a place that is completely different from what I'm used to or have even experienced, but my walls are slowly breaking, which is a good thing. I think this is what culture shock is, right? It's just not possible to avoid the initial stages of being overwhelmed, which I know comes with part of the package of moving to a new country (and probably heightened by the fact that I'm here physically alone...at least for the time being until I start getting to know more people). India really is a whole new world!
Considering my very full bag, I literally cried with joy today when my computer finally started working properly again. It had temporarily lost all of its sound so I couldn't run any applications that involved sound and it also kept freezing up. Because this computer is currently my only way of contacting anyone in addition to doing work, it threw me in for a panic. If you have ever seen the show the IT Crowd, it really does work to turn it off and on again and off and on again and off and on again :) So things are back up and running and writing this post has helped calm my nerves.
I finally got to briefly meet the ESAF staff today, which was great! I felt energized after meeting them. We went to town hall, which is in the center of Thrissur where ESAF was holding a conference congratulating three new board members who were recently elected. The room was filled with women from different self-help groups (micro loan borrowers) from ESAF. It felt surreal to be in the room with all of the women knowing that I get to be a part of helping them (and others who suffer from energy poverty) gain access to cleaner, safer, and more affordable efficient sources of energy. We’ll be looking at water purifiers, efficient cook stoves, LPG stoves, and solar lighting systems. This is will be a challenging project indeed. I'm ready to dive into the work with the ESAF team to get this project up and running with legs!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Arrival in India & Diwali
Hello All! Happy Diwali and welcome to my blog!
So I arrived this morning, still dark but early at 3ish am. Surprisingly, passport and customs control was a breeze when I arrived. No lines at all! I expected my luggage to be thoroughly checked because I have what I feel is A LOT of luggage, but they just took a look at my luggage and told me I could go. Ironically, the person behind me, who was an Indian citizen had one carry-on luggage and they made him run it through the scanner. The next person behind him, in a delightful manner made a comment and said, "Every time they see if you are white, they don't even question you or check your luggage. They just let you go. They do that to my wife all the time." By "white" I think he meant non-Indian citizen :) I thought it was a funny comment.
I stepped outside of the airport and found my driver holding a sign with my name. At 3am, after a series of long flights, it was comforting to see the sign and not have to scramble for a taxi. First 4 questions from the driver were:
1.) How was your journey?
2.) Are you here in India for a LONG vacation? (I think he said "long" because I had so many pieces of luggage with me. Typical American, I know :) )
3.) Are you married?
4.) Do you have children? And how many do you want? (he said, minimum 2 maximum 10?)
I don't remember how long the car ride was, maybe a little over an hour, but we talked about all kinds of topics: marriage traditions in India vs. the US, dowry payments and the burdens it puts on families with girls, what we like to do at the gym and for exercise (or gymnasium as he called it), how girls and boys grow up in India vs the US, and the traditions of taking care of family. I learned a lot from just an hour and there's a lot more to learn! Fascinating!
My hotel is nice and centrally located. Very close to UB City, which is located in the heart of Bangalore and a popular place for people to go out. It's poshy but affordable. Nice and safe area. The hotel is clean and simple with free wifi, located on the second floor. Similar to some of the mini hotels that you might see in Russia.
My first breakfast of the morning was a bread omelet served with spicy ketchup. It wasn't quite french toast, more like an inside out sandwich. It was good though.
Across the street from the hotel is a big billboard advertising Metallica live October 30th! Metallica?! I didn't even know they were still together. I thought they died after high school. Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, and Guns 'n Roses are also popular here.
Most of the women I've seen so far are dressed up, at least in my terms. Lots of color, dresses, saris, salwar kameezes....they look nice. I think I dress more like a man here, jeans and a light shirt. I dress it up with a scarf, earrings, and bracelets though :) Works for me.
As for Diwali Festival, fireworks are going off like crazy everywhere. Big ones, small ones, ones that sound like shot guns, ones that sound like a car is backfiring (which is also entirely possible, but lots of noise in general). People are out and about and I think a lot have also traveled back home for the holiday.
The other fellow who is living here in Bangalore and working with Grameen Koota came over tonight with his housemate and we went out to explore UB City which is full of shops and restaurants and UB tower, which is modeled after the Empire State Building. Really nice night and introduction to the city. I admittedly felt kind of intimidated to step outside of the hotel during the day, but I ended up sleeping all through the day anyhow and woke up for some evening exploring. Much needed sleep so it was all good.
