India: Round 2, Let's Go.

So. It's finally been almost a day since I've landed in Mumbai. ...It's been an interesting almost-24-hours to say the least.

The flight over wasn't so bad. We stopped at Hong Kong, I watched the cleaning crew clean up and felt extremely guitly, and then got a cute little green circular sticker that said "Transit." We continued on to Singapore, where I had about a 9-hour layover. It wasn't so bad, seeing as they had amazingly comfortable chairs, gorgeous orchid and fern gardens, and free internet. Granted, the free internet was only available in 15-minute spurts, meaning that every 15 minutes I had to either play an awkward game of musical chairs--only with no music and with no chairs--or look around guiltily while I ignore the massive message on the screen letting me know that I had overstayed my 15-minute welcome. Still, it was pleasant, especially compared to the London Heathrow Airport; I didn't have to feel like I was too poor to be there. Finally, I boarded the plane, and slept my way all the way to the Mumbai Airport.

Transit sticker when I had a short layover in Japan.



Banners hanging in the airport saying "Welcome" in different languages.



The beautiful orchid gardens in the Singapore airport.



The moment I stepped off the plane and the warm stink of India hit my nose was the moment that it hit me that I was half way around the world and that it was time to get back to the working mindset.

To be honest, it has been extremely hard to prepare myself mentally for this trip. I'm not sure if it is because I am burned out, or because there have been so many other things on my mind recently, but I have not been able to find myself too excited about this trip. Perhaps part of the reason is that, the few weeks before I left, I had found an amazing group of people to be around all the time. The guys at Pixar have made me feel extremely welcome and completely loved, and for once, it's great to have a group of friends that actually know each other and hang out together, where, at the same time, I don't feel like a complete outsider. Sometimes I do, since they start talking about Pixar projects and begin to talk technical language that I can only dream to comprehend, but I guess that's what happens when you get a bunch of Pixar interns together in one room; it's bound to happen. Another reason is just this whole... my major thing that's looming over my head like the beautiful thundercloud that it is. The thing is, I am sure that if I were back at Berkeley right now, I may not even be getting that taken care of. Right now, I feel that I would probably take care of it immediately, but that could be just a result of me being here in India instead of back there in Berkeley. Another part of the reason is that right now, I'm holding on to the strings of the beginnings of something that could be amazing, and right now, I fear that these two months will pull too hard at these delicate fibers and they will break. I have a feeling that if perhaps if it were six months down the line and I felt as if I had a stronger grip on it, then I would not be so worried. Great timing, as always. I guess the final thing is that I am just slightly tired of working on this project, or any project for that matter. In the long run, I still want to work in public health and public policy--both work on the ground and also work on the higher levels, but I guess right now there are just other things on my plate that I have to deal with, i.e. my own mental well-being and happiness. It sounds strange and foreign coming from my own mouth, or in this case, my fingertips, but the past couple of months have made me feel that I can actually say it and even believe it.

That being said, here I am in Mumbai, ready to get cracking on the work I have to do.

But, of course, first things first, and one of the first things to do is to move into our flat and exorcise the ghost of the late Madame Gadgil. Yes, you heard me correctly. The story goes something like this. So we were frantically looking for a place to live, and by "we" I mean Emily and Anu. Ashok Gadgil, a professor at Berkeley, offered his mother's apartment. The back story behind this apartment is that she had been living in it, and then she died.

I guess I'll continue updating this entry tomorrow... everyone is planning on going to sleep soon.

India: I think I'm heading back

Well, it seems that I will be heading back after all. For now, the plan is to leave May 23rd, and get back August 8th. We'll see how it goes.

India: Holy Crap It's Different Here

India: 12/31/07 - 1/15/07

So here was my first trip to Mumbai... or rather, just India in general. It was definitely extremely different than my trip to Kenya or Guatemala. I suppose part of it was a result of going with more of a student-run group, instead of a larger NGO (non-governmental organization).

