06/24

6:57 (writing this on 06/25)

Relieved. I am glad that I was able to sleep in because I did not have a morning run. My roommate and I came up with our workout plan:

• Mon, Wed, Fri: Gym day/Yoga day/Basketball
• Tue, Thur, Sat: Running day
• Sunday: CHILL

So, I slept in until 7:20 AM, which doesn't really seem that big of a deal, since I wake up at 7:50 during school days (even though school starts at 7:55). When I got to work, I noticed how everyone greeted me with, "Goodmorning" and "how are you?" It hit me that I have such a welcoming workplace. I definitely want to work in an environment where I can go to someone's office, and have a decent conversation especially if I need a break from work. 

My work so far consists of me researching the demographics of Dokur, a village in the state of Andra Pradesh (or is Telangana?). I finally finished reading the Village and Household Economies in India's Semi-arid Tropics. Well, to be frank with you all, I actually skipped the nutrition part because my brain can no longer handle any more statistical data that either: 1) takes forever to understand, or 2) goes over my head. However, the book gave me a holistic view of the area of Dokur especially its economy, gender rights, labor, and its history. The wonderful part of doing research is that I get to plan my own schedule. Actually, it is a blessing and a curse because I can easily get side track when I facetime my friends (during my break). But, I use my breaks as rewards to myself for researching for 1 or 2 hours straight. 

During lunch, I talked to Gabbie about her work. I felt very overwhelmed because I still did not have a research project/topic. Then, somehow, we talked about our phones and the lack of wifi connectivity here. It hit me that I take the Internet for granted in the U.S. In here, people actually have decent conversations without always looking at their phones. I always practice putting my phone away when I am eating out or hanging out with people, but in ICRISAT, rarely anyone looks at their phone (due to the lack of connectivity). Unlike Gabbie, I have wifi in my room and my workplace. I certainly am lucky to have all these benefits. But, then again, I wonder how my experience would be different if I had limited connectivity.

When I returned to work after lunch, I was determined to find my research topic. So, I began to brainstorm.

The best part about this diagram is my drawing, and it is not because it is such a masterpiece. Instead, I kept looking at the drawing to remind me the work of SHGs, and on the side, I wrote a bunch of questions that can hopefully lead to my project. In the meantime, I would look over other existing Intern reports. Suddenly, all these ideas came into my head, and thank God, I found a project! All of the questions that I had always went back to the project that Padmaja proposed to me-- the process of forming successful SHGs in Dokur. It is such a genius topic because there are so many projects about the impacts of SHGs, but there are no research on the formation of SHGs, especially successful ones. I definitely have so much more research to do (and a paper due on Friday), but I am just so happy that I have it narrowed down!

Before I left work, I talked to Dr. Bantilan, and I told her about updates for my project. The best part about the conversation wast that she complimented me for finishing the comprehensive book. I know that this whole internship epitomizes a roller-coaster. It gets really exciting when I figure my project out, but it gets very scary when I have no clue what I am doing. One step at a time!

I ended the day by doing yoga, playing basketball, and going to a "pool party". Yoga was nice at the beginning, and I really felt so relaxed. I literally had nothing to worry about, until I felt all of the bugs on my skin! Then, I lost focused and felt so uneasy for the rest of the 30 minute Yoga session. Then, I played basketball because that was the only thing I thought about during Yoga. My Yoga instructor came by and he was like, "You should be at peace after you do yoga. You are good at basketball, but it disrupts the brain,". But, I still kept playing basketball. Check out the view:

Every Wednesday night, ICRISAT throws a pool party for everyone (particularly the Americans). Unfortunately, we did not know about it until we (the American interns) finished our dinner. But, we still went to the pool and chilled. Even though work can be so intense and boring at times, the events that happen in here make up for all of that!