Tomorrow is my first day of in-person training where I will meet with the other fellow and the regional director. Power points, spreadsheets, and learning the ropes! On Friday, I will fly out to Thrissur where I will be living for the rest of the year working with ESAF Microfinance. In case some of you don't know, I'm a fellow for MicroEnergy Credits, a social enterprise based in Seattle that helps connect microfinance institutions to the carbon markets when they lend for clean energy. You can read more about the organization here: http://microenergycredits.com/about/
If you can't tell already, I'm SO excited to be here and to finally get the opportunity to work in the field and put my skills to the test. This is truly going to be a rich experience.
So I arrived this morning, still dark but early at 3ish am. Surprisingly, passport and customs control was a breeze when I arrived. No lines at all! I expected my luggage to be thoroughly checked because I have what I feel is A LOT of luggage, but they just took a look at my luggage and told me I could go. Ironically, the person behind me, who was an Indian citizen had one carry-on luggage and they made him run it through the scanner. The next person behind him, in a delightful manner made a comment and said, "Every time they see if you are white, they don't even question you or check your luggage. They just let you go. They do that to my wife all the time." By "white" I think he meant non-Indian citizen :) I thought it was a funny comment.
I stepped outside of the airport and found my driver holding a sign with my name. At 3am, after a series of long flights, it was comforting to see the sign and not have to scramble for a taxi. First 4 questions from the driver were:
1.) How was your journey?
2.) Are you here in India for a LONG vacation? (I think he said "long" because I had so many pieces of luggage with me. Typical American, I know :) )
3.) Are you married?
4.) Do you have children? And how many do you want? (he said, minimum 2 maximum 10?)
I don't remember how long the car ride was, maybe a little over an hour, but we talked about all kinds of topics: marriage traditions in India vs. the US, dowry payments and the burdens it puts on families with girls, what we like to do at the gym and for exercise (or gymnasium as he called it), how girls and boys grow up in India vs the US, and the traditions of taking care of family. I learned a lot from just an hour and there's a lot more to learn! Fascinating!
My hotel is nice and centrally located. Very close to UB City, which is located in the heart of Bangalore and a popular place for people to go out. It's poshy but affordable. Nice and safe area. The hotel is clean and simple with free wifi, located on the second floor. Similar to some of the mini hotels that you might see in Russia.
My first breakfast of the morning was a bread omelet served with spicy ketchup. It wasn't quite french toast, more like an inside out sandwich. It was good though.
Across the street from the hotel is a big billboard advertising Metallica live October 30th! Metallica?! I didn't even know they were still together. I thought they died after high school. Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, and Guns 'n Roses are also popular here.
Most of the women I've seen so far are dressed up, at least in my terms. Lots of color, dresses, saris, salwar kameezes....they look nice. I think I dress more like a man here, jeans and a light shirt. I dress it up with a scarf, earrings, and bracelets though :) Works for me.
As for Diwali Festival, fireworks are going off like crazy everywhere. Big ones, small ones, ones that sound like shot guns, ones that sound like a car is backfiring (which is also entirely possible, but lots of noise in general). People are out and about and I think a lot have also traveled back home for the holiday.
The other fellow who is living here in Bangalore and working with Grameen Koota came over tonight with his housemate and we went out to explore UB City which is full of shops and restaurants and UB tower, which is modeled after the Empire State Building. Really nice night and introduction to the city. I admittedly felt kind of intimidated to step outside of the hotel during the day, but I ended up sleeping all through the day anyhow and woke up for some evening exploring. Much needed sleep so it was all good.
Tomorrow is my first day of in-person training where I will meet with the other fellow and the regional director. Power points, spreadsheets, and learning the ropes! On Friday, I will fly out to Thrissur where I will be living for the rest of the year working with ESAF Microfinance. In case some of you don't know, I'm a fellow for MicroEnergy Credits, a social enterprise based in Seattle that helps connect microfinance institutions to the carbon markets when they lend for clean energy. You can read more about the organization here: http://microenergycredits.com/about/
If you can't tell already, I'm SO excited to be here and to finally get the opportunity to work in the field and put my skills to the test. This is truly going to be a rich experience.
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