07/14

23:04

Touched. When I got to ICRISAT on Thursday, June 18th, I had no expectations. I made sure to go in with an open mind and positivity. I promised myself to make the most of the internship.

Now, I am approaching the peak of my life-changing trip. Looking back to my experience, I have gone out of my comfort zone multiple times: 1) I learned how to ride a bike, 2) I am in the process of learning how to swim, 3) I am convincing myself to eat spicy food, and the list goes on. Since I came to ICRISAT with a hustler mentality, I have definitely gone a long way regarding my research but also my relationships with the other interns and my mentors.

In the morning, I got so much love from everyone. Honestly, I am not great with good-byes and it makes me sad when people say that they would miss me. There is no good-bye, but a see-you later. Before I got into the car, Dr. Bantilan, Padmimi, Padmaja, Deepthi and Kavitha bid me goodbye. I might be overthinking this a little bit, but I can tell that they felt sad that I was leaving. And, seeing that made me melt. If saying good-bye for just four days is hard, imagine how difficult it would be to say "see-you" later on August. 

After a very long car ride (3 hours), we finally got out of the car. We went straight to our room, and ate our continental lunch. 

I was actually disappointed to eat packed lunch because I love village food so much (spicy or not). By the way, ICRISAT packed me so much water bottles, muffins and cookies and sandwiches. They really don't want me to starve even though I brought a bag of food! The love and care for me are so real that I can't fully fathom them! 

During lunch, I met some of our neighbors that are great friends with Pallavi and Swathi. One of them explained to me how she goes to school and studies at almost every hour of every day. I just could not grasp how she survived in school. Although culture is a huge part of that work ethic, I feel like rigorous academics can drive someone mad. I just have mad respect for the motivation and drive that people from the East coast have. Most of us see education as the most reasonable investment to uplift ourselves and families from poverty. And, I see those results up front here in India.

While walking around the village, I couldn't help but notice how happy and content people felt. Many people stereotypically think that rural villages are poor and under-developed. Many people think that rural people live horrible lives because of the lack of available resources. Well, these people are breaking all of those stereotypes. In actuality,  they make the most of their resources. More importantly, Dokur is a community. People can have their doors open, and anyone can come and visit. If you need something, almost anyone can try to provide what they have for you. Sure some other people have better houses than others, but all of them just want the best for each other. Yes, I am generalizing, but every word is truth. Rural villages are very special. People are focused on their families and they are invested in their kids. There was this 10-month baby that just brought joy to the entire community! I think that the children are the main driving force for every adult in Dokur. And, they make that quite clear through their love and affection for them. 

When I conducted my interviews, I was very surprised to see random people sit/stand to watch/listen. 

First of all, I don't like having a big crowd of people, but I just got to roll with it. Second, I actually liked seeing other people come in and spectate (although that contradicts my previous sentence). People's doors are just open to everyone, and they even make their houses open to all. Whenever I got to someone's household, all of them offered to give me their comfortable seats. Hospitality is such a strong force in the village.

On my first interview with the Gram Sangham leader, I learned too much information to the point that my brain wanted to explode. 

Photo with Sugnmma 

Our interview lasted for an hour and a half, but I was so fascinated and intrigued the entire time. She was so intelligent and so poised! Now, I understood how she became such an important person in her village. She creates better policies for SHGs and everyone listens! Power is important, but respect is much greater. If you are respected, then power comes along.

Then, I interviewed an inactive SHG leader and she was also very interested in sharing her experiences. 

Photo with Sundhya 

She has such a beautiful smile and cheerful personality that it was very contagious!

As of now, I do not have any major findings since I only interviewed two people. But, the puzzle of my project is slowly coming together through my various questions. 

07/13

00:24 (writing this on 07/14)

Blessed. One more day until I go to the village. Every day, I set goals that I want to accomplish for the day, and my success rate is not that high. But, today I may not have accomplished much, but I am in fact very prepared for my village trip.

When I got to the office, Swathi and Pallavi, my translators and friends, printed out all of the paperwork for the village trip. When they showed me the piles of paper, my jaw literally dropped. Not only do I have so many papers to fill out, but I am so glad that we were on the same page with the interviews! Although each interview may take up to 45 minutes to an hour, I am determined to make the most of each interview. Plus, I have such a beautiful and intelligent team!

