Why do I mention all of this? This has become the perfect formula to having the most miserable night in existence. And yes, melodrama can be fun to play around with. So, it being about 2352C here with 512% humidity, I am lying in bed as sweat trickles down my forehead in almost a steady stream of disgustingness. The fan hovers more over Emily's and Anu's bed, but that was my choice because the other bed is close-by to a plug, and I didn't want to be caught awake at 6 in the morning with nothing to do; the battery to my laptop is completely shot and does not turn on if it is not plugged in. I thought that I was going to be able to handle it, but apparently I was extremely wrong.
Shortly after falling asleep around 1:30 in the morning, I woke up around 3:30 or 4:00 and have not been able to fall asleep since. I have been sleeping in practically no clothes and in my sleep-sheet, which is basically a bed sheet sewed into a very light sleeping bag. It seems that even that is too much. I was extremely tempted to just sleep on top of my sleep-sheet to try and access the little air I could feel from the ceiling fan. Still, I was hesitant since I attract bug bites better than a pile of dung attracts flies, and I already had a couple new bites on my arm in the couple of hours that I was asleep. Beautiful imagery, I'm sure. So, I spray on bug spray with about 98% DEET, which is strong enough to melt the plastic coating that is on my watch, and pull myself out of my sleep-sheet. About an hour later, I have about ten new bug bites from head to toe that are currently swollen to the size of quarters.
And so that has been my night. And now it's 5:30 in the morning, and I wonder how tomorrow night will turn out. Thank goodness I caught about an hour or two of sleep back at Krishna's place yesterday evening as Emily has procured us a flat for June 1st. ...Hopefully. I'm crossing my fingers, but also not counting on it since she has not signed the papers for it yet. Though, this time it seems more promising than the last time before the rug was pulled out from under us.
So yesterday, after the frustrating juxtaposition of our working on laptops and the slums propped up right outside the college canteen, I made my way to meet Suneeta at the Vidya Vihar station to go to Sion and meet with SAHAS. We went over the epidemiology questionaire that Suneeta will be conducting in the new slums in the Sion area before we try and implement any business or marketing plan. This business/marketing plan really is not to push for our water-filtration product that is currently not even properly developed yet, but it leans towards the side of education regarding hygiene and safe drinking water such as hand-washing and using chlorine in your drinking water.
After the meeting, I just went to the internet cafe and dealt with some e-mails with some people from HaloSource trying to obtain more contacts for further technology development, and also for some pointers regarding quantitative cyst analysis. Apparently it is possible to quantitatively test for cysts without something such as PCR or immunoflourescent antibody tagging, but unfortunately, the person is still in India and won't be able to be able to put together some literature for me for a little while.
Next, I got to meet Emily, Anu, and Nick had arrived by then for lunch at the Cream Centre. How I managed to arrive at the Cream Centre from the internet cafe is beyond me. Apparently I know my way around the convoluted, twisted, and unlabelled roads that is Mumbai--as long as you don't ask me and make me think how I did it. After exiting the internet cafe, I just started walking, took a few turns, and ended up at the correct destination. Thinking back, I am not even sure exactly how I had arrived there, and I cannot seem to make a mental bird's-eye view map. In fact, I think that even looking at a map, I would not be able to tell you the way that I had taken.
Afterwards was bumming around at Genesis Labs at Somaiya College and drinking really tasty chai while soaking in the air conditioning. If all goes well, I will be able to go with Ajit to buy filters and other lab supplies this coming Saturday. I really want to go before the rains hit, which is supposedly going to be by the beginning of next week.
I want better genes. :\ Oh well. I need to go take a shower soon or something so I can get started on doing more emails, fill out some documents, and call a bunch of labs.
Oh well. It is now 6 in the morning, and I have Jonathan Coulton's "Chiron Beta Prime" playing happily in my ear. Hopefully I can stay functional and lucid enough for the day. I do need water, though. I am pathetically dehydrated, and there is no more water around.
Hm. Another thing. I realize that for each day, I write about two pages single-spaced. I have no idea if this is a lot or a little. I'm not really used to writing about my day for others. Still, the main reason that I am doing this is because I don't want to be answering 2342 e-mails/chats that ask "So how is India? What have you been up to?" In general, I hate those e-mail updates and it is odd writing about my day for people, but I am lazy, and by the time that I get to talk to people back at home, I'd prefer not taking the entire time explaining the same thing over and over again. I don't mind having personal e-mails, but trying to explain the background of everything I am doing becomes tiring. In fact, I still don't think that most people know exactly what the Haath Mein Sehat project is, but oh well. I feel slightly conceited typing up pages and e-mailing them to people because I believe that they want to know, you know, every minute detail of what has been going on with me. Oh well, I'm sure I'll deal with that somehow.
I was thinking that my Indian name can be "Priya," but I am hoping for something more awesome.
This is Edith, all sweaty and itchy all over.
Photos:
Workin' hard at Krishna's.
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