This is my final week here in Pen, Maharashtra, and it's closing up fast. The amount of activities Jessica and I are doing has dwindled considerably; with the end in sight and the November temperature sitting at a blazing 30 degrees centigrade, we both feel a little apathetic. But, things are gettin a little wild at the end of the week. For those of you who don't know, I'll be backpacking for my last two weeks here, and coming home December 17th. I thought I might give you my tentative schedule of travel just to put the area of India in perspective....these are cities and states:
First stop, arriving in Anjuna, Goa on Nov 27th.
On to Calicut/Alleppey, Kerala on Nov 29th.
On to Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu by Dec 2nd.
Up to Chennai, Tamil Nadu by the 5th.
Taking a long ass train ride on the 6th, and reaching Agra, Uttar Pradesh by Dec 7.
Leaving the next day for Rishikesh, Uttarkhand, and staying until the 14th, where I will then make my way back to Mumbai, owiee!
let er fly,
reid
Monday, November 23, 2009
T.I.I.
In India, It's common practice to drive as impatiently as possible and risk weaving through oncoming traffic just to get in front of a bus or cow.
The interns and I take daily note of ridiculous things that take place here, shocking us but seem so normal to the people here. For instance, the public bus and rail systems seem to have no order or rules, and I have literally seen men push and shove and fight as they bottlenecked onto a simple inter city bus, or someone may put their fanny directly into your face while attempting to squeeze into a seat next to you. Just the other day, I saw an elderly man slowly bend down and pick up a rock and feebly throw it at a barking dog. It's dangerous to ride a motorcycle here, not just because of the traffic and people on the side of the road, but because the tires might slip out on a fresh cow pie. When it comes down to it, we just have to laugh at things if they are completely frustrating or if something seems totally ludicrous, and just say 'T.I.I.' 'This is India." And I have to be honest, I actually stole this line from the movie "Blood Diamond" where Leo uses the phrase 'T.I.A.' (This is Africa). The cultural differences here are incredibly vast, and I often cannot finds the words to explain it to someone, or describe it accurately. So, for now, T.I.I.
as someone here once spelled my name,
Rid
The interns and I take daily note of ridiculous things that take place here, shocking us but seem so normal to the people here. For instance, the public bus and rail systems seem to have no order or rules, and I have literally seen men push and shove and fight as they bottlenecked onto a simple inter city bus, or someone may put their fanny directly into your face while attempting to squeeze into a seat next to you. Just the other day, I saw an elderly man slowly bend down and pick up a rock and feebly throw it at a barking dog. It's dangerous to ride a motorcycle here, not just because of the traffic and people on the side of the road, but because the tires might slip out on a fresh cow pie. When it comes down to it, we just have to laugh at things if they are completely frustrating or if something seems totally ludicrous, and just say 'T.I.I.' 'This is India." And I have to be honest, I actually stole this line from the movie "Blood Diamond" where Leo uses the phrase 'T.I.A.' (This is Africa). The cultural differences here are incredibly vast, and I often cannot finds the words to explain it to someone, or describe it accurately. So, for now, T.I.I.
as someone here once spelled my name,
Rid
Monday, November 16, 2009
Coming and Going...
Here I am again in Cyberlink Communications, our local internet cafe with an appropriate cheesy title. Regretfully, I have taken a brief hiatus from blogging, as I simply have not had the time or energy to come here and write about what is going on here and my feelings on the matter. There has been plenty to talk about, but with an inconvenient schedule and crappy internet connection, I have not been able to do some of my experiences justice. The good news is that I have mostly everything written in my journal...so whenever I get around to reading my journal over, I'll post a blog. Sounds promising, doesn't it?
Anyway, one of the biggest things I am realizing right now is how fast the end is coming. I knew it from the beginning, that my time here would fly by, but it was not until this past Friday that I realized I have only two weeks of my program left. I plan on traveling afterwards, so I have about a month left to go, but still, I am 2/3 of the way through. For the past two weeks, we had someone by the name of Mohit join us in our bungalow. Mohit is a cancer researcher from Canada, who decided to come here on his own and volunteer with the India Study Abroad Center for two weeks, who placed him with us to work with CFI. His hope was similar to mine, in that he wanted to see medical practices and public health care in a rural area of a developing country. I have to say, it was awesome having a male around for two weeks...not that I don't like the girls, but it was nice to talk to a guy for a change and have someone explain cricket to me. During his time here, I kind of revisited some of the things I did when I first got here, so he would have some company...we went with the mobile vans and visited the government/CFI hospital to see different surgeries, as well as visit a school called Suhit Jeevan Trust, which caters to students who are mentally handicapped and hearing impaired. All this was always accompanied by endless confusion and waiting for people to get their butts in gear.
During the second week Mohit was here, Kelly left for Mumbai. She left us. She left us. Kelly was offered another sort of option to finish her internship in Mumbai, spending time in an orphanage with kids who are victims of HIV/AIDS, or whose parents are victims of the same. While we were all sad to see her go, this was a great opportunity for her and having heard from her since, she is doing great. Now, it's just Jessica and I, which is a little bit lonely, but we are still having new experiences every day, sharing them with each other and becoming closer friends with our neighbours, who always have a cup of tea waiting for us if we want it :]
let 'er fly,
Reid
Anyway, one of the biggest things I am realizing right now is how fast the end is coming. I knew it from the beginning, that my time here would fly by, but it was not until this past Friday that I realized I have only two weeks of my program left. I plan on traveling afterwards, so I have about a month left to go, but still, I am 2/3 of the way through. For the past two weeks, we had someone by the name of Mohit join us in our bungalow. Mohit is a cancer researcher from Canada, who decided to come here on his own and volunteer with the India Study Abroad Center for two weeks, who placed him with us to work with CFI. His hope was similar to mine, in that he wanted to see medical practices and public health care in a rural area of a developing country. I have to say, it was awesome having a male around for two weeks...not that I don't like the girls, but it was nice to talk to a guy for a change and have someone explain cricket to me. During his time here, I kind of revisited some of the things I did when I first got here, so he would have some company...we went with the mobile vans and visited the government/CFI hospital to see different surgeries, as well as visit a school called Suhit Jeevan Trust, which caters to students who are mentally handicapped and hearing impaired. All this was always accompanied by endless confusion and waiting for people to get their butts in gear.
During the second week Mohit was here, Kelly left for Mumbai. She left us. She left us. Kelly was offered another sort of option to finish her internship in Mumbai, spending time in an orphanage with kids who are victims of HIV/AIDS, or whose parents are victims of the same. While we were all sad to see her go, this was a great opportunity for her and having heard from her since, she is doing great. Now, it's just Jessica and I, which is a little bit lonely, but we are still having new experiences every day, sharing them with each other and becoming closer friends with our neighbours, who always have a cup of tea waiting for us if we want it :]
let 'er fly,
Reid
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