Since all of my questionnaires and focus group paperwork were all completed, I spent the rest of the day relaxed. During lunch, Mariah and I went to IACD to get the blouse for my saree. Honestly, sarees are so beautiful. Each of the blouse are customized to fit one's body type and the saree even shows one's curves. I can't believe that I finally own one and I am most definitely going to rock it in Berkeley.

When I got back to work, I did not really get anything done. Well, that's a lie. I actually finished my introduction chapter, so I now have 4 more chapters to write (YAY for productivity). Since my mind is just not on the mood to do anything, I decided to learn how to wear a saree. So, Padmaja and Kavitha taught me how to wear one. Who knew that I would go through a modeling and paparazzi situation when I wore the saree?

I felt like a celebrity because of my outfit. Apparently, people think I am Indian here so the outfit just makes me more Indian! I have no problem with that because Indian people are so beautiful, kind and precious.

After the photo shoot, I only had an hour until work ended. Unfortunately, the wifi did not work, so my productivity level was very low at that point. But, I am just glad I am prepared for my village trip!

I left work ten minutes earlier because there was not much to do without wifi. So, I changed out of my outfit and went bike-riding with Gabbie, Olivia and Alex. The bike-ride was so chill and we even saw peacocks on the way. ICRISAT is such an animal and tropical resort, I tell you!

We finished in an hour and went for a swim. Chris has been effectively teaching me how to move my feet and my arms. Somehow, I am just very disoriented so I do not get anywhere when I swim. But, today I was able to successfully go from wall to wall! I really just have to "keep swimming, keep swimming", as Dory said in Nemo.

My biggest highlight was offering a helping hand. Well, it wasn't much of a helping hand, but it can count. Anyways, I realized that Gabbie didn't eat dinner, so I delivered her mac&cheese. That small deed made my night because the act of giving is so powerful. And, I gave Tita Ana a parting gift. I cannot believe that she is leaving with Tito Myer in 2 days. I am basically going to go back from the village and they will be in the Philippines by then. Well, that is part of life, people come and go, but the experiences and the impact they have had will always be permanent. I am just so blessed to have met them!

Now, I am all packed to go; I just need to knock out. 

*blogging will resume on Friday*

07/12

01:48

Relaxed. The two things that I have missed the most from the U.S. are seafood and movies (and friends and family too). But I actually got a taste of those two things today!

In the morning, Gabbie, Mariah and I took a taxi to St. Alphonsus Church. I love being able to practice my faith with others. And, I really wanted to go to Mass too because I have so many things to be grateful, and to ask for guidance. I feel extremely one with God during Mass, but I know that He is always watching and guiding me. And, being able to share this faith with others is such a humbling experience (plus they are chill vibes). 

After Mass, we are snacks at Starbucks. Today was such an American-filled food day. Surprisingly, American food makes my stomach tense. Maybe my body loves Indian food that American food just upsets my stomach. Stomach pains or not, I still finished my banana chocolate bread and green tea. Since we had a not-so-empty-stomach, we walked off our food and went shopping. I bought myself a red Kurtha, chennai and pants. I extremely love the Kurtha pants because they are tight at the bottom, but extremely baggy at the top.

I actually did not buy the yellow Kurtha because I look too much like a bumble bee! Instead, I got a red one since red always compliments my skin tone (in my opinion). By the time we finished shopping, Hard Rock Cafe was already opened. Since Gabbie had never eaten there, I wanted to expose her to superb and excellent American food. 

I have been craving for seafood here, but the seafood option in Hard Rock is infused with Indian food. I am straying away from Indian food because I do not want to get sick of them. So, I bought nachos and a salad! I know that is extremely far from seafood, but they came pretty close to my seafood cravings, if that makes any sense. 

Not only does the food look extremely appetizing, but they smelled wonderful and tasted like a whirlwind of flavors. Honestly, I did not care if the meal was expensive because this meal was by far the most scrumptious! We even had great service and the Hard Knox in India is ten times bigger and better than the ones in the U.S. For example, their bathrooms had classical rock quoted that were lit up! On the walls of the restaurant, they had famous items from rock artists. They even have weekly (every Thursday) rock bands that perform! That is a must-to-see before I leave India. Overall, it was great service, mouth-watering food that satisfied my seafood cravings and excellent decor (I should put this in their yelp).

