Blog, blog, blog...

Life in Ujjain...

Yeah - so my flight was awesome - no complaints...no need to hassle with the agent, checked my bags right through - i know you all were worried - hoping for a heroic battle where i pulled out the "I am an American - let me do what ever i want" - no need to bring out the American pride...my smile won the gate agent over, so much she didn't even ask about the weight! haha! The airport was super clean - flat screen T.V.'s every where, and they even had cell phone chargers in the airport for people to recharge their phones...amazing - i have heard they even have them on the train, well i will have 16 hours on a train to tell you where they are located - when i travel from Ujjain to Bilai, I am going by train, and I just found out, that i get to spend 16 hours in an AC car - coasting through rural india - super excited! many pictures and stories from that!

So life out here in Ujjain is awesome - my cousin-brother's home is amazing - i guess when you are a very well known doctor (owns his own clinic and is the best Orthopedic Surgeon in the area) in what use to be a small town and now is large, you can command a nice place - i have the whole upstairs to myself - my own room, bathroom, etc.. I get to go for runs in the mornings where i dodge cows, poop, pee, people, bicycles, motorbikes, cars, tempo's (ugly three-wheel taxi's), rickshaws, dogs, cats, goats, chickens, random carts, religious people, moms, dad, kids, grandparents, boys holding hands, girls holding hands, clothes, shoes, kids pooping, dust bins, trash, bad people, smelly people, ugly people and birds. who needs a triatholon when you have to look out for all of those things! haha! The weather out here has been amazing, better than Mumbai, it rains at night, is cloudy during the day and the weather is so nice, that I am not sweating...now you all know me pretty well, i sweat a TON - but not here...my sister-in-law is teaching me hindi, she makes amazing food and rocks. My niece (who is 13) is awesome, she is absolutely adorable and loves to tell me the most random things - in hindi and english! hahaha! when i first met her, she said to me, "your hindi written grammer is horrible" and i was only talking to her! haha! Jhini (pronounced like Genie) cracks me up...more about my family later...

today, we went by the market - craziness, i am going to get some clothes made out here - so we bought a bunch of cloth and i will get several shirts, a pair of pants and some "night suits" made! haha! gotta love india, i am going to come back better dressed than when i left, for half the price! haha!

enough about that - being out here is amazing - so i am actually working out here, most people are thinking i am being a lazy bum around the house, but no, as of yesterday i started working - so here is what is going to happen. I am visiting with three different NGO's and getting an idea of their training programs, specifically for women, and seeing what happens with the people after they have received the training. I am looking at overall marginilized people, but like i said, my main interest is in women empowerment, so i am looking at the trainings given to women. And even more so, if training that is given to men, is offered to women. So I have started with my first NGO - Jan Shanksya Shikta - they work with the District Literacy Committee and take people that have just learned how to read and write and give them vocational training. They also work with all others that are marginilized and get most of their funding from the Indian government. Amazing organization. Then I will meet with Kripa and finally with SEWA. I did some village visits today and had a chance to speak with several different training groups and really learned a great deal. Tomorrow I will meet with some more and get more of an idea, and then meet people that have actually taken the training and put it into practice by either working with someone or starting their own business! AMAZING stuff - i can't wait to really put all my notes into a paper...it is awesome, i have hit the ground running all the pre-work i did from the states proved to be beneficial - i have never thought i would be able to get so much movement so quickly - so this is great!

Wow - there is so much about here that makes me want to write every day or put everything down - i want to take pictures of everything! haha! I am enjoying myself - getting into a nice routine - here is how nice it is...get up in the A.M. - go for a run, come home have some tea and eat a little something, shower (bucket bath BABY!), get ready, do some work, eat, go into the office at 11:30, go on field visits till about 5, come home, eat, relax, hang out with my sister-in-law just talking in hindi, eat good when my brother comes home, then relax and go to bed...so nice!

word...

till later!

posted by ravi @ 8:07 AM