Exhaustion. I have been awake since 4:00 AM. My body still aches from the uncomfortable airplane seats. I even skipped dinner last night because I slept through it. I still don't have wifi, and I really hoped to move into the flat with Mariah last night. Aside from the very exhausting evening, I had a wonderful first day in ICRISAT.
I arrived to Hyderabad airport at 5:55 AM (06/18), and went straight to bag check. It took me literally 45 minutes to get my other luggage. As I left baggage claim, I felt mesmerized to see the different food places in the airport. Many of my friends told me not to expect much throughout my entire trip, but I am convinced that India has a lot to offer. The airport was a testimony to that! Then, I got into the van and looked outside the window for what seemed like a 50 minute car ride. There were so many unfinished construction and ruins, two things that are not common in San Francisco!
When I got to my dorm room, I was surprised to see all of the accommodations provided for me. I had a very clean dorm room, with laundry service (they did my laundry!), a shared bathroom, a swimming pool, a fitness center, and a safe environment to go for runs! Above all, I had Filipino mentors and a fellow Borlaug-Ruan intern with me. Oh, and the food is incredibly delicious! I hope I don't gain too much weight here, but I am determined to start a workout routine. Later during the day, I met so many of my "coworkers", but more like "adult friends" that want to see the best in me, and will help me reach that! I also got a better understanding of my project which is: empowering women to gain access to food quality and food productivity and correlating that with microfinance. I have a lofty task ahead of me, but I am just so honored to spend the next 58-ish days with people that working hand in hand to address global poverty. As excited and determined I am to work my hardest, I am still a bit nostalgic. I miss my family and my friends, and not having WIFI is not helping at all.
Mystified. I just finished writing my "re-cap" notes of my conversation with Padmaja, a woman scientist focused on gender research. Before talking to her, I absolutely had no clue what my work would encapsulate in ICRISAT. I felt intimidated by my boss (due to all of her achievements), envious of other scholars/interns that knew the specifics of their project, and I especially felt doubtful of my own potential since I am in a science research center with little knowledge about science. On top of that, I am even surrounded by Cornell kids, PhD students, and scientists that are working on real-world issues to provide more food for the impoverished communities. So, I couldn't help but doubt my potential due to my lack of necessary background information. Then, when I talked to Padmaja and Kavitha, I had an epiphany. Everyone in ICRISAT are dedicated to end poverty and that might be through scientific research and lab-work, but that is not the only means to ending poverty. One must keep in mind the social, cultural and economic barriers that prevent poor people from food security. One must keep in mind the means of communicating the scientific research to those in impoverished communities. I realized that I am a single droplet of rain in an existing big puddle of rain. And all the other droplets of rain are working on the huge task of ending global poverty through lab-work, field-work, or pure analytical-work. And, there is no reason to doubt or to fear my capabilities because I truly believe that my potential and prior background knowledge and interest on gender equality and microfinance will be important in the current work of ICRISAT.
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