By the time we finished eating, all of us felt food coma, so we drove back to ICRISAT. I love how I am always "womaning" the radio because I can put sad simping songs that can make all of us knockout. And, I sure did have a great nap listening to Chronixx in the car.

When I got back to the room, Mariah knocked out, but I spent an hour or two just learning about current events. I tried watching a documentary about ISIS, but then my eyes just started closing. By the way, being in ICRISAT makes me in the mood of wanting to learn 24/7 (nerd 101). 

After waking up from a much-needed nap at 8 PM, I got my laundry set up for the morning (3 loads), and prepared my PB&J dinner. Tonight was a Harry Potter type of night, so Mariah and I watched Prisoner of Azkaban. I love sharing my love for Harry Potter with other fans because the series touched my life. When I was in 5th grade, I opened the first pages of Chamber of Secrets. Now, reflecting on my Harry Potter experience, I am very appreciative of people's imaginations and curiosity. Those two things can drive someone to think outside of the box and even be themselves. Human creativity is extremely precious, and the Harry Potter series epitomize that concept. 

Well, now I am awake at 2 in the morning because of my 4 hour nap, but I am extremely glad to have done the two things that I miss from home. 

07/11

01:27 (writing this on 07/12)

Complicated. All of a sudden, seconds turn to minutes, minutes then to hours, hours turn to days and days turn into weeks. I cannot believe how fast the weekend is going, but that is a great thing because I am having fun. Sometimes I want to press pause in life, and to just reflect on everything that has happened. Yes, I have done a lot of simping here in India, but it is only because I want to soak everything in to make me a stronger, more confident, and smarter woman. On the side note, happy 07/11 to everyone (and no, I did not get a free slurpee here because 7/11 ceases to exist here).

Since many of the American interns are MIA over the weekend, Mariah, Gabbie and I spent our Saturday out and about. In the morning, we went grocery shopping, and I am glad to say that I have my "life-jacket" food all ready to go for my village trip. I even bought my translators Lays Masala flavor! I really need to start being smarter with my money because everything adds up in here. Items in India are not necessarily cheaper if you buy a lot of things. And slowly, the ten things that I bought for Rs 100 ends up being $15. And then, by the end of the weekend, you end up not having anymore money on your wallet. Yup, money for me is fast money, but I am going to be smart with my spendings from now on.

After our grocery shopping, we went to Ohri's and ate buffet. As tempting as it is to post a photo of my food, I am going to restrain from the temptation. I post too many food photos, and I feel like they lose value if they are not as meaningful. Nonetheless, the food was delicious and I even smuggled pieces from a fruit cake out of the restaurant (heheh). 

Our next stop: Shilparamam. As I mentioned before, this is my favorite place because of the genuine hospitality from the workers, and the opportunity to bargain. I didn't really look around the shops because I got distracted by my conversation with Zubi.

I finally bought a scarf from him! I love how he trusts his customers because I did not fully paid him. I underpaid him, and he believes that I am going to pay him the rest of the money. And, that trust is something that I do not want to break. I love how he is not very materialistic because to him, health is wealth, not money. Then, he took me around the marketplace and I was literally a tourist in the market.

Before we left Shilparamam, he bought Gabbie, Mariah and I chai (tea). I love their chai here because it's such a distinct taste and truly soothes the soul. While drinking tea, they mentioned eating dinner together, but that did not work out. 

We headed home after a long day from the market and I spent the rest of the afternoon making movies. I love being on top of my blogs and my movies. I cannot wait to publish them and just show people the videos, so they visualize my stories. At around 8:30, Gabbie, Mariah and I were supposed to eat dinner with Zubi and his cousins. Unfortunately, it was extremely late at night and unsafe to go out. As smart and safe interns, we decided to stay in and just order pizza. Trying to figure out our dinner plans was extremely complicated, but once I bit into my Domino's pizza, I no longer cared about the trouble we had to go through for the slice of pizza. 

07/06-07/10

18:00 (writing this on 07/10)

Grinding. This blog post is going to be a little different. Instead of doing a daily post, I am going to summarize my week into one post for two reasons:

1) As much as I hate to admit, I procrastinated with my daily blogs.

2) The majority of this week was focused on work (so I want to save you from reading the gory details).

I also split this up into two sections. The first section is my work updates, and the other one is just the fun shenanigans that I did during the week.

