16:27
Village food is hands-down better than cafeteria food. I love eating with my hands and mushing everything up. Food tastes twice as better because I feel all of the ingredients, and when I eat, my taste buds seem to get the entire flavor of the food.
After eating a very delicious lunch, we made our way to the marketplace. I love how everyone assumes I am Indian just because of my outfit and complexion. Since they think I am Indian, I do not get stared at or ripped off (until I start speaking in English). My main job in the market is to observe and find shade while the Cornell kids do their observations. So, I decided to make friends with the vendors. I met a young girl named Sonya, who is studying engineering in school. She wants to go to the U.S. to get her MS! Then, I showed her photos and videos of the U.S. to get her excited! It is very inspiring to see many young Indians pursue STEM careers, and go out of their comfort zones by going to a different country just to have more opportunities. I truly admire their academic persistence.
Warm. Today marks my second week working for ICRISAT. By next week, I know that I will stop counting. Let me briefly explain my fascination for the Indian culture to celebrate my second week anniversary.
In the ICRISAT offices, everyone (specifically the men) call me "madam". I feel high and mighty by that name, and truthfully, I am flattered. Aside from the very respectful manners, they make sure that the environment is friendly and comfortable for all. For example, I can just kindly knock on their doors whenever I have a question, or just want to take a break from work. Then, they stop everything to accommodate me! When we have conversations, we rarely look at our phones, unlike in the U.S. We are fully present in our conversations. Many of them are also very family-oriented. Every time I ask Kavitha questions about her children, she immediately lights up, and shares hilarious stories about them! I bombard her with questions about her culture, and she does not feel annoyed. Instead, she understands my curiosity and kindly answers my questions about arranged marriages, Self-Helped Groups, clothing and history. We definitely broke our shells with each other, and most of our conversations consist of us laughing!
Now, what exactly did I do today? I started the day by oversleeping (typical Precious). Today was the wrong day to oversleep because I had a market visit in Aurepalle! Nonetheless, I rushed to get dressed and made my way to Room 212 (the best room in the entire ICRISAT headquarters). As I made my way there, I kept thinking that they had already left me. But, good thing that they also ran on Filipino time, so we ended up leaving by 8:30 AM.
After a very quick two-hour drive to Aurepalle, I went with the Cornell kids, Kavitha, and Patlumi to distribute gifts to the responders. It makes my heart melt when all the kids jump for joy when they see us, particularly John because he is the most distinct-looking American. I think America has a positive image for the younger generation about wealth and prosperity. Many of the kids thought we were celebrities, and we get odd looks, but I have nothing against all of that. I do not think that people from rural villages see many Americans.
When we got to the school, I got the chance to interview Yadama. I felt very flustered because there were so many people around me! I had my questions, but somehow it felt very disorganized. It was very pressuring to have so many people around me while the women cooked the food for the kids. However, they still wanted to talk to me despite their busy days. Talking to the SHG members is slowly making me realize the real impacts of empowerment in the individual lives of women and their entire community. The best part about the interview was their remarks toward the end. They talked about my petiteness, and laughed about it. It was not an insult, but more of a joke. Towards the end, I called them my friends and they agreed. We might not understand each other due to our language barrier, but we have mutual respect for each other and even a sense of humor.
Village food is hands-down better than cafeteria food. I love eating with my hands and mushing everything up. Food tastes twice as better because I feel all of the ingredients, and when I eat, my taste buds seem to get the entire flavor of the food.
After eating a very delicious lunch, we made our way to the marketplace. I love how everyone assumes I am Indian just because of my outfit and complexion. Since they think I am Indian, I do not get stared at or ripped off (until I start speaking in English). My main job in the market is to observe and find shade while the Cornell kids do their observations. So, I decided to make friends with the vendors. I met a young girl named Sonya, who is studying engineering in school. She wants to go to the U.S. to get her MS! Then, I showed her photos and videos of the U.S. to get her excited! It is very inspiring to see many young Indians pursue STEM careers, and go out of their comfort zones by going to a different country just to have more opportunities. I truly admire their academic persistence.
While walking through the market, I noticed all of the flies circulating almost all of the vendor's vegetables. Somehow, that did not affect me, but then I saw the flies on the fish and meat. I immediately thought about all of the health risks from the infested foods.
When we got back to the car, I needed to apply bug itching cream because I have been attacked by those demon flies. It is extremely difficult to fight "itching", but I just have to fight the power.
It has definitely been an extremely fast, yet long week for me. My project is coming closer and closer together. Although there is much progress, it irritates me that there is so much left to be done. The work never ends.
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