I have been preparing for this trip since September, I suppose. I had taken a DeCal (a student-run course recognized by UC Berkeley) on Technological Innovations for Under-served Communities. It turns out that this class was run by Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW). There was project centered in the slums of Mumbai, India, and they were working on a safe water treatment technology that was coupled with sanitation and hygiene education, Haath Mein Sehat (HMS). We had meetings to discuss what we were planning to do there. I was interested in both education/outreach to the community, and on technology development, with an emphasis on testing the equipment and doing water quality testing. I was hoping up and geared up for everything to work out perfectly.

Apparently I forgot that things tend to run differently in different countries.

Okay, that was a partial lie. Before leaving, I was actually extremely nervous about planning anything because I had no idea what the situation was going to be like there. I was told that I should still plan each day, and unfortunately, this made me extremely ambitious. One would think that being overly-ambitious is better than nothing, but I feel that I set myself up for disappointment.

It was definitely an interesting experience. I was immersed into the chaos that was Mumbai completely lost and without any idea of where I was going and what I was doing. I didn't know a lick of Hindi except how to count to five, everybody looked the same, everybody's name sounded the same, and each street looked like the next one. Unfortunately, when I have no clue what I am doing, sometimes I revert back into my shell, and I become too nervous to go out there and do things on my own. Unfortunately, we all supposedly had our own agendas and places to run. My problem is that I can push forward and be extremely ambitious of what I accomplish, but I need time to adjust and understand my surroundings before I am comfortable enough to do so. Also, getting sick with a 105 degree fever didn't help. Oh well. I'm not sure if I really want to go back, but we'll see.

And so here are some pictures from India.

Emily and I arrived at the airport in the middle of the day. Anu and Arvind helped pick us up and showed us where to go. Here was my first taxi ride in India.







A cow walking the streets as we walked to dinner that night.



We went to go visit Behrampada, the slum that HMS had started out working in. We went to visit the women in the community that we had worked with. Behrampada was nothing that I had imagined. It was extremely different than the slums of Kenya. The "houses" are piled and stacked up so high on top of each other, that even on a sunny day, when you are walking through the garbage-infested alley-ways, no rays of the sun actually hit the ground.

My first time to the trains in Mumbai.









One of the women we went to go visit. Her daughter does amazing mahendi (otherwise known as henna).







This young girl looks like she's in her mid twenties, but she is really only 12 or so.



Behrampada was a very different experience than other slums that I have been to. I think part of the difference is that, in Kenya, the slums were picture-perfect scenes of abject poverty. However, in Behrampada, everybody had cells phones, and many people had televisions. The level of education varies greatly, and not many people have to dig through the garbage to find dinner for the night. I guess population explosion and high property values is the issue.

Pigeons in a temple courtyard where we lived.



This picture wouldn't usually seem so amazing, but if I title it "Mumbai, India," it brings in a whole different feel to it.



Mannequins with half-eaten heads. (And who the hell dresses their child like that in India anyway?!)



And then we had some of our wonderful education meetings!




(Photo courtesy of Arvind)

This is Ajit, one of the people working on water quality testing.



We went out for fun sometimes, too. I believe that night we went clubbing at the Marriott at Juhu Beach.



On the streets, taken from a rickshaw.



Kitanu! (germs)


(Photo courtesy of Anu)

More meetings.



Apurav and his attempt at a germ.



We were trying to put together a coloring book. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be using tanks and violence, especially when we're putting it together for a Muslim all-girls elementary school.



Cards for "Memory!"



We went to go watch a play with some guys that we met when we went clubbing at the Marriott. Then we had dinner. Then we came across a group of homeless children, and we ended up playing with them on the beach all night.


(Photo courtesy of waiter in restaurant)


(Photo courtesy of Nirav)









On our last night there, it was Erin's birthday, so we went out to dinner with Arvind.


(Photo courtesy of Anu)

Arvind and I.


(Photo courtesy of Emily)

And that's all for now. We'll see if and when I head back.