Work

This entire week, I focused on finalizing my work plan and questionnaires for the Dokur village trip next Tuesday to Friday. I can't believe that I would go to work in the morning, and then suddenly it would be the night and everyone is gone. Plus, I have stayed an extra 2-3 hours at work just to work on my research tool. And, to be frank with you, I am enjoying my work and my extra hours at work!

I cannot quite recall what I did on each day, so I am going to broadly talk about my project. As I mentioned before, I am researching the process of forming successful self-helped groups in Dokur. There are so many present research on the impacts, but not the procedural methods of the group. I am analyzing how each group (particularly the leaders) cope with environmental, social-cultural and economic barriers. Are the groups that cope with these problems faster more successful? What does a successful group even mean? How do you quantify success? All those questions and SO MANY other questions all aim to find the process of forming successful SHGs. When I go to the village, I am going to conduct 19 interviews: 10 successful SHG leaders, 5 failed SHG leaders, and 4 key informants (1 Sarpanch, 2 members of the Gram Sangham and the Village Revenue Assistant). I will also lead 2 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) between successful SHG members and inactive SHG members. These FGDs will give me an empirical understanding of quantify success regarding SHGs. And because of such a specific report, it is crucial to be prepared and have a very laid-out plan.

I have been working closely with my translators, Swathi and Pallavi, and supervisor, Padmaja.

I honestly love all of them so much. That sounds very weird, but I mean it! They have made my transition so smooth, and they always offer a helping hand. When I created my questionnaire, I thought that it was all over the place. Yes, it was all over the place, but they worked with me to polish it out to get the necessary information for my report. If Padmaja did not always have her doors open for me, I would still be as clueless. But, again, being confused is part of the process because it forced me to question and to find answers. I hated being confused, so I did everything I could to have my answers. And, Padmaja gave me almost all the answers that I needed! Swathi and Pallavi always uplift my mood because of their dynamic presence. They are beyond friendly and extremely intelligent. For example, we did our role-play of our questionnaire on Thursday and Friday, and they would crack jokes in the middle! I did not really care if that wasted work-time because it was such a relief to get a break from work once in awhile. And, to realize that I have other people to joke around while still working is such a wonderful blessing. Their enthusiasm for my project makes me extremely excited for my village trip. 

Since I have been making progress with my work, Dr. Bantilan and Tita Ana finally told me their expectations. They want me to present around August 10th in front of all the scientists of ICRISAT. They will even have it streamed internationally. When they told me that information, I felt extremely overwhelmed. I did not really know what to expect from myself with this internship. I did not even know what an internship really was when I first stepped on ICRISAT campus. Now, all of a sudden, I have to present in front of geniuses and I am just a recent high school student. I am just an incoming undergraduate college student. I am just this and that. And when I started thinking like this, I realized that I was putting limits on myself. Instead, I needed to think differently. I am given a huge task right in front of me, but if I am able to accept it and give in my best effort, the amount of progress and growth that I will undergo will become the greatest lesson of my entire life. That sounds like such a huge exaggeration, but it is true. If I am able to take it one day at a time, and believe in my potential and abilities, I can pretty much do anything that I set my mind to. Honestly, expectations are scary, but they are motivation too. People expect greatness from me because they see potential in me and they believe in me. I just have to see it that way and continue to stay grinding. 

Fun shannigans

On Monday, I went to Inorbit with Gabbie and Mariah after work to grocery shop for Alex's 20th Birthday. However, our first stop was Chile's because we craved American food. Did you know that I never ate at Chile's? My first time was in INDIA! Okay, I'll stop with the "first time stuff in India". I ate a hamburger and I felt like I was in heaven. 

I do not really crave American food, but I am slowly getting used to Indian food that I now need a variety once in awhile. I remember the first time I ate Indian breakfast, and I thought that I would never want to eat anything else (ICRISAT food is so delicious). But, I was wrong.  Before we went grocery shopping, we went to get our eyebrows done. Well, I was actually the only one that got them done since Gabbie's wasn't long enough, and Mariah did not want them done. I can finally say that my eyebrows are on FLEEK!

Threading my eyebrows and waxing my upper lip was a total of Rs 150 which is equivalent to $2. Great service too!!

Our next stop was the grocery store, and let me tell you something real important. Every time I go grocery shopping, I always buy more than what I need, and I get subconscious about the cost. I do not think that I know how to shop properly or save my money. Being an adult is very difficult...

When we got back to ICRISAT, I stayed up until 1 helping Mariah bake the pie. Did you know that you can make a pie with a stove-top? Well, now you know!

On Tuesday, we celebrated Alex's birthday. I was in charge of getting her to the room without her having a clue. Well, I failed at that! At around 7 PM, I ran to her dorm and she saw me running. Since everything was in the heat of the moment, I told her that I bought her a gift and that she should go with me to the room. Obviously, she kind of got an idea that it was a surprise party, and I was luring her to my room for that reason. Although she had a big idea, she just played along and I did too. I am just not good with surprises, but I did keep a straight face! 

When she got to the room, we all sang her Happy Birthday (but she was not as surprised). However, she was surprised with our vegetarian potluck! Home-made food is just the best types of food.

After our Birthday feast, we played fishbowl until midnight. Of course, Gabbie and I won because we are practically the same person. The entire night was filled with laughters, chill vibes and great company.

On Wednesday, my biggest and most exciting highlight was riding the bike with Mariah to watch the sunset. I took my time since I am still very new to riding the bike. Surprisingly, I did not fall that many times, but I was going 5 miles per hour (so that made sense). Riding around ICRISAT is such a beautiful experience because of all the various birds flying around, and the monkeys swinging on the trees. ICRISAT is literally a tropical, animal resort that has beautiful views to watch the sunset.

Since I learned how to ride a bike in India, I also needed to learn how to swim. Honestly, I am living the life here so far! Right after the bike ride, we went back to the pool and I got peer pressured to swim. So, I got changed and jumped right in! Others tried to teach me how to swim, but I just never listened or tried hard enough. This time was different. I listened to Chris and learned how to breathe underwater. At the same time, the other interns tried to teach me how to kick and move my arms. Since I was learning three things at once, I felt very annoyed when I would not get it. I wanted to rush through everything and be able to swim from wall to wall! But, everything comes with practice and I cannot be impatient! I am just glad that there are people that are willing to teach me one step at a time (or should I say multiple steps at a time?).

This entire week has gone by so fast! Next thing you know it is hump day, then it's Thursday! After work, I went directly to dinner since I went on overtime. This was the very first dinner that I was not fully present. I had so much to think about ranging from work to friend problems. I hated not being myself, and especially not contributing to the conversation. I wanted to be alone to think, but I knew that was just going to make the situation worse. So, I toughed it out and talked out my "problems" to Alex and Gabbie. I definitely needed to hear advice from outside sources to clear my head up. I even had a heart to heart conversation with Gabbie. Meeting people like her makes me very excited for college. I love having substantial conversations that go from personal problems to world problems to our interests and to our passions. I guess that is called simpin'.  Sometimes I think that I am homesick, but it is because I just didn't give myself the chance to fully get to know the people around me. Once I share my life story and I hear theirs, then it feels just like home again. And, it is slowly feeling like that in here. OH, and Alex did my henna.

Wow, I finally caught up with this blog! After spending another overtime at work on Friday, I went to dinner and swam with Mariah. Unfortunately, the other interns are on a 3-day camping trip and ICRISAT will definitely be quiet during the weekend. But, this is going to be the first and only chill weekend for me (so I am going to take extreme advantage of it). I love how this research campus has so much to offer, and I can literally do anything that I want. And, on top of that, people are down to do spontaneous things with me. I cannot believe that I only have 5 more weeks left here. And with those 5 remaining weeks, I am going to live in the moment and stay grinding to turn in the best research report (110% effort).

07/05

1:25 (writing this on 07/10)

Overwhelming. I slept until 11, and actually got up at 12 (a very typical Sunday). Unfortunately, I had no time to go to Church because I really needed to sleep in to get some rest. 

The day started out slowly as I took my time to get up and get ready. Apparently, some of the interns were planning a day trip to the city. Although I felt tired from the 4th of July festivities, I knew that I cannot let any opportunity to visit the city slip through my hands. And, I am certainly glad that I went out! 

During the entire car ride to Charminar, I played my slaps. Having the group sing along my #preshtillion playlist on Spotify is one of my many highlights of the day (shoutout to Mara for helping me make that)! 

The drive to Charminar was honestly very horrible. Why? Well, the AC was not working, the place was overcrowded because of Ramadan, and the traffics was insane. We were moving at less than 1 mile/hour at one point... Nonetheless, we got there and shopped till we dropped.

After an hour of shopping, the heat got to me. I no longer felt excited to shop. Instead, I felt relentless and in desperate need of cool water and shade. Aside from those complaints, I have two good stories. First, one guy tried selling me fake ray bands for Rs. 500 ($7.50). And, I was like no, sorry can't afford it. Then, he bumped it down to Rs. 200, and I came close to buying the shade. However, the white-out-stamped ray bands sign on the edge of the left shade was very noticeable. I tried scratching it off, and then he tried scratching it off with me! If the shades did not say "raybands", I would have certainly bought it. I just couldn't stop laughing at his effort to take out the sign with me. Second, Alex, Casey and I walked through this alley filled with vendors that sold bangles. As we walked through the alley, the vendors slowly stood one at a time and called us "madaam" and persuaded us to stop by their shop. They literally said madaam so many times that it sounded like a song to me. I extremely love their persistence to see their items.

After my crazy shopping experiences, half of our group went to a cafe that sold fresh bakeries and chai. I love Indian tea (and if you know me well, I hate tea) and fresh biscuits. The flavors of those two foods combined soothe my body, and made my tired spirit become content and jubilant. Food can really make the world go round!

Then, we went back to car and drove to Paradise for dinner. I was no longer in charge of "womanning" the radio (thank God because I got sick of my music), and I spent majority of the long car ride talking to Casey about religion. She truly enlightened me with her open-minded global view about religion, and she even listened to my own opinions. Exchanging information though conversations is the number one way that I am learning about EVERYTHING in this internship.

Eating at Paradise for the second time did not have the same appetizing impression for me. I still love the food, don't get me wrong about that! However, the Biryani did not taste as great, and same with the naan! But, I ate the Halaal, and that was the best part about the dinner. The food just melted in my mouth, and once again, I felt happy. Good vibes, good food, and good conversations make me happy!

Since many of us did not really feel exhausted, we decided to spend a longer time in Hitech-city. We walked through the Buddha temple and into the park. Blake, Rebecca and I even went to the "Rotating Tower". At first, we thought that the ride was beyond scary, but it was actually the opposite! The ride just brought us to the top in a circular fashion with very little thrill. Then, we just took a tour around the park, and headed back to ICRISAT. 

Random fact: I bought the driver's aux cord, so I can play my slaps in the fitness center. I BOUGHT MY FIRST AUX cord in India! It's not a big deal, but it just has a nice ring to it! 

07/04

10:40 (writing this on 07/08)

Exhilarating. You know the feeling of exhaustion, to the point that your body is glued to your bed? Well, I certainly felt that at 4:50 AM. Since it was my first 4th of July outside of the country (I never celebrated it in the Philippines), I made sure that I did something out of the ordinary. And, I did! I fought against the feeling of exhaustion, and rose from my bed and got dressed. 

While I zombie-walked to Guestel (our house-service), I could not help but feel excited. I was going to rock-climb in India. Where? In INDIA (Bhongir, India to be exact). 

The drive to Uppal, our meeting place, was nothing exciting because I sat at shotgun with no one to really converse. Plus, it was too early to talk to anyone. However, when we arrived at Uppal at 6:45, I made some friends. Well, I was forced to make friends with the Hyderabad Trekking Club (HTC) since I needed a ride to get to Bhongir. Our driver was going to charge us an extra Rs 1000 for driving us to Bhongir. So, why pay extra $15, if we can get free rides? 

Anyways, Rhamya offered me a ride with two of her other friends: Salman and Hephzi. Oh, and Angeli, another HTC participant, carpooled with us. My car ride with them was hands-down the best car ride I have ever had in India. Well, I do not have many car rides to choose from, so that assertion is a bit biased. So, what made that the best car ride? First, Salman, Hephzi and Rhamya kept the conversation going for all of us. They all wanted to know about my American lifestyle, and I wanted to know about their lifestyles as well. And, we would crack jokes in the middle of the conversation! Plus, they reminded me of my friends back at home. Second, they epitomized chill vibes. Since I felt so comfortable with them, I said my "Walking Through the Hood" spoken word. I loved the positive feedback and enthusiasm afterwards. Third, Rhamya was a wonderful driver. It was such a cruise driving to Bhongir. When we got to Bhongir, I knew that it was going to be a great hike (no matter the height of the place), because I already met an awesome group of people.

Hiking up the polished mountains was a real struggle, but the view was extremely worth the effort. 

And, occasionally, I had to pause and take selfies with my favorite people.

I cannot express how fun they made the trip for me. In the beginning of the hike, Salman said his spoken word about "life", and his words warmed my heart (as cheesy as that sounds). Like, I did not expect to find anyone to share my love for poetry and spoken word in India. But, these three definitely surprised me! Not only are they fans of art, but they even work in the art industry! Rhamya is an amazing graphic designer teacher in a University, Hemphzi is a graphic designer with Salman. Plus, their friendship reminded me of my precious friendship with Lorenzo and Julia (PJL)!

Before we went rappling, we played some games. First, we played Sagare Sagare Sa Pa Pa (I probably misspelled it), and the point of the game is to do an action for each word phrase. This is how I did mine:

"Hello everyone, my name is Precious Listana, I am from the United States, and I work for ICRISAT. Today, I am going to teach you how to whip. Sagare (I whip), Sagare (I whip), Sa (I nae nae), Pa (I do the "now watch me"), Pa (I do the "now watch me")."

And, yes, they all whipped it with me,

Then, Chris also introduced a Korean game to us called "Pabo". It is a group mind game that insults the loser and obnoxiously yells "Pabo" (Korean for stupid) at their face. Let me try to explain the game. The leader says a number  from 1-5 while holding a different number from 1-5 to the person adjacent to them (left or right). That next person, has to say the number that the leader held up, while trying to hold up a DIFFERENT number. The person that fails to do that is mocked by the group, yelled by the group. Korean games not only target the brain power, but also target people. Nonetheless, it was a great game that made our group bond more. After Pabo, we played another Korean game that everyone could not understand, so we changed the game to Ninja. I thought I was going to win, but I get sidetracked, and BOOM, both my hands were gone. I could not believe I lost, but I had to be a good sport.

The temperature suddenly increased right after the games. I became more impatient as I waited for my turn to go rappling. Everyone had to go one at a time which meant at least 5-15 minutes per each person (AND, there was 26 of us)! The first person started at 11, and the last one finished by 3. By the time that I went, I no longer felt scared. I grew weary from waiting, and just wanted to get down from the mountain. There was a point that my feet did not touch the mountain wall, so I stood midair. It was a frightening experience, but I convinced myself that I would not fall. And, guess what?? I did not fall! When my feet reached the ground, I felt extremely relieved to have gone rappling down 300 feet mountain. Surprisingly, I did not feel that nervous (except when I was dangling in midair).

If Rhamya and her group did not wait for us, the ICRISAT interns and I would not have gotten back. I really owe them one for spending 2 more hours to wait for us to get down. They did not even ask for money! They gladly drove Mariah and I back to Uppal to get picked up by our driver. I am extremely grateful for their hospitality, and willingness to make sure that we were safe. I am telling you, they have such great vibes!

By the time we arrived at Uppal, we ran through major traffic. Mariah and I even had to walk across crazy drivers that did not care about people crossing. When we saw our driver, he was slightly annoyed that we took forever to get back (we made him wait for about 4 hours). Although he was slightly irritated, I am glad that he did not leave us. Before we went to ICRISAT, we bought to-go food to eat in the car. We were starving! Imagine having to wake up at 4:30 AM, and not have any meal until 5 PM!

Although I felt hungry, I slept off the feeling since I grew uneasy from the hot weather and hectic traffic. Fast-forwarding, we got to ICRISAT at 7 PM, and all of us head to our rooms to get ready for our dinner. While Mariah cooked, I took a must-needed shower. Since I do not really know how to cook, I prepared the plates and the food. Sooner or later (more soon), our living room had all of this scrumptious food!

We feasted like kings and queens in India with our Mac and cheese, BBQ Chicken, Vegetable Biryani, Lime Biryani, pasta, fried bananas and fruit salad. I am actually glad that I did not eat anything during the day because when I ate the dinner, all of my uncomfortable feelings instantly went away. I felt as if I was on top of clouds, and nothing or no one could ever make me feel sad. This was the best 4th of July experience that I have had! And, I did not even celebrate it in the U.S. (oh, the irony).